In Memoriam: Prof. Emeritus Robert S. Neuman
Noted abstract expressionist painter and former Keene State Art Professor Robert S. Neuman passed on peacefully in his sleep on June 20. A Fulbright and Guggenheim fellowship winner, he was living in Winchester, Mass., and Northeast Harbor, Maine. A Memorial Service was held on September 9, 2015, on the artist’s 89th birthday, at the Church of the Epiphany, Winchester, MA.
“Henry Friedman, who taught art history here for many years, had Bob as a professor at Massachusetts College of Art and was responsible for bringing him to KSC,” recalled KSC Professor of Art John Roberts, who taught here with Prof. Neuman. “Bob was initially hired as the chair of the department; he came in and pretty much established the art major—he really was the individual who turned this into an art department.”
“He was kind of like the ‘sage’ of the art department—wise, thoughtful, and relevant,” remembered former student Liam Sullivan ’85, now director of Admissions at Maine College of Art. “I really learned a lot about being an artist and learning to think like an artist from him. I only wish that I could have taken more classes from him. I especially appreciate how he taught me to see and use colour. This continues to be a part of how I see and use colour in my artwork today.”
Prof. Neuman was still active and painting up to the end of his life. “One of the things I really admired about him is the fact that he was very serious about his painting: he worked all the time,” said Prof. Roberts. “That’s the kind of thing, in teaching at this level, that’s so important—to have faculty who are engaged in what they’re doing and bring that commitment and enthusiasm to the classroom.”
Prof. Neuman’s work is in several public collections around the country, including in the Currier Museum of Art (Manchester, N.H.) and the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.). His work was last exhibited at Keene State in 2012.
