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Current Exhibition - Towbin Museum Wing

Main Gallery | Towbin Museum | Solo Show |Founders Gallery | YES!!


American Scenes

Life in the City

Feb 9 - June 8, 2008

Curated by Josephine Bloodgood

Winter Hours: Friday and Saturday 12 –6 pm. Sunday 12 – 5 pm
Location:
28 Tinker Street, near the Village Green in the heart of Woodstock, NY
More info:
845-679-2940

George C. Ault 1891-1948  

Jane Street Corner, Hudson, 1931

Oil on canvas board

16 x 12 inches

WAAM Pemanent Collection

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Karl E. Fortess

 

Emil Ganso 1895-1941  Manhattan Venus, n.d.

Crayon lithograph

20-1/2 x 17 inches (composition) WAAM, Estate of Adrian and Sophie Siegel

 
 

American Scenes:  Life in the City is the third in series of WAAM exhibitions of works from the first half of the 20th century depicting images of ordinary life.  Paintings, drawings, prints, and other works of art have been drawn from the WAAM Permanent Collection and from private sources, displaying the rich cultural legacy of the Woodstock art colony.  Images of New York City predominate in the current exhibition, yet images of cities like San Francisco and Baltimore also appear.

Life in the City encompasses a range of urban views, from the lively nightlife of Harlem, as seen in works by John Ward McClellan and Adolf Dehn, to more somber images like the stark street scenes of Grant Arnold, George C. Ault and Paul Lantz.  Works by Peggy Bacon, John Nichols, Agnes Hart, Murray Hoffman and others are sometimes comical appreciations of the colorful characters one might find in the neighborhood or about town.  In contrast, Sitting Alone by Bacon and works by Julius Bloch, Russell Lee, Margaret Lowengrund and Katherine Schmidt reveal an empathy for the disenfranchised that was a common theme for artists working before and especially during the Depression era.  A large lithograph entitled Solitude by George Bellows created in 1917 is an early exploration of this type of imagery.  The title of this work gives cause for reflection, as the viewer must look beyond the entangled lovers shown in the foreground and the other nighttime park visitors, to the lonely figure on the left.  

Paintings by Konrad Cramer, St. Julian Fishburne, Joseph Pollet and Harry Tedlie are intimate studies of the shapes and color of urban architecture, while works by Jane Jones, Polly Eddy Kline, Fletcher Martin, Anton Regregier, Eugene Small, and others celebrate the triumph of skyscrapers, bridges and other engineering feats. 

The WAAM Permanent Collection features over 1600 works of art by important American artists associated with the Woodstock art colony.  The Phoebe and Belmont Towbin Wing was built in 1992 to feature exhibitions of this landmark collection and loans which enhance the understanding of this rich, cultural legacy. 

All WAAM exhibitions and programs are sponsored in part by the WAAM Founders’ Circle, other individual and business supporters, and our artist membership.  Click here for more information about supporting the WAAM.

 

 

 

 
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