University of Arkansas Press Publishes George Dombek

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas Press has published George Dombek ($55 cloth), a coffee table book showcasing the artwork of George Dombek, a well-known Northwest Arkansas painter.

Dombek is known for his watercolors painted in careful, meticulous designs with clean outlines. He will be discussing and signing his new book at the Crystal Bridges Museum Store from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20.

Donald Harington, former professor of art history at the University of Arkansas, called Dombek “one of the most highly respected and well known artists to come out of Arkansas…. [H]e has produced a large, impressive body of work which will endure and leave a permanent impression upon the history of art.”

In his introduction to George Dombek Henry Adams, professor of American art at Case Western Reserve University, describes Dombek’s work as “constructed realism,” and “creating the illusion of reality by following a step-by-step process.”

Dombek has generated an impressive body of work over a career spanning 40 years, including over 800 pieces in museum, corporate and private collections. His work has been exhibited in more than 150 solo and group shows, including those at the Arkansas Arts Center, the Butler Institute of American Art, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Birmingham Museum of Art, and the Oakland Museum.

He has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arkansas Arts Council, Florida Arts Fellowships from the Florida Arts Council, a New York Studio Residency from the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation, and a Pollock-Krasner Award.

Dombek received a bachelor’s degree in architecture and a master of fine arts in painting at the University of Arkansas and went on to teach architecture and art at universities in Arkansas, Ohio, Florida, Saudi Arabia, and Italy. He paints in a studio he designed and built himself on 10 wooded acres near Fayetteville.

The University of Arkansas Press, founded in 1980, is an academic publishing house that is part of the University of Arkansas. A member of the Association of American University Presses, it has as its central and continuing mission the publication of books that serve both the broader academic community and Arkansas and the region.