Richard Cletus Pionk was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 artist who worked in the media of pastels and oil painting

Oil painting

Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...

 and who lived, worked and taught in New York City, New York. Pionk studied classical still-life painting by spending hours in museums. He studied still-life painting in the Brooklyn Museum

Brooklyn Museum

The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....

 and other New York museums as well as the Louvre

Louvre

The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...

 in Paris. Pionk studied the works of Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin

Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin

Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin was an 18th-century French painter. He is considered a master of still life, and is also noted for his genre paintings which depict kitchen maids, children, and domestic activities...

, Antoine Vollon, and Henri Fantin-Latour

Henri Fantin-Latour

Henri Fantin-Latour was a French painter and lithographer best known for his flower paintings and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers.-Biography:...

 in particular. He was educated in New York at The Art Students League of New York on scholarships and the G.I. Bill."

Biography

Born in Moose Lake, Minnesota

Moose Lake, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,239 people, 577 households, and 294 families residing in the city. The population density was 811.1 people per square mile . There were 628 housing units at an average density of 227.5 per square mile...

, Pionk studied with Daniel Green

Daniel Greene (artist)

Daniel Greene PSA, NA, AWS is an American artist who works in the media of pastels and oil painting. The winner of a dozen or so awards throughout his career, Greene has painted portraits of several well-known individuals, including Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Ayn Rand.On May...

 and Sidney E. Dickinson at the Art Students League of New York

Art Students League of New York

The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...

. In 1984, he was named Master Pastelist by the The Pastel Society of America and in 1997 was inducted into the Pastel Hall of Fame. He taught at the Art Students League and was President of the Salmagundi Club

Salmagundi Club

The Salmagundi Club, also known as the Salmagundi Art Club, was founded in 1871 in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, in the United States. It currently is located at 47 Fifth Avenue...

. Pionk garnered many awards for his work. He was best known for his still life, portraits and interior scenes in oil and pastel."

Memberships

Richard C. Pionk held memberships with the following organizations:

• Salmagundi Club
  Salmagundi Club
  The Salmagundi Club, also known as the Salmagundi Art Club, was founded in 1871 in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, in the United States. It currently is located at 47 Fifth Avenue...
  
  
• Art Students League
• Pastel Society of America - Trustee
• Allied Artists of America - Board of Directors
• Hudson Valley Art Association
• Knickerbocker Art Association
• Artist Fellowship – Trustee
• National Arts Club
  National Arts Club
  The National Arts Club is a private club in Gramercy Park, New York City, New York, USA. It was founded in 1898 to "stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate the American people in the fine arts". Since 1906 the organization has occupied the Samuel J...
  
  
• Audubon Artists – Trustee
• American Artists Professional League
• Dutch Treat Club
  Dutch Treat Club
  The Dutch Treat Club is a society of illustrators, writers and performers based in New York City. Primarily social in nature, the club has had as members such leading literary figures and humorists as Robert Benchley, Rube Goldberg, Robert M. McBride, and Ogden Nash.-Founding:In 1905, Tuesday was...
  
  

Pastel

Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment

Pigment

A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.Many materials selectively absorb...

 and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation. The color effect of pastels is closer to the natural dry pigments than that of any other process.