Richard Filipowski
Richard Filipowski: Art & Design Beyond the Bauhaus
Monacelli Press, 2018
Richard Filipowski (1923-2008, Poland) was a U.S.-based artist and member of the New Bauhaus. Born in Poland in 1923, Filipowski’s family emigrated to Canada in 1927. Inspired by his teenage discovery of a MoMA exhibition catalog on the Bauhaus school, Filipowski decided to pursue a formal eduction in the arts. Upon the completion of his studies, he sought out Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, a founding member at the New Bauhaus, appealing to him for his mentorship. So impressed by the young Filipowski’s talents and tenacity, Moholy-Nagy invited him to join his program. There he was instructed in a range of media, including painting and metalwork, all under the tenants and style of the Bauhaus. A remarkable apprentice, Filipowski was eventually asked to join the faculty at the New Bauhaus where he taught alongside Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer from 1946–1950. He would subsequently go on to hold positions at the Institute of Design in Chicago as well as the Harvard School of Design and MIT.
While Filipowski was a prolific artist, creating hundreds of drawings, paintings, and sculptures, he was deeply private about his personal creative endeavors. Referring to them as an “art of the psyche,” he believed that they were purely a process of self-expression and exploration, a personal endeavor not subject to a criticism of commercialization. This impulse towards privacy, coupled with his lifelong dedication to educating others, were contributing factors to his having achieved less notoriety than some of his Bauhaus peers.
RICHARD FILIPOWSKI
1923–2008
EDUCATION
1946
Institute of Design, Chicago, IL
1942
Art Studies in Toronto, Canada
TEACHING POSITIONS
1953–89
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1950–52
Harvard University, Graduate School of Design
1946–50
Institute of Design, Chicago
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018
Hostler Burrows, New York, NY
2013
Richard FIlipowski: Beyond the Bauhaus, Hostler Burrows, New York, NY
2009
Acme Fine Art and Design, Boston, MA
2005
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA
1989
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA
1988
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA
1974
Joan Peterson Gallery, Boston, MA
1969
University State College, Oneonta, NY
1968
Fitchburg Art Museum, MA
1966–71
Art in Embassies Program, US State Department
1964
Joan Peterson Gallery, Boston, MA
1962
Joan Peterson Gallery, Boston, MA
1958
De Cordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
1953
Boris Mirski Gallery, Boston, MA
1951
Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
1950
Linn Gallery, Winnetka, IL
1947
Institute of Design, Chicago, IL
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2006
De Menil Museum, Houston, TX
2005
Noguchi Museum, New York, NY
1972
De Cordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
1969
Marblehead Arts Festival, MA
Gallery of the State Street Bank, Boston, MA
Prudential Center Gallery, Boston, MA
De Cordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
1968
Beverly Tercentenary Celebration Arts Festival, MA
1967
Ogunquit Art Museum, ME
Joan Peterson Gallery, Boston, MA
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Prudential Center Gallery, Boston, MA
1965
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
De Cordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
1963
Museum of Art and Science, Nashua, NH
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
1960
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
1959
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
Nexus Gallery, Boston, MA
Boston Arts Festival, Boston, MA
1958
Boston Arts Festival, Boston, MA
1949
Illinois State Museum
Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1948
The Benjamin Gallery, Chicago, IL
Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1947
Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1944
Julian Levy Gallery, New York, NY
SELECTED COMMISSIONS
1965
Untitled, Revere Copper and Brass Corporation
Cross, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, PA
1964
Untitled, Sheraton Corporation, Prudential Center, Boston, MA
Fence, North End Branch, Boston Public Library
1963
Cross, Chancel Light and Candelabra, Trinity Lutheran Church, Chelmsford, MA
1962
Ark in the Chapel, Temple B’rith Kodesh, Rochester, NY
1960
Untitled, Sheraton Corporation, Dallas, TX
1956
Candelabra, Temple Emmanuel, Dallas, TX
1955
Relief for Ark, Entranceway and Eternal Light, Temple Israel, Swampscott, MA
AWARDS
1988
Named Professor Emeritus by M.I.T.
1967
The Aleck and Ruth McClean Award
1958
First Prize for Sculpture, Boston Arts Festival
1957
Alfred P. Sloan Award, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1945
Honorable Mention, Dormitories at Smith College, National Design Competition
1941
Vimy Ridge Memorial Poster Competition
COLLECTIONS
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA
Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company
Cary Memorial Library, Lexington, MA
Chase Manhattan Bank
David Rockefeller
First National Bank
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Museum, Cambridge, MA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
State Street Bank and Trust Company
The Menil Collection, Houston, TX
Walter Gropius House Museum, Lincoln, MA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A Gift of Friendship, Carol Bruce, Historic New England Museum, 2002
At the Intersections of Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, and Design, Larry List
Finding Form: The Art of Richard Filipowski, Exhibition Publication, M.I.T. Museum, 2005
Lessons Learned: Thoughts on Filipowski, Richard Dattner and Carol Bankerd
Opening Note, Hattula Moholy-Nagy
"The Quiet Man," Larry Weinberg, Modern Magazine, Fall 2010
