About Bob...

As we remember Bob Cassidy, what will always stand out in our minds is his love of art. 

 

When Bob was 6 years old, he started to discover his passion for art.  In elementary school, he attended classes at the Milwaukee Art Institute and completed his first drawing of a streetcar.

 

As a student at Bay View High School, he designed program covers, painted backdrops for stage productions and won recognition in several scholastic art competitions.

 

He then went on to study art and was inspired by the painters of the Hudson River School and the great masters particularly Millet, Rembrandt and Turner. Those artists had a profound influence on Bob's art.

 

When Bob served in the Army in the Korean War, he was an illustrator for the 7th Division Artillery.  He completed several murals and paintings, including a Korean landscape which was one of the top three among U.S. troops at the time.  After his military service, Bob attended Wisconsin State College, now the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee where he studied Art Education with renowned teachers including Robert Von Nuemann and Joseph Friebert. 

 

During the summers in Milwaukee, Bob exhibited his art at the Lakefront Art Festival and the Wisconsin State Fair.  One year, Bob won the popular picture prize for all ten consecutive days with a painting named, "North Jackson Street" which was purchased by a lumber company.

 

From 1960-98, Bob worked in museums.  He was a background artist for the Illinois State Museum; Chief Exhibits Designer at the Rochester Museum and Science Center in New York and Assistant Director at the Milwaukee County Historical Society in Wisconsin.  During those years, he continued to paint traditional city views and landscapes for private collections, law firms, insurance companies and other businesses.

 

When Bob retired from the museum field in 1998, his art evolved into a new direction toward more imaginative landscape subjects, almost entirely as watercolor acrylics.  These "imaginative landscapes" employed new compositional strategies derived from a variety of photographic records, including Farm Security Administration files of the 1930's and 40's.  His paintings included an interest in the use of architecture along with a figure as an integral and vital element in the depiction of a particular place, the union of figures and setting.

 

With each painting Bob created, he presented a unique challenge that juxtaposed an ordinary landscape.  He sought to create a sense of place that could uniquely connect with each viewer.

 

His paintings and annual Christmas card sketches were much admired by friends and family.  His retro posters accompanied every family event.  

 

Bob's art was truly unique.  Many of his family and friends have one or more originals in their homes. His masterpieces will be cherished by all those who loved and adored Bob Cassidy.