Acclaimed Artist Robert Douglas Hunter Named 2010 TD Bank Pops by the Sea Artist

The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod has named Robert Douglas Hunter guest artist of the 25th Anniversary TD Bank Pops by the Sea concert.   Hunter has been commissioned to create this year’s commemorative painting and limited edition lithograph, which will be unveiled at a reception in his honor on May 25, 2010 in Osterville.  The original painting will also be on display at TD Bank on Main Street in Hyannis from June 1, 2010 until July 31, 2010, when it will be auctioned at a special VIP reception on the Hyannis Village Green.

“Robert Douglas Hunter is an extraordinary painter.  He is sought after, well-respected and highly collectible,” said Margaret Van Sciver, Arts Foundation of Cape Cod’s Board President.  “His work is simply breathtaking.  We are honored and thrilled that he has accepted our invitation to create a memorable image for the 25th Anniversary Pops by the Sea concert.”

Limited edition prints of the work will be available during the TD Bank Pops by the Sea concert, Sunday, August 1, 2010, on the Hyannis Village Green.  The annual concert features the only Cape Cod appearance of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and conductor Keith Lockhart.

Mr. Hunter has long been recognized as the informal “Dean” of the “The Boston School” movement, adding his own particular signature to the Boston School emphasis on carefully planned compositions, accurate drawing, and a delight in the ability of light and shadow to create atmosphere in painting.  He has personally taught more than forty now accomplished professional artists, and he has inspired countless more by his training and approach to his work. 

Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1928, Hunter served in the Marines before graduating from the Vesper George School of Art in 1949. After studying with Henry Hensche and R.H. Ives, Hunter began a teaching career that spanned decades.  Hunter has won more than thirty regional and national prizes, including the first John Singleton Copley Award, and fourteen Gold Medals at the annual exhibition of New England artists held by the Jordan Marsh Company, Boston.

Mr. Hunter served as the President of The Guild of Boston Artists from 1973-1978 and thereafter received a Citation from the Governor of Massachusetts in recognition of both his teaching and his painting.  He was the first winner of the Copley Medallion in 1988; and was the 1989 winner of the Guild of Boston Artists Award.   He has been featured in a major article in American Artist magazine and is listed in Who's Who in American Art, Prize Winning Art, and Who's Who in the East.

In early 2001, the Cape Cod Museum of Art opened a new naturally lit gallery named in Hunter’s honor, and mounted a retrospective exhibition of his paintings in the new space. A member of the Copley Society of Boston, the Guild of Boston Artists, the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, and the Allied Artists of America; Hunter’s paintings are in the collections of countless museums, universities, private and corporate collections.

The mission of the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod is to support, promote and celebrate art, culture and heritage on Cape Cod 365 days a year.  For more information about the 25th Anniversary TD Bank Pops by the Sea concert on Sunday, August 1, 2010, or the reception honoring and unveiling the commissioned painting, please visit www.artsfoundation.org or call the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod at 508-362-0066.