The Austin College community recieved word of the sudden death of Professor Emeritus Carl Richard "Dick" Neidhardt on Saturday, August 22. Dr. Neidhardt joined the faculty at Austin College in 1967, where he was professor and Art Department chair for the next 19 years. He was honored with a Danforth Grant for advanced research, a Cullen Grant for research in Egypt, and Richardson Research Grants in southern France and Greece.
Please share your memories and condolences.
Dick has so many interesting and admirable characteristics that I hardly know where to start. His candor, which sometimes amounted to "speaking truth to power," was admired by those faculty who remember his willingness to speak up and ask, in a training session for some new program (such as program management in the late 1970s), "Would someone explain to me just why we are doing this? I don't see the need for it, and yet we are all expected to spend hours trying to do something 'innovative' that appears to have no value whatsoever." Then he would sit down, while the rest of us applauded or stamped our feet in approval!
ReplyDeleteAnd then there were the small sculptures he began making, first carving a wood model and then having a foundry in Fort Worth use the "lost wax" method to create a bronze version. I the first bronze wasn't up to his standard, he would carve another wooden version and try again. The results were marvelous. My personal favorite was "File Drawer Man," although "Caged Man with Caged Bird was undoubtedly his most profound meditation on humanity's place in the cosmos. If you haven't seen these fabulous works of art go to one of these websites for a sampling:
www.texassculpturegarden.org
You can find "Richard Neidhardt" listed among the artists represented there and click on his name to get a page about his work.
Until now, I had not realiized Dr. Neidhardt and I came to AC at the same time, however, I did not take a class from him until 1969. He was a great teacher and is responsible for opening my eyes to the world of art. Until then, science was my prime focus - maybe even a bit myopic. But Dick Neidhardt was knowledgeable and enthusiastic and had the patience to handle a wayward junior. His influence has been a part of my professional university life ever since. He will be missed.
ReplyDeleteDick was the best. I went to Yucatan on his art Jan term with all Seniors my freshman year when freshmen weren't supposed to leave campus, hadn't even had Fundamentals. Was blown away that I would be having drinks at a bar in Merida with my professor. He had them hold the plane at the airport in Mexico City when I had gone back to pick up some jewelry I had made and got caught in traffic. I convinced him that I needed to take weaving (DS) along with Fundamentals because the teacher and the 3 girls enrolled were graduating Seniors and I could teach it the next year. As my mentor for several years, it was easy to convince Dick, but he made me explain my Directed/Independent Studies to Jack Carlson. He always had that pilot's crowsfoot twinkle in his eye, a ready laugh and was the epitome of a sweet gentle man. Namaste, Dick
ReplyDeleteI don't know where to start. Everything I write seems inadequate to what was truly the genius of Dick Neidhardt. He was without doubt the wisest person I've ever known. His insights seemed to come from a realm inaccessible to the rest of us–I felt blind by comparison. Yet his humanity and generosity was such that you didn't feel jealous–you saw instead, his brilliance as a gift to the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteAnd he could be so funny. Jerry Lincecum's anecdote is typical of dozens. I remember Dick, during a heated discussion of some newly proposed program at Austin College, explaining at length to the faculty why it's sometimes a good idea to saw off the limb you're sitting on (something Dick did often in his artwork), and the faculty, doubled over with laughter, but shamed nevertheless, passing the proposal.
Dick made beautiful works of art, astonishingly insightful and witty. His studio practice was pure–he made exactly what he wanted and seemed to care little for acclaim. He loved ideas and he loved color. He also loved people, which is why, contrary to artworld trends, his art was never cynical.
He was my teacher before he was my friend and colleague. I'm never in my studio that I don't feel his presence.
I am remembering a faculty meeting I was invited to attend in the mid-70s where Dick stood up and said, "Every year I read Alice in Wonderland and then I come to faculty meetings and I feel like I'm in wonderland again."
ReplyDeleteThis has caused me to annually read Alice in Wonderland and reflect on what must be going on year after year in faculty meetings. I never had the opportunity to return to those meetings to see if he was on target...but I suspect that he was.
My own mother was my geometry teacher in high school and fortunately for me, I am the proud owner of three of his beautiful geometric paintings. They are so special to me…just as Dick was.
Always when I have thought of Dick, I have seen his smile, and that is the way I will always think of him in the future--that unique smile that was sweet without being saccharine and wry without being ill-natured. He was always a wonderful reason to go to faculty meetings; we all waited in anticipation for the moment when he would stand up, because we knew we would hear the truth delivered with passion but with humor in a combination unique to him. At one particularly long and dull dinner with too many speakers, he and I were seated at the same table. Dick suddenly jumped up clutching his chest and headed for the door. I knew exactly what he was up to and followed him to "help." When we got on the other side of the door, we said "Bye" and went in our separate directions. I suspect several people in the room knew exactly what he was up to and wished they had thought of it first. There are so many more memories, but I just want to express my joy at his life and work, and my sorrow that I won't see that smile again.
ReplyDeleteDick was my Mentor after Vernon left. I was not sure what to expect! But one day when I was in his art history class he wanted me to do a study of how Cathedrals were made. I searched for literature and came back to his office perplexed that I could not find much information. He then handed me a children's book and told me that sometimes you have to look for inspiration in the most unexpected places. Forever afterwards I cannot wonder into the children's section of the book store and not think of that day. Years later, I finally bought that book. My fondest memories of his art are of his sculptures because of the delight I saw he was having in making them. I can still hear his laugh when they were first exibited and someone was taking them wayyy too seriously. But when I close my eyes it is his paintings that I see and that I admired. I managed to graduate without taking a painting class (sorry Vernon, not my medium!) but if I could, I wanted my paitings to have as much pure enthusiasm as his did. I still wish I have gone with him to Egypt! I know it would have been the adventure of a life time, but instead I traveled to London with Dub. Well, that was not too shabby either. It was Dick's curiousity about evertyhing that he loved to share. I too have a picture in my head of Dick and the twinkle eye. He always knew a way to keep his students interested and involved. What a gift to be able to give your students.
ReplyDeleteDick's lecture on the relationship of the art object, the artist and the audience is just as vivid and vital for me today as it was in 1970 when I heard it sitting in Sherman Hall as part of the Basic Studies course work. In a simple, straightforward delivery he spoke of the artist's vision and how from the moment the first stroke of paint is brushed across the canvas the vision is changed...the artwork (the color of the paint, the thickness, the canvas, wood, plaster that the paint is being applied to...)changes the artist's vision and from that moment the give and take of the relationship between the artist and his object develops and grows. Then there's the audience...that we love and hate and need and you get the idea...
ReplyDeleteI dabble in the graphic arts (photography and painting), but I find my voice through the theatre and writing (plays and poetry). And it is no surprise that Dick's insight into the art object, artist and audience ring true for these modes of expression also.
Over the years I have related this lecture and these ideas to many people and I hope have honored Dick along the way.
Thanks, Dick for being a part of my life and all that I create.
I had the great fortune to take several classes from Dick, including one summer class that ranks as my favorite class of my entire education career. He was one of those people that I always looked forward to seeing, because of his personality, and looked forward to listening to in class due to his knowledge and friendly manner of teaching. My artistic abilities were certainly modest, but Dick always found merit in my projects and guided me in a positive way.
ReplyDeleteI took two art history classes from Dick and I always felt almost guilty because they were so much fun. His expertise and insights made the learning process so entertaining, and with his deep appreciation for the works we studied, you just couldn't help but become enthralled. We even got to go on a "field trip" to the Kimball in Ft. Worth! I will always be grateful for the time I spent in his classes and the time I spent talking with Dick. I feel very fortunate to have known him. One last time..."Thank you, Dr. Neidhardt!"
Dr.N taught me what a teacher should be. He listened and observed and was willing to help his students find their own route to learning however circular it might be. I wanted an Art History degree at AC in the 70s; that meant a year off-campus and lots of independant studies. He was all for it! One year as a work/study project, I was paid to work with his slide collection (those precious slides). We disagreed on how they should be organized and those many discussions turned into a cross-cultural independant study and later, a course. Our brains didn't process information the same way and he was the first teacher to value that. I view the world differently because of my time with him and I view MY students differently because of his time with me. Thank you Dr.N.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of Dick Neidhardt, I first picture his Key Man, a profile cut from wood with many keys hung on cuphooks, covering the man's body. I don't remember the clever name for this sculpture, but it greeted me at his front door for many years.
ReplyDeleteDick Neidhardt was my teacher, mentor, colleague and friend. We shared ideas, books,and eggnog during the caroling season.
He surprised me last year, by attending my gallery talk at Ida Green Gallery, when I did my solo alumni show. After the formal "talk" he examined my work closely, and we talked about my new brighter pallette, the sculptural quality of my vases impressed with elements of nature and the challenges of marketing art work which continually evolves.
We paused at my large urn, Aerial View / Palo Duro Canyon, and talked about our flying experiences, the beauty of an aerial view...
adrenaline surges while navigating at 9500 feet, and the challenge of picking an emergency landing spot...immediately!
More stories followed, of his Atlantic crossings, and my south Texas pasture landings.
We shared so much over these past 40 years and I am honored to say that the Neidhardt family chose to bury some of Dick's ashes in an urn I made many years ago, in my first Shade Tree Potter studio at Houston and Grand Ave in Sherman. Another portion of his ashes will remain in his studio, in a small clay box I have adorned with impressions of starfish and morning glory flowers. Hopefully, this box will quietly rest amongst his studies of carved wooden birds and tiny cats whittled while his mind wandered and he pondered the universe.
As is fitting, the remainder of Dick's ashes will be scattered from an airplane.
I noticed, when I came for his funeral, that Dick's Key Man has moved upstairs, but he's still standing guard at the Neidhardt home.
His more recent sculpture, Man Attempting to Fly, captures for me Dick Neidhardt's creative spirit.
May his soul soar forever.
Susie Fowler
Dr Neidhardt has given me some of my best memories-words fail. His zinging one-liners ring through my ears to this day.
ReplyDeleteMy condolences to the family. Dr N's memory will forever be a blessing.
Paula (Doty) Gaon, 1974
Dick keeps returning to my thoughts after I read of his death in the most recent issue of the alumni magazine. He was a bit of a lifeline to me in Fundamentals, as I was a pretty freaked-out freshman. And I was one of his student leaders the next fall when it was his turn for C/I. Some of the blog entries (above) are so coincident with my experience of him: it was a wonderful realization as a student that mature adults could still fight "authority" when found to be adsurd, that it is possible to be a critical viewer of the world, both the personal one and the universal, without cynicism or meanness.
ReplyDeleteThe last time I saw Dick, I had come up to Sherman in the early 1980's to ask him to write me a rec letter for grad school. I found him sitting in the Art Office, bemused, in front of a brand new IBM Selectric typewriter which AC had decided the Art Department needed. ("It types pica...heck! It even types elite!")
I remember his inviting me to see a recently completed painting: Perfect Painting No. 1 He explained it had everything: it was abstract, representational, expressionistic, and on and on. And of course, it was only "No. 1" because there would be more.
I remember him saying that everything he painted all came from his experience as a pilot, looking down over the earth. That was his alpha and omega.
I send my condolences to his family, friends, colleagues. I had not seen him in decades, so I still have the Dr. Neidhardt I have always had.
Elise McGhee Pullman ('77)