Press for artist Robert De Niro, Sr., Matisse Museum Nice exhibition
T H E   E S T A T E   O F  Robert De Niro, Sr.
I N F O @ R O B E R T D E N I R O S R . C O M                                                                                                              C O P Y R I G H T   2 0 1 0  T H E   E S T A T E   O F   R O B E R T   D E   N I R O ,   S R .
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From Musee Matisse in Nice, France:
The Matisse Museum in Nice presented an exhibition of the works of Robert De Niro, Sr. as
part of its mission to promote the works of Matisse through different angles and, on this
occasion, as a source of inspiration. The exhibition includes a presentation of photographs
of Robert De Niro, Sr. in his New York studio along with figurative paintings, interior
studies, still lifes, landscapes, and a series of the artist’s works on paper.










In the words of Matisse:
Drawing also counts tremendously. It is the expression of the possession of objects. When you know an
object profoundly, you can determine from one exterior line what will define it on the inside.1
There exists then an essential truth to draw from the sight of the objects to be represented. This is the
only truth that is important.2
The object is not so interesting in and of itself. It is the context that creates the object. It was in this way
that I worked all my life in front of the same objects that gave me the strength of reality by focusing my
mind on all that the objects had passed through for me and with me. A glass of water with a flower is
a different thing from a glass of water with a lemon. The object is an actor: a good actor can act in ten
different plays, an object can play a different role on ten canvases. We don’t take it alone; it evokes a
group of elements.3
In still life, copying the objects is nothing; they must be given the emotions that they awaken in one. The
emotion of the group, the correlation of objects, the specific character of each object – modified by its
relation with others – all that tangled up like a rope or a snake.4
The object must act powerfully on the imagination, the feeling of the artist must be expressed and render
the object worthy of interest: it only says what one makes it say.5









In the words of Robert De Niro, Sr.:
If I am forced to repeat, until near exhaustion, the same charcoal line over and over again or the same
brushstroke while I paint, it is because I am nothing but an “old nag” who knows himself too well and
who must endlessly find ways to surprise himself. Not, as many of my colleagues do, by accelerating
my gestures in the hope of discovering, as if by accident, surprising bits that I might be able to use later.
A comfortable technique that has proven itself, but which I was always careful to be wary of. Just as
Hans Hofmann, my former professor, taught me when I was so young, I immediately erase without the
least regret anything pretty or particularly good that has appeared on the canvas. That is why I am
surrounded by chamois leather or rags soaked in turpentine when I draw. More than speed, what is
important is to erase, always erase, systematically. If, as Picasso assures, painting is “love made
visible”, this method is for me the only way to most honestly transmit this light that belongs only to me
and that can only reach the spectator once I am in the canvas and not in front of the canvas. All things
considered, the ideal would be to succeed in painting with closed eyes, like children do. This only happens
very rarely, two or three times a year. If by luck, fortune chooses to smile on you.6
___________________________________
1. Comments recorded by Gaston Diehl in Problèmes de la peinture, 1945, Lyon, Editions Confluences.
2. 1947. Preface to the catalog for the exhibition Henri Matisse, dessins, A.P.I.A.W, Liège.
3. Comments recorded by Maria Luz and approved by H. Matisse, published in XXe siècle, n°2, January 1952.
4. Notes of Sarah Stein, 1908.
5. Comments recorded by Maria Luz and approved by H. Matisse, published in XXe siècle, n°2, January 1952.
6. Comments made to art historian Valèrie Bertrand in the 1970s.
After Seeing Matisse: Robert De Niro, Sr. - Paintings and Drawings
March 8 – May 31, 2010


November 17, 2011 The Estate of Robert De Niro Sr. today announced the inaugural recipient of The Robert De Niro Sr. Prize, an annual award which honors an outstanding mid-career American painter. New York-based artist Stanley Whitney will receive the $25,000 award, administered by the Tribeca Film Institute, for his considerable contribution to the field of painting. The merit based prize--among the first to celebrate and shine a light on mid-career artists--honors the work and legacy of accomplished painter De Niro, Sr. A selection committee of distinguished individuals in the art world was appointed to nominate candidates and select the prize recipient. Whitney was selected by a jury including Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem; Agnes Gund, President Emerita of the Museum of Modern Art and Chairman of its International Council and Chairman of the Mayor’s Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission of the City of New York; Barry Schwabsky, art critic for The Nation; and Robert Storr, Yale University’s Dean of the School of Art. “Stanley’s work and the way he practices his craft both show what this prize is all about—honoring a person with great passion for and lifelong commitment to art,” said Robert De Niro. “I am so proud to pay tribute to my father through this inaugural prize in his name, and to recognize and support an artist who has achieved so much throughout his career.” In a statement, the jury added: “For the recipient of the first Robert De Niro Sr. Prize, we have selected a painter who represents the spirit of commitment, independence, and invention that marked De Niro’s own work as an artist. Stanley Whitney proves that you can be a traditionalist without being a conservative. His concerns are those of painters from the Venetians through Delacroix to the Abstract Expressionists: color, light, and a sense of movement communicated through visual rhythm—but his painting is a continual adventure in these realms that he shows to be without limit. For many years he has worked with a consistent set of structuring devices but has used them as a basis for more than just variations on a theme, for the true structural basis of Whitney’s art is color, not shape, and he rediscovers it anew each time. It continued, “Keeping faith with the open possibilities of painting, Whitney has been not only admired by his peers but an inspiration to younger artists, both through his paintings and as a teacher. Over his nearly four decades of teaching, Whitney has not only taught young artists about the process and practice of art, but instilled in his students a deep understanding of art in its truest forms beyond the whims of fashion. We are pleased to offer the Robert De Niro Sr. Prize to an artist who so ardently interprets the sense of life through the fundamentals of painting.”
award.

About the Tribeca Film Institute:

The Tribeca Film Institute is a 501(c)(3) year-round nonprofit arts organization
founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in the wake of
September 11, 2001.   TFI empowers filmmakers through grants and professional
development, and is a resource for and supporter of individual artists in the field. The
Institute’s educational programming leverages an extensive film community network
to help underserved New York City students learn filmmaking and gain the media
skills necessary to be productive citizens and creative individuals in the 21st century.
Administering a dozen major programs annually, TFI is a critical contributor to the
fabric of filmmaking and aids in promoting and protecting filmmakers and media
artists.
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The Robert De Niro, Sr. Prize