Having served with the State Department for many years, Richard Erdman and his wife, Sibyl, have traveled the world and seen exceptional art everywhere they've visited. I met them many years ago, when Dick was appointed by, then, President George W. Bush and preparing to assume the responsibility of American Ambassador to Algeria.
Hughes Gallery was honoured to loan paintings for the ambassador's residency in Algeria, for a term of three years, from artists Del-Bourree Bach and Rosebee. Through this association we became friends and I was able to watch Richard develop into an impressive painter, himself. Frankly, I was amazed at how well and how quickly Dick developed as a painter.
Dick always had new works to show me. He often asked for my critique when they visited the island and I noted how his images possessed a certain quiet and compelling loneliness, not unlike Edward Hopper's work, so I asked if he could focus on the solitudinous "feeling". He did. Over the years I’ve mentored many artists through Hughes Gallery, but when I saw photos of his work this past year, during their visit, I was strongly compelled to invite him to exhibit with us, for his initial and first, formal, art show.
What Dick brings to Hughes Gallery is the perception of an aware and well-traveled Soul. It takes a deep sense of observation, a tremendous connection to this living, breathing Earth and a vast, and genuine, Love of humanity to be capable of transferring a palpable sense of seclusion onto canvas. We all enjoy 'keeping company', but there is something completely delicious, and yes, even magical, about seclusion. Seeing, with every sense gifted us usually means being capable of appreciating a place and sensing its center. In this busy, clamoring contemporary world most of us just don’t have the opportunity to look and see.
With Dick's paintings, I find myself wandering into them: taking the fork in the road I'd seldom take, noticing the inky tone of the water during the gloaming hour of nightfall, feeling the stillness of the water, watching the mirrored surface of a lake ~ just being one with wherever I find myself. It's a gift, to be equipped to do that on canvas.
