1 10 1 https://openvalley.org/files/original/2c4ecbe370f3e9fb47f5cd67da69925e.JPG 0da6179bc805164ea817662290da3967 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource New Deal Gallery Description An account of the resource This collection of more than 200 paintings owes its existence to two primary causes: allocations from the Federal Art Project to a New York state tuberculosis sanatorium located at Mt. Morris--the landscapes and still lifes were thought to be restful--and to the committed volunteers who helped preserve the paintings after the hospital closed. For several decades the canvases were stored in non-climate-controlled basements; it appears that doctors and staff removed at least three dozen works as "keepsakes." Despite the seeming tranquility of the paintings, they were created by artists primarily from New York City whose background was more political and aesthetically adventurous than this rural location would indicate. <a href="https://openvalley.org/exhibits/show/green-new-deal/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Follow this hyperlink to a short introduction to the New Deal Gallery collection</a>. We're grateful to the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts for access to their collection, which has been re-photographed and appears here at two resolutions: a cropped, web-friendly file size of around 1 MB; and a high-resolution file including the painting's frame. Items in this collection were created according to a consistent format: a short description of each painting in formal terms, followed by a biography of each artist. Where possible we have supplied hyperlinks relevant to their lives and to other examples of their art. In order to better view them using the Omeka program, click on the "View All" option at the bottom of this page to access various sorting options. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1935-1940 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Cooper, Ken (project director) Ritz, Abigail (photography and project assistant) Additional research: Justin Anderson, Jessica Apthorpe, Jay Bang, Kristopher Bangsil, Julia Caldwell, Sydney Cannioto, Sabrina Chan, Paige Closser, Victoria Domon, Elana Evenden, Yadelin Fernandez, Michael Griffin, Madison Jackson, Niamh McCrohan, Ben Michalak, Ricky Noel, Elizabeth Ramsay, Skye Rose, Samantha Schmeer, John Serbalik, Marianna Sheedy, Emily Spina, Alison Stern, Ravenna VanOstrand, and Nicholas Vanamee. Special thanks to: Deborah Bump, Mark Calicchia, Elizabeth Harris, Melissa Moody, Rebecca Lomuto, and Mai Sato. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as photograph, map, drawing, painting, etc., and any additional data Oil painting Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 22 x 32 in. Condition: spotted, surface dirt Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Copper Jug Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 997 KB Description An account of the resource The objects in this still life are candidly imperfect: all the bananas have spots; the apples are mottled or appear to have bruises. Still, their colors are vibrant and the table is replete. More of Kallem’s attention has been devoted to less-than-perfect reflections, in ghostly shades upon a table or in the copper jug. Reflected in the jug, it appears that we see the painter in silhouette, with light coming in from a window over his right shoulder. About the Artist: Born in Philadelphia to immigrant parents, Kallem learned to paint from his father Morris, a portraitist (his brother was the sculptor <a href="http://www.terenchin.com/2015/12/16/herbert-kallem-1909-1994/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Herbert Kallem</a>). He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. At some point during the 1920s the family  moved to New York where Henry set up and likely lived in a studio. He became friends with modernist artists who have come to be called the “28th Street” group because they gathered at the Henry and David Rothman Frame Shop at that location. Like many other artists, Kallem’s subject matter during the Great Depression became more explicitly political; his paintings included “The Sweatshop,” “Subway Construction,” and “Mill Town”—the latter appearing in a 1939 show at the Federal Art Gallery with NDG artists Harold Baumbach, Bena Frank, and James Guy. Starting in 1938 he was part of a five-person group that called themselves the “New York Realists”: Kallem, Max Frankel, Herbert Kallem, <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/artist/morris-neuwirth-3522" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Morris Neuwirth</a>, and <a href="https://thejewishmuseum.org/collection/artist/morris-shulman-american-1912-1978" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Morris Shulman</a>. He also joined a working group of artists encouraging closer cooperation with the American Labor Party. During World War II Kallem worked as an aircraft factory toolmaker, then returned to painting. In a nationwide 1947 competition, his <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=a0YEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA103&dq=country+tennement+henry+kallem&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjhzuSi_tXcAhUFmVkKHcTiBlIQ6AEIKzAA#v=onepage&q=country%20tennement%20henry%20kallem&f=false" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Country Tenement”</a> was awarded first prize and prompted controversy due to this mainstreaming of abstract art. The controversy also may have been due to its gritty content, for Kallem said, “My idea was to show how I felt upon seeing this scene one evening in the country—all the people crowded into one building with all that space around”(“Prize”). His postwar work moved in the direction of formal abstraction and landscapes, the two not necessarily separate. In 1955, a review called his paintings “subtle, quiet affairs, in which he achieves movement and depth through relationships of graded tones and colors. The approach seems free and easy, but there is a lot more to his work than first meets the eye” (Driscoll). 2 works at <a href="http://collections.portlandmuseum.org/4DACTION/HANDLECGI/CTN3/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Portland Museum of Art</a>. 3 more images at <a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/federal-art-project-photographic-division-collection-5467/series-1/box-12-folder-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FAP</a>. Sources Consulted: Edgar Driscoll, Jr., “Copley Society Presents Pleasing Members’ Show,” Boston Globe 9 Jan. 1955: 39; “Prize Art Satirizes the Housing Shortage,” New York Evening Post 30 Sept. 1945: 5 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kallem, Henry, 1912-1985 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Federal Art Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1936 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Ritz, Abigail (photography) Cooper, Ken (biography) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18188 Type The nature or genre of the resource Still image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 095 Federal Art Project Henry Kallem New Deal Gallery painting still life