Monday, August 1, 2022 – BRIGHT AND ENERGETIC ART

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John Sennhauser, Black Lines No. 13, 1944, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia and Phillip Frost, 1986.92.86

FROM THE ARCHIVES

MONDAY,  AUGUST 1,   2022




THE  742nd   EDITION

ABSTRACTIONS 

FROM 


THE SMITHSONIAN

AMERICAN ART MUSEUM

LOUIS STONE

Louis Stone, Untitled, 1940, watercolor on paper mounted on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Louis K. Stone Art Trust, 1994.124.3, © 1984, Louis K. Stone Art Trust

Louis Stone, Untitled, 1939, watercolor and gouache on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Louis K. Stone Art Trust, 1994.124.2, © 1984, Louis K. Stone Art Trust

Louis Stone, Untitled, 1945, watercolor and gouache on paper mounted on paper mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Louis K. Stone Art Trust, 1994.124.1, © 1984, Louis K. Stone Art Trust

ROBERT MOTHERWELL

Robert Motherwell, Capriccio, 1961, color collotype and photo-silkscreen on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1965.47

Robert Motherwell, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, 1973, color lithograph poster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Telamon Editions Limited, 1976.152.2

BURGOYNE DILLER

• Burgoyne Diller, Untitled, 1930, ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Halley K. Harrisburg and Michael Rosenfeld, 1999.85.6
• The American Abstract Artists (AAA) group was formed in 1937 with the aim of exhibiting nonobjective art, educating the public, and encouraging dialogue among abstract artists. Among the artists who participated in AAA exhibitions and meetings were Burgoyne Diller, John Ferren, Dwinell Grant, and John Sennhauser, who shared an interest in pure geometric form and balance of color. Diller’s drawing is an example of the artist’s early austere style and interest in spatial relationships.

Unable to sell such works during the depression, Diller accepted a position as co-director of the Mural Division of the New York Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration, where he played an important role in the promotion of abstract art in America. While the public preferred a more readable and realist style, Diller managed to hire abstract artists for several major mural projects, including murals at the New York World’s Fair of 1939 – 1940 and the Williamsburg Housing Project.

Burgoyne Diller, Untitled, 1948, graphite and crayon on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Halley K. Harrisburg and Michael Rosenfeld, 1999.85.1

JOHN FERREN

• John Ferren, Blue in Space, ca. 1937, pastel on paper mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Daisy Shapiro, 1976.130, © 1937 John Ferren
•  

A pioneer of American abstraction, Ferren created this composition during a seven-year sojourn in Paris. He began his career as a sculptor, but turned to painting after he saw an exhibition of work by Henri Matisse and recognized the power of color. In the mid-1930s he worked at Stanley William Hayter’s printmaking workshop in Paris, Atelier 17, where he was encouraged to imprint his engraved and inked plated on wet plaster. When the plaster block dried, it showed the lines of the plate. He then carved into it to create à bas-relief sculpture of modeled and curved planes. Blue in Space resembles one of these carved plasters, translated into two dimensions with the planes defined by the rich colors of soft pastels.

Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009

John Ferren, Untitled, 1934, watercolor on paper mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia and Phillip Frost, 1986.92.22, © 1934 John Ferren

John Ferren, Sea-Forms, 1937, color wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1984.36.1

IN MEMORY
OF MY DAD, IRVING BERDY
TODAY, AUGUST 1st, 1917 WAS HIS BIRTHDAY 

MONDAY PHOTO

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rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com

WEEKEND PHOTO

BROOKLYN SURROGATE COURT AND POST OFFICE
ANDY SPARBERG AND SUMIT KAUR GOT IT!!!

FRIDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

ORIGINAL WPA HEADQUARTERS IN WASHINGTON, DC

THURSDAY  PHOTO OF THE DAY

OVERPASS ON WEST STREET TO NEW JERSEY FERRY TERMINAL
GLORIA HERMAN GOT IT !!!

Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c)

Sources

SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM

GRANTS 

CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD

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