Podcast Episode 198: Eric Hart

Welcome Milt Brightman to this special episode. Milt, who was our guest on Podcast Episode 17, speaks about his late friend, Swain School of Design classmate, and fellow artist, the late Eric Hart. Eric was the very first person Milt met when he attended the Swain School of Design. They attended their first class in the sculpture building behind the Rodman House – the William Rotch Rodman Mansion – in 1972 .

In this podcast, Milt Brightman relates how he, “approached the front of the building… I saw stacks of boxes, which turned out to be clay, and a male student with long flowing blond hair. I asked him what’s going on and he said, ‘help me move these boxes inside’. After we had done so and the class started and ended, I thought I had someone in this sea of strangers to talk to, but he just ignored my approach and moved away to the next class.”

Milt continues, “The way we ended up as friends was through a third party, Dave Peloquin, who found out I liked sword and sorcery art work and started talking to me. As it turned out, he and Eric Hart were rooming together. On my many visits to their apartment, that, by the way was filled with Swain students in other apartments inside the same building. Eric warmed up to me eventually but had a stronger bond to Dave at the time. I believe it was in our sophomore year that Dave, who was a very good artist in his own right, had to drop out of Swain due to personal reasons. From that point on, it was just me and Eric working together.”

“In our Junior and Senior years we shared a studio together in the Melville (Building) and our bond grew much stronger. Many times we abandoned our classmates on landscape painting excursions and went off on our own to paint. Yes, we got some flack for that but we were young and arrogant and making the progress in our work that we hoped to make, so we continued along in the same way all the way to graduation.”

“When Eric left, we made the usual promises that people make to stay in touch, but in our case we did, through letter writing and I begain to make excursions to Connecticuit (where Eric moved to) on a yearly basis. Eric also came back to Massachusetts on occasion and we always, had painting as our connection. We drank and spoke of old times, but that was after day long excursions into the landscape to paint in oils, watercolors and drawings. Our friendship lasted right to the end when he passed away, and I will never forget him. Every time I start to draw or paint he is always there with me, and will be so always.”

On this podcast, Milt Brightman speaks with The Artists Index’s cofounder, documentarian, and podcast host, Ron Fortier, about his friend Eric Hart, their lifelong friendship, and their journey as artists. This episode was recorded at our recording studio at Spectrum Marketing Group at Howland Place in New Bedford.

Eric Palmer Hart | PAINTER

According to Milt Brightman, he lived at a number of locations in Connecticut. He moved to Uncasville, Connecticut on the shore of Haugton’s Cove. It was his second studio and was adjoined to the house. He moved to Groton, Connecticut just before he died in October of 2023.