Will Barnet to Receive 2011 National Medal of Arts

Will Barnet will be awarded the 2011 National Medal of Arts in a White House ceremony hosted by President Obama in the East Room on Monday, February 13th, at 1:45 pm.  The event will stream live at http://www.whitehouse.gov/Live. 

 
The President's citation is expected to read as follows:  "Will Barnet for his contributions as an American painter, printmaker, and teacher.  His nuanced and graceful depictions of family and personal scenes, for which he is best known, are meticulously constructed of flat planes that reveal a lifelong exploration of abstraction, expressionism, and geometry.  For over 80 years, Mr. Barnet has been a constant force in the visual arts world, marrying sophistication and emotion with beauty and form." 
 
The Alexandre Gallery today congratulated Mr. Barnet on this honor.  Barnet's work was recently the subject of a career retrospective in New York at the National Academy Museum.  An exhibition of major figurative paintings from the 1980s is planned for the 2012 – 2013 gallery season.