Wisconsin Art History (original) (raw)
Wisconsin Art History
with an emphasis on representational art
(above: Unknown photographer,A Group of Young American Artists of the Modern School (from left to right: Jo Davidson, Edward Steichen, Arthur B. Carles, John Marin; back: Marsden Hartley, Laurence Fellows), c. 1911, Bates College Museum of Art. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)
Introduction
This section of the Traditional Fine Arts Organization (TFAO) catalogue Topics in American Art is devoted to the topic "Wisconsin Art History." Articles and essays specific to this topic published in TFAO's Resource Library are listed at the beginning of the section. Clicking on titles takes readers directly to the articles and essays.
Following the links to _Resource Library_articles and essays are a listing of museums in the state which have provided materials to Resource Library for this or any other topic.
Listed after museums are links to _online_resources outside the TFAO website. Following these resources is information about offline resources including DVDs, paper-printed books, journals and articles. Our goal is to present complete knowledge relating to this section of Topics in American Art.
We recommend that researchers always search within Resource Library for additional material. Please see TFAO's pageHow to research topics not listed for more information.
(above: Helen Farnsworth Mears, Edward Alexander MacDowell, 1906, Bronze, 33 1/2 x 40 in., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Alice G. Chapman, 1909. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Texts contained in Resource Library by named authors listed by author name in alphabetical order:
Society of Milwaukee Artists by Gay Donahue
Preface to "Foundations of Art in Wisconsin" by Thomas D. Lidtke
Prominence in 19th Century Regional Art by Thomas D. Lidtke
Preface / A Century of Artistic Endeavor by Thomas D. Lidtke
Wisconsin Art from Euro-American Settlement to 1950 by Thomas D. Lidtke
Art Teachers, Art Schools and Art Museums in Early Wisconsin by Peter C. Merrill
Wisconsin's New Art Deal by Mary Michie
(above: Carl Von Marr, Adoration of the Christ Child, n.d., oil on canvas, Museum of Wisconsin Art. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Articles contained in Resource Library without named authors listed by article name in alphabetical order:
A Cosmopolitan Life in Wisconsin: Mathilde Schley's Hunger for the Beautiful and Useful
Women's Work: Early Wisconsin Women Artists
Museums and other non-profit sources of Resource Library articles and essays:
Please click on the name of each source to view articles and essays related to that source:
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum
Milwaukee County Historical Society
(above: Santos Zingale, _Fruits of Sturgeon Ba_y (detail), Sturgeon Bay WI Post Office, 1940, egg tempera. Section of Fine Arts, Treasury Department. courtesy of USPS & wpamurals.com)
Other online information:
Artists from Wisconsin in Wikipedia. Accessed August, 2015
Apple Pie: Symbols of Americana in MMoCA's Permanent Collection, reported by Sarah Whitman for the Badger Herald, is a 2010 exhibit at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.The museum's website says: "Works of art in the exhibition function as a fulcrum for exploring America's archetypal symbols and for investigating the divide between the diverse experience of American life and the persistence of its core iconic images and themes." Accessed 2/15 and 12/21
Charles Munch: Between the Lines is a 2019 exhibit at the Museum of Wisconsin Art which says: "Between the Lines features thirty paintings from four decades that trace Munch's evolution from pure landscapes to vividly imagined narratives that explore the often complex relationships between humans, animals, and their interactions with the natural world." Also see Resource Library article Accessed 12/19
Craig Blietz: Herd is a 2018 exhibit at the Museum of Wisconsin Art which says: "Herd, the artist's first solo exhibition at MOWA, features a new body of work of twenty-three paintings that depict his beloved cows. Created specifically for MOWA's white cube gallery, Blietz's heroic cow parade is the perfect marriage between barnyard chic and SoHo hip." Also see artist's website Accessed 12/19
Daniel Gerhartz: The Continuum of Beauty is a 2018 exhibit at the Museum of Wisconsin Art which says: "This exhibition of thirty-one paintings is the artist's first major retrospective; it includes many new, never before seen works. His subjects hover between traditional figurative painting and portraiture; only about five percent of his production is true commissioned portraiture." Also see artist's website https://danielgerhartz.com/ Accessed 12/19
Distorted Recollections: Paper, Paint, and Fiber Works by Katie Schutte is a 2023 exhibit at the Dubuque Museum of Art which says: "Platteville, Wisconsin artist Katie Schutte uses a wide variety of techniques in this exhibition that explores the vagaries of memory. For the fifteen works from the artist's Memory series in the gallery, Schutte sprayed paint over and through antique, vintage, and artist-made crocheted doilies, then stitched and crocheted found fibers onto the substrate." Also see the websiteof the artist. Accessed 2/24
Joseph Friebert: A Life in Art is a 2018 exhibit at the Museum of Wisconsin Art which says: "Called one of Wisconsin's greatest "living treasures" by the late James Auer, Milwaukee Journal art critic, Joseph Friebert (1908-2002) enjoyed a long and distinguished career, becoming one of the state's leading artists and a beloved and influential teacher." Also see artist's website Accessed 12/19
List of Famous German Americans includes names of artists; also see "What Happened to the Panorama Painters?" by Peter Merrill, from GermanAmericanPioneers.org. Accessed August, 2015.
(above: Richard Lorenz, Solitude (or Prairie Twilight), 1904, Milwaukee Art Museum. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Real/Surreal, an exhibit held January 25, 2014 to April 27, 2014 at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. The museum's website says: "This exhibition explores the interconnections between the real and the imagined in early modern American art, with an emphasis on Surrealism and Magic Realism." Also, "The Mystery Beneath is a companion exhibition to Real/Surreal in the main galleries. Including paintings, prints, and drawings, it explores the lasting traditions of Surrealism and Magic Realism as they developed in Wisconsin during the twentieth century." The Mystery Beneath was on exhibit January 25, 2014 to April 13, 2014. Accessed February, 2015
Tom Uttech: Into the Woods is a 2019 exhibit at the Museum of Wisconsin Art which says: "Wisconsin native Tom Uttech is recognized as one of the leading landscape painters working today in the United States. Often categorized as a Magic Realist, his paintings weave together a mystical world of both imagined and real elements." Also see article in Shepherd Express. Accessed 6/20
Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors - Wisconsin Artists in all Media from The Museum of Wisconsin Art. Accessed August, 2015.
Wisconsin State Capitol - from State of Wisconsin. Accessed August, 2015.
TFAO's Distinguished Artists catalogue provides online access to biographical information for artists associated with this state. Also, Search _Resource Library_for online articles and essays concerning both individual artists associated with this state's history and the history of art centers and museums in this state. Resource Library articles and essays devoted to individual artists and institutions are not listed on this page.
(above: Carl Von Marr, The Judgment of Paris, n.d., oil on canvas, 47 x 53,5 cm, Museum of Wisconsin Art. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Books, listed by year of publication, with most recently published book listed first:
Famous Wisconsin Artists And Architects, by Hannah Heidi Levy. Published by Badger, Books Inc., 2004. 316 pages
Wisconsin Art History: Early Wisconsin Craftmasters: West Bend Art Museum, May 30-July 1, 2001. Published by West Bend Art Museum, 2001. 12 pages
Women's Work: Early Wisconsin Women Artists, West Bend Art Museum, October 3-November 11, 2001, By Heather Boright, West Bend Art Museum (West Bend, Wis.), Wis West Bend Art Museum (West Bend, West Bend Art Museum. Published by West Bend Art Museum, 2001. 72 pages
Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors, Wisconsin Artists in All Media: Centennial Exhibition, By West Bend Art Museum. Published by West Bend Art Museum, 2000. 29 pages
_Public Sculpture in Wisconsin: An Atlas of Outdoor Monuments, Memorials & Masterpieces in the Badger State,_By Anton Rajer, Christine Style, 
Contributor Susan Nichols, Richard H Zeitlin. Published by SOS! Save Outdoor Sculpture, Wisconsin, 1999. ISBN 0966418026, 9780966418026. 156 pages. Google Books says: "From heroic war memorials to gigantic fibreglass fish, this volume documents more than 750 outdoor sculptures in the state of Wisconsin. Included are monuments, memorials and masterpieces of traditional public statuary as well as religious grottoes and native American effigy mounds."(right: front cover of Public Sculpture in Wisconsin: An Atlas of Outdoor Monuments, Memorials & Masterpieces in the Badger State, image courtesy of Google Books)
Foundations of Art in Wisconsin: A Wisconsin Sesquicentennial Exhibition in Honor of the State's Founding Cultural Figures and Organizations, Published by West Bend Art Museum, 1998. 46 pages
150 Years of Wisconsin Printmaking, By Andrew Stevens. Published 1998 by Chazen Museum of Art. ISBN:0932900445. Google Books says: "Catalog of an exhibition held at the Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Nov. 21, 1998-Jan. 10, 1999."
Wisconsin Art History: A Chronology of Wisconsin Art and History to 1950, By West Bend Art Museum. Published by West Bend Art Museum, 1998. 18 pages
Collecting the Art of Wisconsin: The Early Years, By West Bend Art Museum. Published by West Bend Art Museum, 1996. 5 pages
Outdoor Sculpture in Milwaukee: A Cultural and Historical Guidebook, By Diane M. Buck, Virginia A. Palmer. Contributor Frederick I. Olson. Published by State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1995. ISBN 0870202766, 9780870202766. 210 pages. Google Books says: "A delightful, fully illustrated guide to ninety-seven outdoor sculptures in Milwaukee. Included is an illustration of each work, a brief biographical sketch of the artist, background history, and a map location. Buck and Palmer interpret the sculptures and set them in the context of the city's history." (left: front cover of Outdoor Sculpture in Milwaukee: A Cultural and Historical Guidebook. image courtesy of Google Books)
German Academic Painters in Wisconsin, catalogue published by West Bend Gallery of Fine Arts, 1989
_100 Years of Wisconsin Art,_By Milwaukee Art Museum, Published by Milwaukee Art Museum, 1988. 142 pages. Google Books says: "Catalog of the exhibition, held Sept. 24 - Nov. 6, 1988, commemorating the centennial of the Milwaukee Art Museum."
An Exhibition of Paintings by the Members of the Society of Milwaukee Artists, 1900-1913, By Gay Donahue, Art History Gallery, University of Wisconsin- - Milwaukee. Published by Art History Gallery, University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee, 1981
Wisconsin's New Deal Art, Published by Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum. 1980
Milwaukee Illustrated: Panoramic and Bird's-eye Views of a Midwestern Metropolis, 1844-1908 - Exhibition and Catalog, By Thomas Beckman, Milwaukee Art Center, State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Published by Milwaukee Art Center, 1978. 68 pages
_Rural Artists of Wisconsin,_By John Rector Barton. Published by University of Wisconsin Press, 1948. 196 pages
Art in Wisconsin: The Art Experience of the Middle West Frontier, Including the Catalogue of the Wisconsin Centennial Art Exhibition. Publisher: Madison Arts Association (1936).
(above: Bernhard Schneider (1845-1907), Landschaft am Rande eines Waldes, 1876. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Musical accompanyment:
Alan Lomax Collection of Michigan and Wisconsin Recordings, source: Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America Collection
TFAO wishes to extend appreciation to David J, Wagner, Ph.D. for source suggestions. See TFAO's letters requesting information on further resources.
Return to Individual States Art History Project
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