Contemporary American painting and sculpture

(Chris Devlin) #1
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AstoworkinAmerica,thereisamuralbyhimintheNa\yDepartmentBuilding
inWashington,D.C.AwardsandprizesincludetheCressonTravelingFellowshipfrom
thePennsylvaniaAcademyoftheFineArtsin1919,theTempleGoldMedalfrom
thesameinstitutionin1945,anawardfromthePhiladelphiaArtAlliance,aprize
inthePepsi-Colashowof1946,FirstPrizeintheLaTauscaexhibitionof1947,and
HonorableMentionattheCarnegieInstitute'sexhibitionofcontemporar)-American
paintingin1949.TheUniversityofIllinoisawardedoneofhisworksapurchase
prizein1950.AmongtheinstitutionswhichownexamplesofhisworkaretheWhitney
MuseumofAmericanArtandMuseumofModernArtinNewYork;Albright.Art
GalleiTinBuffalo,NewYork;.\rtInstituteofChicago;PhillipsMemorialGallerj'
in\Vashington, D.C;Pennsylvania Academy ofthe Fine.Arts; \'as.sarCollege,
Poughkeepsie,NewYork;WalkerArtCenteratMinneapolis,Minnesota;universities
ofNebraskaandIllinois;andEncyclopaediaBritannica.HelivesinNewYorkCity.


REDERER,Franz,Flowers, 40 x30. Illustration—Plate 24


"Trueartisaformulafortheuni\'erse,conceivedbyGodthroughman..Asit
dealswiththeesotericdimensionitcannotbeapproachedbyintellectalone,which
onlyleadsyoutothegate.Thekeyisinyourheart.Pseudo-artonlycanbepseudo-
analyzed;truthismuchtoodenseforsplitting.Thechosenartist'sverypersonality,
inthesublimemomentsofinspiration,enhancesimpersonallaw,istheperiscopeof
histalentthroughwhichhecontemplateslifefromirrationaldepths.
"Allsignificantworksofartarethechildrenofsuffering,sacrificeandtrans-


figuration.Buttheirleadingtheme—lo-e—isnotapessimisticone....


"Toknowhowtoprayismorethantoknowhowtopaint,butIlearnedit
throughpainting.
"Thereverentcontemplationofnaturearousesinusassociations,remembrances,
visions.AVithmusicalintensitythetransformationtakesplace:freedfromthechains
of'reality,'inoneofthoseraredivinemomentsofawakeningfromthatdreamcalled
life,eternaltruthspeakstousthroughthevarioussymbolsofthisvisibleworld.
"Art,philosophy,allthosenobleambitionsinlife,areaconstantbattleofspirit
againstnal.,man'ssupremeefforttodisarmitsdarkforcesbyperception.How
canweexpecttowinifweavoidtheenemy!Anartthatisnothumanisalost
affair.Theartist'smission:tostiragreaterconsciousnessoflifeamongmankindby
expressingtheconsciousnessofan individual.Butbesilent.Eveninmusicit's
silence,guidedbysound.Paintingsarenotbeheard."
FranzRedererwasborninZurich,Switzerland,in1899.Anearlyinterestinart
waspostponedforatimebythestudyoftheology.Paintingwonout,however,in
1919,andbetweenthattimeand 1937 hetraveledinvariousEuropeancountries.
Asanartistheisself-taught.From^1937 to^1939 hesettledin.Amsterdam.Aninvita-
tionbythegovernmentofVenezuelatoteachattheacademyofCaracaswas
acceptedin1939;then,from 1940 to1946,helivedinNewYorkCityandCalifornia.
Theyears^1947 to^1948 broughtfurthertravelinEurope.HereturnedtotheUnited
StatesofAmericain1949.
AwardsincludeaFirstPrizeattheSalonVenezolanoatCaracas,Venezuela,in
1940,andamedalattheCaliforniaPalaceoftheLegionofHonorinSanFrancisco
in1946.Hisworkhasbeenseeninvariousexhibitionsinthiscountry,isownedby
artpatronsofthreecontinents,andformspartofthecollectionsoftheNewYork
PublicLibrary;Seattle (Washington) ArtMuseum;M.H.DeYoungMemorial

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