Larry Day

Lawrence James Day or Laurence J. Day, known professionally as Larry Day, was an American artist, influential visual arts instructor, and respected intellectual within the Philadelphia art scene. He was active in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York, New York; and Washington, D.C. during the second half of the 20th century. Day was known as “The Dean of Philadelphia Painters.” Although Day initially established his career with lyrical, nature-based abstract paintings, he's most known for his representational works. These realist paintings reference art historical traditions and depict narratives, portraits, and urban or suburban architectural subjects—such as residential areas, construction sites, abandoned warehouses, and empty streets—rendered in thin, luminous washes. His paintings and works on paper were included in many of the seminal exhibitions that refocused attention on figurative art in the 1960s, and to this day his art and teaching inspires generations of artists in Philadelphia, New York, and beyond, including notable artists Peter Paone, Eileen Neff, Joe Fyfe, and Sidney Goodman. His work is held in both national and international collections, including the British Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. with a major overview collection at Woodmere in Philadelphia.