Robert F. Looney (1925-1996)

Bob Looney was one of those treasures of the Free Library of Philadelphia, much like the Print and Picture Collection he tended for 23 years. His dedication to the preservation of our visual history is still evident today to all who browse through the thousands of fine prints and photographs on the second floor of the Central Library. The discerning eye of Robert Looney and his devotion to preserving the works of Philadelphia Printmakers and photographers are a wonderful legacy to us all. (1998)

Elliot L. Shelkrot
President and Director, 1987-2007
The Free Library of Philadelphia

Bob Looney loved prints and photographs. More importantly, he knew good prints and photographs when he encountered them. His legacy to the Free Library and to the people of Philadelphia was the development of a little known treasure - the Print and Picture Collection. Twenty-three years of tender loving care coupled with an astute eye for his subject matter enabled him to build one of the pre-eminent collections of contemporary fine prints and photographs of Philadelphia artists. That he was also able to acquire significant work from artists far afield is more to his credit. His involvement with national print associations and institutions gave rise to a multitude of grand exhibitions at the Central Library which attracted entries from the best and brightest printmakers of the 1960s and 1970s. Talk to those who knew him and you will most likely wish that you too had had the opportunity to spend some time in his company. Not only did he have a discerning eye for fully formed artistry, he also had a keen eye for potential in a student's work and he actively encouraged those fortunate enough to have crossed his path. His is a legacy that enriches, educates and continues to be an integral part of our cultural heritage. (1998).

Joseph Benford
Head, Print and Picture Collection, 1996 - 2003

Kind, soft-spoken Bob. Mr. Looney was more like it. A Southern Gentleman tucked away in the Print and Picture Department for years: sorting, studying, helping, guiding, acquiring, and shaping the way the future saw the past. In the quietest, deepest rooms of the public library of a great city, where competence meant familiarity, if not mastery of just about everything on paper since the Renaissance, Mr. Looney built and shared his many-layered connections with the past. But this was not a pedant so much as a research enabler, a path finder, and only for those who would ask. Kind Bob Looney was a living treasure, kind of like the treasured knowledge that finds itself in pictures. (1998)

Ken Finkel

The three quotes above are from the catalogue for Robert F. Looney-A Discerning Eye. An exhibition from the Print and Picture Collection in Memory of Mr. Looney, Head of the Print and Picture from 1963 to 1986 which was held October 1998 to March 1999. The first Robert F. Looney Event was held in the fall of 1998 in conjunction with this exhibition.

Everything people say about Mr. Looney being a kind, thoughtful, soft-spoken Southern Gentleman rings true for me. Although he had retired two years before I transferred into the Rare Book Department at the Central Library, I got to know him when he worked for Rare Books as a proofreader in the last years of his life. I discovered his marvelous sense of humor when one day he quietly came into the office and went around the room putting tiny three inch long hand-painted wooden loons on each of our desks. Because of my fondness for him, I have always treasured the little loon. Eleven years later, the little loon sits in a place of honor on my computer, as I sit in Mr. Looney's seat and try to follow his example in guiding the Print and Picture Collection. (2007)

Karen Lightner
Head, Print and Picture Collection, 2005-