id: 154814
accession number: 1989.396
share license status: Copyrighted
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1989.396
updated: 2024-03-26 02:00:06.623000
Untitled, c. 1932–1939. Theodore Roszak (American, 1907–1981). Gelatin silver print, photogram; image: 13.9 x 10.9 cm (5 1/2 x 4 5/16 in.); matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1989.396 © Estate of Theodore Roszak / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
title: Untitled
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 1932–1939
creation date earliest: 1932
creation date latest: 1939
current location:
creditline: John L. Severance Fund
copyright: © Estate of Theodore Roszak / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
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culture: America, 20th century
technique: gelatin silver print, photogram
department: Photography
collection: PH - American 1900-1950
type: Photograph
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Theodore Roszak (American, 1907–1981) - artist
Theodore Roszak American, b. Prussia, 1907-1981 Theodore Roszak was a painter and sculptor whose interest in modern European art and the writings of László Moholy-Nagy led him to experiment with photograms in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Although born in Posen (now Poznan, Poland), Roszak grew up in Chicago. While in high school he took evening classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, enrolling there as a full-time student in 1925. In 1926 he moved to New York City, where he studied briefly with Charles Hawthorne at the National Academy of Design and then privately with painter George Luks. He also attended classes in logic and philosophy at Columbia University. The next year he returned to Chicago, resuming his studies at the Art Institute. In 1929 Roszak was awarded a fellowship which allowed him to travel in Europe for two years; during this time he became acquainted with constructivism and the philosophy of the Bauhaus. He returned to the United States in 1931, settling in New York City. His work of this period reflected the influence of constructivist aesthetics. By the mid-1930s he was primarily producing wall reliefs and freestanding geometric constructions made from plastic and wood. From about 1937-41 Roszak began making photograms (cameraless photographs) as a way to experiment with light and geometric form. He also incorporated photograms into his teaching curriculum at the Design Laboratory, an experimental school inspired by the principles of the Bauhaus and Moholy-Nagy (funded by the government under the wpa), where he taught from 1938–40. During these years he produced hundreds of photograms, which he never exhibited. From 1940-56 Roszak taught at Sarah Lawrence College. During World War II he taught aircraft mechanics and built airplanes at the Brewster Aircraft Corporation in New Jersey. After the war his sculpture, now created out of welded metal, shifted from a concern with geometric shapes to an interest in more organic, expressionistic forms. Roszak continued to be active as a sculptor throughout the 1960s and from 1970–72 taught at Columbia University. The Cleveland Museum of Art also owns two sculptures by Roszak. M.M.
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measurements: Image: 13.9 x 10.9 cm (5 1/2 x 4 5/16 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.)
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inscriptions:
inscription: Written in pencil on verso: "T.R. / Sara Jane Roszak"
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: The Year in Review for 1989
opening date: 1990-02-06T05:00:00
The Year in Review for 1989. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 6-April 15, 1990).
title: Made in U.S.A., l'art américain, 1908-1943, entre nationalisme et internationalisme [FRAME]
opening date: 2001-10-05T00:00:00
Made in U.S.A., l'art américain, 1908-1943, entre nationalisme et internationalisme [FRAME]. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, F-33000 Bordeaux, France (organizer) (October 5-December 31, 2001); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, Rennes, France (January 17-March 31, 2002); Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (April 10-June 25, 2002).
title: The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art
opening date: 2006-06-09T00:00:00
The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* {'description': 'CMA, Feb. 6 - April 15, 1990: "Year in Review 1989," CMA Bulletin, 77 (Feb. 1990), p. 68, no. 52.', 'opening_date': '1990-02-06T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux (October 5-December 31, 2001); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes (January 17-March 31, 2002); Musée Fabre, Montpellier (April 10-June 25, 2002). "Made in U.S.A., l\'art américain, 1908-1943, entre nationalisme et internationalisme," exh. cat. repr. p. 225.', 'opening_date': '2001-10-05T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'MOCA Cleveland (6/9/2006 - 8/20/2006): "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art", no. 72, p. 119, repr. p. 59.', 'opening_date': '2006-06-09T00:00:00'}
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PROVENANCE
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fun fact:
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wall description:
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996.
page number: Reproduced: P. 307
url:
Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006.
page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 59, no. 72
url:
Cole, Mark, "Bi-polar Order", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 46 no. 03, March 2006
page number: Mentioned & reproduced: p. 8-9
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2006-03/page/8
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IMAGES