Chronology

1982

Moves to current residence in a renovated farmhouse adjoining the Roundtop property overlooking the Susquehanna River.

1984

Begins series of interior drawings and paintings of the farmhouse. Mentors with writer and art critic David Tannous.

1985

Evans' painting Peppers included in Recent American Works on Paper which tours through the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service to museums internationally including the National Academy of Art in New Delhi, India.

Farmhouse at Roundtop circa 1984

1988

Exhibits interior series in first major solo exhibit at the Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA. Exhibit reviewed favorably in the Washington Post. Exhibit is also featured in American Artist magazine, New Art Examiner, Washington Review and a cover story in Art Today magazine. Threshold acquired from the exhibit by the Corcoran Museum of Art.

1990

Selected to participate in Washington-Moscow Exchange exhibition at Tretyakov Museum in Moscow, USSR.

Solo exhibit of Evans' night paintings at Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville, DE is reviewed favorably in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The exhibit sells out.

Solo exhibition at the Arlington Arts Center, 1988

1991

Marries artist Renee L. Patton.

Travels to Moscow, USSR to exhibit in joint Russian/American exhibit at Central Exhibition Hall. Witnesses flag change from Communist to Democratic.

1993

First museum survey at the Allentown Art Museum. Allentown Art Museum acquires The Lure from the exhibit.

Evans is invited to create a painting for the cover of Shadow Play, a novel by noted American author Charles Baxter. Baxter incorporates a reference to Evans' painting, Late Dinner, in the novel and acquires the cover painting, Burning.

Evans and Russian artist friends, Moscow, 1991

1959

Born, Boston, Massachussetts.

1960 - 81

Resides in Kensington, MD. Spends summers near Wrightsville, PA at Roundtop, a renovated 19th century stone structure owned by his maternal grandparents and situated on a wooded ridge with a commanding view of the Susquehanna River. Spends time roaming the woods collecting insects, bones and other natural artifacts.

1977 - 1981

Attends Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts, Syracuse, NY. Studies with Jerome Witkin. Receives B.F.A. Degree (Summa Cum Laude).

1979

Semester of study in Amsterdam, Netherlands through Syracuse University. Travels throughout Europe.

View of the Susquehanna River from Roundtop

1999

Evans' painting Refuge is included in the exhibit Magic Realism: America's Response to Surrealism at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art along with works by George Tooker, Paul Cadmus and others. Refuge is acquired by the museum.

Receives first of two hand-written letters of encouragement from Andrew Wyeth.

Fossil featured on the cover of Ploughshares, guest edited by Charles Baxter.

2000

Natural Forces, a solo exhibit of Evans' work, goes on view as part of the grand opening of the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts on the waterfront in Wilmington,DE. Catalog published with

essay by Leo Mazow. Exhibit is reviewed favorably in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Fossil on the cover of Ploughshares, 1999

1994

Purchases farm, begins renovation of barn into studio and gallery.

Receives fellowship from the PA Council on the Arts.

Begins collaboration with David Adamson producing digital prints on the Iris printer at Adamson Editions. Evans is invited to participate in the Washington Portfolio, the first ever portfolio featuring all digital printmaking, which includes work by 10 prominent artists including William Christenberry, Renee Stout, Jacob Kainen, Robin Rose, and Andrea Way among others. Portfolio is exhibited at David Adamson Gallery in Washington, D.C., reviewed favorably in the Washington Post, and acquired by a number of museums including the Corcoran Museum of Art, Federal Reserve Board, and the Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD.

1995

Son, Lucas, is born.

Evans' print from the Washington Portfolio, Marietta Train II, is featured on the cover of Digital Imaging Magazine.

Barn renovated as Studio/gallery

1997

Receives prestigious Pollack-Krasner Foundation Fellowship.

Solo exhibit at Lancaster Museum of Art. Catalog published with essay by noted author Jack Driscoll.

Solo exhibit of Evans' work at David Adamson Gallery, Washington, D.C. Exhibits Cicada for first time, shown as work in progress. Exhibit is reviewed favorably in the Washington Post.

1997 - 2003

Serves on the board of Yorkarts, York, PA. As chair of the exhibition committee curates more than two dozen exhibits in the main gallery.

Evans in the studio with Cicada in progress, 1998

1998

Daughter, Elizabeth Quinn, is born.

Invited to present solo exhibition at the National Science Foundation.

1998 - 1999

Rob Evans: Mystery and Allegory, a fifteen year survey of Evans' work, is organized and travels to Noyes Museum of Art, Peninsula Fine Arts Center and Susquehanna Art Museum. 60 page catalog published with essays by Charles Baxter and J. W. Mahoney. Exhibit featured in 8 page article in American Artist magazine. Noyes Museum of Art acquires Net II from the exhibit.

Mystery and Allegory, Peninsula Fine Arts Center, 1999

2001

Cicada included in Artists of the Commonwealth: Realism in Pennsylvania Painting, 1950 - 2000, which tours to five museums around the state of Pennsylvania and includes work by Andy Warhol, Andrew Wyeth, Philip Pearlstein, Sidney Goodman, Alice Neal and many others. Cicada is acquired by the James A. Michener Art Museum from the exhibit.

2003

Curates first major museum exhibit, Transforming the Commonplace: Masters of Contemporary Realism, at the Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA. Includes work by Jamie Wyeth, Odd Nerdrum, Bo Bartlett, Antonio Lopez Garcia, Neil Welliver, Vincent Desiderio, Gregory Gillespie and many others. Catalog published.

Cicada on view in Artists of the Commonwealth, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, 2001

2004

Solo exhibit at Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery, Lebanon Valley College, Annville, PA. Late Dinner acquired by the college from the exhibit.

2005

Works with Tim Sheesley at Corridor Press to create 6 color hand pulled lithograph, Elizabeth Quinn Sleeping, for the Corcoran Print Portfolio. Portfolio is acquired by and exhibited at the Corcoran Museum of Art and later acquired by the National Gallery of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Library of Congress and numerous other museums.

Printing Elizabeth Quinn Sleeping at Corridor Press, 2005

2005 - 2008

Organizes and curates Visions of the Susquehanna: 250 Years of Paintings by American Masters, first major survey of paintings of the river in more than 25 years. Includes works by Benjamin West, Jasper Cropsey, Thomas Moran, George Inness, Charles Demuth, Mark Innerst and Debra Bermingham among others. Evans authors 80 page book which accompanies exhibit. Exhibit tours to 6 museums including the PA Governor's Residence and receives extensive press.

2005 - 2017

Founds and serves as Artistic Director of the PA Arts Experience, a non-profit arts orgnization featuring an artist trail running from York, PA to New Hope, PA.

2007

Evans is invited to participate in the WPA Auction/Exhibition at the Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington D.C. Exhibits Aftermath which sells at the auction to a D.C. collector.

Visions of the Susquehanna, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, 2007

2007 - 2009

Invited to participate in the Object Project, a nationally touring museum exhibit featuring paintings of the same 5 objects as interpreted by 16 prominent realist painters. Hardcover book published to accompany the exhibit as well as feature article in American Artist magazine. Evans' large altarpiece, Origins, is included in the exhibit.

2008

Evans' work featured in 8 page article in Gulf Connoisseur magazine, a high end journal published out of Dubai. Evans' painting Night Life appears on the cover of the Russian edition.

Receives second fellowship from PA Council on the Arts.

Origins on view in the Object Project at the Philbrook Museum, Tulsa, OK, 2008

2008 - present

Establishes and serves as curator of the Visions of the Susquehanna Art Collection housed at the Zimmerman Center for Heritage, Long Level, PA.

2010

Evans helps establish Marketview Arts, a new art center located in downtown York. The center houses the headquarters and gallery for the PA Arts Experience where Evans begins curating monthly exhibits of PAE members. The center also houses York College painting studios, and community artist studios in the lower level. Evans rents a studio to serve as a downtown gallery/showcase for his work.

30 year retrospective held at Evansville Museum, Evansville, IN. Evans is artist-in residence at the museum for a week and holds drawing workshops. Catalog published to accompany the exhibit. Museum acquires Night Life from the exhibit.

Marketview Arts, York, PA, 2010

2013

Mini-retrospective of Evans' work held at Rodale Gallery, Baum School of Art in Allentown, PA. Press coverage of the exhibit includes interviews by John Seed on the Huffington Post and Joe Ulrich on PBS radio station WITF.

Young Bulgarian novelist Yordan Lozanov makes literary debut with Flight of the Butterfly, a short novel inspired by Evans' painting Exodus which also appears on the book cover.

Lozanov's novel (right) featuring Exodus on cover,

bookstore shelf, Bulgaria, 2013

2013 - present

Serves on the board and as artist-in-residence at the Historic Hellam Preserve near Hellam, PA.

2014

35 year retrospective held at Reading Museum, Reading, PA.

2014 - present

Roundtop Trust is established which holds a permanent archive of Evans' major works. The trust collection is available for study and museum loans and can be viewed by appointment in galleries located in a renovated farmhouse at the Historic Hellam Preserve.

Roundtop Trust Collection on view at the Historic Hellam Preserve, 2015

2015

Threshold and Late Dinner acquired by National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. in first round of accessions from the Corcoran Museum Collection.

Origins is acquired by the Roundtop Trust along with 4 other works.

Evans is invited by PA Governor Tom Wolf and First Lady Frances Wolf to curate an exhibit of PA artists at the State Museum in Harrisburg as part of the Wolf Inaugural Festivities. Exhibit includes a diverse array of artists from across the state as well as prominent historic PA artists including Andy Warhol. Andrew Wyeth, Charles Sheeler, Daniel Garber, Benjamin West, Charles Demuth, Thomas Eakins, and William Glackens among others.

Elizabeth Quinn Sleeping lithograph acquired by Baltimore Museum of Art as part of the Corcoran 2005 Print Portfolio.

Entrance to Wolf Inaugural Exhibit, State Museum of Pennsylvania, 2015

2019 - 2023

Evans curates Drawing on the Susquehanna: Four Centuries of Artistic Inspiration and Commerce, a survey of lithographs, engravings, etchings, drawings, paintings, maps, books and ceramics featuring Susquehanna imagery by artists such as Thomas Cole, Thomas Doughty, George Catlin, Jasper Cropsey, Currier and Ives and others. The exhibit opens at the Historic Hellam Preserve and, after a delay due to the Covid 19 pandemic, is scheduled to tour to numerous venues including Susquehanna University (virtual exhibit due to pandemic); the PA Governor's Residence, Harrisburg, PA (canceled due to pandemic); Demuth Museum, Lancaster, PA; Gettysburg College and other future venues to be determined.

2021 - 2022

Evans is elected and serves as President of Echo Valley Art Group

2022

Evans receives Artist Innovator Award from the York County Cultural Alliance. The award, selected by an outside national jury, recognizes Evans' recent explorations into digital arts and interactive/animated NFTs

Drawing on the Susquehanna, on view at the Historic Hellam Preserve, 2019

2022 - 2023

Evans continues exploration of digital arts/NFTs and gains recognition in the web3 arts space. His work is featured as part of a pop-up exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art, London in conjunction with NFT London and his work is selected for inclusion in the unveiling of the OCAM (Octopus Contemporary Art Museum) - a virtual art museum created by ArtMeta debuted at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. His NFT "Marietta Train II"is acquired by the Tezos Foundation Permanent Collection.

ROB EVANS