id: 106563 accession number: 1924.614 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1924.614 updated: 2023-08-29 11:33:45.446000 Female Nude, 1924. William Sommer (American, 1867–1949). Sanguine; sheet: 41.2 x 25.4 cm (16 1/4 x 10 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund 1924.614 title: Female Nude title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1924 creation date earliest: 1924 creation date latest: 1924 current location: creditline: Dudley P. Allen Fund copyright: --- culture: America, Ohio, Cleveland technique: sanguine department: Drawings collection: DR - American - Cleveland School type: Drawing find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * William Sommer (American, 1867–1949) - artist Born in Detroit to a family of German immigrants, Sommer first studied drawing at the age of 11 with Julius Gari Melchers. Pursuing a career in commercial lithography, Sommer apprenticed at Calvert Lithography in Detroit, 1881–88, and subsequently worked at various lithography shops in Boston, New York, and England. In 1890 he went abroad for a year of study at the Kunstakademie in Munich. In 1891 he returned to New York and spent the next 16 years working as a commercial lithographer. In 1907 he moved to Cleveland to work for the Otis Lithograph Company, where he became friendly with William Zorach. Around 1910, and under the influence of Abel Warshawsky, Sommer began to experiment with impressionist colors; subsequently he experimented with a fauvist palette. He exhibited with the Cleveland “secessionists” at the Rorimer-Brooks Studios in early 1911 and cofounded the Kokoon Klub that summer. Around 1914 he moved to Brandywine, a rural valley about 20 miles south of Cleveland, where he converted an abandoned schoolhouse into a studio that became an important meeting place for modern artists, poets, and musicians. In May 1918 Sommer designed stage sets and programs for a production of Everyman by the Cleveland Play House. He exhibited in the annual May Shows at the Cleveland Museum of Art (1922–50). In the 1930s and 1940s he exhibited on a regular basis in Cleveland, Chicago, and New York. During the Depression he was employed by various New Deal art programs to paint murals for Cleveland Public Hall (1933), Cleveland Public Library (1934), the post office in Geneva, Ohio (1938), and the Akron Board of Education (1941). After the death of his wife in 1945, he was struck by chronic bouts of depression and alcoholism. Sommer died in Brandywine.
"Transformations in Cleveland Art" (CMA, 1996), p. 238 --- measurements: Sheet: 41.2 x 25.4 cm (16 1/4 x 10 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: In graphite, lower right corner: "William Sommer 19-24" translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The May Show: 6th Annual Exhibition of Works by Cleveland Artists and Craftsmen opening date: 1924-05-06T04:00:00 The May Show: 6th Annual Exhibition of Works by Cleveland Artists and Craftsmen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 6-June 8, 1924). title: Exhibition of the Month: Ways of Drawing Nudes opening date: 1945-01-30T04:00:00 Exhibition of the Month: Ways of Drawing Nudes. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 30-June 6, 1945). title: The May Shows of the Past opening date: 1963-04-05T05:00:00 The May Shows of the Past. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 5-July 24, 1963). title: May Show Retrospective - 50 Years opening date: 1968-04-23T05:00:00 May Show Retrospective - 50 Years. The Cleveland Museum of Art (April 23-June 16, 1968). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE William Sommer (the artist) [1867-1949], sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1924 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: May 7, 1924- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS W. M. M. “Review of the Exhibition.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 11, no. 5 (1924). page number: Mentioned p. 99 url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25136763 William Sommer Entry Card to 1924 May Show. Cleveland Museum of Art May Show Records, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. page number: url: https://archive.org/details/CMAMS00847/ --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1924.614/1924.614_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1924.614/1924.614_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1924.614/1924.614_full.tif