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​Wilmington, Delaware born. Edward Loper, Jr. is a self taught artist whose own technique is what's described as "A way to see" has lead him to success over the past five decades.
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Edward Loper, Jr.

Wilmington, Delaware born. Edward Loper, Jr. is a self taught artist whose own technique is what's described as "A way to see" has lead him to success over the past five decades.

Since the early 1960's, Edward's works have been showcased not only in the prestigious Barnes Foundation, but also in numerous National Exhibitions, Cultural Festivals and Publications such as Delaware Today Magazine and Vistas publication of the Barnes Foundation. His paintings are also collected not only by private collectors, but also corporate art collections such as Wilmington Trust, Blue Cross, Christiana Care and Delaware Trust.

Edward Loper, Jr. taught Art, Photography and Woodworking at Wilmington High School in the 1960's. He also instructed art, pottery and sculpture at the West End Neighborhood House and Kingwood Center. In the 1970's he headed the Visual Arts Department at Christiana Cultural Arts Center. He also attended the Barnes Foundation in Merlon, PA in 1977 to 1978.

Purchase The Biography

“Not My Dad”

Edward L. Loper, Jr.’s Creative Odyssey

by Marilyn A. Bauman

“Curiosity has been one of the primary forces driving Ed’s art making. Many images in Ed’s work originated from play and other ordinary everyday activities. In Ed’s very young life, play could be a deadly serious thing. This curiosity facilitated his recreating nonvisual events into visual ones. For example, when his dad sat Ed between the legs of his easel, sometime for hours, on a windy day to prevent the easel from blowing over, Ed’s drawing of this event conveys much about the relationship between father and son as it also presses out new aesthetic meanings. Ed reacted to a nonvisual observation and turned it into an abstract visual image. He turned an injury he suffered during a bike accident into a drawing, and he later told anyone who asked about the donut-like indentation on the bottom of his heel that it was caused by a shark bite. This made life’s pain more palatable.”
— Excerpt from "Not My Dad" by Marilyn A Bauman.
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Past Showings

2024

  • “To the Water’s Edge and Back” at the Rehoboth Art League

2023

  • “Edward Loper Jr., Wilmington and Beyond” at the Chris White Gallery

2022

  • United States “Art in Embassies” exhibition in Paris, France

  • “Journey of Perspective” at Delaware State University

2021

  • “Afro-American Images 1971: The Vision of Percy Ricks” - Delaware Art Museum

2019

  • Delaware Art Museum “The Loper Tradition”

  • Odessa Historical Society, “Keepers of Color”

2017

  • Christina Cultural Art Center

2016

  • The Paintings of Edward Loper Jr, Presented by The Siegel JCC

2014

  • The works of Edward Loper Jr, Darley House

2008

  • First Annual Art Harvest, West Chester

2006

  • Exhibit at The Lorelton

2004

  • Exhibit at Loper Studio

1996

  • Delaware Opera Guild

  • Urban Environmental Center

1981

  • First Public Showing Blue Cross

  • Blue Shield of Delaware Art Collection

  • University of Delaware

  • Longwood Gardens

  • Delaware State College

  • DuPont Country Club

1980

  • Delaware African American Art Exhibition at the National Guard Armory in Wilmington, DE

1978

  • Delaware Art Museum Downtown Gallery

1975

  • Philadelphia Art Alliance

  • New Jersey State Museum in Trenton, NJ

  • Black Arts Festival at the Friends Meeting House in Wilmington,DE

1974

  • 2nd World Black & African Festival of Art & Cultural, Inc. at the University Museum in Philadelphia

1973

  • 59th Annual Delaware Show at the Delaware Art Museum

1971

  • Delaware Professional Artist at First Unitarian Church

  • National Exhibition Black Artist at Smith-Mason Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

  • 57th Annual Delaware Show at the Delaware Art Museum

  • Afro-American Images at the National Guard Armory in Wilmington, DE

1964

  • 50th Annual Delaware Show at the Delaware Art Museum

  • Warehouse Gallery in Arden, DE

  • Wilmington Music School

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