Past Exhibitions

The Art Complex Museum

3 days ago

🌨️☂️ This moody snow scene created by artist Martin Lewis, depicts wary pedestrians braving the frosty elements. Their trench coats and umbrellas are all that shield them from the blizzard. Snow quickly accumulates on the city stoops and sidewalks as they make their way home. Born in Castlemaine, Australia, Martin Lewis became an important printmaker in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. He lived in New York City most of his life where he was excited to chronicle the rhythms of city life. A trip to Japan in 1920-22, deeply influenced his printmaking. Lewis and lithographer George C. Miller organized a printmaking school in New York, in 1934. Later Lewis taught at the Art Students League from 1944 to 1951.
—
Martin Lewis, American (1881-1962), "Stoops in the Snow," 1930, drypoint with sandpaper ground

#MartinLewis #AmericanPrints #AmericanArt #SnowDay #StormyWeather #StoopsInSnow #CitySnow #NYC #LetItSnow #SnowyCommute #NewYorkStreets #NewYorkInTheSnow #Early20thCentury #AmericanPrintmaking ... See MoreSee Less

The Art Complex Museum

6 days ago

🌲 Artist Clare Leighton created this wood engraving, "Loading" (1931), that depicts timber workers stacking snowy logs onto a carrier in the woods. The English/American illustrator wrote and illustrated numerous books promoting the countryside and the people who worked the land. During the 1920s and 1930s, as the world around her became increasingly industrial and urban, Leighton focused on bucolic, rural scenes that featured working men and women. In the 1950s she created designs for Steuben Glass and Wedgwood. She designed several stained glass windows for churches in New England including the Worcester Cathedral, in Worcester, Massachusetts.
—
Clare Leighton, American (1898-1989), "Loading," 1931, wood engraving

#ClareLeighton #AmericanArt #AmericanPrints #InTheWoods #Timberwood #Countryside #WinterWoods #WoodlandScene #WoodEngraving ... See MoreSee Less

The Art Complex Museum

2 weeks ago

This gentleman in a fur hat with commanding presence is no one in particular, but the image bears similarity to a red chalk drawing from a series of grand old men created by Rembrandt. "Tronies," a Dutch word for "face," refers to a genre common in the Dutch Golden age and Flemish Baroque period that consisted of figures with exaggerated facial expressions, as seen in Rembrandt’s fantasy portraits.

The man in the divided fur cap is likely a lowly fellow of little affluence. To Rembrandt, the sitter’s status was infinitely less important than his visage. Rembrandt enjoyed the company of such commoners and would illustrate their gestures of sorrow and disquiet. In an effort to reveal human truths, the artist embraced these unsavory characters as his subjects.
—
Rembrandt van Rijn, Netherlands, 1606-1669, "Old Man with Divided Fur Cap," 1640, etching and drypoint

#furcap #winterhat #rembrandt #rembrandtvanrijn #dutch #oldmaster #tronies #portrait #17thcentury #dutchgoldenage #17thcenturyprintmaking #print #printmaking #etching #drypoint #intaglio #coolhat #artcomplexmuseum #musuemfromhome ... See MoreSee Less

The Art Complex Museum

2 weeks ago

Curled up with a good book today? You are not alone! During the 1930s the winters were particularly harsh. American artist Wanda Gág spent time curled up in bed writing instead of working in her primary art form, lithography. Snow Drifts was one of the few original prints she created during the winter of 1934, with the assistance of lithographer George C. Miller (1894-1965). A pioneering printmaker and illustrator, Gág is best known for her award-winning children's book Millions of Cats (1928), the oldest American storybook still in print. She devoted much time to drawing and her motto recorded in her diary read, “draw to live, live to draw.”

Wanda Gág, American (1893-1946), Snow Drifts (Bridge in Winter), 1934, lithograph

#WandaGág #SnowDrifts #Winter #LetItSnow #Lithography #CurledUp #AmericanArt #AmericanPrintmaker #MillionsOfCats #NewburyAward #Draw2LiveLive2Draw #GreatWomenArtists #AmericanIllustrator #20thCenturyAmericanArt #ArtComplexMuseum #MuseumFromHome ... See MoreSee Less

The Art Complex Museum

2 weeks ago

Born on January 4, 1877 to English immigrant parents Thomas and Liza Hartley, American artist Edmund "Marsden" Hartley was one of nine children. His mom died when he was eight years old. In at attempt to reinvent himself the artist adopted his stepmother's maiden name, "Marsden" as his own. His love for the outdoors inspired his art. He created Waxenstien #9 (a mountain in the Bavarian Alps) while living near Munich, Germany. The jagged peaks of Waxenstein echo the zig-zagged pattern of evergreen timbers at the foot of the mountain range. Hartley printed more than 36 versions of this image.

"Being made new again and the gift of rebirth is all that lets anyone really live..The great secret is to never get stuck, imprisoned in common social patterns.." -Marsden Hartley

Marsden Hartley, American (1877-1943), Waxenstein #9, 1933, Lithograph

#MarsdenHartley #Waxenstein #BavarianAlps #AmericanArt #AmericanPrints #MunichGermany #Munich #Mountains #MountainRange #HappyBirthdayMarsden #January4 ... See MoreSee Less

The Art Complex Museum

3 weeks ago

How will you ring in the New Year? The church bells featured in this early watercolor painting by Andrew Wyeth could be heard for miles around. This early painting was featured in an exclusive exhibit by Boston art dealers Doll & Richards in 1940. While the artist had yet to perfect his famous dry-brush technique, he skillfully rendered the character of this particular scene creating texture in the field grass and the clapboards on the structures near the church. Wyeth mastered his meticulous realistic style in direct response to his love for two places, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and Cushing Maine where he had homes.

Andrew Wyeth, American (1917-2009), "Church at South Thomaston, Maine," 1940, watercolor ... See MoreSee Less

The Art Complex Museum

3 weeks ago

🌕 Known for his exquisite landscape prints, Hasui Kawase was one of the most prolific and talented shin hanga (new print) artists of the early 20th century and was designated a National Treasure of Japan in 1953.

Hasui, along with Hokusai Katsushika (1760-1849) and Hiroshige Utagawa (Ando) (1797-1858) are considered the three most important landscape, woodblock print artists of Japan. However, unlike earlier ukiyo-e artists whose landscapes typically featured famous sites, Hasui was one of the first artists to record the unknown rural places and urban corners of Japan that he found captivating. He traveled often and recorded the scenic wonders of Japan with drawings and watercolor paintings, which became the basis for many of his prints. Winter Moon over Toyama Plain, depicts an evening view of Toyamagahara or Toyama Plain in the winter, with the bare trees in dark gray silhouette against a clear blue sky as evening falls.
—
Hasui Kawase
Japan, 1883-1957
Winter Moon over Toyama Plain, 1931
Color woodblock

#shinhanga #nocturne #moon #night #japanesewooblockprint #printmaking #reliefprint #fullmoon #moonlight #artcomplexmuseum #MusuemFromHome ... See MoreSee Less

The Art Complex Museum

4 weeks ago

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! American printmaker Asa Cheffetz created numerous wood engravings of New England scenes like Winter Weather, 1951. He was born in Buffalo, NY and moved to Springfield, MA where he lived and worked for many years.

Cheffetz studied with Philip Leslie Hale (1865-1931) at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and at the National Academy of Design in New York City. He was a member of the California Printmakers Society, the National Academy of Design, 1938; and the Audubon Artists in New York City.

Asa Cheffetz, American (1897-1965), "Winter Weather," 1951, wood engraving

#AsaCheffetz #LetItSnow #WinterWonderland #WinterWeather #SnowScenes #NewEnglandLandscape ... See MoreSee Less

The Art Complex Museum

4 weeks ago

🎄Merry Christmas, from everyone at the Art Complex Museum!
In wishing you tidings of comfort and joy this holiday, here’s a festive work from the museum’s vast collection of prints.

The plate for ”Christmas” was etched by Robin Tanner in 1929; however Tanner refused to cancel the etching plates which often spent him hundreds of hours each. After a long period of only teaching, he resumed printmaking from 1970 until his death in 1988. Over forty years after he etched the plates, Tanner’s prints continued to be published by Joe Grafi as well as Garton & Co. in a time when pastoral landscapes were far from popular.
—
Robin Tanner (English, 1904-1988), “Christmas,” 1970, etching

#happyholidays #christmas #museumfromhome #artcomplexmuseum #worksonpaper #prints #etching #intaglioprintmaking #england #robintanner #englishprintmaker #englishcountryside #landscape #englishlandscape #nocturne ... See MoreSee Less

The Art Complex Museum

4 weeks ago

❄️🐴 American Impressionist Arthur Clifton Goodwin created "Park Street Church, Boston (Snowy Day)" in 1910. The artist preferred painting urban scenes rather than the rural ones favored by the Impressionists. He was especially drawn to the area near the Boston statehouse, which overlooks the Boston Common and other locations where the flurry of city life intersected with the natural landscape. In this scene, Goodwin illustrates pedestrians jostling their umbrellas to protect themselves from the sleet and snow as they cross the street amid the horse-drawn carriages.

Raised in Chelsea Massachusetts, Goodwin gained the recognition of famous art figures, artist John Singer Sargent and collector Isabella Stewart Gardner, for his oil and pastel renderings of the city. His shimmering snow scenes portray Boston landmarks during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Arthur Clifton Goodwin, American, 1864-1929
Park Street Church, Boston (Snowy Day), 1910, oil on canvas

#ParkStreetBoston #ParkStreetChurch #ParkStreetStation #ArthurCliftonGoodwin #SnowSceneBoston #BostonCommons #BostonHistory #BostonArtist #19thcenturyBoston #Early20thCentury #20thCenturyPainting #AmericanPainting #AmericanImpressionism #SnowyDay #Travel #NewEnglandWeather #HorseandCarriage #LetItSnow ... See MoreSee Less