Professor’s works to benefit art collection

March 27, 2011

The late Bob Knott dedicated much of his time during his long career teaching art at Wake Forest to helping students build the Student Union Collection of Contemporary Art.

Knott, who also was an accomplished studio artist and photographer, left behind a collection of digital photographs made in Venice, Italy, and sculpture made from remnants of the Maine fishing industry, when he died in 2010.

His family has decided to sell some of those works to continue his passion for the Student Union collection. A benefit show and sale will take place during this Friday’s Gallery Hop in downtown Winston-Salem, at 560 N. Trade Street, suite 113, at the corner of Trade and Sixth streets, from 5 to 9 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Proceeds from the sale will support the Student Union collection. “Our family wants to celebrate Bob’s long involvement with the Student Union Collection of Contemporary Art and to highlight the unique New York art-buying trip,” said Knott’s wife, Elen, who is retired from the Z. Smith Reynolds Library. “We also want to encourage the Wake Forest community and friends to support the program’s ongoing place in the University.”

Knott taught art history from 1975 until retiring in 2008. He was the longtime adviser for the Student Union collection, a diverse collection of paintings, sculpture, photography and multimedia pieces purchased by students during trips to New York City every four years. He accompanied the students on four buying trips to New York and taught the required modern art course for the trip for many years.

The Hat Makes the Man

Knott made the color photographs — showing the juxtaposition of laundry drying against scenes of historic Venice — while he was the resident director at Casa Artom in 2002. He created the sculptures from wood and other objects salvaged from the sea and from the deteriorating fishing industry in Maine. Knott spent nearly 40 summers in Lubec, Maine, a small town on the Bay of Fundy.

• For more information on the sale, contact Instructor of Art Alix Hitchcock at hitchcac@wfu.edu
• Listen as Bob Knott talks about his works in this audio slideshow
• Read more about the Student Union Collection of Contemporary Art

— By Kerry M. King (’85), Office of Communications and External Relations