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Portrait of Adele Clark, c. 1942, graphite on paper. Courtesy of Mrs. Maurice Bonds.
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Maurice Bonds
June 21st – August 2nd, 2003
Maurice Bonds: A Retrospective is organized by guest curator Richard Kevorkian, past chair of VCU’s Painting and Printmaking Department. The posthumous retrospective exhibition features over 150 paintings, prints and works on paper spanning six decades by Maurice Bonds, one of the seminal faculty figures of Richmond Professional Institute and Virginia Commonwealth University.
A native of Mathews, Virginia, Maurice Bonds attended Richmond Professional
Institute (now Virginia Commonwealth University) as the recipient
of a competitive scholarship and completed his Bachelors of Fine Art
there in 1940. The following year, he was employed by the Work Projects
Administration (WPA) and painted a memorable mural of Monroe Park
in RPI’s student dining room. Upon receiving a Traveling Arts
Fellowship from the Virginia Museum, he attended the Arts Student
League in New York City where he gained a lifelong interest in silkscreen
and printmaking processes. Returning to Richmond in 1942, Bonds taught
studio art classes for RPI until he was drafted into World War II.
He spent the next three years in the US Army Air Corps serving in
England, France and Germany. Returning to Virginia in 1946, Maurice
Bonds married. Using his G.I. benefits, Bonds moved to New York City
where he attended Columbia University and earned his Masters Degree
in Fine Arts and Education in 1947. Afterwards, Bonds was invited
to teach in the art school at RPI (now VCU). In 1953, Bonds became
the Head of the Fine Arts Department until 1968. When the Art School
divided into separate departments, he became the founding Chair of
the Art History Department from 1968 to his retirement as Professor
Emeritus in 1978.
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Untitled, 1950. Oil on canvas. Permanent collection, VCU Anderson Gallery.
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Teaching for a total of 32 years, Bonds was one of the driving forces in the formation and prominence of the Art Department at RPI/ VCU. Bonds created a legacy of integrity in teaching that continues today with the current art faculty. Teaching both studio and lecture courses, Bonds was a compelling instructor, which earned him accolades from other faculty and students. In an interview in 1978, Bonds commented on his teaching technique, " My classes were not discussion classes; they were performance. But the performance seemed to work." As an artist, Bonds gained a reputation as a colorist and a humanist in his work. "There is a compelling feeling of humanity in his work. Much of his art deals with familiar images and expressions. Throughout his different periods of artistic activity reference is made to environment, family, friends, and a sense of detachment, joy of living and the horrors of wars" states Richard Kevorkian, guest curator. Throughout his career as an artist, Bonds used different modes of expression as a catalyst for his personal artistic vision and as a method of instruction for his students.
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Trio, c. 1990. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of Mrs. Maurice Bonds
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Maurice Bonds had several solo and group exhibitions at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina; Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; the Savannah Art Association in Savannah, Georgia; and Barber Scotia College in Concord, North Carolina. His work is represented in the collections of the Phillip Morris Company, the Child Welfare Bureau of Richmond, the Weinstein Jewish Community Center of Richmond, VCU’s Anderson Gallery, the University of Virginia, the A.H. Robins Company, and the Virginia National Bank of Norfolk. A color brochure will accompany this exhibition.
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