Denver Lindley, Jr.

"Being an artists is a license to look... It's most exhilarating; I see ideas everywhere. I've always been puzzled by people who have to go to exotic places to stir their creative juices. If I really get stuck, I stretch canvas."
-Denver Lindley Jr.

Expressionist painter Denver Lindley Jr. described his work as cubist-surrealist. "I work from the sight taken as seen" he said. Growing up in the New York area, Lindley received a degree from Yale University, and later studied at the Art Students League in New York. The focus in his work was on both composition and content. His paintings confront social issues such as race relations, as well as personal issues such as parent-child relationships. He painted from life, but what the viewer sees on the canvas is abstract and interpretive. He worked in oil, watercolor, and charcoal.

Aside from his artistic activities, Lindley was active in local politics, serving as Bucks County Commissioner and as a member of the Bucks County Community College's board of trustees. He was a founder of the Bucks County Council on the Arts, the Michener Art Museum's previous organization. Lindley worked to bridge the gap between politics and art, and he often tried to present both with an understanding of the other, stating that "the arts are vital to society."

Education and Training
Yale University, B.A., New Haven, Connecticut, 1952
Art Students League, New York, New York, 1953-1957
European travel and study, 1957-1958

Teachers and Influences
Edwin Dickinson and George Grosz of the Art Students League in New York, Tom Blagden, Dean Keller, George Price, Daumier, Ben Shan, Jack Levine, Kitaj, Jim Dine, Jasper Johns, Diebenkorn

Connection to Bucks County
Denver Lindley Jr. lived in Bucks County from 1958 to 1988 when he moved to Kitty Hawk and Duck, North Carolina. Lindley exhibited locally in Pipersville and Doylestown, and served on many political committees and community associations. He served as Bucks County Commissioner and founding member of the Bucks County Council of the Arts. His work is represented in the Michener Art Museum.

Colleagues and Affiliations
Kay Renninger, Stirling Spadea, Steve Pace, and Ed Higgins. Lindley was married to Bucks County painter Joan W. Lindley. He served as Tinicum Art Festival Chair in 1963 and was involved with the Stover Mill Art Association. He was president of Bucks County Arts Foundation and served as Bucks County Commissioner from 1972 to 1976. He was a founding member of the Bucks County Council on the Arts and an honorary trustee of the Michener Art Museum.

Major Solo Exhibitions
Padawer Gallery, New York, New York, 1960
Janet Nessler Gallery, New York, New York, 1963

Major Group Exhibitions
Montclair Museum (Beach Award), Montclair, New Jersey, 1959
2nd Young Metropolitan Artists, 1959
National Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, New York, 1961
Carnegie International Biennial, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1961
Annual, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, 1961
Overseas Press Club, 1962
Eastern States Annual, Springfield Museum, Springfield, Ohio, 1961-1962
Summer Annual, Butler Institute, Youngstown, Ohio, 1961-1962
University of Nebraska Art Association, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1962
Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1964
Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, Pennsylvania, 1966
University of Texas (Michener Collection), Austin, Texas, 1972-1973
George School, Newtown, Pennsylvania, 1982
Delaware Valley Art Gallery, 1984
Mano-A-Mano, Glenn Eure's Ghost Fleet Gallery, Nags Head, North Carolina, 1991, 1993, 1995

Major Collections
Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania

Commissions
Mural: Borough Hall, Doylestown, Pennsylvania

Children's Literature
Illustrations: Mumble by Gary Moore

Teaching and Professional Appointments
Art Instructor, Art Students League, New York, New York, 1958

Affiliations and Memberships
Art Students League Board of Control
Bucks County Arts Foundation, President
Bucks County Council on the Arts, Founding Member
Cunningham Dance Foundation, Board Member
ICARUS 2003
Michener Art Museum, Honorary Trustee
Pennsylvania Council on The Arts, Festival Consultant