Apples

AdlerFred--Apples.jpg

Dublin Core

Title

Description

We look upon a remarkably minimalist still life--sixteen apples upon a wooden board or table--but by the time of Adler's painting they were highly charged objects due to the thousands of minimally employed apple vendors on New York streets during the Great Depression. Keeping this in mind, we see an insistence upon each apple being represented individually, and for that matter each row of wood laminated into the wooden board. Adler's light and colors are direct, with very little shadow.

About the Artist: Born in New York, Adler was the son of Russian immigrants—his father a dressmaker and eventual NDG artist Joseph Adler. Fred studied two years at National Academy of Design, then two more at the Art Students League with Raphael Soyer. At age twenty he was employed by the Federal Art Project and assigned to a Civilian Conservation Corps project in Milford, IA where he “sketch[ed] characteristic moments in camp life” (Milford Mail 6 Sept 1934: 2). In 1940 his “Still Life With Herring” was selected for a Musuem of Modern Art traveling exhibition called “35 Under 35.” Along with NDG artists Herman Copen and Ben Delman, Adler’s painting “Avenue C market” was included in a 1941 show focused upon “Market Scenes,” and held at the USDA’s Surplus Marketing Department in New York. 1 painting at Smithsonian Museum of American Art. 8 more images at FAP.

Creator

Adler, Fred[erick M], 1914-2012

Publisher

Date

Contributor

Source

Format

Type

Identifier

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Oil painting

Physical Dimensions

30 x 24 in.
Condition: small tear, surface dirt

Geolocation