Robert Heindel—a “latter-day Degas”
FAS Guiding Faculty member—and alumnus—Robert Heindel is perhaps as well known today for his paintings of dancers as Edgar Degas was in his time.
Both artists were inspired by the physicality of dancers….but there’s something more. In Tour à Tour (a publication of Neenah Paper), Heindel says, “Each successful dancer is far more than a handsome man—a pretty woman. There’s a dedication a dancer has that’s almost tangible. A steel in their spine. An almost obsessive intensity. It’s this special quality I strive to communicate in my paintings.”
Heindel has worked with many ballet companies, in San Francisco, Atlanta, Kansas City, Dallas, and London, among others. Most often, he paints his dancers only in rehearsal, not in performance. He also made a conscious decision not to learn too much about the technical aspects of ballet. He says, “I prefer to concern myself with the emotional qualities I discover. Knowing too much can cause a serious interference with making art a viewer can bring himself to—and become part of. After all, it’s what you bring to a painting that makes it important to you. That’s why I cover all my paintings with glass. The glass literally reflects the viewer so he becomes an integral, important, visual part of the painting.”
He starts by taking hundreds, sometimes thousands, of photos of the dancers at work. After choosing an image or group of images, he begins to draw, discovering, as he works, how best to capture the desired attitude. Then he begins to paint.
“I am endlessly awed by the dancers’ grace, even in repose,” he says. “Their awareness of their bodies is constant, and constantly enchanting. My purpose is to attempt to describe and highlight their inner strengths.”
Robert Heindel credits his experience as a student of Famous Artists School with teaching him important lessons in self discipline which have stood him in good stead as he distills the essence of the dance into painting after painting.
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