About Paul Rickert

Paul Rickert was born on June 21, 1945, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Raised along the enchanting Wissahickon Creek, where 19th-century luminaries Thomas Moran and William Trost Richards once painted, Rickert was steeped in an artistic tradition from the beginning. His father, William Rickert, a distinguished artist and illustrator, provided early mentorship, fostering Paul’s burgeoning talent. Immersed in a household where art flourished, Rickert developed a profound appreciation for beauty and craftsmanship.

Drafted into the U.S. Army at the age of 19, Rickert was assigned to the Vietnam Combat Artists Program, serving from August to December, 1966. His artwork from this period is marked by a meticulous attention to detail and a profound ability to convey the immediacy of the combat experience. This period not only honed his technical skills but also deepened his artistic vision, enabling him to render the human condition with empathy and precision.

“The kids were friendly and very gregarious. Even at a young age they would speak broken English to us and were very excited to be sketched. They were anxious to see the finished drawing and would run off with the drawing, if they could.” –Rickert, in “Art of the American Solider”

“The religious service in the middle of the week, in the middle of nowhere, was a special event. Being a Christian, it helps to keep your eyes fixed on the Lord as sovereign in the affairs of men, even in war where the fragility of life is so present. The soldier turning away symbolizes the controversial quality of the war, myself being a conscientious objector” –Rickert, in “Art of the American Solider”

After a foundation forged on the battlefield, Paul’s natural talent was further solidified at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where he graduated in 1974. Further study with famed artist Nelson Shanks equipped Paul with the skills and vision that would define his career. As his studio began to grow and flourish, Paul divided his time between the rugged Maine coast and the historic charm of the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, both of which are featured prominently in his works.

Awards have Included

1967 Interview with works shown with Hugh Downes, Today Show, NBC

1971 Windsor Newton Award, National Arts Club, NY Gold Medal of Honor

1971 Edith Ogden Harrison Award (Memorial Prize for Figure Painting) Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA

1972 Allied Artists Gold Medal of Honor Award, New York City, NY

1972 Edgar Whitney Memorial Award, American Watercolor Society

1973 Franklin Mint Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Watercolor Art, The Franklin Mint Gallery of Art, Philadelphia PA

1979 First Prize, Los Angeles Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles, CA

1979 Charles Knox Smith Founders Prize, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia PA

1997 Charles Knox Smith Founders Prize, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia PA

2000 Maybelle Longstreet Prize, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia

2010 Work featured in American Artist Magazine Special Edition, “The Best of Watercolor”

Solo Exhibitions have Included

1972 Sessler Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1974 Baehler Gallery, Denver, CO

1975 Far Gallery, New York

1980 Alexander Miliken Gallery, NYC

1980 William A Farnsworth Library and Art Museum, Rockland, ME

1985 Hahn Gallery, Chestnut Hill, PA

1987 Sherry French Gallery, New York

1988 Retrospective, American College Bryn Mawr

1991 Industrial Procession, Woodmere Museum, Philadelphia PA

1992-94 Fischbach Gallery, New York

1998 Recent Watercolors, J. Ames Fine Art Belfast, ME

2001 Finestkind, Paintings of Maine, Fischbach Gallery, New York

2002 Stonington Paintings, Watson Gallery, Stonington, ME

2004 Maine Images, Gallery at 357, Rockland, ME

2005 Down East Horizons, Fischbach Gallery, New York

2007 Architecture of Chestnut Hill, Chestnut Hill Historical Society

2008 Seaward View, Fischbach Gallery, New York

2010 Industrial Visions, Rider University Art Gallery, Lawrenceville

2011 Markings: Bucks County, Fischback Gallery, New York

2012 Watercolors of Newport, Spring Bull Gallery, Newport, RI

2013 Place and Light, GWatson Galley, Stonington, ME

2013 Painting on Site: Watercolors of Maine, The Firehouse Center, Damariscotta, ME

2015 Paint the Farm, Maine Farmland Trust, Belfast, ME

2016 Observing Acadia, Star Gallery, Northeast Harbor, ME

2019 Paul Rickert and Susan Myers Collection Show, Wendell Gilley Museum, Southwest Harbor

Online Bibliography

2010 “National Constitution Center’s Art of the American Solider”

2010 “Rider Art Gallery Hosts Art by Paul Rickert: Industrial Visions”

2011 “Fischbach Gallery Featuring recent Bucks Country Watercolors”

2011 “Art of the American Soldier” (pages 47, 61, 117, 147, 151, 221, 279)

2017 “Wonderful Watercolors of Maine”

2018 “The Artist and the Ardent Admirer”

2023 “In Their Own Voices: Artist Paul Rickert”

2023 “Iconic Chestnut Hill Artist Dies at 77”

2023 “Paul Rickert has Died at 77”

2024 “Acclaimed Artist Now on Exhibit”

Selected Printed Bibliography

Wittman, Charles W. “Student Paul Rickert Captures Vietnam Scene” Famous Artists Magazine, Autumn, 1967.
James, T.F. “Vietnam with Pistol and Paintbrush” Army Digest, 1969.
Edtr. “The Watercolor Page: Paul Rickert” American Artist, Jun., 1973, pp. 34-37, 71.
Dekom, Otto. Sketches Make Attractive Miniatures, Wilmington, DE, Oct., 12, 1974.
Brown, Gordon. “Paul Rickert” Arts Magazine Sep., 1975, Vol. 5, no. 1, p. 22.
May, Stephen. “An Artist Inside and Out”, American Artist, Winter 2009, pp. 20-31.
Meyer, Susan E. 40 Watercolor Artists & How They Work, Watson-Guptill Publications, 1976, p. 102.
Edtr. “Woodmere Art Museum Annual Winner” Chestnut Hill Local, Apr. 12, 1979, p. 26.
Newhall, Robert. “Painter Drawn by Other Artists” Bangor Daily News: Mainly People, Jul. 24, 1980.
Edtr. “Rickert Works: 1971-1982” New Renaissance, Magazine of Ideas and Opinions, Spring, 1983.
Mathews, Margaret. “Landscape Painting at Night” American Artist, Feb., 1984, pp. 66-71, 105-110.
Beyer, Rita. “Local Artist Views Hill in Romantic City” Chestnut Hill Local, May 9, 1985.
Hallenberg, Heather. Night Lights: 19th and 20th Century Nocturnes, The Taft Museum exhibition catalog, 1985,
Ernst, Margot. “15 Vietnam: Art of Veteran Evokes Memories” The Stockton Record, Feb. 12, 1987, pp. D-1, D-4.
Raynor, Vivien. “Night Works: Urban-Rural Nocturne” The New York Times, Nov. 22, 1987.
Van Beventer, M.J. “Paul Rickert” Art Gallery International, Nov./Dec., 1987.
Myers, Ken. “Mystery in the Ordinary (An Interview with Paul Rickert)”, Genesis, Berea Publications, Oct.-Dec., 1987.
Henry, Gerrit. “Paul Rickert” Artnews, Jan., 1988.
Russell, Ruth. “Landscapes by Rickert” Chestnut Hill Local, Sept. 29, 1988.
Donohue, Victoria. “Paul Rickert at American College” Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 28, 1988.
Cathey, Paul. “Capturing the Charm of the Hill” Montgomery Newspaper, Nov. 29, 1989.
Van Winkle, Valerie. “Artist Paints Transcendent Reality” Bucksport Free Press, Bucksport, ME, Sept. 13, 1990.
Edtr. “Rickert’s Art has Mystical Qualities” The Record Herald, Waynesboro, PA, Aug. 26, 1991.
Doherty, M. Stephen. “Interpretations of the Colorado Landscape,” American Artist, Jan., 1997.
Little, Carl, and Arnold Skolnick. Art of the Maine Islands, Down East Books, Camden, ME, 1997.
Trombley, Margaret Kelly. New American Paintings: A Juried Exhibition in Print, No. 14, February 1998.
Recent Watercolors (exh. cat. essay), New York, Fischbach Gallery, 1998.
Trombly, Margaret Kelly. “Paul Rickert and the Nature of Watercolor,” Watercolor, Summer 1999.
May, Stephen. “Inside & Out,” Watercolor, Winter 2009, pp. 20 – 29, 16 color reprod.

[email protected]

MENU