Adolf Ferdinand Konrad (1915-2003)
Adolf Konrad’s perceptions and observations are multifaceted and his pictorial images reflect a wide range of feelings and ideas,” said Harry Naar, professor of fine arts and director of Rider University’s Art Gallery. “Within Konrad’s work, the ordinary becomes the extraordinary.” His traditional works include cityscapes, Victorian period images or landscapes – images most known to the public – but range to widely appreciated still-life compositions.
Hailed by Gov. Thomas Keane as “one of New Jersey’s finest natural resources” and known as “painter laureate of Newark,” Konrad was born in Bremen, Germany in 1915. During his early childhood days in Bremen, which was known as a great trading center and cultural center, Konrad quickly developed a passion for the world of art.
Konrad’s paintings have been included in the permanent collections of museums and corporations, including the Newark Museum, the New Jersey State Museum, the National Academy of Design in New York, AT&T in Bedminster, and the Forbes Collection in New York City. He is recipient of numerous awards, among them, the Artist of the Year Award from Art Educators of New Jersey and a Fellowship in Painting from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
Konrad resided in rural Asbury, New Jersey where he painted with his wife, Adair, also an artist until he passed away in 2003.