A thing of beauty is a joy forever,
Its loveliness increases, it will never
Pass into nothingness...
(John Keats)
Fleeting Beauty,
a word from the artist
Innate romanticism compels me to attempt the impossible: to transform fleeting moments of beauty into the joy forever of which the poet speaks. As a source of countless epiphanies, Venice is a great accomplice in this enterprise.
Painting has been my sole occupation since graduating from Princeton University in 1965. I was invited to Venice by Edward Melcarth in 1970 to assist him with completing several large paintings and a sculpture group commissioned by Malcolm Forbes. Edward Melcarth had been a teacher during my part-time attendance at the Art Students League which constituted my formal art training along with study under Luigi Tito at the Accademia in Venice.
I never had to go far from home for an inspiring view. For the first thirty years I lived on the Zattere. A glance in either direction from my front door sufficed. Since 2005 it has been San Sebastiano with my studio located nearby in the Palazzetto De Pisis, former home of the painter.
This change in venue is reflected in my recent work. I am happy to share the space with Venetian Heritage, the foundation created by Lawrence D. Lovett dedicated to the preservation of the magnificent legacy of which as a painter I humbly consider myself a part.
Robert Morgan, born in New York in 1943 has been a resident of Venice for nearly 50 years.
He arrived in 1973 from New York where he had first studied Italian with Isabella Rossellini. A graduate of Princeton University with a degree in English literature, he studied painting privately and at the Art Student's League under the painter and sculptor Edward Melcarth noted for his frescos at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan. Melcarth was a close friend of Peggy Guggenheim, for whom he carved her famous glasses. He introduced Robert to Peggy and they were frequent guests at her house.
Friend of many poets and writers, most notably Joseph Brodsky, 1987 Nobel Laureate, who dedicated “Watermark”, his book about Venice, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, to him. A limited edition by Peter Koch Printers illustrated by the artist can be found in the British Library, New York Public Library, The Beinecke Library at Yale, The Boston Atheneum, and The Stanford University Library.
He painted the only portrait of Joseph Brodsky in his lifetime.
A romantic landscapist, he sticks to a pictorial vision based on direct observation, memory, and a poetic reconstruction.
He has had major shows in New York, San Francisco, London, Milan and Venice but has remained independent and is not represented by a gallery or dealer.
His paintings are found in numerous private collections in the United States, the UK, as well as in Venice and abroad.