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https://openvalley.org/files/original/da6173da509a6733f65df7e9d3314e77.jpg
08ba92a782f43bf70934b351a0b6f35a
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." <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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
24 x 20 in.
Condition: stained, surface dirt, scratches
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 Canal
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
1935-1940
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Ritz, Abigail (photography)
Closser, Paige (biography)
Cooper, Ken (biography)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts
Object #FA18116
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
jpeg. 849 KB
Description
An account of the resource
<span style="font-weight: 400;">A canal of water fills the foreground of this humble scene; red, white, and blue buildings fill the middle and background. Bright whites and blues of the sky and water fill a majority of the frame, which is split in half by a wooden bridge and its pilings. Mostly earthy colors are used, and there are visible brush strokes.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">About the Artist</span>: Born in Dublin, OH, Bentz grew up in Columbus and eventually moved to New York. As a teenager, he worked in his uncle’s photograph gallery and his talents were such that he was encouraged to attend art school—first at the Columbus Art School, then later at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Art Students League in New York. He studied with Herman F. Deigendesch,</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenyon_Cox" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Kenyon Cox</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">,</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Merritt_Chase" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">William Merritt Chase</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pollock_Anshutz" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Thomas Pollock Anshutz</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Bentz was a sought-after portrait painter, especially in miniatures on ivory, whose clients included many wealthy families: the Vanderbilts, the Goulds, and the Morgans. Later Bentz was a well-regarded restorer of paintings, including those of Rembrandt, Goya, and Benjamin West. At New York City Hall in 1946 he restored 25 paintings that had been in storage during World War II, including John Trumbull’s portrait of</span><a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/site/designcommission/public-programs/city-hall/portraits/portrait.page?portraitId=102" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">George Washington</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">New York Daily News </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">20 Jan. 1946: 102). Between 1914 and 1930 he was a portrait photographer in New York and Leonia, NJ. Bentz worked at the National Academy of Design and, according to a pupil named Alice Dibble, at the Brooklyn Museum. There is a tantalizing reference to Bentz having painted murals, “putting in one building alone six paintings each fifteen by twenty-five feet in size” (Hackensack, NJ </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Record </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">10 Sept. 1926: 6). 1 more image at</span><a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/federal-art-project-photographic-division-collection-5467/series-1/box-2-folder-40" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">FAP</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Still image
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
026
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Bentz, John Fitzhenry, 1858-1950
Federal Art Project
John Bentz
New Deal Gallery
painting