id: 169227
accession number: 2011.133
share license status: Copyrighted
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2011.133
updated: 2024-03-26 02:01:27.365000
Still Life Arrangement with Flower Pot and Fruit, c. 1925–1928. William Sommer (American, 1867–1949). Watercolor and graphite, with pen and black ink; sheet: 38.1 x 27.9 cm (15 x 11 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Dr. Paul J. Vignos, Jr. 2011.133
title: Still Life Arrangement with Flower Pot and Fruit
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creation date: c. 1925–1928
creation date earliest: 1920
creation date latest: 1933
current location:
creditline: Bequest of Dr. Paul J. Vignos, Jr.
copyright:
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culture: America, 20th century
technique: watercolor and graphite, with pen and black ink
department: Drawings
collection: DR - American 20th Century
type: Drawing
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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
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measurements: Sheet: 38.1 x 27.9 cm (15 x 11 in.)
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description: cream wove paper
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* {'description': 'Main Gallery Rotation (Gallery 228): April 15, 2013 - August 12, 2013.', 'opening_date': '2013-04-15T00:00:00'}
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PROVENANCE
Ross Widen Gallery, Cleveland, OH; Dr. Paul J. Vignos, Hunting Valley, OH
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