“Dark and Stormy” – Coast of Gibraltar circa 1970 by Charles K. Sibley

American Artist Charles K. Sibley

1921-2005

The Weiss family have a personal affinity for the artist Charles K. Sibley as they reside in his former home.  During his life, they were grateful to spend an afternoon with him and learned he not only restored their historic English basement home to its original 1829 grandeur, but he also created his works of art in the top floor of the home and painted outside in the English gardens.

Charles Sibley was born in Huntington, West Virginia in 1921 and studied at Ohio State University, The Chicago Art Institute, Iowa State University and Columbia University. While at Columbia, he received the Louis Comfort Tiffany Grant in 1950 for creative research in oil painting and he was also a past recipient of the Salmagundi Club prize.  He was always a consistent prize winner.

Mr. Sibley moved to Norfolk, VA, in 1951 to establish the art department at what was then the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary - now Old Dominion University. He watched his department grow from a one-person operation to a full-scale department with numerous staff and faculty offering degreed programs to university students, many of whom he mentored.

The art of Charles Sibley is synonymous with quality. Richly applied and tempered with vibrant, lush color, Sibley’s works have lost none of their magic over the years. His paintings take on lives of their own and breathe deep breaths, making their own statements and eliminating the need for explanatory text.  His powerful landscapes and expressive figurative work have arguably made him Hampton Roads' most accomplished and significant artist.

Listed in Who’s Who in America since 1962, Mr. Sibley has had works exhibited in many distinguished shows including the Carnegie International, the Whitney Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Virginia Museum, and the Norfolk Museum.

Today, his works appear in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harvard University, the Ohio State Museum, the Texas State Museum, the Virginia State Museum, the North Carolina State Museum, and the Norfolk Museum, among many others.  His paintings can also be found in private collections throughout the U.S. and are on permanent display at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk.

It is an honor to have one of his works on display at the Bella Vitae Wellness Center.