Anne Cooper Dobbins

"I like to leave the door open, so the viewer can ask questions. I think the more questions asked, the more interesting the work."
-Anne Cooper Dobbins

Anne Cooper Dobbins was born in Louisville, Kentucky and was a graduate of the Washington University School of Fine Arts. She was the recipient of a Fulbright Grant and was a resident at the MacDowell Colony. Dobbins' work has been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the country including: The Library of Congress, Silvermine Guild in Connecticut, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Speed Museum in Louisville, and the Poindexter Gallery in New York City.

She captures inner emotion and mystery of her subjects by using minimal detail and bold colors. Her muted backgrounds and simplification of forms give her work an almost ethereal subtlety.

Dobbin's subject matter ranges from portraits, animals, and her trademark of flowers. She uses a highly individualistic technique of "underpainting"- applying layers upon layers of the paint to the canvas. This technique evokes a powerful and bold statement from each of her paintings.

Anne Cooper Dobbin's combination of design, color, and simplification of forms result in highly enigmatic works.

Education
Washington University School of Fine Arts, B.F.A., St. Louis, Missouri
Art Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Academy of Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany, 1963-1964

Teachers and Influences
Stephen Pace, Washington University

Connection to Bucks County
"We landed here because of a painter instructor who rented us a house in Upper Black Eddy. We bought it in the 1970s. The house has a reputation of having one artist after another living in it."
-Anne Cooper Dobbins

Anne Cooper Dobbins was a longtime resident of Upper Bucks County with her husband, the writer Sanford Weiss. They lived on Headquarters Road, near Ottsville. She was a mentor to many Bucks County artists and belonged to a group of Upper Bucks woman artists. Dobbins also created jewelry, was an interior decorator, a gardener and designer. Anne Cooper Dobbins was affectionately called "Coopie".

Major Solo Exhibitions
Riverrun Gallery, Lambertville, NJ, 2004, 2007, 2009
Atelier Fine Art Gallery, Frenchtown, NJ, 2000, 2002
Louisville Art Center, Louisville, KY, 1959

Major Group Exhibitions
Trimbur-Henry Gallery, Doylestown, PA, 2006
Hunterdon Museum of Art Juried Show, Clinton, NJ, 2005, 2007
Bucks County Artists, A Cross Section, Hicks Art Center, Bucks County Community College, Newtown, PA, 2004
Lehigh Art Alliance Juried Show, Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA, 2004
Ellerslie Open, Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ, 2003-2004, 2006-2007
Gallery of Fine Art, Newtown, PA, 2003
Art Matters, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA, 2001
Up River Now, Bristol Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ, 2000
Bucks Biennial #2, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA, 1994
Frame House Gallery, Louisville, KY, 1972
The Poindexter Gallery, New York, NY, 1969
The J.P. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY, 1961, 1962, 1968
Durlacher Gallery, New York, NY, 1966
Silvermine Guild of Artists, New Canaan, CT, 1965
St. Louis City Art Museum, St. Louis, MO, 1962
The Library of Congress Print Exhibition, Washington, D.C., 1962

Major Collections
Selected Collections:
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The J.P. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
Liberty National Bank, Louisville, KY
Glaxo Smith Kline, Philadelphia, PA
Bank One, St. Louis, MO
Schumacher Corporation, New York, NY
Fortune Magazine, New York, NY
The Bingham Collection, Santa Fe, NM

Major Awards
Fulbright Grant, Berlin, Germany, 1963
The MacDowell Colony, 1965