Judging from the brushstrokes, we appear to be located at a river's bend, our view of the sky obstructed by trees but inferable by a play of light in the water. With the exception of two sharply defined tree trunks, most of Gordon's painting emphasizes autumnal color over form; a few dabs at lower right become a principle drama. About the Artist: We haven’t located any reliable information about this artist. 9 more images at FAP.
In the foregound, trees bent through years of snow; behind them an alpine lake and glaciered mountain under cerulean skies. Much of this painting is based upon a pair of complementary colors, played out in different juxtapositions. In subject matter (the mountains) and its color palette it resembles other works of this period, all of them perhaps owing a debt to Maxfield Parrish. We haven’t located any reliable information about this artist. Please contact us if you're able to help. 9 more images at FAP.
One of the more challenging still lifes you'll see, Earl strips down his painting to three primary objects: a cermanic casserole, two lemons, and the eponymous sea bass. Perhaps a third of his composition is given over to an unadorned countertop. If this were cuisine, the message would be: if you have good fish, don't adorn it unnecessarily. Perhaps Earl conceived of his shimmering bass in a similar manner. About the Artist: There is some contradictory information about this NDG artist, including the Federal Art Project listing his paintings as “Earl Godwin”—perhaps the confusion due to a prominent journalist having that name. Godwin Earl was teaching at the Los Angeles Art Institute as of 1928. For the 1930 census, in Los Angeles, Earl gave his birthdate as 1865 and his birthplace as Argentina; for the 1940 census, in New York, he gave his birthdate as 1860 and birthplace as New York. The 1860 birthdate seems more likely, since in 1941 he penned an epigram entitled “I’m Over Eighty”: “I am very tender hearted, so / I want to gently drop, / Into a vat of boiling oil, / The pest who calls me ‘Pop’ ” (New York Sun 11 Feb. 1941: 84). Everything that is known about Earl points toward a talented but curmudgeonly painter struggling amidst the Great Depression, in part due to his conservative standards of what constituted art. In response to MoMA’s plan to bring art supplies to soldiers in camps, Earl called it “another futile attempt to make people believe that art is something one can produce after a few days’ practice, as one would learn to whitewash the garden fence at home.” He instead argued for rigorous training (Godwin Earl, “Dark View of Art,” letter to editor, New York Sun 22 April 1942: 20). 11 more images at FAP.
New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18161
Ritz, Abigail (photography) Cooper, Ken (biography)
With the exception of this watercolor's foreground, much of Gaige's composition relies on evocative applications of color hovering above negative space (particularly at upper right). Exotic greenery is set against a carefully penciled arch, while a line of red bricks crosses through the foliage as an undercurrent. About the Artist: Born in Candor, NY, Gaige grew up in Binghamton and graduated from the School of Art at Syracuse University. He then moved to New York City where he worked as a painter, a freelance designer, and a teacher at the Parsons School of Design. His own innovations for a line of women’s compacts, cigarette cases, and coin cases for Volupté was recognized at the Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition “Useful Objects of American Design Under Ten Dollars” (1940). Along with his design work during the 1930s, Gaige was employed by the Federal Art Project. In 1942 he enlisted in the Army, serving first as a structural draftsman at Fort Dix, NJ, where he was featured in a humorous article on subject of slang between soldiers and their sweethearts:“This sugar report is coming straight from second heaven. You should cop a gander at the taxpayers straggling in. This new bunch of handcuffed volunteers has everything including short pants, battle wagons, moss backs, cruisers, modern guineas and a Hollywood private to snow ‘em under” (Cross). Gaige later became a writer-artist for Yank newspaper, traveling to the Middle East. The probable cause for this shift in direction was the positive reaction to his cartoons about military life, eventually collected into a book entitled Me and the Army. One critic wrote that “Every right page is filled with rough and ready sketches, full of life and keen observation, of all that goes on during the early days of training. Gaige may not be a great artist, but is a great observer of human activity from the mass nudity of medical inspection to the calm dignity of church service. The book is really a letter from a soldier to the folks at home—any soldier to any parents” (Dungen). After the war Gaige lived first in Pennsylvania and then in Miami. 11 images at OpenValley. 4 more images at FAP. Sources consulted: Christopher Cross, “How to Write to Him in His Own Language” (Albuquerque Journal 18 Oct 1942: 15. H.L. Dungen, “Witty Discourse on Army Life,” Oakland Tribune 20 June 1943: 19. Donald G. Taggart, History of the Third Infantry Division In World War II (Infantry Journal Press, 1947).
A woman, sitting on a backwards chair, observes a clear bowl with four swimming goldfish. A round table is the platform for the bowl; an empty, yellow-covered book; dried branches in a small vase; grapes; and a pear. An unknown light-source illuminates the woman, as sunlight simultaneously enters the room through a closed window in the middle ground. Similar apartment buildings occupy the background. Cool colors, warm colors, confinement behind glass and a blank expression are shared between the woman and the fish. About the Artist: Born Benzion Elias Delman in Jerusalem, Palestine, this NDG artist studied at the Bazelel Academy of Arts and Design and then in Paris before immigrating to New York in 1915. As of 1918 he was a staff artist for the Jewish Daily News. Delman became a citizen in 1923, and eventually moved to Chicago in 1942. His works were featured in exhibits sponsored by the National Academy of Design (1932), the New York City WPA—“Market Scenes” at the USDA in 1941, along with NDG artists Fred Adler and Herman Copen—and by the Art Institute of Chicago (1947). Delman is a study in perseverance: during the late 1940s he was working in the notions department at Mandel Brothers’ department store in Chicago, and did most of his painting (and etching) at night. His “Figure of an Old Man” at the gates of Jerusalem was shown at a 1949 exhibition sponsored by the store. The Mandels had “expected a few workers to turn up with stamp and shell collections and they were aware that a couple of salesmen liked to paint still lifes—but they weren’t prepared for the scores of employees who volunteered to exhibit” (Chicago Tribune 12 Jan. 1950: 26). 3 more images at FAP.
This painting depicts a scene that combines natural elements with man-made features. The brick wall is clearly defined in the forefront of this painting, but our attention is directed to the waterfalls that flow behind it. The wall varies in height and seems to take on the shape of the waterfall behind it. Gaps and layers of the wall give the illusion that the waterfall is part of the man-made structures. The dreary background is abundant with parallel lines that make it appear as its own type of wall. About the Artist: Like NDG artists Lucie Bayard and A.E. Cederquist, Cunning was a student of the famous artist-teacher Robert Henri at the New York School of Art. He remained close to this circle of artists via the Whitney Studio Club, and several of his works were featured in Whitney Bienniels or museum collections: “Old Dock” (1927); “Sunset—New York Bay” (1932); “Roadside Market” (1934). His 1934 painting “Manhattan Skyline,” created for the Public Works of Art Program, is at Smithsonian American Art Museum. 1 work at Whitney Museum of American Art. 2 works at the Brooklyn Museum. 1 more image at FAP.
A rectangular table is the platform for dried flowers and branches in an ornamental vase, a clear pedestal fruit bowl filled with pears, grapes and nectarines, as well as a small serving platter holding the same fruit. The vase and table are adorned with cool-colored shapes, without pattern. A blue fabric with pronounced brushstrokes is draped diagonally across the table from the wall behind it. A framed painting in the background juxtaposes the dried contents of the vase with a depiction of green tree leaves. About the Artist: Born Benzion Elias Delman in Jerusalem, Palestine, this NDG artist studied at the Bazelel Academy of Arts and Design and then in Paris before immigrating to New York in 1915. As of 1918 he was a staff artist for the Jewish Daily News. Delman became a citizen in 1923, and eventually moved to Chicago in 1942. His works were featured in exhibits sponsored by the National Academy of Design (1932), the New York City WPA—“Market Scenes” at the USDA in 1941, along with NDG artists Fred Adler and Herman Copen—and by the Art Institute of Chicago (1947). Delman is a study in perseverence: during the late 1940s he was working in the notions department at Mandel Brothers’ department store in Chicago, and did most of his painting (and etching) at night. His “Figure of an Old Man” at the gates of Jerusalem was shown at a 1949 exhibition sponsored by the store. The Mandels had “expected a few workers to turn up with stamp and shell collections and they were aware that a couple of salesmen liked to paint still lifes—but they weren’t prepared for the scores of employees who volunteered to exhibit” (Chicago Tribune 12 Jan. 1950: 26). 3 more images at FAP.
Bayard has painted a still life of a blue vase of flowers on the end table. A small wooden box sits next to the vase. The table, box, and wall behind the vase all are a deep reddish brown; this color makes up much of the photo. The flowers in the vase are an assortment of blues, oranges, and whites. There are small peach colored circles on the table, which may be polka dots on the table, or may be fallen petals. There is a light blue along the edge of the right side of the painting, perhaps a window, and what looks to be a frame along the right side. About the Artist: Although we haven’t been able to establish a reliable date or location for Bayard’s birth, an exhibition of her paintings at the MacDowell Club in 1915 for “painters trying their wings in the open” suggests a time somewhere 1899 (Brooklyn Daily Eagle 13 April 1915: 6). She studied with George Luks and Robert Henri at the Art Students League, the latter painting her portrait in “Green Coat” (1919). Likewise, she was the subject of George Bellows’ “Lucie” (1915) and remained good friends with the family. Her work appeared at the Society of Independent Artists (1917), the Allison Gallery (1945), and at various Woodstock shows. In 1951 she had a solo exhibition at the Mollie Higgins Smith Gallery, Woodstock, where a review praised her pastels for possessing “an unusual quality of depth and rich strong color not normally associated with the delicate medium” (Kingston Daily Freeman 10 Sept. 1951: 5). A Woodstock News article on Bayard noted reviews in praise of Lucie’s work from Art Digest and Art News:[In] Miss Bayard’s painting – the flowers …possess vitality that contributes animation to each canvas – while their soundness of tactile substance does not prevent the impression of their fragile ephemeral character. She has a rich sense of color. Her work is modern and spirited – a vitality which flows, perhaps from the rapidity of execution and reveals a sure and personal touch.” 1 image at FAP.
A clean sunny painting that shows a chapel next to a tall tree, beneath a light blue sky. Painted very smoothly with little to no noticeable brush strokes, this illustrates a warm and amiable picture with a pleasant vibe. Boasts a green, light sky blue, and reddish-mahogany color scheme. About the Artist: The son of Irish immigrants, Alger was born in Boston, MA and studied at the Lowell Institute of Design and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Around 1914, he began dividing his time between Massachusetts and showing his work in New York group exhibitions; a 1921 review of the Whitney Studio Club declared that its “chief interest centers about the technical novelty of John Alger. He has painted some sand dunes with a sweeping grace despite the fact that his colors, always modest, are laid down flatly and without accent” (New York Tribune 18 Dec. 1921: 50). Another admiring critic thought Alger had “developed a point of view which represents the utmost in simplification without, however, becoming in any sense of the word an abstractionist” (Brooklyn Daily Eagle 7 Mar. 1926: 66). Alger was a founding member of the Salons of America. In later years, he seems to have taught art lessons in addition to his painting. 5 more images at FAP.
This work displays a man suspended off the ground, surrounded by a variety of birds. The man himself looks to be St. Francis. The birds surrounding him are varied, with different species and sizes. The etching is darkly colored, primarily using blacks and whites. Behind the subject, the background is almost entirely black. Elements of circular halos can be seen surrounding the man, and rays of light are emanating from his head. About the Artist: Born in Cologne, Germany to a Jewish family, Eichenberg moved to Berlin where he worked ten years for Ullstein Publications, one of the country’s largest publishers. He fled to New York in 1933 amidst the rise of Nazism. One of Eichenberg’s first jobs in the US was creating illustrations for The Nation and he taught art lessons at The New School for five years; later, he founded the Pratt Center for Contemporary Printmaking. Recalling this challenging decade, Eichberg spoke fondly of WPA support for artists like him: “I went there with a few of my wooden engravings, or prints and asked him what I could do. It was just as simple as that. He said, ‘Oh, this is marvelous work. Go ahead and do what you want to do.’ It was that simple. There were no strings attached to it... I got box wood, which is very hard to get—the WPA had kind of a supply room and everything we needed. You had to say what you needed, and you got it. They bought the tools. They bought the gravers and they sharpened the gravers and you took your material home with you. You just picked it up there—beautiful wood blocks, any size” (Oral History Interview). Eichenberg became a sought-after illustrator for more than a hundred books—Poe, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev, Swift, the Brontës, numerous children’s stories—but he was especially moved by a request to create prints for Dorthy Day’s Catholic Worker magazine: “She said she had seen clippings of my work in the hovels of coal miners and so on, people in all parts of the world; people who could not read the Catholic Worker but they understood my very simple images of saints and portraits of people important in the Catholic worker movement.” Eichenberg was a witty commentator on current affairs; his print at the NDG references both St. Francis’s sermon to the birds and the pretensions of high-altitude balloon flights during the 1930s, like those undertaken at the Century of Progress in 1933. In later life he contributed talks, essays, and books on his medium, including The Art of the Print (1976) and The Wood and the Engraver (1977). Oral history interviews in 1964 and 1979. 12 works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 19 works at Smithsonian Museum of American Art. 105 works at Harvard Art Museum. 9 more images at FAP, including companions to his lithograph at NDG: “Preaching to the Animals,” “Preaching to the Fishes.”