Vose Galleries in Boston continues a 180-year tradition with the exhibition The Enduring Spirit of American Realism opening October 18 and continuing through December 20. The two-part exhibition is described as a “touch of tradition and a nod to the mod.”
William Bradford (1823-1892), Ships amid Icebergs, oil on canvas, 201/8 x 301/8 in.
The gallery elaborates: “‘A touch of tradition’ encompasses the aesthetic that art enthusiasts typically expect when they hear the phrase ‘realism.’ It ranges from tanscriptions of nature by Francis Augustus Silva and Benjamin Champney to the soft, colorful impressionism of Lee Lufkin Kaula and Philip Leslie Hale. ‘A nod to the mod,’ on the other hand, showcases the innovative realism of the last century through the gestural work of Wolf Kahn and John Whorf to the expressive watercolors of the Boston Five. We are pleased to continue championing the dynamic tradition of American Realism through this exhibition and we are excited to engage with our clients in the ongoing conversation of what defines ‘realism’.”
Wolf Kahn (1927-2020), Grape Vine on the Summer House, oil on canvas, 34 x 427/8 in., signed lower right: ‘W Kahn 1979’.
William Bradford (1823-1892) was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, across from the whaling port of New Bedford where he began his career making finely detailed paintings of whaling ships and sea merchants. He became friends with Seth Vose who sold his paintings in Rhode Island and in Boston. Bradford had a fascination with the Arctic and coordinated seven trips to the region, the last in 1869. In 1873 he published a travelogue in which he described the subtleties of the Arctic: “Not a breath of wind was stirring, and the deep blue of an Arctic sky was reflected in the water so strangely flecked with indescribably icy forms…Nor were the colours wanting to carry out this illusion. From dead white to glossy, glistening satin; from the deepest green to all the lightest shades; and from faint blue to deepest ‘lapis lazuli’; and again, as some lofty berg passed between us and the sun…” His painting Ships amid Icebergs is in the exhibition.
Elizabeth M. Lobingier (1889-1973), In Gloucester Harbor, oil on canvas, 24½ x 29½ in., signed lower right: ‘Elizabeth M. Lobingier’.
Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), Winter Morning, watercolor on paper: drybrush watercolor on paper, 25½ x 383/8 in., signed lower left: ‘Andrew Wyeth 1946’.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Wolf Kahn (1927-2020) painted with loose brush strokes and enjoyed pushing color, coming to the edge of abstraction without losing the “real.” He said, “My choice of color is dictated by tact and decorum stretched by an unholy desire to be outrageous. I’m trying to get color to the danger point where it’s too sweet or too noisy without actually making it too sweet or too noisy.” His joyful Grape Vine on the Summer House is also in the exhibition.
Theodore Wendel (1857-1932), Children Picking Flowers, oil on canvas, 251/8 x 301/8 in.
Lee Lufkin Kaula (1865-1957), Reading, oil on canvas, 291/8 x 241/8 in., signed lower left: ‘Lee Lufkin Kaula’.
The gallery also recognizes the contributions to American art of “two underappreciated women artists,” Paulette Van Roekens (1895-1988) and Elizabeth Lobingier (1889-1973), each of whom “perfected distinctly modern artistic styles ground in realism, and they made lasting marks on the landscape of American Realist painting.”
Francis Augustus Silva (1835-1886), New York Coast, oil on canvas, 18 x 30 in., signed lower left: ‘F. A. Silva’.
Paulette Van Roekens was born in France but came to the United States as a child, eventually studying at what is now Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia, where she taught from 1923 to 1961. Her painting Balloon Vendor is typical of her colorful impressionistic scenes of country fairs, circuses and picnics.
Paulette Van Roekens (1896-1988), Balloon Vendor, oil on canvas, 16¼ x 201/8 in., signed lower left: ‘P VAN ROEKENS’.
Elizabeth Lobingier was born in Washington, D.C., and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, University of New Mexico and the University of Chicago. She lived for a time on Cape Ann, north of Boston, where she painted In Gloucester Harbor which illustrates the influences of modernism upon her work.
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