Felrath Hines

Felrath Hines:A Personal Pursuit consists of twenty works, spanning from 1947-1992 in an effort to contextualize how his exposure through his conservation work to different methods and materials affected his personal practice. This exhibition surveys his career for the first time since the Ackland Art Museum’s 2010 retrospective in North Carolina. Hines’ career can be characterized by his never-ending exploration, experimentation, and shifting aesthetic.  

Felrath Hines (1913-1993) believed that painting was, above all else, a personal pursuit. It was something that should exist outside of societal, political, and racial expectations. As an African American artist, Hines was expected to produce realist works that conformed to a stereotype of “black art” that had emerged in the early twentieth century. Although Hines was committed to the struggle for civil rights, he was equally committed to pursuing whatever artistic style he desired. 

Hines was a member of the Spiral collective (1963-1965), formed at Romare Bearden’s studio for the purpose of allowing black artists a space and community to discuss the civil rights movement as well as the role of art in political activism. Hines, however, had little interest in depicting black subjects. He considered his views on politics and his artistic interests to be two separate entities.  

Felrath Hines was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago (1944-1946) before moving to New York in 1946 to study with the prominent Russian figurative expressionist Nahum Tschacbasov (1899-1984). He later studied design at Pratt Institute and New York University. In addition to his artistic oeuvre, Hines was known for his conservation work and opened a private practice in 1964. His clients included Georgia O’Keeffe, the Museum of Modern Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 1972, he left New York for Washington, D.C. to become Chief Conservator of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery, and subsequently the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, until his retirement in 1984. 

Felrath Hines:A Personal Pursuit will open November 15, 2024 and will run through January 11, 2025. The gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday 10am-6pm.