Rita Argen Auerbach (American, 1933-2024) an internationally recognized watercolor artist and educator who's represented in numerous museum, corporate and private collections throughout the United States. Her award winning paintings have portrayed such subjects as Buffalo's architecture, Chautauqua Institution's Victoriana and landscapes inspired by extensive travel in this country and abroad. Auerbach's works are characterized by strong value contrasts created by light and shade using rich luminous transparent watercolor.
National and International juried exhibitions have included her paintings such as The Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors, Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, Montana Watermedia, Mid-Atlantic Regional Watercolor Exhibition, National League of American Pen Women, and the Erie and Niagara Landscape Exhibition in Dortmund, Germany. Rita was invited for a one artist exhibition in The Academy of Art in Riga, Latvia.
Rita's paintings have been exhibited in Western New York at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Art Dialogue Gallery, Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Kenan Art Center, Big Orbit Gallery, Carnegie Art Center, Castellani Art Museum, Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center, Chautauqua Center for the Visual Arts and others. She received bachelors and masters Degrees in Art Education from State University of New York at Buffalo. A secondary art teacher for twenty years in the Clarence Central Schools and district art department chair, she was named Western New York Art Educator of the Year in 1993 and is listed in "Who's Who Among America's Teachers".
Rita conducted painting excursion workshops in Costa Rica, France, Italy and Spain. She was on the faculty of Chautauqua Institution Special Studies Program and was a delegate to the Chautauqua Institution/Eisenhower Institute Conference on U.S.-Soviet Relations in Riga, Latvia. Her sketches of the trip became the Conference's official gift to the Soviet Government and are published in "Sketches and Reflections of a Journey". Articles about her painting techniques have been included in American Artist Magazine and Watercolor.
She was a council member of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center in Buffalo, NY and past president of the Buffalo Society of Artists, as well as being listed in "Who's Who in American Art" and "Who's Who in America".
For the "Herd About Buffalo" public art project that began in 2000, Rita painted two buffaloes which helped raise $1.3 million dollars for Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the Burchfield-Penney Art Center.
Rita won the "Unsung Hero" Award from the Arts Services Initiative of Western New York (ASI) 4th Annual “Spark” Cultural Awards for 2016-17. The awards party, “Celebrating Those Who Ignite Arts & Culture”, took place Wednesday May 10, 2017 at Hotel Henry with WKBW’s Mike Randall who served as MC for the evening.
Artist's Statement
"As an artist, I am inspired by the way that light transforms the world around me whether the subject is architecture, landscape or still life. This is an exciting phenomenon which I attempt to communicate through my paintings. I work primarily in watercolor known to be an illusive and challenging medium. The application of this medium on a surface of pure white paper can yield intriguing gem-like effects. I manipulate shape, form, texture, value, and color to make a strong personal statement. In my work, color is the most significant element that enhances the emotional qualities of the paintings. My bold and adventurous use of color is characterized by the way I exaggerate its values. Painting while traveling allows me to visually interpret the unique essence of domestic and foreign lands. Light, so much a part of nature, creates endless possibilities and presents me with the freedom to express and interpret its beauty".
To view additional works, please visit the artist's website link
