Robert Swain

Robert Swain is known for his precise approach to color relationships, centered on the form of the square. Using the compositional device of the grid, Swain evokes a psychological response in the viewer through harmonizing colors that activate the picture as a whole.

Swain was born in Austin, Texas in 1940 and grew up in Arlington, Virginia. Following his studies at American University in Washington, D.C., Swain settled in New York City in the mid-1960s and became associated with the Hunter Color School cohort of artists. He taught at Hunter College for over 40 years and mentored generations of students.

Swain has had solo exhibitions at Fischbach Gallery, New York; David Richard Gallery, Santa Fe and New York; Minus Space, Brooklyn; Susan Caldwell Gallery, New York; the Santa Monica Museum of Art; Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo; Toni Birckhead Gallery, Cincinnati, and Hunter College Times Square Gallery, among others. His work has been included in numerous group exhibitions, including at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Whitney Museum of American Art; Rhode Island School of Design Museum; the Indianapolis Museum of Art; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Art Students League; Minus Space; David Richard Gallery; and Andre Zarre Gallery, New York.

Robert Swain’s works are included in the permanent collections of Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, New York; Milwaukee Art Museum; Everson Art Museum, Syracuse, New York; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Denver Art Museum; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Detroit Institute of Arts; and High Museum of Art, Atlanta, among others.