This Year's Prestigious Arthur Ross Award Honorees Include Artist Bob Christian
Lucky is the homeowner with a mural or decorative paint treatment created by artist Bob Christian. Known best for the transportive, freehand landscape murals he has painted in many of the most beautiful homes in the country, the Savannah-based painter was recognized with a prestigious Arthur Ross Award for Excellence in the Classical Tradition by the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art on October 4.
Christian accepted his award in the fine arts category at a dinner and ceremony hosted by the ICAA at the University Club in New York. Six other design luminaries in the categories of architecture (Skurman Architects), artisanship and craftsmanship (Hyde Park Mouldings), landscape (Hollander Design Landscape Architects), publishing (Charles Miers and Rizzoli), patronage (Goldman Sachs executive vice president and philanthropist John F.W. Rogers), and a Board of Directors honor (Michael Lykoudis, Notre Dame professor of architecture) were also officially recognized for their 2020 awards.
Christian has long been a favorite collaborator among top interior designers. After studying painting at Atlanta College of Art, Christian trained in the decorative arts under John Rosselli in New York. He returned to the South in 1982 to open Bob Christian Decorative Art with his wife Julia. In addition to canvases, walls, ceilings, and floors, Christian paints furniture and accessories; earlier this year, he collaborated with VERANDA on a limited edition series of cachepots.
One of the aspects of Christian's work that truly sets him apart is the creativity and artistic direction he brings to a collaboration with an interior designer.
“When working with Bob Christian on a project all you have to do is give him one word for him to begin his creative process," says designer Bunny Williams, who chaired the Arthur Ross Award jury. "Tapestry. Chinese wallpaper. Italian fresco. County garden. American primitive. Exotic wood graining. Fantasy clouds. Dense forest. The rest comes from the inspirations stored in his mind."
How Christian works is almost as magnificent as his finished product, notes his brother Howard. "While Bob routinely prepares preparatory sketches and plans, the work is in his head and in his heart," he says. "When painting, the images emerge with quick and exacting brushwork as if preordained. It is a wonder to watch him work."
The 2020 Arthur Ross Award winners were selected by a jury that included Williams (Chair), architect James F. Carter, architect Elizabeth Dillon, muralist Anne Harris, landscape architect Kathryn Herman, VERANDA editor in chief Steele Marcoux, and architect Gil Schafer III. Co-Chairs of this year’s Arthur Ross Awards include architect Ankie Barnes, architect and interior designer Steven Gambrel, and interior designer Suzanne Tucker. Honorary Chairs include Janet C. Ross, Suzanne R. Santry, Bunny Williams, and Ambassador and Mrs. William J. vanden Heuvel.
Established in 1982 by New York businessman and philanthropist Arthur Ross and architecture critic Henry Hope Reed, the Awards recognize the achievements and contributions of architects, painters, sculptors, artisans, interior designers, landscape designers, educators, publishers, patrons, and others dedicated to preserving and advancing the classical tradition.
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