James Wolfe

"When Wolfe's sculptures succeed best, each complex move becomes important, each gesture a continuation to a total single rhythm. They are original, witty, animated pieces that reward our attention."
-Karen Wilkinson

Sculptor James Wolfe, a former resident of New Hope, Pennsylvania, has built a distinguished international career, with solo exhibitions at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. and the Huntington Museum of Art in Huntington, West Virginia. He has also exhibited his work at galleries in Germany and Canada, and his work is included in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Storm King Art Center. In 1989, he was commissioned to create the James Wolfe Sculpture Trail for the Johnstown Flood Museum, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, consisting of 10 pieces. He was also the focus of a 2007 exhibition at the Michener Art Museum. Wolfe's abstract sculptures, which Karen Wilkison refers to as "calligraphic structures" in a catalog of his works, are often based on a fascination with line and rhythm, with complex, intricate designs that resemble cursive writing or delicate linear drawings. Wolfe has also been an educator, having taught sculpture at the Boston Museum School and the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Education
Benington College, Benington, VT
Sculpture, 1967-1969

Teachers and Influences
David Smith

Connection to Bucks County
Wolfe grew up in New Hope, attending New Hope High School and Solebury School

Colleagues and Affiliations
Joseph Crilley

Major Solo Exhibitions
Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA, 2007
Marion Meyer Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA, 1999, 2002
Lucy Berman Gallery, Palo Alto, CA, 1990, 1993
Civic Center Plaza, Palo Alto, CA, 1993
Palazzetti Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 1992
Galeri Am Tiergarten 62, Cologne, West Germany, 1989
Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV, 1989
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York City, NY, 1973-1977, 1985, 1986, 1988
Baumgartner Gallery, Washington, D.C.,1988
Innenhof des Historischen Rahtauses, Cologne, West Germany, 1988
Don Stewart Gallery, Montreal, Canada, 1988
Wentzel Gallery, Cologne, West Germany, 1987
Rubiner Gallery, Bloomfield, MI, 1987
The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1986
Baumgartner Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1986
Stephen Rosenberg Gallery, New York City, NY, 1982, 1983
The Exhibition Space at 112 Greene Street, New York City, NY, 1983
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA, 1981
Osuna Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1980
Meredith Long Gallery, New York City, NY, 1978, 1979

Major Group Exhibitions
Ten High Street Gallery, Camden, ME, 2010
5th Annual Sculpture New Hope Juried Exhibition, New Hope, PA, 2007
Fresh Paint Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 1996
Black and White, Lucy Berman Gallery, Palo Alto, CA, 1994
Back to the Wall, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA, 1989
For the Collector: Important Contemporary Sculpture, Meredith Long and Co., Houston, TX
Big Little Sculpture, Williams College, Williamstown, MA, 1988
New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT
Candidates for Awards, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY, 1987
Four Sculptors, Reynolds-Minor Gallery, Richmond, VA
Collector's Gallery XX, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX, 1986
Walter Dusenbery/James Wolfe: Saint-Gaudens Fellows in Sculpture, The Gallery,
Saint Gaudens NHS, Cornish, NH, 1985
Pre-Postmodernism, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY
Group Show, Federal Reserve Board, Washington, D.C., 1984
Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA
Abstract Art in New England, Danforth Museum, Framingham, MA, 1983
A Century of Modern Sculpture: 1882-1982, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Small Sculpture, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 1982
Work from Invited Artists Program, Clayworks Studio Workshop, New York City, NY
Visitors from the Fall, Clayworks Studio Workshop, New York City, NY, 1981
Sculpture Space, Utica College, Utica, NY, 1980
Fifteen Sculptors in Steel Around Bennington, Park McCullough House Association,
North Bennington, VT, 1978
Painting and Sculpture Today, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, 1977
Contemporary Collectors, Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, CT
The Condition of Sculpture, Hayward Gallery, London, England, 1975
Contemporary American Artists, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 1974
Monumenta, Newport, RI
New England Sculpture, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 1973
Five Sculptors from Bennington, Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY, 1972
Delux Show, Houston, TX, 1971

Special Projects and Commissions
8 Sculpture Installations: City Park, Lompoc, CA, 2004
Fountain Commission: St. Barnabus Foundation, Los Angeles, CA, 2003
Gates Commission: Little Village School, Los Angeles, CA, 2002
Fence & Gate: Odyssey School, Malibu, CA, 2001
Sculpture Commission: Ocean Pointe Resort, Honolulu, HI, 1997
Private Sculpture Commission: Harold S. Kant, Reno, NV, 1990
10 Sculpture Commission: Johnstown Flood Museum, The Centennial Committee and
Bethlehem Steel for James Wolfe Sculpture Trail, Johnstown, PA, 1989
Invitation by Fried Von Neumann Werkes, Austria to create sculpture series for Wentzel
Gallery Exhibition, Cologne, West Germany, 1987
Invitation by Ediciones Poligrafa to create a series of monotypes, Barcelona, Spain, 1986

Public Collections
Auckland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, NC
Art Museum of Western Virginia, Roanoke, VA
Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH
Fort Worth Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV
James Wolfe Sculpture Trail, Johnstown, PA
Kresge Art Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Lowe Art Gallery, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Old Jail Art Center, Albany, TX
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR
Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, NY
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, NY

Corporate Collections
American Express, New York City, NY
American Express, Irvine, CA
American Airlines, New York City, NY
Bethlehem Steel, Johnstown, PA
Mobil Oil, Fairfax, VA
NYNEX Corporation, White Plains, NY
Steel Case Corporation, New York City, NY

Awards
Augustus Saint-Gaudens Foundation, Cornish, NH, 1984
National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C., 1974
National Endowment for the Arts, Invitational Residency, Clayworks Studio
Workshop, New York City, NY, 1974