At lower left, a tight cluster of houses is set along the same plane as a plateau running to the right; in the distance are gentle hills of a comparable height, and beyond that taller mountains in blue. In the basin between them we see the broad green fields that give Nagai’s monoprint its name, a space that with a change of color could be a lake. Tiny dots of yellow and orange across the fields may indicate houses on the opposite side, in which case the basin is massive. Subtle etchings in the paint convey ground contours, brush, and tree foliage—the grassfields are a fine-grained texture of their own. About the Artist: Born in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, Nagai immigrated to the US in 1906, initially with a plan to study law but soon returning to his love of art—a grandfather and uncle both had been painters. In New York he studied at the Art Students’ League with Thomas Hart Benton for five years, whose influence can be seen in Nagai’s “Picnic” (1929) with its treatment of massy figures arranged in deep space. In 1928 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s art critic, Helen Appleton Read, singled out Nagai’s painting “Tea” as one of three “discoveries” from more than 1,000 exhibits at the Society of Independent Artists. He went on to exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Musuem of Art, and the ACA Gallery, among many venues. His “Japanese Landscape” appeared in a 1939 FAP exhibit on Long Island, focused upon farms and rural life; fellow NDG artists Louis Harris, Bena Frank, and Herman Copen also appeared. Many of In 1936 Nagai signed the Call for the American Artists’ Congress, an anti-fascist popular front organization. Near the end of his life Nagai and his artist wife Paula Rosen retired to Orlando, FL area. 1 work at the Whitney Museum of American Art. 2 more images at FAP.
The size of this inlet isn’t clear because of perspectival ambiguitiess: if the two houses at left are modest in scale, then the boats across from them either are tiny or far in the distance. Regardless, in the distance we see perhaps three or four dozen homes surrounding a cozy body of water, gentle hills behind them. Another odd feature of the monoprint is the lush, green foliage in the trees at left compared to several others in a harsher hue. About the Artist: Born in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, Nagai immigrated to the US in 1906, initially with a plan to study law but soon returning to his love of art—a grandfather and uncle both had been painters. In New York he studied at the Art Students’ League with Thomas Hart Benton for five years, whose influence can be seen in Nagai’s “Picnic” (1929) with its treatment of massy figures arranged in deep space. In 1928 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s art critic, Helen Appleton Read, singled out Nagai’s painting “Tea” as one of three “discoveries” from more than 1,000 exhibits at the Society of Independent Artists. He went on to exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Musuem of Art, and the ACA Gallery, among many venues. His “Japanese Landscape” appeared in a 1939 FAP exhibit on Long Island, focused upon farms and rural life; fellow NDG artists Louis Harris, Bena Frank, and Herman Copen also appeared. Many of In 1936 Nagai signed the Call for the American Artists’ Congress, an anti-fascist popular front organization. Near the end of his life Nagai and his artist wife Paula Rosen retired to Orlando, FL area. 1 work at the Whitney Museum of American Art. 2 more images at FAP.
New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18216
Ritz, Abigail (photography) Cooper, Ken (biography)
Precise outlines and imaginative color blending give this watercolor a distinctive appearance. It departs from most still lifes in giving a “ground-level” perspective of its subject matter—almost as a terrain. Fruit, flowers, and vegetables all make an appearance, along with a southwestern water vessel. Along the ground and as a sort of horizontal range are three, perhaps four patterned cloths against a gray-washed background. A note on the title: most New Deal Gallery records give the paintings title as “Still Life”; it’s not clear why the later title was added, and the frame doesn’t permit closer examination. About the Artist: Born in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, Nagai immigrated to the US in 1906, initially with a plan to study law but soon returning to his love of art—a grandfather and uncle both had been painters. In New York he studied at the Art Students’ League with Thomas Hart Benton for five years, whose influence can be seen in Nagai’s “Picnic” (1929) with its treatment of massy figures arranged in deep space. In 1928 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s art critic, Helen Appleton Read, singled out Nagai’s painting “Tea” as one of three “discoveries” from more than 1,000 exhibits at the Society of Independent Artists. He went on to exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Musuem of Art, and the ACA Gallery, among many venues. His “Japanese Landscape” appeared in a 1939 FAP exhibit on Long Island, focused upon farms and rural life; fellow NDG artists Louis Harris, Bena Frank, and Herman Copen also appeared. Many of In 1936 Nagai signed the Call for the American Artists’ Congress, an anti-fascist popular front organization. Near the end of his life Nagai and his artist wife Paula Rosen retired to Orlando, FL area. 1 work at the Whitney Museum of American Art. 2 more images at FAP.
Groups of like flowers, often in threes, are gathered into a roughly symmetrical bouquet along its vertical axis. The planter has no visible pattern; the wallpaper behind is defined via colors instead of pattern. Judging from highlights upon the planter and a shadow at right, sunshine filtering in from the left is quite strong. About the Artist: We haven’t located much reliable information about this artist. He exhibited his work at the Salons of America (1928), Chrysler Gallery (1932), and the Municipal Art Committee (1936). Ruth L. Benjamin described him as painting “portraits and still life, but seems to be at his best in landscape work” (Parnassus 7.5 [1935]: 15). He may have lived in Los Angeles beginning in the late 1930s. 2 more images at FAP.
This scene at the edge of a forest is drawn using remarkably sparse details, for example a few brushstrokes evoking a vegetable garden, a house, or a hill. Much of Nakagawa’s attention has been devoted to dense and multicolored foliage at left and right—the only neighbors depicted here. The red object (or figure) in the woods isn’t clear. Sinuous unpainted and scraped lines are integral to the watercolor’s design. About the Artist: We haven’t located much reliable information about this artist. He exhibited his work at the Salons of America (1928), Chrysler Gallery (1932), and the Municipal Art Committee (1936). Ruth L. Benjamin described him as painting “portraits and still life, but seems to be at his best in landscape work” (Parnassus 7.5 [1935]: 15). He may have lived in Los Angeles beginning in the late 1930s. 2 more images at FAP.
New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18217
Currently known as the Malayan Peacock-Pheasant, it is represented here by Nakamizo somewhat outside of its normal forest habitat for the purposes of a carefully arranged display. In flattened space the bird’s striking eye-spots are unique in their color and shape; an array of rocks and autumnal leaves surround them. Its bright orange-red around the eye, as in this painting, appears only when it is courting—a decision perhaps more aesthetic than ornithological on Nakamizo’s part. About the Artist: Born in Fukuiken, Japan, Nakamizo—whose name sometimes was spelled “Fugi”—immigrated to the US in 1907, living in Grand Rapids, MI and working as a decorator. He later moved to New York and studied at the Art Students League with Frank DuMond and Joseph Pennell. During the early 1920s, he appears to have created an etching of the medical researcher Dr. Hideyo Noguchi that hung in the Nippon Club, New York (Piper). By the 1930s he was fairly well known, especially for his etchings of birds, and exhibited at places like the League Gallery (1933), Montross Gallery (1934), the Brooklyn Museum (1935), the Art Institute of Chicago (1935); and the Carl Fischer Gallery (1936). In 1936 he contributed photographs and illustrations to feminist author Baroness Shidzue Ishimoto’s East Way, West Way: A Modern Japanese Girlhood. In 1943, Nakamizo’s etching “Emblem of Strength and Courage” was chosen for a national exhibition sponsored by the group Artists for Victory; this painting of an American eagle surrounded by warplanes may have been ironic, since some sources place him at a Japanese internment camp during World War II. 2 works at Smithsonian American Art Museum. 3 works at Lowe Art Museum. 6 works at Queens Library. 1 work at the National Gallery of Art. 6 more images at FAP. Sources consulted: Jean Piper, “Scientist Acts Like Human Dynamo,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle 6 Mar. 1927: 85; Ellen G. Landau, Artists for Victory: An Exhibition Catalog (Library of Congress, 1983).
An alert jay sits upon a tree branch in the foreground, with billow of leaves or some other foliage in the midground. In the distance, we see the turret of a large building. Nakamizo’s decision to render this scene as an engraving turns it into a study of patterns, both upon the bird and in its habitat. At lower left is text indicating it was created for the Federal Art Project. About the Artist: Born in Fukuiken, Japan, Nakamizo—whose name sometimes was spelled “Fugi”—immigrated to the US in 1907, living in Grand Rapids, MI and working as a decorator. He later moved to New York and studied at the Art Students League with Frank DuMond and Joseph Pennell. During the early 1920s, he appears to have created an etching of the medical researcher Dr. Hideyo Noguchi that hung in the Nippon Club, New York (Piper). By the 1930s he was fairly well known, especially for his etchings of birds, and exhibited at places like the League Gallery (1933), Montross Gallery (1934), the Brooklyn Museum (1935), the Art Institute of Chicago (1935); and the Carl Fischer Gallery (1936). In 1936 he contributed photographs and illustrations to feminist author Baroness Shidzue Ishimoto’s East Way, West Way: A Modern Japanese Girlhood. In 1943, Nakamizo’s etching “Emblem of Strength and Courage” was chosen for a national exhibition sponsored by the group Artists for Victory; this painting of an American eagle surrounded by warplanes may have been ironic, since some sources place him at a Japanese internment camp during World War II. 2 works at Smithsonian American Art Museum. 3 works at Lowe Art Museum. 6 works at Queens Library. 1 work at the National Gallery of Art. 6 more images at FAP. Sources consulted: Jean Piper, “Scientist Acts Like Human Dynamo,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle 6 Mar. 1927: 85; Ellen G. Landau, Artists for Victory: An Exhibition Catalog (Library of Congress, 1983).
A pair of woodcocks is pictured somewhat outside of their preferred grassy habitat, beside a cozy opening in a tree trunk. Although they often are associated with spring, the presence of freshly fallen leaves seems to indicate a moment just prior to their migration away from this scene. Hand-written at the bottom of the watercolor are Nakamizo’s poetic words: “A game bird that is not distrubed by the agriculture. Bird would come silently some April night, and from it then would disappear some October.” About the Artist: Born in Fukui Prefecture, Japan, Nakamizo—whose name sometimes was spelled “Fugi”—immigrated to the US in 1907, living in Grand Rapids, MI and working as a decorator. He later moved to New York and studied at the Art Students League with Frank DuMond and Joseph Pennell. During the early 1920s, he appears to have created an etching of the medical researcher Dr. Hideyo Noguchi that hung in the Nippon Club, New York (Piper). By the 1930s he was fairly well known, especially for his etchings of birds, and exhibited at places like the League Gallery (1933), Montross Gallery (1934), the Brooklyn Museum (1935), the Art Institute of Chicago (1935); and the Carl Fischer Gallery (1936). In 1936 he contributed photographs and illustrations to feminist author Baroness Shidzue Ishimoto’s East Way, West Way: A Modern Japanese Girlhood. In 1943, Nakamizo’s etching “Emblem of Strength and Courage” was chosen for a national exhibition sponsored by the group Artists for Victory; this painting of an American eagle surrounded by warplanes may have been ironic, since some sources place him at a Japanese internment camp during World War II. 2 works at Smithsonian American Art Museum. 3 works at Lowe Art Museum. 6 works at Queens Library. 1 work at the National Gallery of Art. 6 more images at FAP. Sources Consulted: Jean Piper, “Scientist Acts Like Human Dynamo,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle 6 Mar. 1927: 85; Ellen G. Landau, Artists for Victory: An Exhibition Catalog (Library of Congress, 1983).
New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18219
Striking design maintains accurate details of common marigolds in a glass vase or jar, while experimenting with simplified blocks of color. The nearly monochromatic background is variegated using brushstrokes and different thicknesses of paint. Nash’s decision to use a clear vase adds complexity and may be the still life’s most distinctive feature. About the Artist: Born in Sparta, WI, Genevra Ingersoll (her name a source of many spelling variants) came from a family of freethinkers, including her uncle Robert G. Ingersoll—known as “The Great Agnostic” and one of America’s most popular orators of the day who counted as a friend the poet Walt Whitman. Ingersoll was educated by tutors and showed a talent for painting; however, her first career was on the stage, beginning in the Midwest, then on Broadway in shows like Arizona (1900) and Unleavened Bread (1901). She married the actor George F. Nash in 1888 and began dividing her time between America and England in 1902, about the time her interests drifted away from the commercial theater. Nash collaborated with the novelist and early filmmaker Sir Gilbert Parker; performed readings in London from the poetry of Oliver Herford, “the American Oscar Wilde”; and wrote an introduction to fairy tales for the Consolidated Encylopedic Library. Her drawing-room readings made use of magic lantern slides she had painted herself. At this point, according to a later profile, Nash was encouraged to develop her talent for painting; she studied in Paris with Max Bohm and Lucien Simon and then had a studio in Rome for eight years (Rohe). During the Great War she remained in Europe, painting among other works the striking “View of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London” under attack from a 1915 Zeppelin bombing. 2 more images at FAP. Sources Consulted: “Women’s Clubs,” Brooklyn Life 8 Jul. 1905: 16; Alice Rohe, “Genevra Ingersoll,” Latrobe Bulletin 20 Mar. 1935: 3. Orison Swett Marden, ed., The Consolidated Encyclopedic Library, Vol. 5 (Emerson Press, 1903): 1213-1215.