With camera and sketchbook, I go out literally hunting for the right location, the right time of day, and the right atmospheric conditions. The land and fields mostly of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia inspire many of my paintings. Many of the painters of the 19th Century both American and European believed that the overall tone, time of day, light and season were the most important components, which dictated the creative direction; and the most trustworthy approach to landscape painting. The French Barbizon painters have influenced my thinking and direction. Corot, George Inness, Martin Johnson Heade, Joseph Rusling Meeker and Louis Mignot are among my favorite landscape painters.
Joseph Vance Pitts received his M.F.A. degree in Studio Painting and Drawing from the University of Mississippi. His undergraduate degree was from the University of Georgia, Athens, GA. He studied with Lamar Dodd, George Cress and Willey Sanderson. Mr. Pitts did further studies at the Corcoran School of Art, Washington D.C. and the Leeds Polytechnic College of Art, Leeds, Yorkshire U.K. He also studied Art History with S. Lane Faison of Williams College and Barry Wind.
Mr. Pitts has taught at the University of Mobile; The University of South Alabama, Mobile; The Ringling School of Art, Sarasota, FL; and The University of Mississippi. He was one of a small number of artists to be selected to show at the 1984 Worlds Fair in New Orleans. His work was also featured in the Traveling Exhibition and Book entitled “Southern Realism” currated by art historians Tom Dewey and Donald Kuspit. His paintings are in numerous collections including the Mobile Museum of Art, Am South and The University of Mississippi.
He and his wife, Jane, who is also an artist, live in a restored 19th century farmhouse near LaGrange, Georgia.
