1 10 25 https://openvalley.org/files/original/9e5deaa3739a27a45c37fa4d550febc7.jpg ab28fa6f7feea7905fbdf6a75c881b4c 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 29.5 x 23.5 in. Condition: 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 Small Town, NY 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, 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 #FA18374 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 1.2 MB Type The nature or genre of the resource Still image Description An account of the resource Although a train platform in the foreground bears the name “Small Town,” the frame of Yaghjian’s painting had referenced <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beacon,_New_York" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Beacon, NY</a> before getting crossed out in favor of this more universal theme. We are invited to ascend a wooden stairway into a quaint town whose buildings are arrayed upon its hillside: a brick commercial building near the tracks, a church and more ornate homes higher up. Warm earthtones and green foliage predominate. Small traces of the forces that would transform such towns lurk at the corners of the painting, like telephone wires or an automobile at lower right. About the Artist: Born in Harpoot, Armenia, Yaghjian immigrated to the US with his family in 1907 and was raised in Providence, RI. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design on scholarship and received a BA in Fine Arts in 1930.  He then continued his studies with the Art Students League, where he met <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_French_Sloan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John French Sloan</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Davis_(painter)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stuart Davis</a>, both significant influences upon his work. His work was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery, the National Gallery, and many other venues; he was the subject of numerous solo shows. At the 1936 Whitney Biennial, Anita Brenner grouped him with artists like Edward Hopper and NDG artist Dorothy Varian in their use of colors that are “dominant in most American landscapes, intense, precise and small within great space and immense sky.” Some of his most important contributions came as an art teacher, initially for the Art Students League in New York (1938-1943), then briefly at the University of Missouri. In 1945 Yaghjian was hired to head the art faculty at the University of South Carolina, where he taught until retirement in 1972. He was known for painting scenes from everyday life, both in New York and in South Carolina; while he continually painted his surroundings, his style shifted throughout his career from realism to stylized abstraction to abstraction. He lived in Columbia for the rest of his life, where he still was dancing two nights a week at the age of 85. 1 work at the <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/artist/edmund-yaghjian-5506" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Smithsonian American Art Museum</a>. 1 work at the <a href="https://gibbesmuseum.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/49EFFAFD-128B-45BC-BC3B-292859903974" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gibbs Museum of Art</a>. 1 work at the <a href="https://chrysler.emuseum.com/search/Yaghjian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chrysler Museum</a> of Art. 1 work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1 more image at <a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/federal-art-project-photographic-division-collection-5467/series-1/box-24-folder-33" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FAP</a>. <a href="http://digital.tcl.sc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/savage/id/127" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oral history interview</a> at University of South Carolina. Sources Consulted: Anita Brenner, “Younger Generation at Whitney Biennial,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle 15 Nov. 1936: 10C; South Carolina State Museum, <a href="http://www.tfaoi.org/aa/7aa/7aa926.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Edmund Yaghjian: A Retrospective”</a> (16 March-16 September, 1997). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Yaghjian, Edmund, 1903-1997 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 202 Beacon, NY Edmund Yaghjian Federal Art Project Landscape Art New Deal Gallery painting https://openvalley.org/files/original/68409ae3ea632f36924d9bd66b5029f4.jpg 87c8b532522d7d1a85d5f605c6442879 https://openvalley.org/files/original/a0655f04edb1c502cd03811d653f2575.jpg 4062e5fe89aa2f2937827ec04856f246 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 Wood engraving print Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 7 7/8 x 5 7/8 in. 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 Fields in Spring Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Weissbuch, Oscar (1904-1948) Description An account of the resource From an elevated perspective we look into a pleasingly enclosed, bowl-shaped valley; agricultural plantings emphasize the land’s underlaying contours. An arboreal line runs diagonally across the property. In the middle ground, a small house and attached shed is tucked into one cluster of trees, that of a presumed farmer returning home. Weissbuch’s curvilinear composition is extended to mountains in the distance and a sky full of clouds. In this and other prints Weissbuch seems to illustrate the “American Scene” of regional artists of the 1930s, some of whom “chose to focus on rural subject matter, preferring images of the countryside and scenes that depicted a simpler side of life” (Viso). “Fields in Spring” was honored at the 12th Annual Exhibition for American Graphic Artists, Philadelphia, in 1938. An appreciative reviewer praised its “expert differentiation of varied qualities of earth and foliage,” which again might be taken to reference the print’s rural setting (Lewis). But he also was praising the woodcut’s variety of pattern for its own sake—at least a dozen different recurring ones to be observed. Weissbuch’s later <a href="https://munson.emuseum.com/objects/1932/backyard-in-summer?ctx=4715703bae747f0b36f946b02d2517711b4029c3&idx=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Backyard in Summer”</a> (1942) suggests that, many years earlier, the artist was intrigued by tensions between representation and underlying forms. About the Artist The son of Romanian immigrants, Weissbuch grew up in Brooklyn and already was working at a hat factory by the age of fifteen. Weissbuch studied at the Yale University School of Fine Arts, the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, and the Art Students League (where he likely encountered the influential abstractionist Hans Hoffman). Beginning in 1934, Weissbuch worked on various WPA programs for seven years (Public Works of Art Project, Temporary Emergency Relief Administration, Federal Art Project), altogether producing 23 recorded prints. His works were widely exhibited in New York (including MoMA, the Brooklyn Museum, and Albright-Knox Museum), along with traveling shows to California, England, and Scandinavia. Weissbuch also became an important mentor within the Graphic Arts Division. For a short time he was appointed its supervisor, and along with his predecessors was “liked and respected by the artists. They showed sympathy and understanding and stood up for the artists under the pressures of the Project administration, which in turn was under political pressure” (Kainen 170). One such pressure by the late 1930s was a call for graphic works supporting European Allies and military preparation, rather than landscapes or social criticism. Late in 1941, Weissbuch began teaching at the newly established <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munson-Williams-Proctor_Arts_Institute" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Utica Art School</a>, created by the Munson – Williams – Proctor Arts Institute. Its egalitarian mission announced that faculty, “when executing their own professional work, will welcome students and the general public who may thus observe their methods in practice” (Art Digest 1 Dec. 1941: 29). Alongside American art generally, Weissbuch’s work during the 1940s moved in a direction of increasing abstraction—for example, <a href="https://munson.emuseum.com/objects/1932/backyard-in-summer?ctx=4715703bae747f0b36f946b02d2517711b4029c3&idx=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Backyard in Summer”</a> (1942) and <a href="https://munson.emuseum.com/objects/10524/rooftops-no-1?ctx=4715703bae747f0b36f946b02d2517711b4029c3&idx=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Rooftops, No. 1”</a> (1943)—and then fully embraced it by the end of his life in works like <a href="https://munson.emuseum.com/objects/1057/sea-motif?ctx=4715703bae747f0b36f946b02d2517711b4029c3&idx=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Sea Motif”</a> (1948). Given Weissbuch’s fascination with motific patterns and textures seen in FAP prints of the 1930s, though, perhaps abstraction makes sense as a latent potential within his earlier work. He was a brief, but meaningful influence upon the Pop artist Robert Indiana, who took classes at the Utica Art School while stationed near there in the amy (Ryan 271). But it seems there had been many other apprentices taught by Weissbuch along the way. 18 works at the <a href="https://www.philamuseum.org/collection?artist=Oscar%20Weissbuch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Philadelphia Museum of Art</a>. 2 works at the <a href="https://www.nga.gov/artists/34125-oscar-weissbuch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Gallery of Art</a>. 2 works at the <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/artist/oscar-weissbuch-5309" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Smithsonian American Art Museum</a>. 4 works at <a href="https://munson.emuseum.com/search/Weissbuch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Munson Museum</a>. 1 work at the <a href="https://digital.wolfsonian.org/node/67534?search_api_fulltext=weissbuch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wolfsonian-FIU</a>. 4 versions of “Gypsy Fortune Teller,” illustrating stages of the woodcut printing process, at <a href="https://dac-collection.wesleyan.edu/artist-maker/info/38000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wesleyan University Davison Art Collection</a>. 5 images at <a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/federal-art-project-photographic-division-collection-5467/series-1/box-23-folder-54" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FAP</a>. Works Consulted: Olga M. Viso, “The Golden Age of American Printmaking, 1900-1950”  (1994), courtesy TFAO <a href="https://www.tfaoi.org/aa/9aa/9aa175.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Link</a>; Edward Lewis, “3 Shows Open at Print Club,” Philadelphia Inquirer 27 Mar. 1938: 16; Jacob Kainen, “The Graphic Arts Division of the WPA Federal Arts Project,” in The New Deal Art Projects: An Anthology of Memoirs, ed. Francis V. O’Connor (1972) <a href="https://archive.org/details/newdealartprojec0000unse_m0q7/page/154/mode/1up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Link</a>; Susan Elizabeth Ryan, Robert Indiana: Figures of Speech (2000); Peter Hastings Falk, ed., Who Was Who in American Art (1999) <a href="https://archive.org/details/whowaswhoinameri0003unse/page/3507/mode/1up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Link</a> Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Cooper, Ken (description & biography) Helquist, Morgan (photography) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 1.5 MB jpeg, 1.6 MB 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 ca. 1935 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived New Deal Museum, Mt. Morris Object #FA 1566 Type The nature or genre of the resource Still image Federal Art Project Landscape Art New Deal Museum Oscar Weissbuch woodcut https://openvalley.org/files/original/e260e01a2389de70a6ab82706ae48320.JPG 99bd29f8e98b32bd09ce8456102a2f28 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 16 x 20 in. Condition: surface dirt, pitted 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 Trees Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Waltemath, William, 1876-1958 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Ritz, Abigail (photography) Domon, Victoria (biography) Cooper, Ken (biography) Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Description An account of the resource This work, as the title suggests, is of trees during the fall season: red, yellow, and orange colors of leaves on their skeletal forms depict a season of change. Rolling hills behind them likewise are changing color to more muted tones, the color of perhaps a dirt path. The sky is blue behind off-white clouds. A stone wall separates the trees from a grassy field in the foreground. About the Artist: Born as August Fredrik Vilhelm Axelsen in Tönsberg, Norway, dire economic conditions there led to his immigration—at eight years old—to the US with his maternal aunt and her husband, Wilhelm Waltemath of Germany. That family settled in Minneapolis, MN, where William eventually began work as a printer. His paintings were exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Salons of America, and Society of Independent Artists, along with group and individual events. At a 1931 show in Baltimore, MD, the art critic Henry McBride wrote that Waltemath “commands rich pigment and has a sense of picture making, though his tendency is toward the somber.” By 1932, however, Waltemath’s professional and financial situation had suffered; he was one of a dozen New York painters selected for inclusion in a show featuring artists “who are for the most part unknown, indigent, or neglected” (“Unsung”). The Federal Art Project provided a crucial lifeline, for example in 1937 his work shown at a WPA exhibition along with fellow NDG artist Carl Nordell. He remained active in civic organizations, notably as chairman of the Art League of Nassau County. There is something moving to to a photograph of Waltemath with one of his paintings, where it’s revealed that he considers himself “a printer by trade and an artist because he insists on being one....He has been unemployed for some time, but refuses to allow that to halt his painting” (“An Artist”). Sources Consulted: Henry McBride, “Some Foreign Impressions of Our Art,” Baltimore Sun 22 Nov. 1931: 66; “Unsung Artists Exhibit at Show on Heights,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle 3 Sept. 1932: 3; “An Artist—By Choice!” New York Daily News 10 Jan. 1937: 181. 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 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived New Deal Gallery, Genesee Council on the Arts Object #FA18284 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 758 KB Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 191 Federal Works Project Landscape Art New Deal New Deal Gallery William Waltemath https://openvalley.org/files/original/f1a2351b45a040feaf4a22d44b5240ee.jpg ecf410230d86390964eb37393f4dba44 https://openvalley.org/files/original/1d289b44cb43c1b8b95b52b99b3ec955.jpg 2f39ac13609db35ec343169e89ae06a2 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 on canvas Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 24 x 30 in. 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 Autumn Landscape Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 1.5 MB jpeg, 1.7 MB Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rites, Marion B[ushanse] (1900 - ?) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Federal Art Project Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Harrington, Gwenyth Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived New Deal Museum, Mount Morris NY Object #FA 819 Description An account of the resource In Autumn Landscape, at first glance, the viewer appears to be standing on a riverbank, looking into a dense and active landscape. The foreground is filled with thick foliage, where leaves are depicted through repeating oval shapes and emphasized with strong, dark outlines. These energetic brushstrokes suggest movement, as if wind is passing through the trees. In the middle ground, partially hidden by the leaves, a wooden cabin and small boat with a fisherman come into view. Although obscured at first glance, these elements remain present and distinct, encouraging closer observation. In the background, the sky is soft and muted, providing contrast to the vivid colors of the surrounding foliage. Rites’ composition is evenly arranged, with trees and plants spread across the scene creating a calm and peaceful setting. The bright greens, oranges, and blues maintain their intensity throughout the painting, rather than fading into the distance. This approach reflects the influence of Paul Cézanne, particularly in the use of color to build form and create this seasonal scene. Furthermore, the dense layering of leaves and overlapping forms fills out nearly the entire picture, leaving little space to spare. Overall, the work presents an upbeat and immersive view into the nature of an organic Autumn Day. About the Artist Unfortunately, little information is known about this artist. He was born in 1900 in Ithaca, NY, the son of <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c2632388&seq=555&q1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a renowned engineer</a> who had become wealthy from his patents. Rites’ parents separated, however, and his father died while Marion was still a teenager. He attended Ithaca High School and graduated from Cornell University in 1922. There are indications that he studied art in Paris and painted in Touraine, the Riviera, and Northern Africa (“Paintings”). His works were exhibited in 1932 at the <a href="https://www.mahj.org/en/decouvrir-collections-betsalel/galerie-de-la-renaissance-6585" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Galerie de la Renaissance</a> and received favorable mention for their cosmopolitanism and “painterly temperament” (Dictionaire). Rites was influenced by the French Impressionist <a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/paul-cezanne" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paul Cézanne</a>, including his bold brushstrokes; use of muted and earthy tones, greens and blues; and his thick application of paint. Along with another artist, David Dorfman, Rites illustrated a 1941 WPA children’s book titled <a href="https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/in00000129820" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tales of Old New York,</a> published by the New York Board of Education. Little is known about this artist beyond the works he left behind. His date of death is also unknown. 4 works at the <a href="https://art.gsa.gov/artworks/725/still-life-with-cigarette?ctx=937f730ef375fb1b8257b0d4fd42b9f8faf23648&idx=307" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. General Services Administration</a>. 2 images at <a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/federal-art-project-photographic-division-collection-5467/series-1/box-19-folder-18" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FAP</a>. Works Consulted: “Paintings of Marion B. Rites, Former Ithaca Resident, Are Favorably Mentioned Abroad,” Ithaca Journal 19 Dec. 1933: 7; <a href="https://archive.org/details/bwb_S0-BKW-886/page/211/mode/1up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dictionaire Biographique des Artistes Contemporains</a> (1934). Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource ca. 1937 Type The nature or genre of the resource Still image Federal Art Project Landscape Art Marion Rites New Deal Museum https://openvalley.org/files/original/49381f46d781d37193b0bc7b3a51c5bf.JPG 0d8df6002cb1bb0113e83c1cdabd828b https://openvalley.org/files/original/b74bcb7db79a850c83f30e7df55eb0d6.JPG cb3398f0b23592dd471bacf8d6ecba31 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 30 x 38 in. Condition: 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 From the Mid-Country Highway Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 974 KB jpeg, 13.8 MB Description An account of the resource The location of this painting isn’t clear: there’s no identifiable “mid-country highway,” and a “mid-county” highway in Maryland doesn’t seem to fit the landscape. Here, we look at hilly terrain under a cloudy sky that have rendered the mountaintops very dark. A driveway in the foreground leads to a road, whose unpaved status either renders Powell’s title somewhat ironic or implies that we are looking from a newer road upon this simpler tableau. A farm and fields is visible in the midground, and another further in the distance. The colors here all are muted fall earthtones, no blazing foliage. About the Artist: Born in Van Wert, OH, Powell traveled and painted the American landscape at a young age, a pattern followed through much of his life. At age 15 it was a trip to Portland, OR, and San Francisco, eventually resulting in his enrollment at the San Francisco School of Design. Powell later studied at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts; Académie Julian, Paris; and with the classicist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard_Toudouze" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Édouard Toudouze</a> and portraitist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Ferrier" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gabriel Ferrier</a>. He painted lakes in Glacier National Park, mountains in Idaho, town squares in France, and street scenes in New York. “Every time I got a couple hundred dollars in hand I’d strike out for some new place,” he later said (“Artist”). Although Powell’s specialty was landscape paintings, sometimes he experimented with engravings, woodblock prints, or allegorical material: massive, eight-by-twelve-foot mural paintings of “Second Birth of Christ” and “The Sermon on the Mount” for the Dover Plains Methodist church. By this point Powell had made his home in Dover Plains, NY  introduced to the area by his long-time artist friends G. Glenn Newell, Harry Franklin Waltman, and Walter C. Hartson. The mountainous rural environs of Dutchess County often were the subject of their landscapes. Powell was awarded various prizes for his paintings, a member of the Salmagundi Club and in 1937 elected to the National Academy of Design. But he is perhaps best remembered in his local community, having donated paintings to schools and firehouses, mentored local artists, and served as president of the art association. Just prior to his death Dover Plains named Powell Road in his honor. 1 work at the <a href="https://emuseum.hydecollection.org/objects/4251/winter-landscape?ctx=b2865c76-5eb0-4301-89b1-6da57033bab5&idx=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hyde Collection</a>. 1 more image at <a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/federal-art-project-photographic-division-collection-5467/series-1/box-18-folder-35" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FAP</a>. Sources Consulted: “Dover Church Gets Painting,” Poughkeepsie Eagle-News 26 Sept. 1932: 2; “Four Artists, Close Friends and Neighbors in County, Show Paintings at Gallery,” Poughkeepsie Journal 20 Jan. 1946: 11; “ ‘Artist Should Please Himself,’ Maintains Dover Plains Painter,” Poughkeepsie Journal 21 June 1953: 6A. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Powell, Arthur J[ames] E[mery], 1864-1956 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) Cooper, Ken (biography) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived New Deal Gallery, Genesee Valley Council on the Arts Object #FA18241 Type The nature or genre of the resource Still image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 148 Arthur J. S. Powell Federal Art Project Landscape Art New Deal Gallery painting https://openvalley.org/files/original/baa7c5e63a14be8e5380d43d9bdd465a.JPG 058b6d4bcd5eee657dd90fab246a336f 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 24 x 30 in. Condition: 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 Spring in Central Park Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 901 KB Description An account of the resource Using brushstrokes and a palette resembling impressionism (verging on pointillism), Polowetski’s greens of early spring are overwhelmed by saturated shades of lavender, blue, magenta, and umber. The terrain is roughly accurate but compressed so as to emphasize the number of people enjoying a glorious day—and really it seems to be emotional accuracy that is most important here. About the Artist: Born in Bielsk, Poland, Polowetski immigrated to the US in 1892. He grew up in New York city amidst harrowing conditions; when ten years old and a ward of the Deborah Nursery and Child’s Protectory—which provided day care for poor working parents—Polowetski and two other boys were “locked in the cellar of the institution and after being flogged tied to gas pipes and left prisoners in the dark hole” (“He Flogged the Children”). Given this childhood his subsequent career is remarkable: at age sixteen he studied with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frederick_Blum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robert Frederick Blum</a> at the National Academy of Design, then in 1903 after receiving a scholarship with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Bonnat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Léon Bonnat</a> at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. In Paris <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/camden-town-group/chronology-r1107098" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he became friends</a> with painters like Bernard Gussow and Samuel Halpert, exhibited at the Salon d’Automne, and eventually maintained a studio up to and during the Great War before fleeing in 1915. Plowetski’s efforts at returning to France in 1919 reveal efforts on his behalf by fellow painters <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Elmer_Browne" target="_blank" rel="noopener">George Elmer Browne</a> and <a href="https://portsmouthhistorynotes.com/2017/04/07/oscar-miller-bristol-ferry-artist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oscar Miller</a>. Polowetski was a member of the Salmagundi Club and, while in Paris, of the American Art Association. His vivid landscapes and portraits were exhibited in American venues like the Corcoran Gallery, the Salons of America, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In all likelihood he made his living as a portraitist, receiving commissions by bank officers, industrialists, university presidents, governors, and the like; among his FAP works is one of the pilot and explorer Floyd Bennett, for whom a New York airport was named. In 2008 Polowetski’s NDG painting “December in Venice,” loaned for exhibition at the Mills Mansion, Mt. Morris, <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/Depression-Treasures-Hunting-for-WPA-Paintings-275523541.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was stolen</a> and has yet to be recovered. After World War II Polowetski moved to Santa Fe and began painting in the American southwest, then lived the final years of his life in California. 1 work at the <a href="https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp07441/charles-ezekiel-polowetski?role=art" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Portrait Gallery, UK</a>. 5 more images at <a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/federal-art-project-photographic-division-collection-5467/series-1/box-18-folder-30" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FAP</a>. Source Consulted: “He Flogged the Children,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle 5 June 1895: 12. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Polowetski, Charles Ezekiel, 1884-1955 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 #FA18243 Type The nature or genre of the resource Still image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 150 Charles Polowetski Federal Art Project Landscape Art New Deal Gallery painting https://openvalley.org/files/original/4ed4256055e3d10807dedc6efb128262.JPG 2f867add77e2682608a492ceec474327 https://openvalley.org/files/original/e2c7ede03a080416bbb9c9ec1108fb78.JPG 0943063409e737da5ba45bb827501f62 https://openvalley.org/files/original/b9a3059576be5c40eb3341a99d20a2f5.jpg 5bfea24ead300e47859757f03d917e46 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 19.5 x 23.5 in. Condition: stained, pencil marks 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 Midsummer Day Description An account of the resource From the edge of a lake or slow-moving river, we look across to see several houses built at water’s edge. Using a palette similar to his other New Deal Gallery paintings, Patterson depicts a freshness normally associated with springtime: there appear to be yellow flowers in bloom along the shoreline, and mountains in the distance show no traces of snow. About the Artist: Born in Monmouth, IL, Patterson’s practice of art required entrepreneurship throughout his life. The son of a printer, he financed his study at Monmouth College by working summers on the railroad in nearby Des Moines, then in 1913 teaching art lessons (Des Moines Register 15 July 1913: 9). He went on to receive further training at the Cummings School of Art (University of Iowa), the Philadelphia School of Design, and a masters in fine arts at Harvard University. At the same time, however, he continued to teach at far-flung locations: the Cummings School (Iowa), Northern State Teachers College (South Dakota), Tulane University, and at the Universities of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin (Des Moines Register 13 Sept. 1925: 10). His professional life, in other words, was contingent; along with his teaching posts are frequent mentions of threatened cuts to art programs. His NDG paintings most likely date to a period when he lived in New York, perhaps teaching at Columbia University. For most of his life Patterson’s horizon remained regional; he often won prizes at the Iowa Art Salon—where he exhibited for 25 consecutive years—and at the Des Moines Women’s Club exhibitions. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Patterson, Claude, (1887-1973) 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 1937 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Ritz, Abigail (Photography) Anderson, Justin (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 #FA18234 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 1.1. MB jpeg, 8.9 MB Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 141 Claude A. Patterson Federal Art Project Landscape Art New Deal Gallery painting https://openvalley.org/files/original/2c11cea3dc262cfaad992225b113247d.jpg 5807e625b53e22ad13e7d43d26e20b23 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 23.5 x 19.5 in. Condition: slightly cracked canvas 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 November Scene Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 1.1 MB Description An account of the resource The center of this landscape is a tree with gold and yellow leaves, a few just turning to orange. Nearby bushes already have dropped their leaves, allowing for views across a pond or river to the other shore, and mountains in the far distance. Everything except the foreground is painted in hues of blue, white, and green—the better to set off the blaze of color in front of us. About the Artist: Born in Monmouth, IL, Patterson’s practice of art required entrepreneurship throughout his life. The son of a printer, he financed his study at Monmouth College by working summers on the railroad in nearby Des Moines, then in 1913 teaching art lessons (Des Moines Register 15 July 1913: 9). He went on to receive further training at the Cummings School of Art (University of Iowa), the Philadelphia School of Design, and a masters in fine arts at Harvard University. At the same time, however, he continued to teach at far-flung locations: the Cummings School (Iowa), Northern State Teachers College (South Dakota), Tulane University, and at the Universities of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin (Des Moines Register 13 Sept. 1925: 10). His professional life, in other words, was contingent; alongside notices of his teaching posts are mentions of threatened cuts to art programs. His NDG paintings most likely date to a period when he lived in New York for about a decade, perhaps teaching at Columbia University. For most of his life Patterson’s horizon remained regional; he often won prizes at the Iowa Art Salon—where he exhibited for 25 consecutive years—and the Des Moines Womens Club exhibitions. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Patterson, Claude A[llan], 1887-1973 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 1936-12 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 #FA18235 Type The nature or genre of the resource Still image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 142 Claude A. Patterson Federal Art Project Landscape Art New Deal Gallery painting https://openvalley.org/files/original/a8ab4b99f059a9d2c306b5b1e0291ca5.jpg b456386ac20c7e97a1e1cac4ceb2ecb9 https://openvalley.org/files/original/6888a89d0768d9f836d15c5b5d6d3274.JPG ef16973bd145a9179d37a5fda0b12dad https://openvalley.org/files/original/ac5903390c3f22a56c88ff51ccb2be93.jpg 5ff9fdf2600d14cb0b9704b16aa9d1b3 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 16 x 20 in. Condition: 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 Highwater Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 928 KB jpeg, 10.7 MB jpeg, 1.2 MB Description An account of the resource Given its light greens and the implied blossoms of field flowers, Patterson’s landscape may be set during springtime, in which case the lake pictured here still would be filled with meltwater. His fresh, pastel-shaded scene celebrates nature with any traces of the human carefully cropped out of visible range. About the Artist: Born in Monmouth, IL, Patterson’s practice of art required entrepreneurship throughout his life. The son of a printer, he financed his study at Monmouth College by working summers on the railroad in nearby Des Moines, the in 1913 he teaching art lessons (Des Moines Register 15 July 1913: 9). He went on to receive further training at the Cummings School of Art (University of Iowa), the Philadelphia School of Design, and a masters in fine arts at Harvard University. At the same time, however, he continued to teach at far-flung locations: the Cummings School (Iowa), Northern State Teachers College (South Dakota), Tulane University, and at the Universities of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin (Des Moines Register 13 Sept. 1925: 10). His professional life, in other words, was contingent; alongside notices of his teaching posts are mentions of threatened cuts to art programs. His NDG paintings most likely date to a period when he lived in New York for about a decade, perhaps teaching at Columbia University. For most of his life Patterson’s horizon remained regional; he often won prizes at the Iowa Art Salon—where he exhibited for 25 consecutive years—and the Des Moines Womens Club exhibitions. 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 1937-04-27 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 #FA18232 Type The nature or genre of the resource Still image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 139 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Patterson, Claude A[llan], 1887-1973 Claude A. Patterson Federal Art Project Landscape Art New Deal Gallery painting https://openvalley.org/files/original/312d7f225968f83834b8fa6b400183db.JPG 6c970aa2236229d94cbfe30b29882720 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 Watercolor on canvas? Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 30 x 24 in. Condition: 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 Wash Day in the Country Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpeg, 854 KB Description An account of the resource This view adopts some several conventions of folk painting: a non-linear perspective, extremely simplified renderings of structures and people; and a “coverage” of the scene that feels complete. The style was one of several for Nichols. Perhaps most intriguing here is a network of lines, or tributaries, that link together disparate elements. Smoke from a house at bottom reaches a vegetable plot, but goes no further; the trunk of a large tree at center continues upward as a road, and its branches all serves as “paths” to different objects in the painting. The washline at bottom left is just one of many lines. About the Artist: Born in Maywood, IL, Nichols came from a wealthy family and at times struggled to find his own artistic voice. He trained at the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, and the Art Students League. While studying at the Louvre, Paris in 1930, he became friends with the expatriate writer Henry Miller and painted his portrait with the Eiffel Tower in the background. For his part Miller wrote, hyperbolically, that “I feel convinced, when talking to [Nichols] that I am standing in the presence of a genius. I can see in him another Van Gogh, or better.[...] Nichols is a deeply cultured guy, a rich, ripe guy of the autumnal cities, a man of feeling, of intuition, of instinct, but also of great intellect, and of great ego...charming ego...charming effrontery. The child-man, the wonder-man, soft-voiced, musical, sure, suave, convincing, and never-ending” (Cosmodemonic). Not coincidentally Miller observed that a private income freed Nichols “to do what he wants,” which may be why one gallery owner recalled Nichols asking only $5 for his paintings: “I would say, ‘John, I can't give you $5. I’ll give you $20 for it.’ He'd say, ‘I can't accept that’...And whatever happened to John Nichols I don't know, but he painted in a Matisse-like manner and then went off to his own approach....He had marvelous reviews. I think money was not really the thing” (“Oral History”). Nichols’ work was exhibited throughout the 1930s and ‘40s at various galleries in Woodstock, NY, where he maintained a studio. His painting “Buzz Saw” was selected for the “New Horizons in Art” exhibit, MoMA (1936). He exhibited at the Federal Art Show, Woodstock, along with NDG artists Erna Lange, Leon Foster Jones. Ahead of a 1936 solo show at Sawkill Gallery, a press released described Nichols like this: “In spite of his conventional background and training he is somewhat of a rebel against established tradition” (Kingston Daily Freeman 24 July 1936: 6). 6 works at <a href="https://collections.hvvacc.org/digital/collection/waam/search/searchterm/Nichols" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Woodstock Artists Association & Museum</a>. Sources Consulted" <a href="http://cosmotc.blogspot.com/2006/07/john-nichols-and-millers-beard.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company: A Henry Miller Blog</a>; (<a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-bernard-braddon-and-sidney-paul-schectman-12316#transcript" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Oral History Interview with Bernard Braddon and Sidney Paul Schectman, 1981 October 9,”</a> Archives of American Art). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Nichols, John Crampton, 1899-1963 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Federal Art Gallery Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1935 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 #FA18224 Type The nature or genre of the resource Still image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 131 Federal Art Project John Nichols Landscape Art New Deal Gallery painting