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Ralph Della-VolpeFigure in Purple Stockings, 1959-60Oil on canvas54 x 50 inches
Framed: 57 1/2 x 53 1/2 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower left
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Ralph Della-VolpeNumber 5 & Portrait of a Jockey, 1965Oil on canvas40 x 60 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower right
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Ralph Della-VolpePortrait of a Flagmanker, 1965Oil on canvas40 x 60 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe center left
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Ralph Della-VolpeDinner Time, 1993-94Oil on canvas28 x 34 inches
Framed: 34 1/2 x 40 5/8 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower left
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Ralph Della-VolpeWoman in the Field, 1985Oil on canvas22 x 24 inches
Framed: 25 5/8 x 27 1/2 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower right
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Ralph Della-VolpeEntering the Living Room, 1999-2003Oil on canvas22 x 18 inches
Framed: 25 x 21 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe upper right
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Ralph Della-VolpeBeach Patterns, 1979Oil on canvas20 x 22 inches
Framed: 25 x 27 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower right
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Ralph Della-VolpeWoman with Flag, 1962Oil on canvas50 1/4 x 48 inches
Framed: 53 3/4 x 51 1/2 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower left
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Ralph Della-VolpeBeach Parking Lot, 1968Oil on canvas72 x 72 inches
Framed: 72 3/4 x 72 3/4 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower left
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Ralph Della-VolpeDancing Clouds, 2001Oil on board14 x 12 inches
Framed: 17 x 15 inchesSigned upper left: Della-Volpe
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Ralph Della-VolpeLone Cloud , 2001-03Oil on canvas18 x 16 inches
Framed: 21 x 19 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower left
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Ralph Della-VolpeLone Boat, 2001Oil on canvas18 x 18 inches
Framed: 21 x 21 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower left
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Ralph Della-VolpeShining Bright, 2000Oil on canvas12 x 13 1/2 inches
Framed: 15 x 16 1/2 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe upper right
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Ralph Della-VolpeSailing Home #52A, 1978Oil on canvas18 x 18 inches
Framed: 21 x 21 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe upper left
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Ralph Della-VolpeWeather Beaten Docks, 1953-54Oil on canvas18 x 24 inches
Framed: 21 1/4 x 27 1/4 inchesSigned lower right: Della-Volpe
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Ralph Della-VolpeThe Garden Table, 1991Oil on canvas30 x 35 inches
Framed: 33 1/4 x 38 1/4 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower right
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Ralph Della-VolpeDark Cloud, 2002Oil on board16 x 12 inches
Framed: 19 x 15 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe upper right
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Ralph Della-VolpeSailing Home, Early Evening, 2004Oil on canvas16 x 14 inches
Framed: 19 1/4 x 17 1/4 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower left
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Ralph Della-VolpeSeaweed and Distant Beach, 1969Oil on canvas44 x 18 inches
Framed: 46 x 20 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower left
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Ralph Della-VolpeClouds and Bird Over Rock Form, 1957Oil on canvas26 x 48 inches
Framed: 30 x 52 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower left
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Ralph Della-VolpeBeach Sunset, 1998Oil on canvas16 x 14 inches
Framed: 19 1/4 x 17 1/4 inchesSigned : Della-Volpe lower center
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Ralph Della-VolpeDocks and Clouds, 1954-55Oil on canvas22 x 28 inches
Framed: 26 1/2 x 31 1/2 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower left
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Ralph Della-VolpeStorm Over the Bay, 1956Oil on canvas21 x 21 inches
Framed: 24 1/4 x 24 1/4 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower left
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Ralph Della-VolpeHead to Sea, 2001Oil on board14 x 12 inches
Framed: 17 x 15 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower left
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Ralph Della-VolpeEarly Evening, 1998Oil on canvas20 x 18 inches
Framed: 23 x 21 inchesSigned upper right: Della-Volpe
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Ralph Della-VolpeThe Garden, 1986Oil on canvas24 x 28 inches
Framed: 27 1/2 x 31 1/2 inchesSigned: Della-Volpe lower right
Overview
Ralph Eugene Della-Volpe's semi-abstract paintings of often simplified beach scenes and anonymous portraits "convey profound awareness of mood and character", and his paintings are hardly as literal as they may first appear (Arts Magazine. "New York Exhibitions". 1965). Constantly transforming what is on the canvas, the artist is never sure himself of the final composition of each work until completion because, as he says, "Everything I paint is based on my own feelings about life, my own insights, my own observations and my own needs for expression."
Della-Volpe first studied painting at the National Academy of Design before joining the Army during World War II. As a soldier, the artist saw action on Utah Beach, and his experiences undoubtedly affected his later artistic style. Tom Wolf, of Bard College, explained that the paintings Della-Volpe produced after his return from service in World War II "project feelings of melancholy." expressed in the tense expressions in the figures' faces. The "coloristic exuberance" found in the works beginning in the mid 1960's, with their vibrant fuscias and yellows, seem to offset what could be an otherwise solemn tone to many of his works at the time.
Upon his return from military service, Della-Volpe took a teaching position as the first artist-in-residence at Bennett College in Millbrook, New York where he remained for 28 years, serving as chairman of the Art Department for most of that time. Obviously influenced by impressionism's preoccupation with the treatment of light, Della-Volpe's own works have a "faultless tonal quality, with its sense of failing light—the areas of silvery gray deepening into rosy tans" (Arts Magazine. "In the Galleries". 1960). The simplified scenes and portraits express the artist's love of open space and his aim to evoke emotion through each piece rather than recognition of what exactly is painted on the canvas. Della-Volpe has exhibited widely throughout his career and has lectured on art at colleges, universities, and galleries across the country.
Exhibitions
Warren Street Gallery, Hudson, NY (1994 Retrospective)
Babcock Galleries, New York, NY (One Man Show)
Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC (One Man Show)
East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN (One Man Show)
Albany Museum, Albany, NY
Audubon Artists, New York, NY
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Butler Art Institute Annual, Youngstown, OH
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Grand Central Art Galleries, New York, NY
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT
Museums and Public Collections
Art Students' League, New York
Chase Manhattan Bank, New York
Library of Congress/ Pennell Collection, Washington, D.C.
The New U.S. Treasury Building, Washington, D.C.
Slater Museum, Norwich, CT
Wichita Art Association, Wichita, KS