Current John F. Richardson art exhibit and sale to benefit MC’s Clayton Center for the Arts
Nov. 10, 2022
The leaves outside might have lost their autumn vibrancy, but one step inside the Clayton Center for the Arts to behold the John F. Richardson art sale and exhibition reveals an abundance of watercolor beauty to more than make up for it.
In the past, the Richardson family has offered these works to benefit the Friends of the Cumberland Trail and the Community School for the Arts. Currently on display in the Clayton Center’s DENSO and La Dolce Vita galleries through Dec. 22, all revenue from works sold goes to benefit the Clayton Center and Maryville College Division of Fine Arts.
Richardson was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1906. He taught himself tenor banjo and played jazz in a few major bands through the 1920s. With the income he earned from those gigs and from teaching Richardson put himself through Vanderbilt University.
Despite the vibrant arts scene in Nashville, Richardson knew that if he wanted to make a career as a visual artist, he needed more formal instruction than the city could provide. So, he packed up and moved to Philadelphia to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art.
After completing his studies at the academy, Richardson returned home to Nashville and took a teaching position at the Watkins Institute that led to him later becoming head of the art department. Life was going well for Richardson, and it would only get better after he met Margaret Burkhardt, an art education major at Peabody College and the woman who would become his wife.
Burkhardt and Richardson spent many afternoons together exploring and sketching the pastoral landscape of Middle Tennessee. While Richardson was content, he did not feel he was reaching his full artistic potential. Burkhardt encouraged him to go for a master’s degree, but his studies were put on hold when World War II broke out.
For two years, Richardson served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He was deployed to the Pacific, which provided the inspiration for a collection of sketches and watercolors that accompanied him home. Afterward, he completed his master’s at the University of Chicago and became an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Department of Art and Architecture.
Richardson was later promoted to professor of art at the university and spent the majority of his professional career there. He was featured in numerous shows, galleries and exhibitions resulting in an impressive collection of accolades and awards.
After retiring, Richardson moved back to Nashville where he remained active in the arts community until his death in 1998. He is survived by a daughter, Jeanie, and son, John. The two remember with fondness their mother’s tenure as an adjunct professor who taught chemistry at Maryville College during the 1990s, and wanted to donate their father’s works as a way of benefitting the institution.
Richardson’s legacy also continues to thrive through his works, which remain today in “a number of public collections, including museums,” according to Dr. Carl Gombert, professor of art at Maryville College.
“These works – primarily in watercolor – are great examples of American mid-century painting styles,” said Gombert. “The offer of these paintings to benefit the Clayton Center is incredibly generous. It’s a win-win: Folks can take home a fine painting by a well-respected Tennessee artist and make an important contribution to support excellent local arts programming.”
The DENSO and La Dolce Vita galleries are located in Building A of the Clayton Center for the Arts, located on the Maryville College campus. Gallery hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and admission is free. Roughly 30 of Richardson’s works are for sale, most of them at $500 each, and they can be purchased at the Clayton Center box office.
For more information, call the Clayton Center at 865-981-8590.
