Jim Richard Wilson (February 18, 1953 – July 13, 2014) was an American art curator who was the founding director of the Opalka Gallery. He served as gallery director and art history lecturer for

The Sage Colleges The Sage Colleges were a private educational institution comprising three institutions in New York State: Russell Sage College, a women's college in Troy; Sage College of Albany, a co-educational college in Albany; and the Sage Graduate Sc ...

for over 20 years (1992–2013). Previously, he was with the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

as assistant director of university-wide Programs in the Arts (1989–1992). He has been consultant to and lectured for numerous arts organizations and museums and was Director of the Peter S. Loonam Gallery in

Bridgehampton, New York Bridgehampton is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the South Fork of Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 1,756 at the 2010 census. Bridgehampton is in the town of Southampton, on Long Island. Shortly aft ...

, for ten years (1976–1986) prior to relocating to the Capital District of New York State. Wilson has been curating shows and writing on art since 1975. He has earned and maintained a reputation for mounting museum quality shows. Quote from Anita Shapolsky, Dir of the Shapolsky Gallery in Manhattan: ''Every show they put on is of museum quality... Jim is really knowledgeable and knows how to put together a good show. People here want to work with him''. Wilson was an artist whose art work has appeared in more than a hundred exhibitions nationwide, including over a dozen solo and small group (2–4 artists) shows. His work is in numerous collections including: The State University at Stony Brook,

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, International Specialties Inc., Mariposa Luminosa, and ArtPool, Budapest. The most recent article discussing Wilson's exhibition history appeared on April 20, 2014, in the Sunday edition of

the Daily Gazette ''The Daily Gazette,'' from 1902 to 1989 ''Schenectady Gazette,'' is an independent, family-owned daily newspaper published in Schenectady, New York. ''The Daily Gazette'' also owns and operates ''The Amsterdam Recorder'', ''The Gloversville L ...

. He died of cancer on July 13, 2014.

Exhibitions

Wilson is best known for his work on post World War II American Art and Jewish history. Among the exhibitions for which he has been responsible are: * Dona Ann McAdams: Some Women (2009) the first career overview of the work of this street photographer who has been the recipient of the Dorothea Lange/Paul Taylor Award from the Center for Documentary Studies at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, Bessie and

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

s. Her work on performance art was the subject of an Aperture monograph, ''Caught in the Act''. The exhibition included over three dozen works, 35 of which were reproduced in the catalogue. Among the texts in the catalog were essays by Eleanor Heartney, Fabienne Waring, and Wilson. * '' New York School: Another View'' (2005) a re-examination of

Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

displaying the diversity and asserting the importance of the community out of which this seminal American art movement emerged. Thirty-eight artworks by as many artists were borrowed from 19 public and private collections for the exhibition. The catalogue for the exhibit included essays by Terence Diggory, Ann Eden Gibson, Esther Tornai Thyssen, as well as Wilson. The following artists works were represented in this show:

Peter Agostini Peter Agostini (February 13, 1913 Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan – March 27, 1993) was an American sculptor. Life Agostini studied at the Leonardo da Vinci Art School in 1935 and 1936. He taught sculpture and painting at the New York Studio School, ...

Charles Alston Charles Henry "Spinky" Alston (November 28, 1907 – April 27, 1977) was an American painter, sculptor, illustrator, muralist and teacher who lived and worked in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem. Alston was active in the Harlem Renaissa ...

Nell Blaine Nell Blair Walden Blaine (July 10, 1922–November 14, 1996) was an American landscape painter, expressionist, and Watercolor painting, watercolorist. From Richmond, Virginia, she had most of her career based in New York City and Gloucester, Mass ...

, Norman Bluhm, Seymour Boardman, Ernest Briggs, James Brooks,

Herman Cherry Herman Cherry (1909–1992) was a non-objective abstract painter who participated in all five of the artist-curated Stable Gallery exhibitions in Manhattan between 1953 and 1957 and who received his first New York solo exhibition at Stable in 19 ...

Nassos Daphnis Nassos Daphnis (July 23, 1914 in Krokeai, Greece – November 23, 2010 in Provincetown, Massachusetts, U.S.) was a Greek-born American abstract painter, sculptor and tree peony breeder. Army Service: 1942–1945 Daphnis served in the United ...

Dorothy Dehner Dorothy Dehner (1901–1994) was an American painter and sculptor. Early life Dorothy Dehner was born on December 23, 1901, in Cleveland, Ohio. Her father was a pharmacist and her mother was a passionate suffragette. When Dehner was ten years o ...

Beauford Delaney Beauford Delaney (December 30, 1901 – March 26, 1979) was an American modernist painter. He is remembered for his work with the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as his later works in abstract expressionism following his move ...

Jimmy Ernst Hans-Ulrich Ernst (June 24, 1920 – February 6, 1984), known as Jimmy Ernst, was an American painter born in Germany. Early life Jimmy Ernst was born in 1920 in Cologne, Germany, the son of German Surrealist painter Max Ernst and Luise St ...

Herbert Ferber Herbert Ferber (April 30, 1906 – August 20, 1991) was an American painter and sculptor. He is an abstract expressionist and is considered a vital member of the New York School." Background Herbert Ferber Silvers was born on April 30 ...

John Ferren John Millard Ferren (October 17, 1905 – July 1, 1970) was an American artist and educator. He was active from 1920 until 1970 in San Francisco, Paris and New York City. Early life John Ferren was born in Pendleton, Oregon on October 17, 1 ...

Perle Fine Perle Fine (born Poule Feine)(1905–1988) was an American Abstract expressionist painter.Helen Frankenthaler Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s u ...

, Michael Goldberg,

Raoul Hague __NOTOC__ Raoul is a French variant of the male given name Ralph or Rudolph. Raoul may also refer to: Given name * Raoul André (1916–1992), French director and screenwriter * Raoul Anglès (1887–1967), French politician * Raoul Aragon, Fi ...

Grace Hartigan Grace Hartigan (March 28, 1922 – November 15, 2008) was an American abstract expressionist painter and a significant member of the vibrant New York School of the 1950s and 1960s. Her circle of friends, who frequently inspired one another in t ...

Lee Krasner Lenore "Lee" Krasner (born Lena Krassner; October 27, 1908 – June 19, 1984) was an American painter and visual artist active primarily in New York whose work has been associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement. She received her ear ...

, Buffie Johnson,

Ibram Lassaw Ibram Lassaw (May 4, 1913 – December 30, 2003) was an Egyptian-born American sculptor of Russian heritage, known for non-objective construction in brazed metals. Early life and education Lassaw was born on May 4, 1913, in Alexandria, Egypt, o ...

Helen Levitt Helen Levitt (August 31, 1913 – March 29, 2009) was an American photographer and cinematographer. She was particularly noted for her street photography around New York City. David Levi Strauss described her as "the most celebrated and lea ...

, Norman Lewis,

Conrad Marca-Relli Conrad Marca-Relli (born Corrado Marcarelli; June 5, 1913 – August 29, 2000) was an American artist who belonged to the early generation of New York School Abstract Expressionist artists whose artistic innovation by the 1950s had been rec ...

Mercedes Matter Mercedes Matter (née Carles; 1913 – December 4, 2001) was an American painter, draughtswoman, and writer. She was a founding member of the American Abstract Artists, and the Founder and Dean Emeritus of the New York Studio School ...

Joan Mitchell Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925 – October 30, 1992) was an American artist who worked primarily in painting and printmaking, and also used pastel and made other works on paper. She was an active participant in the New York School of artis ...

Louise Nevelson Louise Nevelson (September 23, 1899 – April 17, 1988) was an American sculptor known for her monumental, monochromatic, wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures. Born in the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Kyiv Oblast, ...

, Ray Parker,

Robert Richenburg Robert Richenburg (July 14, 1917 – October 10, 2006 in East Hampton, New York) was an abstract expressionist artist based in New York City, whose paintings were widely acclaimed in the 1950s and 1960s. While a student of Hans Hofmann, Richenburg ...

, Judith Rothschild,

Jack Tworkov Jack Tworkov (15 August 1900 – 4 September 1982) was an American abstract expressionist painter. Early life and education Yakov Tworkovsky, was born in Biała Podlaska on the border between Poland and the Russian Empire. His father was a t ...

, Yvonne Thomas, Charmion von Wiegand and Wilfred Zogbaum. This group included three African-American artists, Alston, Delaney and Lewis, who were excluded from early shows of the New York School painters and sculptors through the early 1960s due to segregationist attitudes. * An American

Shtetl or ( ; , ; Grammatical number#Overview, pl. ''shtetelekh'') is a Yiddish term for small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish populations which Eastern European Jewry, existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The t ...

: Jewish History and Community in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

(2001) an in-depth multifaceted exploration and narrative of a particularly significant Jewish community from the mid-19th into the 21st centuries. This was the first attempt to organize and make available and document the history and centrality of the Jewish community to the prosperity of

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

, a which played a crucial role in the industrial and educational development of the United States. * ''A Place by the Sea'' (1999), including the work of 4 African American abstract artists associated with the Eastville community in

Sag Harbor, New York Sag Harbor is an Administrative divisions of New York#Village, incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns of Southampton, New York, Southampton and East Hampton (town) ...

. The exhibit included work by Nanette Carter, Gregory Coates, Alvin Loving, and

Frank Wimberley Frank Wimberley (born August 31, 1926) is an African American abstract expressionist artist. Biography Frank Wimberley grew up in suburban New Jersey. After serving in the Army, he studied painting at Howard University with James Amos Porter, ...

. First mounted at

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, the exhibit traveled to Christiane Nienaber Contemporary Art in NYC and Arlene Bujese Gallery in

East Hampton, New York East Hampton is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York United States. It is located at the eastern end of the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town i ...

. * Llave: A Key to the Secret (1996) on

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

history and experience in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

. This project on the history and culture of

Spanish Jews Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the fe ...

in the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...

built on years of research and included presentations by Nan Rubin, project director of ''The Hidden Jews of

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

'', Three documentaries: ''Buried Past: The Hidden Jews of New Mexico'' (1988), ''The Hidden Jews of New Mexico: Rekindling a Spirit'' (1992) and ''The Hidden Jews of New Mexico: Return to Iberia'' (1995)

Flory Jagoda Flory Jagoda (born Flora Papo; December 21, 1923January 29, 2021) was a Bosnian Jewishborn American guitarist, composer and singer-songwriter. She was known for her composition and interpretation of Sephardic songs, Judeo-Espanyol (Ladino) song ...

, noted Sephardic songwriter and singer, Isabelle Medina Sandoval, poet, Robert Michael Esformes, cantor and musician, among others. The publication created for this project was requested by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. The information gathered by Llave served as a resource for University of Almeiria's Sephardic Studies Center among others. * Val Telberg &

Anaïs Nin Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell ( ; ; February 21, 1903 – January 14, 1977) was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Born to Cuban parents in France, Nin was the d ...

House of Incest ''House of Incest'' is a prose poem written by Anaïs Nin. Originally published in 1936, it is Anaïs Nin's first work of fiction. Unlike her diaries and erotica, ''House of Incest'' does not detail the author's relationships with famous lovers l ...

(1994) which was first mounted at

, and traveled to

Southampton College Southampton College, formerly known as Southampton City College, is a general further education college located in Southampton, Hampshire, England. There has been a school of some kind on the site since the 1930s, but the current institution o ...

of Long Island University as a centerpiece of the first scholarly conference on Anaïs Nin in 1994. The exhibit was later installed at and then traveled nationally by

Visual Studies Workshop Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) is a non-profit organization dedicated to art education based in Rochester, New York, in the Susan B. Anthony House, Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood. VSW supports makers and interpreters of images through education, pu ...

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

Published writing

Among his writings on art and culture are: * Dona Ann McAdams: ''Some Women'' * George Hofmann: ''Inner Life Articulated'' * ''Cool Katz'', Chronogram (Delmar, New York) July 2007 issue * '' New York School: Another View'' * Frank Wimberly: ''Wimberley's Mode'' * ''Bridging the Gaps; The Nature and Responsibility of Visual Arts Writing'' * ''A Place by the Sea'': Major African-American Artists from the East End * "Cuneiform Currency" (included in ''Toward A Second Dimension: A Sociology Reader'', ed. McGuire & Purtusati, Kendal/Hunt Publishers, Dubuque, Iowa, 1998). * ''Willie Marlowe: A Survey 1977–2010'' Jim Richard Wilson's knowledge has been noted and appreciated by fellow arts professionals outside of the above journals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Jim Richard 1953 births 2014 deaths American art curators Artists from Albany, New York