This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
People who don't know abstract art will soon learn, thanks to a short film playing at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, that the name Robert De Niro doesn't just belong to a famous actor.
And people in Park City during Sundance will get a chance not only to see the film, but to see the art of Robert De Niro Sr. in person.
The Julie Nester Gallery, at 1280 Iron Horse Drive in Park City, will host an exhibition of De Niro's paintings, Jan. 16-26 — to coincide with the festival's run of the short film "Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr." The exhibit is open to the public during gallery hours: 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.
The 40-minute film, directed by Perri Peltz and Geeta Gandbhir, is a profile of the painter, chronicled in his own words as well as those of his artistic contemporaries and his son — the actor Robert De Niro. The film is part of the Documentary Shorts Program II, which debuts Friday, Jan. 17, at 6 p.m. at the Broadway Centre Cinemas 6 in Salt Lake City — and has its first Park City screening Sunday, Jan. 19, at noon at the Yarrow Hotel Theatre. It is scheduled to air on HBO in June.
De Niro Sr. (1922-1993), according to the gallery, is considered one of the most original painters in tne New York postwar generation, who "blended abstraction and representation, bridging the gap between European modernism and Abstract Expressionism."
— Sean P. Means