Antique Shop, water color on board

Walter Garver truly requires no introduction to Rochesterians, since his work over the years has made him one of upstate New York’s most prominent painters. A Buffalo resident and one-time student of Charles Burchfield, Walter has been both a recipient of countless honors and a subject of numerous publications. Among the collections including his work are the Burchfield-Penny Center in Buffalo, and the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown.

The hard-edged style of many paintings, together with the artist’s fondness for industrial scenes, would place him in the tradition of Precisionist painters like Scheeler, Crawford, or Demuth. Here sharp tonal contrasts, precise delineation of forms, and abrupt juxtaposition of planes push the images outside the boundaries of realism and "freeze" them in nearly abstract designs. But style for Garver is always a function of purpose.

In his other paintings the artist adopts a more traditional modeling technique, focusing the light source, and providing us images of luminous realism.

Sunset

Education:
Completed 60 hours of graduate study in Art History, Education and German
State University of New York at Buffalo, BFA
Studied with Charles Burchfield

Experience:
1996-present
Watercolor Magic Magazine
Contributing Editor
Artist’s Magazine
Contributing Editor

1958-1985
Amherst Senior High School, Snyder, NY
Teacher of Art History, Drawing, Painting and Photography
Chairman of Art Department

One Man Shows:
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Chautauqua Art Gallery, Chautauqua Institution, NY
Hall of Art, New York City, NY
More-Rubin Gallery, Buffalo, NY

Selected Exhibits and Awards:
2003
Realism’s Allure, Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY

2002
Two Person Exhibit, Oxford Gallery, Rochester, NY
In the Present Tense, Oxford Gallery, Rochester, NY

2001
Niagara Frontier Art Exhibit, Kenan Art Museum, Lockport, NY-1st place
Needing No Introduction, Oxford Gallery, Rochester, NY
Niagara Frontier Art Exhibit, Lockport, NY
66th Regional Exhibition at Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY
65th Annual Cooperstown Art Association National Exhibition
58th Annual Audubon Artists Exhibition at Salmagundi Club, NYC
Audubon Artists Annual Exhibition-Silver Medal of Honor

1994
Allied Artists Annual Exhibition-Gilmore & Romans Memorial Award
Batavia Society of Artists National Exhibition-Grumbacher Gold Medal

1992
Mid-Atlantic Regional Watercolor Exhibition-Annapolis Watercolor Club Award
Audubon Artists Annual Exhibition-Gold Medal of Honor
Audubon Artists Annual Exhibition-Gold Medal of Honor

Hide and Seek , oil on masonite, 29 " x 24"

1982
Oklahoma Art Center Painting & Sculpture Annual Exhibition-First Place
Buffalo Society of artists annual Exhibition-Gold Medal
Chautauqua National Exhibition-Bellinger Award
Buffalo Society of Artists Annual Exhibition-Gold Medal Prize

1975
Cooperstown Art Assoc. Annual National Exhibition-Grand Prize

1973
Cooperstown Art Assoc. Annual National Exhibition-Grand Prize

1973
Chautauqua National Exhibition-Bellinger Award
Chautauqua National Exhibition-Bellinger Award

1971 Chautauqua National Exhibition-Bellinger Award
Chautauqua National Exhibition-Bellinger Award
Buffalo Society of Artists National Exhibition-Gold Medal

1967
Buffalo Society of Artists National Exhibition-Gold Medal
Buffalo Society of Artists National Exhibition-Gold Medal

Autumn Ensemble

Member:
Allied Artists of America
Audubon Artists
Buffalo Society of Artists
Copley Society of Boston
National Watercolor Society

Inclusions:
Who’s Who in American Art
The Best of Oil Painting, ed. Nicholas and Terelak, Rockport, 1996
Encyclopedia of Watercolor Landscape Technique, Hazel Soan, Quarto, 1996
Splash, North Light, 1991
Painting Hands, Figures & Faces, Angela Gair, Quarto, 1991
Painting Buildings, Hazel Harrison, Quarto, 1991
Creative Landscape Painting, Edward Betts,Watson-Guptill, 1978
Creative Color, Wendon Blake, Watson-Guptill, 1972

Collections:
Arnot Museum, Elmira
Burchfield-Penny Art Center, Butler Institute, Cincinnati University,
Minnesota Museum, Pennsylvania University
Hyatt Regency, NY
Xerox, NY
Numerous private collections in Canada and U. S.