In October the David M. Hunt Library located on 63 Main Street in Falls Village will host artist Robert Cronin’s self-curated exhibit, “Now ‘n Then” featuring a small selection of his artworks from various years within his very full career. The exhibit will be in on display through Saturday, October, 29.
Mr. Cronin recently turned 80 and, as many know from his Facebook postings, he offers a look at work from various years throughout his career, both abstract and figurative. Lately there are the minimalist paintings on paper in solid colors. In reference to how many pieces he may have in a given series, he said “Some series of paintings through the years are not extensive enough for full exhibitions but can be just as good as those that go on and on.”
At his 80th Birthday Party, a private affair hosted by Mary O’Brien at her now-closed restaurant, Chaiwalla, in Salisbury, Mr. Cronin had selected work to suit the occasion–one piece each from certain series throughout his career. “Now ‘n Then” offers various examples of paintings from such histories over a span of sixty years including student works from R.I.S.D. in the late 1950s, a unique collage/combine from his MFA days at Cornell University in 1961, a small series of strictly black and white oil paintings from 2010 which were done between a larger group of imaginary still life paintings and a following group of minimalist color paintings. Going further through the present, there will be a few very small framed color works from 2011 which were the beginnings of a much larger commitment. Unframed works on paper will round out the exhibit.
Public high points in Mr. Cronin’s career started when he moved to Manhattan in 1980 and lived there until he moved in June 1987 to Connecticut. In those years Cronin was well received with six one-man exhibitions in NYC as well as in England, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, and Canada. Notable top level exhibitions include a fine show again at the Zabriskie Gallery in NYC in 2007. He muses….”There is still a hopeful feeling that it could always happen again”.
Robert Cronin’s work is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Brooklyn Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Worcester Art Museum, the National Academy and the National Air and Space Museum in D.C., among others. He was awarded two Massachusetts Artists Foundation Grants in the 1970s, an Individual Support Grant from the Gottlieb Foundation in 1991 and in 2008 won First Prize in the Member’s Exhibition at the Washington Art Association in Washington Depot, Ct.
Connecticut Travel 
Published by