Robert J. Wilbert, Still Life with Chair and Bobcat, 1977
July 26, 2024
Robert Wilbert (1929–2014) was an American painter and educator whose association with the local Cass Corridor movement and impactful tenure at Wayne State University made him an integral figure within Detroit’s historical art scene. Wilbert was born in Chicago and received his fine arts education from the University of Illinois; he was attending graduate school when he was first recognized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which included one of his watercolor paintings in an exhibition.[1] He moved to Detroit to teach painting at Wayne State in 1956 and nurtured countless artists, scholars, and enthusiasts throughout the subsequent decades (he held his position at the university for 38 years). His work was primarily figurative, and he often experimented with the traditional still life genre; an interest in tension over symbolism seems to compliment his interest in form, which manifests in works such as Still Life with Chair and Bobcat, painted in 1977. As noted by one reviewer:
Whatever genre or medium he is working in, Wilbert is concerned with meticulous observation, but also with contrasting nature and artifice. He renders his subjects faithfully, yet always presents them within carefully staged scenes, constructed environments...Viewers are thus invited to contemplate the fine line between what is still and what is life.[2]
In this work, Wilbert presents a realistically rendered yet imaginative spread across a red-clothed table in front of a beige wall. A snare drum is propped in front of the seat of a white straight back chair laying on its side, with a bugle wedged between its legs and a mustard-framed black and red checkerboard leaning behind its feet. A snarling bobcat emerges from behind a snake plant at the far right, next to a ridged, teal-colored vessel. There is a certain playfulness through the juxtaposition of these objects—though each is rather mundane on its own, they become extraordinary through their immediate association, heightened by the chosen color palette and composition. Further, though everything is planted on the tabletop, there is a sense of precariousness through a suggested development beyond the edge of the canvas to the viewer’s right. Each object is illuminated from this angle, casting their shadows behind, and the bobcat appears suddenly distressed; his eyes are locked in that direction with ears pressed to his skull, as if he was startled while weaving through the quirky assortment of objects or as if he is mounting an attack from this constructed space. The twist in the tablecloth around the planter’s base further evidences immediate action, and perhaps we even feel the need to reach out in anticipation of an object’s crash to the ground. In this way, Wilbert creates a clever tension between stasis and dynamism, introducing ambiguity and complicating genre conventions.
Wilbert’s skills—technical as well as exploratory—are showcased here and speak to the trajectory of his artistic career. Wilbert exhibited such works nationally and his legacy has been honored by various galleries and institutions—his work is notably included in the permanent collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Additional accomplishments include commissions to design a commemorative postage stamp for Michigan’s sesquicentennial and to paint the official portrait of former governor James Blanchard.[3] In addition, Wilbert painted the official portrait of former President of Wayne State University, Irvin D. Reid, which is also in the Wayne State collection.[4]
Written by Sarah Teppen