Christopher Campbell working in the studio

Christopher Campbell received his B.A. at Yale University in 1979, and studied with Ansel Adams in Yosemite in 1981. After completing his M.A. in art history at Brown University, Campbell received a Fulbright dissertation grant to France where he explored the artistic relationship between Cézanne and Pissarro. In 1990, he met Joan Mitchell in Paris. The encounter was transformative. Campbell shifted his focus from art history to painting, and moved to Vétheuil, France, where he lived and worked with Mitchell.

Returning to the United States in 1992 after Mitchell’s death, Campbell began the studio practice now drawing international attention. He has also taught art history, as well as painting, at the College of the Holy Cross, the University of Michigan, and the Pennsylvania State University. Campbell is often in demand as a consultant and a lecturer on color and fine art reproduction, and his paintings are increasingly sought after on the Asian art market. His work has been exhibited in China, Ireland, Spain, and the United States, including New York. He lives and works in Pennsylvania with his spouse, Nancy Locke, a professor of art history at the Pennsylvania State University.

Curriculum Vitae

  • 2003–present Lives and works in Pennsylvania.
  • 1992–2003 Ann Arbor, Michigan.
  • 1990–1992 New Haven, Connecticut (studio in Branford).
  • 1989–1990 Paris, France (studio in Vétheuil).
  • 1983–1989 Providence, Rhode Island.
  • 1957 Born in Columbus, Ohio.

Education

  • 1990–1992 Studied painting with Joan Mitchell, Vétheuil, France.
  • 1986–1992 Ph.D. candidate in History of Art, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. Dissertation title: Pissarro and Cézanne: Theory, Practice and Ideology, 1872–1882. Adviser: Kermit S. Champa.
  • 1987 M.A., History of Art, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. Thesis: The Relative Scale and Sequence of Michelangelo’s Drawings for the Medici Chapel. Adviser: Juergen Schulz.
  • 1984 Summer Language Institute (German), Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
  • 1983 Special Student (History of Art), Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
  • 1981 Ansel Adams Summer Workshop, Yosemite National Park, California.
  • 1979 B.A. magna cum laude, with Distinction in American Studies, Yale University.

Exhibitions

  • 2023 “Undifferentiated,” CJ Gallery, Shanghai, China, April 28–June 6 (with Wu Lintian).
  • 2019 “Christopher Campbell,” 2nd China International Import Expo, Shanghai, China, November 4–10.
    “Christopher Campbell,” Art Beijing, Beijing, China, April 30–May 3. Classic Gallery, Shanghai, China.
    “Christopher Campbell,” January 8–February 19 (solo).
  • 2018 “Christopher Campbell,” Art Canton: Contemporary Art Fair, Guangzhou, China, November 30–December 3.
    Classic Gallery, Shanghai, China. “The Courage and Madness of Painting After Pollock,” January 1–January 31 (solo).
  • 2017 Classic Gallery, Shanghai, China. “The 22nd GuangZhou International Art Fair,” December 1–December 31.
  • 2009 “Gala 2009,” auction for Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, May 8.
  • 2006 “Kite Project: Uttarayan,” The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, Ireland, June 30–July 29 (with Helen O’Leary & Sarah Schwartz).
  • 2003 “Frames of Identity: Versions of the Self-Portrait,” University of Michigan Residential College, Ann Arbor, March 7–April 5.
  • 1999 “Seeing it Through: Faculty Artists from the School of Art and Design,” University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, April 10–July 3.
  • 1998 Tabor Academy, Braitmayer Art Center, Marion, Massachusetts. February 16–March 7 (solo).
  • 1997 University of Michigan, School of Art & Design, Ann Arbor. “By-work,” January 2–February 2 (solo).
  • 1996 “Gallery Artists: Recent Painting and Sculpture,” Alexa Lee Gallery, Ann Arbor, June 21–August 1.
  • 1995 “A Day Without Art,” Alexa Lee Gallery (Project Room), Ann Arbor, December 1–January 6, 1996 (with Tyree Guyton, Cynthia Nartonis et al.).
    “A Gap in Nature,” Alexa Lee Gallery, Ann Arbor, October 20–November 25 (solo).
    “Look with Care,” Alexa Lee Gallery, Ann Arbor, July 28–September 2.
    “Land,” Alexa Lee Gallery, Ann Arbor, June 9–July 22.
    “Small Talk,” Alexa Lee Gallery (Project Room), Ann Arbor, June 8–July 22.
    “Small Works,” Stephen Haller Gallery, New York, June 3–June 30.
  • 1994 Alexa Lee Gallery, Ann Arbor. “New Paintings and Drawings,” March 7–April 12 (with Martha Keller).
  • 1993 Centro Cultural “Villa de Boltaña,” Huesca, Spain. “Los Matoralles,” July 17–31 (with David Campbell).

Bibliography: Reviews, Interviews

  • Sherburne, Cary. “Art, Photography and Print: A Winning Combination for Christopher Campbell.” 13 February 2018. http://whattheythink.com/video/88685-art-photography-print-winning-combination-christopher-campbell/
  • Aitken, Erica and O’Connor, Kevin. “When you’re trying this at home: Christopher Campbell.” Rods and Cones: Out of Chaos, Fall 2017. http://www.rodsandcones.com/outofchaos/fall2017/WChristopherCampbell_1.html
  • Locke, Nancy. “Some Possibilities for Painting’s New Topographies.” Sulfur 43, Fall 1998: 151–156.
  • Biro, Matthew. “Christopher Campbell: Alexa Lee Gallery.” The New Art Examiner 23, no. 6 (February 1996): 51–52.
  • Cantu, John Carlos. “A natural sort of abstract.” The Ann Arbor News, 19 November 1995: E12.
  • “Sunday Best: Art.” The Ann Arbor News, 12 November 1995: F1.
  • “Art that rewards a 2nd glance.” The Ann Arbor News, 13 August 1995: E1.
  • “There’s not enough land in ‘Land’ exhibition.” The Ann Arbor News, 25 June 1995: F6.
  • “Aesthetic mix provided at Alexa Lee Gallery.” The Ann Arbor News, 20 March 1994: F5.
  • Colby, Joy Hakanson. “Earthy theme show lands a top cast of artists.” The Detroit News, 7 July 1995: 12C.
  • Guíu, Miguel. “Pintura figurativa y abstracta en Boltaña.” Heraldo de Huesca, Spain, 24 July 1993.
  • Martin, Bruce. “Hometown brings out best in Sparling’s company.” The Ann Arbor News, 23 June 1996: E1.
  • Olivera, Pilar Sampietro. Interview, Radio Sobrarbe (FM 92.2), Labuerda, Huesca, Spain, 20 July 1993.

Publications by the Artist

  • 2020 “Work, Labor, Matter: Warren Rohrer’s Abstraction,” (coauthored with Nancy Locke) in Field Language: The Art and Poetry of Warren and Jane Rohrer, exhibition catalogue, Palmer Museum of Art (Penn State University Press, 2020), 127–147.
  • 1992 “Pissarro and the Palette Knife: Two Pictures from 1867.” Apollo CXXXVI, no. 369 (November 1992): 311–314.
  • 1991 Review, Richard R. Brettell, “Pissarro and Pontoise.” The Burlington Magazine 133, no. 1057 (April 1991): 264–265.
  • 1986 “Art of the Sixties: Soliloquies and Conversations,” catalogue essay in Definitive Statements, American Art: 1964–66. Providence: Brown University, 1986.

Invited Lectures

  • 2021 “Optimizing the Digitization of Paintings and Drawings,” 2and3D Photography symposium, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, June 2. “Mark-Making: Warren Rohrer,” Palmer Museum of Art, March 24. “See Hear: Revealing the Links between Impressionist Art and Music,” Bruce Museum, January 19.
  • 2020 “Sharp, Accurate, Beautiful: Fine Art Digitization without Breaking the Bank!,” Society for Imaging Science and Technology, November 17. Guest lecture, “Techniques of the Impressionists,” Penn State, October 13.
  • 2019 Guest lecture, “Photography and the Natural Environment from Ansel Adams to the Present,” Penn State, November 12. Guest lecture, “Photographic Terms and Techniques,” Penn State, September 12.
  • 2018 Guest lecture, “Abstract Expressionism,” Penn State, November 28. Lecture, “A Painter’s Color: Seen, Sampled, Suspended,” University of Wisconsin, March 2.
  • 2017 Lecture, “From Pigment to Print,” Color ‘18, Printing Industries of America, San Diego, January 15.
  • 2015 Lecture, “Painting from Seeing,” Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Penn State, May 12. Guest lecture, “Photographic Terms and Techniques,” Penn State, September 10. Guest lecture, “Nature and abstraction,” Penn State, November 10.
  • 2014 Guest lecture, “Cézanne and Mont Ste-Victoire,” Penn State, February 13.
  • 2013 Guest lecture, “Caravaggio,” Penn State, February 13.
  • 2012 Guest lecture, “Photographic Terms and Techniques,” Penn State, January 24. Guest lecture, “Imaging nature: f/64 to the present,” Penn State, April 3.
  • 2010 Lecture, “Breakfast Notes,” symposium Remembering Joan Mitchell, Tulane University, April 10.
  • 2009 Guest lecture, “Expatriates in Paris,” Penn State, September 23.
  • 2008 Lecture and gallery talk, “Against Art Photography: P. H. Emerson and Photographic Naturalism,” Palmer Museum of Art, April 2. Guest lectures on photographic terms and techniques, Penn State.
  • 2007 Lecture and photographic workshop, “Get in the Zone,” in conjunction with Ansel Adams & Edwin Land: Art, Science and Invention, Photographs from the Polaroid Collection, Palmer Museum of Art, July 28.
  • 2006 Guest lecture, “Painting out of the Other: Pissarro and Cézanne,” Penn State, February 27. Guest lecture, “Imaging landscape: from f/64 to the digital revolution,” April 6. Guest lecture, “Coding Light,” Penn State, November 27.
  • 2005 Guest lecture, “Redoing Cézanne after Photography,” Art & Architecture 197, Penn State, November 30.
  • 2002 Lecture, “Painting Lessons: Joan Mitchell and the New York School,” Ann Arbor Women Artists, September 23.
  • 1998 Lecture, “Recent Work,” Tabor Academy, Marion, Massachusetts, February 19.
  • 1992 Lecture, “Cézanne and Pissarro: Reciprocal Relations,” symposium Cézanne: Art, Modernism and Culture, University of Delaware, December 4.

Grants, Awards and Fellowships

  • 2016 basICColor Ambassador, basICColor GmbH, Penzberg, Germany.
  • 1998 Tomlinson Fellow in the Visual Arts, Tabor Academy, Marion, Massachusetts.
  • 1990 Departmental Research Grant, History of Art, Brown University.
  • 1989 Fulbright Fellowship, Advanced Student Full Grant to France. Summer Research Grant, History of Art, Brown University.
  • 1988 Samuel H. Kress Foundation Travel Fellowship, Brown University.

Teaching Experience

  • 2005 Visiting Lecturer, School of Visual Art, Pennsylvania State University.
  • 1994–2003 Numerous guest lectures at the University of Michigan; served on juries for the School of Architecture.
  • 1998–1999 Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Art & Design, University of Michigan.
  • 1987–1988 Visiting Lecturer, Dept. of Visual Arts, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts.
  • 1986–1988 Teaching Assistant, Dept. of History of Art and Architecture, Brown University.
  • 1985–1986 Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Art and Architectural History, Rhode Island School of Design.

Works of Art in Public Collections and Commissions

  • American Express Financial Services, New York
  • Dance Gallery/Peter Sparling & Co.: New Bach, Ann Arbor
  • Deloitte & Touche, Minneapolis
  • Monasterio de Boltaña, Boltaña, Spain
  • Philadelphia International Airport, “Three Views of a River,” Lenticular Ellipse (15.5 x 30’), Philadelphia. Collaboration with Stacy Levy.
  • University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor

Photography of Art, Artists and Architecture

  • 2021 Robert Indiana: The Hartley Elegies, Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, ME (portrait of Robert Indiana, installation).
    Christie’s Live Auction 19809, 20th Century Evening Sale, Joan Mitchell, “Rain.”
    Sarah Rehm Roberts; Katy Siegel; BMA; SFMOMA. Joan Mitchell.
  • 2016 Christie’s. Post-War and Contemporary Art Morning Session, New York (portrait of Joan Mitchell).
  • 2010 Marshall, Richard D. Joan Mitchell: The Last Decade. Beverly Hills: Gagosian Gallery. (Portrait of Joan Mitchell.)
  • 2001 Abt, Jeffrey, ed. Up From the Streets: Detroit Art from the Duffy Collection Warehouse. Detroit: Wayne State University.
  • 1998 Kleinman, Kent, and Van Duzer, Leslie, ed. Rudolf Arnheim: Revealing Vision. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
  • 1997 Marshall, Richard, and Pleynet, Marcelin. Joan Mitchell. Valencia: IVAM.
  • 1995 McDonnell, Patricia, and Plante, Michael. Dictated by Life: Marsden Hartley and Robert Indiana. New York: D.A.P.
  • 1992 Waldberg, Michel. Joan Mitchell. Paris: Éditions de la Différance.
  • Various: Architectural Record, Metropolitan Home, I.D.

References available upon request.