Installation view of "Roy De Forest," Venus Over Manhattan, New York
The New York Times
Roy De Forest’s Greatness Shines Even in a Virtual Display
This Bay Area artist’s enduring, multifaceted achievement deserves more respect from New York than it has garnered thus far.
Sometimes viewing an art exhibition online isn’t so much an inconvenience as a comfortable buffer. Consider, for example, the irreverent, relentless visual cornucopia created by the great but under-known artist Roy De Forest (1930-2007), a large selection of which booms forth from the website of the Manhattan gallery Venus Over Manhattan.
Roy De Forest, Wise Horse's Dream, 1972
Oakland Museum of Art
Of Dogs and Other People: The Art of Roy De Forest
This retrospective of the artist illustrates the artist's voyages and visions through vibrant, large-scale paintings and sculptures
OAKLAND —The Oakland Museum of California will present Of Dogs and Other People: The Art of Roy De Forest, a special exhibition designed to simulate an adventurous exploration of the artist’s dream-like and sometimes humorous works. Opening in April 2017, the exhibition will feature over 50 large, colorful paintings and sculptures, including many works on loan from world-renowned institutions including SFMOMA, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Works featured in the exhibition span De Forest’s career as a notable California figure in an artistic genre often called Funk art or Nut art. His vibrant works present playful visions that invite us on a trip into rich and colorful alternative worlds.
Roy De Forest, The Real Inside Story, 1973, acrylic on canvas
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection
Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection presents some of the most treasured artworks from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s permanent collection.
The exhibition includes seventy paintings and sculpture from the 1910s to the 1980s that encompass the range of what can broadly be called modern realism, from socio-political to psychological, from satirical to surrealist. The artworks on display were selected by Virginia Mecklenburg, chief curator at the museum.
Roy De Forest, Every Trapper Should Have an Indian Dog, 1960, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 67 x 69 in (170.2 x 175.3 cm) RDEF031. Collection of the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, University of California, Davis.
Roy De Forest, Untitled, c. 1960, Color pencil and graphite on paper, 19 x 24 in (48.3 x 61 cm) RDEF084
Roy De Forest, Untitled, 1962, Mixed media on paper, 23 x 30 in (58.4 x 76.2 cm) RDEF057
Roy De Forest, Life on the Pampas, 1962, Wood, acrylic, polyvinyl acetate, found objects, 32 1/2 x 31 1/2 x 6 in (82.5 x 80 x 15.2 cm) RDEF095
Roy De Forest, Untitled, 1964, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 64 in (152.4 x 162.6 cm) RDEF066
Roy De Forest, Drawing, 1964, Color pencil and graphite on paper, 20 x 26 in (50.8 x 66 cm) RDEF081
Roy De Forest, Untitled, 1966, Color pencil and graphite on paper, 18 x 24 in (45.7 x 61 cm) RDEF082
Roy De Forest, Untitled, 1966, Color pencil and graphite on paper, 18 x 24 in (45.7 x 61 cm) RDEF083
Roy De Forest, The Problem of James R., 1968, Latex on canvas, 64 x 64 in (162.6 x 162.6 cm) RDEF030. Collection of the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, University of California, Davis.
Roy De Forest, Ship at Sea, 1970, Polymer on canvas, 22 x 22 in (55.9 x 55.9 cm) RDEF096
Roy De Forest, A Figure of Our Time, 1972, Polymer on canvas, 65 x 65 in (165.1 x 165.1 cm) RDEF067
Roy De Forest, Don’t Look a Brick Gift Horse in the Mouth, 1972, Acrylic on canvas, 66 1/8 x 59 7/8 in (168 x 152.1 cm) RDEF097
Roy De Forest, Drawing, 1974, Mixed media on paper, 22 x 29 in (55.9 x 73.7 cm) RDEF086
Roy De Forest, Among the Lilies, 1974, Polymer on canvas, 66 x 72 in (167.6 x 182.9 cm) RDEF098
Roy De Forest, Drawing, 1975, Mixed media on paper, 22 1/4 x 30 in (56.5 x 76.2 cm) RDEF089
Roy De Forest, Drawing, 1976, Mixed media on paper, 22 1/2 x 30 in (57.1 x 76.2 cm) RDEF087
Roy De Forest, Drawing, 1976, Mixed media on paper, 22 1/2 x 30 in (57.1 x 76.2 cm) RDEF088
Roy De Forest, In Arcadia Equus, 1977, Colored pencil on paper, framed with collage elemengs, 36 x 26 1/4 x 10 in (91.4 x 66.7 x 25.4 cm) RDEF001
Roy De Forest, Untitled, 1977, Pastel and graphite on paper, 20 x 26 in (50.8 x 66 cm) RDEF002
Roy De Forest, Untitled, 1978, Pastel on paper, 22 1/2 x 30 in (57.1 x 76.2 cm) RDEF003
Roy De Forest, Untitled, 1978, Mixed media on paper, 22 1/4 x 30 in (56.5 x 76.2 cm) RDEF085
Roy De Forest, Untitled, 1979, Pencil, crayon, paint on paper in artist's frame, 22 1/2 x 30 in (57.1 x 76.2 cm) RDEF093
Roy De Forest, Untitled, 1980, Mixed media on paper, 22 1/2 x 30 in (57.1 x 76.2 cm) RDEF091
Roy De Forest, Baja Nights, 1982, Acrylic on linen, 72 x 86 in (182.9 x 218.4 cm) RDEF079
Roy De Forest, One Life to Lead, 1986. Painted wood relief; 60 x 109 1/2 x 24 in (152.4 x 278.1 x 61 cm) RDEF017
Roy De Forest, Campfire by Moonlight, 1986, Signed, titled, dated, and inscribed on verso, Acrylic on canvas in artist's frame, 74 1/2 x 83 7/8 in (189.2 x 213 cm) RDEF100
Roy De Forest, Jungle Serenade, 1987, Acrylic on canvas, 70 1/2 x 93 in (179.1 x 236.2 cm) RDEF068
Roy De Forest, Painting the Big Painting, 1993, Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 72 x 72 in (182.9 x 182.9 cm) RDEF065
Roy De Forest, Luck of the Red Dog, 1997, Acrylic, pastel, charcoal, ink, graphite and glitter on paper in artist's frame, 35 x 39 1/2 in (88.9 x 100.3 cm) RDEF069
Roy De Forest, Pig Farm, 2000, Acrylic and vinyl on board in artist's frame, 32 x 43 x 2 in (81.3 x 109.2 x 5.1 cm) RDEF009
Roy De Forest, The Horse, 2000, Acrylic on board; artist's frame, 26 x 26 x 2 in (66 x 66 x 5.1 cm) RDEF043
Roy De Forest, Texas, 2002, Acrylic, mixed media on board, wood, 48 x 42 x 12 in (121.9 x 106.7 x 30.5 cm) RDEF044
Roy De Forest, Untitled, 2003, Mixed media on paper with artist designed frame, 39 x 52 1/2 x 3 1/4 in (99.1 x 133.3 x 8.3 cm) RDEF007
Roy De Forest, Untitled, 2003, Acrylic and mixed media on paper with artists designed frame, 42 x 48 x 5 in (106.7 x 121.9 x 12.7 cm) RDEF070
Roy De Forest, Untitled (Panel Painting), 2005, Acrylic on panel, artist frame, 16 3/4 x 49 1/2 in (42.5 x 125.7 cm) RDEF046
Roy De Forest, Birdsong of the Working Dog, 2006, Acrylic on canvas, 62 x 64 in (157.5 x 162.6 cm) RDEF047
Portrait of Roy De Forest by Mimi Jacobs. Roy De Forest papers, 1916-2015, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Roy De Forest was born in North Platte, Nebraska, in 1930. He attended the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute), and San Francisco State College, where he received his B.A. in 1953, and his M.A. in 1958. His work has been the subject of numerous solo presentations both stateside and abroad, including exhibitions at the Oakland Museum of California; Galerie Darthea Speyer, Paris; ICA Boston; SFMoMA; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Candy Store Gallery, Folsom; and Dilexi Gallery, San Francisco. De Forest’s work is frequently featured in major group exhibitions, including recent presentations at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, University of California, Davis; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Matthew Marks Gallery, New York; RISD Museum, Providence; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. His work is held in numerous public collections around the world, including the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Christchurch Art Gallery, Christchurch; Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne; SFMoMA; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. De Forest lived and worked in Port Costa, California, before his death in 2007
An ARTForum must-see: Roy de Forest and Howard Fonda at The Pit Los Angeles
Crocker Art Museum announces opening of the exhibition "The Candy Store: Funk, Nut, and Other Art With A Kick" which includes works by Roy De Forest, Jim Nutt, and more.
Sacramento Magazine spotlights new exhibition "The Candy Store: Funk, Nut, and Other Art With a Kick."
Venus Over Manhattan Now Represents Estate of Roy De Forest
This Bay Area artist’s enduring, multifaceted achievement deserves more respect from New York than it has garnered thus far.
SF Weekly reviews three Roy De Forest exhibitions including the Oakland Museum's "Of Dogs and Other People: The Art of Roy De Forest" and the San Francisco Art Commission's "Civic Art Collection Focus: Roy De Forest".
A retrospective of Roy De Forest, who described what he and his colleagues at UC Davis were making in the 1960s as "Nut Art," is fun, innovative, and ambitious.
The painter and sculptor's first retrospective is a stimulating and whimsical journey at the Oakland Museum of California
The Sacramanto Bee reviews Oakland Museum's "Of Dogs and Other People: The Art of Roy De Forest"
"Of Dogs and Other People is the wonderfully titled, long-overdue retrospective of the late Roy De Forest, whose six-decade career evades easy categorization."
