7022 Wisconsin Avenue
Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815
Telephone (301) 718-0622
(American 1924 - )
Herman Raymond was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1924. After the end of WW II
Raymond had to choose between a career as an artist or as a musician (he played
the trumpet). Raymond says he received more encouragement and recognition as an
artist so that is the career he chose. That choice being made, Raymond has
devoted his life to painting since completing his studies at the Art Students
League in New York City. Raymond looks back fondly at the days he shared a
studio in Greenwich Village for $12 a month with three other aspiring artists.
After being awarded a one-person show at the Artists’ Gallery in New York City,
Raymond decided to move to Colorado. He says he was in search of a quieter place
to live and paint.
From 1951 - 1954 Raymond taught, studied, and painted at the Colorado Springs
Fine Arts Center.He has made Colorado his home since that time, where he paints
and does occasional stage design work.
In 1955 the national Art Quarterly "Art In America" selected Mr. Raymond for its
"New Talent In America" Contest. Since that time Mr. Raymond has participated in
many national exhibitions including museum shows in New York City; Tallahasee,
Florida; Columbia, South Carolina; and in Oakland and San Francisco, California.
In the initial phases of his artistic career, Mr. Raymond allied himself with
the Abstract Style which was so dominant in the art world at that time,
especially in New York City. He eventually moved away from that style into a
mature Impressionistic Style whose subject matter consisted of gardens,
landscapes, city and genre scenes. His work seems to dissolve into many colored
dots as the viewer looks at his paintings up close. Mr. Raymond’s paintings are
built on tonal values rather than on color. Mr. Raymond has stated that "Color
is optional......I work more by values." He has further stated that "Artists
aren’t decorators." A prominent art critic has stated that when looking at Mr.
Raymond’s work one comes away with the sense of "a single artistic personality
behind his painting".
The American Federation of Fine Arts has voted Mr. Raymond as "One of the top
fifteen Artists in the United States". The Pikes Peak Art Council has recently
awarded Mr. Raymond their "Lifetime Achievement Award".
Mr. Raymond’s work is collected around the world, and is included in many
prestigious private and public collections.