The University of Miami published a page to commemorate Walter Darby Bannard, who passed away Oct. 2, 2016. For many years, he was a professor and head of the department of Art and Art History at the University of Miami.
Darby’s contributions to the art world will be remembered by his peers, collectors, and critics, and most importantly, by the hundreds of students whom he inspired by his work, his teaching, and his mentoring,” said Dr. Perri Lee Roberts, art history professor and chair of the Department of Art and Art History at the College.
The New York Times has an obituary.
Darby Bannard is featured in the two chapters of “Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques” with these paintings:
- In the featured work, Luraville, 1992, acrylic on canvas, The “drawing” is accomplished directly with a squeegee. Bannard builds up ridges of paint and lets subsequent fluid layers of translucent colors settle between the peaks to form the “background.” Bannard has been at the forefront of investigating pictorial and textural possibilities for acrylic paints.
- In another work, Bee Glade, 2002, acrylic on canvas, showcasing the premeditation of indirect painting methods, Bannard counterpoints layer upon layer of warm/cool combinations to reach a visual summation. The sense of swinging-arm gesture, so apparent in the initial squeegee drawing of the dark ridges, has evaporated.
Also included in the book are photos that he shared with us, tests strips (mini paintings) and mixing journals kept by Darby Bannard that annotate decades of mixtures and gave him a chance to duplicate previous color mixtures.
He is fondly remembered as a generous and prolific spirit.