The exhibit Ohio and Modernism (1905-1939) opens Dec. 6 and runs through Jan. 22 at the Keny Galleries, 300 E. Beck St.
The display includes Ohio painters, printmakers, photographers and designers of ceramics and glass art objects and houseware products were at the forefront of the development of Modernism in this country and abroad from the early 1900’s until 1939. This exhibition offers a cross-section of fine examples by these artists.
In painting, William Sommer’s combination of emotionally charged colors and architectonic Cubist forms with iconic rural subjects yields a unique distillation of Modernism and Regionalism.
Charles Burchfield’s fanciful celebrations of nature in watercolor have Modernist characteristics such as the use of animated patterns, the expressive use of line and the evocative orchestration of color.
Alice Schille’s thorough understanding of Post-Impressionism, Fauvist color and Cubism imparts a refined Modernist aesthetic to her watercolors.
Edmund Kuehn’s extensive knowledge of Cubism infuses a physicality of form and sophisticated pictorial design into his abstract works created from the 1930’s until today. His art is a subtle synthesis of Modernist visual vocabulary with lyrical color harmonies.
The gifted printmaker Edna Hopkins’ elegant Japoniste and color-saturated Post- Impressionist woodcuts embrace the Modernists’ keen interest in creative, flat, decorative design. Whereas Jolan Gross-Bettelheim’s lithographs and drypoints capture the tough dynamism of modern urban life in Cleveland and New York.
Great photographers of modern industry such as Margaret Bourke-White and Edward Weston venerate the monumental beauty and document the cultural impact of such industrial plants as Otis Steel and Armco in Cleveland and Middletown in the 1920’s.
Ceramic artists such as Viktor, Donald and Paul Schreckengost designed exotically colored, richly patterned and simplified forms, with often unique technical advances to evoke the vitality of American urban culture. These Northeast Ohio artists are internationally recognized for their contributions to Modernism.
Additional artists featured include painters including August Biehle, Lucius Kutchin and William Zorach to ceramic designers such as Frederick Rhead and Russell Wright to glass designers such as W.L. Orme.
For more information, visit www.kenygalleries.com.