“Thicket,” by Robert Beck was selected for this year’s Woodmere Open and will return in time for the upcoming exhibition at Morpeth Contemporary this September.

(HOPEWELL, NJ) -- Morpeth Contemporary announces "Here And Now," an exclusive solo exhibition featuring the latest paintings by Robert Beck. This event marks Beck's first solo exhibition since his acclaimed retrospective at the Michener Art Museum and will run from September 14 to October 6, 2024 at Morpeth Contemporary (43 West Broad Street) in Hopewell, NJ.

Robert Beck, a pivotal figure and a leading voice in the Bucks County Art and Cultural Heritage, continues to explore the substance of contemporary life through his iconic and expressive oil paintings.  His narrative-driven pieces, capturing unique but ever-present moments, have garnered Beck solo exhibits at three major museums.

"Here And Now" provides an intimate glimpse into Beck's celebrated artistic journey, featuring a diverse range of studio images and works from life, capturing the overlooked but deeply significant, in images that resonate with authenticity and introspection.

“First Light” by Robert Beck

Beck's subject matter spans locales, from the Delaware Valley and New York City to the rugged maritime villages of upper Maine. “Here and Now” also showcases a selection from Beck's latest focus on New York life, highlighting cultural snapshots of Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Notably, the exhibition includes the gallery debut of two significant works recently returned from museum exhibits: "Thicket," which was selected for this year's Woodmere Open, and "December Scallops," featured in the American Society of Marine Artists National Exhibition.

Beck States: "I'm describing things of our time. The images are based on our common experience. The paintings aren't just me; they are us.  In my work from life, I try to locate the heart of an encounter and describe what it's like to be there. The studio paintings are freed from those confines and fed by imagination and experience. There is a bit of call-and-response to it, establishing a dialogue with the observer."

“You know right away they are Robert’s paintings,” says gallery owner Ruth Morpeth, who first showed Beck in 1997, “They have always connected with people, and each exhibition reveals an expansion of depth and eloquence.  The images are engaging and deftly painted.  They mean something.”

Morpeth Contemporary invites enthusiasts, collectors, and newcomers alike to experience Robert Beck's examination of our "Here and Now," an exhibition of artistic evolution and shared human experience. 

Robert Beck in his New Hope, PA studio.  Photo by Bob Krist

There will be Opening Receptions on Friday, September 13 from 5:30pm – 7:30pm and Saturday, September 14 from 1:00pm – 3:00pm.

Morpeth Contemporary is located at 43 West Broad Street in Hopewell, New Jersey. Gallery hours are Wednesday to Sunday, 11:00am - 5:00pm.

Since its establishment in 1996, Morpeth Contemporary has promoted emerging and mid-career artists working in a variety of media, from painting to sculpture to photography. Some are self-taught, others Pennsylvania Academy alumni; some abstract, others practically precisionist in their representation of what they see in the world, or the simple object, before them. All inevitably dance somewhere along that vibrating string. The point, beyond skill, is seeing: vision. Theyhave them because they have vision, a way of seeing things that moves or interests them and thus is worth promoting.