A new exhibition at CW American Modernism delves into the works of modernist Charles Goeller, many of which have not been seen publicly in more than 75 years. Charles Goeller: A Wistful Loneliness is the artist’s most comprehensive show to date, featuring over 30 works ranging from Goeller’s Paris paintings of the late 1920s to his abstracted landscapes of the early 1950s.
Charles Goeller (1901-1955), Suburb in Autumn, 1949. Oil on canvas, 18 x 14 in., signed lower right, signed and dated verso.
Charles Goeller (1901-1955), Seated Figure (Portrait in Landscape – Paris Model Against Landscape), ca. 1920s. Oil on canvas, 29 x 24 in., signed lower left.
“Prior exhibitions have been smaller in scale and focused mainly on Goeller’s precisionist/magic realist-oriented works,” says Chris Walther of CW American Modernism. “Our exhibition will cover works from the 1920s when Goeller produced immaculate Art Deco influenced portraits, through his moody and mysterious landscapes from the 1940s and ’50s, which addressed the artist’s concern for the environment.” The exhibition will feature more than 20 of Goeller’s oil paintings, as well as a variety of works on paper and even sculpture. Walther adds that at least 10 oils have not been exhibited since Goeller’s death in 1955, and many of the works on paper—particularly the late pen and ink works—have not been exhibited since the same decade.
Charles Goeller (1901-1955), Workman’s Breakfast, ca. 1940s. Oil on canvas, 19 x 261/8 in., signed lower right.
Charles Goeller (1901-1955), The Shelf, ca. 1940. Oil on canvas, 18 x 20 in., signed lower right.
“Goeller was an important member of the precisionist artists of the 1930s through the 1950s and one of the most significant artists from New Jersey during the first half of the 20th century,” says Walther. “As a young artist, he was heralded as being one of the best painters of the precisionist group and later in life he began to directly address concerns for the environment long before the notion became popular.”
In many ways, Goeller was an exceptionally multifaceted person, having initially trained in mathematics and architecture before he ultimately headed to Paris in the early 1920s to study art at the École Américaine de Fontainebleau and the Academie de la Grande Chaumière.
Charles Goeller (1901-1955), Abstract, by 1933. Oil on canvas, 29 x 22 in., signed on frame verso: ‘Painted by Charles L. Goeller’.
Charles Goeller (1901-1955), Unfinished Problem, by 1953. Oil on canvas, 20¼ x 401/8 in., signed lower right, signed and inscribed verso on stretcher: ‘Charles Goeller/1272 Clinton Place, Elizabeth, NJ/Unfinished Problem’.
Upon his return to the United States, the artist was represented by Charles Daniel Gallery, where his fellow gallery artists included many of the major precisionist painters like Sheeler, Demuth and Driggs. Goeller’s works were also exhibited at major museums of the time, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Additionally, Goeller participated in numerous public works programs during the Great Depression.
Charles Goeller (1901-1955), Arthur Kill, by 1947. Oil on canvas, 15¾ x 24 in., signed and titled verso on stretcher.
Charles Goeller: A Wistful Loneliness is accompanied by an illustrated catalog, which will contain a tentative catalog raisonne of the artist’s oil paintings. The exhibition will hang from December 1, 2023, through January 19, 2024.
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