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October Issue 2007
Tryon Fine Arts Center in Tryon, NC, Features Works by Phyllis Eifert and Charles Harpt
Tryon Painters and Sculptors present the works of Phyllis Eifert and Charles Harpt in Gallery I of the Tryon Fine Arts Center in Tryon, NC. The show which includes paintings and sculptures will be on view from Oct. 5 - 27, 2007.
Charles Harpt was introduced to horses at Ft. Riley, KN, in 1945. His basic training was with "B" Squadron, the last unit to train with horses in the US Army.
After studying art at the Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia on the G.I. Bill, Harpt worked on a newspaper and in advertising agencies until retirement in 1989. His last job before retiring was in outdoor advertising, where he learned to paint. Most of the artist's work prior had been rendered in black and white mediums. With this new job he was given cans of paint, brushes you could paint a house with and a surface that was 14 feet by 48 feet in length to paint on. The art copy he was given to work with was at times no bigger than a postcard. Harpt says, "But when you need work you learn fast!".
One of the hidden pleasures, Harpt says of painting on such a grand scale was that you could paint landscapes or portraits hidden in areas of the work that couldn't be seen from the ground. Up close there would be little heads in the bubbles of a soft drink and horses running free through the gravy and mashed potatoes.
Most of what Harpt paints now are horses and related subjects - farms, fields, carriages, polo and anything that even hints of horses and horse people.
For Phyllis Allen Eifert, the world of horses
has played a major role for the past sixty years. Born in Lynchburg,
VA, in 1932, Eifert began to ride at the age of six. On Pearl
Harbor day, Dec. 7, 1941, after taking riding lessons and attending
lectures and a clinic given by Capt. Vladimir S. Littauer she
rode in one of her first horse shows. According to the artist,
"From then on whenever there was an opportunity she hunted
with the Bedford County Hounds and showed her horse in local horse
shows".
After graduating from high school Eifert went to Penn Hall in
Chambersburg, PA, and majored in Art History. It was there that
she gained experience riding under the coaching of Fritz Kleeman
who taught Littauer's method. During this time, after schooling
everyday, Eifert showed in inter-collegiate shows, hunted with
Plunket Stewart's Cheshire Hounds and rode in the Harrisburg National.
After receiving her BFA, she continued her art education at Moore Institute of Art, The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Barnes Foundation. At this time horses were not in the picture and it was not until after she was married that she was given a gift of a lovely three year old gelding from her husband. There was a lot of work for her to bring this "green horse" along and she needed help from a professional. Living, at the time, in Bedford, NY, there were quite a few good horsemen from which to choose. Each week she would van her horse to Cedar Lodge Farm in Connecticut and take lessons from Hugo-Vidal. The excellent schooling under a well-known trainer paid off. Phyllis showed and hunted her horse and later her daughter won her first McClay Class on this horse. After Eifert's children went off to college she raised cross bred hunter ponies.
The love of horses is also expressed in the artist's works which she has produced that spans a period of sixty years. Beginning with private art lessons at a very young age, Eifert later majored in art and continued her art education in Philadelphia and at the State University of New York at Purchase, NY. At SUNY she spent five years concentrating on bronze casting and foundry work. Although she has worked in many mediums and has been a fabric designer and art director, her interest now is in drawing and sculpture. Eifert has exhibited extensively in this country and abroad and her work has won awards and is represented in many private collections.
The name Phillip means, "lover of horses". This was her father's name and Phyllis was named for her father - How appropriate!
For further information check our NC Institutional
Gallery listings, call the Center at 828/859-8322 or visit (www.tryontfac.org).
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