Art of Edward L. Loper Sr: On the Path of the Masters

Dr. Anna O. Marley will present on The Art of Edward L. Loper Sr.: On the Path of the Masters. Edward L. Loper Sr. (1916-2011) was born into the racially segregated world of Northern Delaware and received his first professional art training working as a draftsman for the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. Through tenacity, drive, and talent Loper became the first African American artist to win a prize from the Delaware Art Museum. He achieved national recognition in the 1940s when his atmospheric cityscapes were included int the landmark 1945 exhibition The Negro Artist Comes of Age, held at the Albany Institute of History and Art. In the 1960s he began studying at the Barnes Foundation and became an influential and beloved art teacher in Wilmington, DE. Loper’s work is included in PAFA’s current exhibition Making American Artists and Marley, who curated a retrospective on Loper for the University of Delaware before his death, will discuss the artist’s important legacy and art. 

Art at Noon lectures in the spring are supported by the Lefkoe Family, in memory of Mildred T. Lefkoe, a beloved member of the docents, having been its first vice president, 1987-89, and president, 1989-91.

Image: Edward L. Loper (1916-2011), Sunday Afternoon, 1948, Oil on canvas framed: 29 1/2 x 33 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. (74.93 x 85.09 x 8.89 cm.); unframed: 20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 60.96 cm.), 1970.34, Gift of Dr. George J. Roth.