Biggs Museum to host Tom Wilson exhibit; reception set July 1

The Biggs Museum in Dover will be displaying the works of artist Tom Wilson in a special exhibit, Tom Wilson: Super-Realist/ Surrealist, that will run from Friday, July 1 to Sunday, Oct. 16.

An opening reception will be held from 5 to 8 p.m., July 1 with light food and drinks. 

While celebrated for his architectural studies, Wilson was also well-known for his commissioned portraits, surrealist paintings and the many diverse styles he explored through his artistic career. With nearly 50 pieces on view, this exhibition unveils the work of this artist, and the community of friends and patrons who supported his career.

Wilson, who died from complications of the AIDS virus in 1995, was the former art director at the Back Porch Café in Rehoboth Beach. He studied art at the Rhode Island School of Design and worked as a top fashion model in New York City and Paris in the 1970s. In 1981, he moved to Lewes, where his family had roots. He became a customer at the Back Porch, which was at the vanguard of Rehoboth’s culinary scene that grew to include restaurants like Chez La Mer and Blue Moon. Wilson had a 13-year relationship with the longtime chef of the Back Porch, Leo Medisch, who died in 2013. 

The Back Porch grew to host art shows, and Wilson helped organize four to five shows a summer, including one of his own every year. His commissioned paintings would net $20,000 each, sometimes more. Wilson had been a student of Lewes artist Howard Schroeder, and passed his knowledge on to local artists in his Nassau Commons and Lewes Beach studios and local art galleries. Wilson’s career was built on rendering photorealistic architectural studies of southern Delaware; the Biggs Museum exhibition shows Wilson’s work in the context of the community that supported his endeavors.

The museum recently announced expanded weekend hours; beginning Sunday, July 10, the Biggs will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday to Sunday, at 406 Federal St., Dover,

For more information on this or other exhibits at the Biggs Museum, go to biggsmuseum.org.