Virgil Grotfeldt

Born in 1948 in Illinois, Virgil Grotfeldt has had a prolific, internationally recognized career. He graduated in 1971 with a BS ED in Art Education from Eastern Illinois University, and continued his education at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, earning a Master of Fine Arts in 1974. Since then he has held a number of teaching positions at schools in Illinois and Texas.

Grotfeldt’s career has progressed through a number of phases that reflect connections to both American and European art and philosophy. His early art focused largely on photorealistic paintings, but he later turned to more mystical and anthropological imagery. His oeuvre consists predominantly of experimental materials such as coal and metal dust on paper, though he executes many works in a wide variety of media. For instance, the artist will often incorporate in his paintings found documents such as nautical charts and fragments of handwriting.

In the 1990s, Grotfeldt turned to complex expressions of natural phenomena. His creations became delicate, biomorphic abstractions reminiscent of early works by Jackson Pollock. It was also at this time that he became connected with the Free International University, and was soon exhibited in its World Art Collection.

Grotfeldt has been featured in more than 150 solo and group exhibitions.  In 2003 he was honored as Artist of the Year by The Art League of Houston and the first major publication of his work, “Virgil Grotfeldt” was released in hardback.  Grotfeldt has been show nationally and internationally in locations including Mexico, Europe, China and Japan.  His work resides in permanent collections of many prestigious museums including The Menil Collection, Houston, Whitney Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Chengdu Museum, China and Fritz Becht Collection, Amsterdam.  Grotfeldt is an Associate Professor in Art at Houston Baptist University and has served as a guest critic at the Glassell School of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.