Walter Hatke is painter and educator who specializes in exacting photorealistic paintings of buildings and interiors. Everyday America is rendered in bright precision, to an effect that he calls “crackling clarity.” Working from direct observation, Hatke seeks out unexpected angles, and many of his paintings merge several different perspectives. Hatke describes his style as utilitarian and draws from the descriptive tradition of Dutch painting; he also credits much of his work’s intimacy and clarity to his Baha’i faith—Baha’i translates to “follower of light.”
Hatke has received awards and honors from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Ingram Merrill Foundation, and has participated in the U.S. State Department’s Art in Embassies Program for nine years.
For 30 years, Hatke taught painting, drawing and biological illustration at Union College, where he was the Walter C. & May I. Baker Professor of Visual Arts. Over the years he has served as visiting artist, critic, and lecturer at Dartmouth College, the Kansas City Art Institute, and Yale University. Hatke and his wife Ann continue to live in Schenectady, New York.
