JOHN R. GRABACH (1886-1981) The Horizon (Arising) 42 x 48...
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW JERSEY
JOHN R. GRABACH (1886-1981)
The Horizon (Arising)
signed 'John R. Grabach. NA' (lower left) and signed again (lower center) and signed again (on the reverse) and inscribed with title (on an artist's label affixed to the reverse)
oil on board
42 x 48 in. (106.7 x 121.9 cm.)
Painted in 1935.
Footnotes
Provenance
Paul W. Doll, Jr., Lake Toxaway, North Carolina.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, circa 2004.
Exhibited
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carnegie Institute, The 1936 International Exhibition of Paintings, October 15-December 6, 1936, no. 64. (as The Horizon)
Newark, New Jersey, Cooperative Gallery, John R Grabach: Recent Paintings, March 14-April 2, 1938, illustrated on the front cover.
Montclair, New Jersey, Montclair Art Museum, Paintings by James Chapin, John R. Grabach, Luigi Lucioni, A.N.A, Finger Tip Paintings by Francis R. Fast, Etchings by Kerr Eby, N.A., October 3-27, 1940, n.p., no. 29. (as The Horizon)
Washington, D.C., National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, John R. Grabach: Seventy Years an Artist, May 23-August 17, 1980, pp. 19, 22, 31, 36, fig. 9, no. 10, illustrated.
Summit, New Jersey, Summit Art Center, American Realism 1930s/1980s: A Comparative Perspective, March-May 8, 1983.
Morristown, New Jersey, The Morris Museum, John R. Grabach: Century Man, July 5-September 24, 2006, pp. 9, 17, 52, no. 20, illustrated, and elsewhere.
Island Heights, New Jersey, John F. Peto Museum, John R. Grabach and Henry M. Gasser: Masters of the Newark School, May 13-August 27, 2017, p. 17, illustrated on the front cover, and elsewhere.
Literature
D. Naylor, "Subjects at Carnegie International Exhibit Cover Wide Field," The Pittsburgh Press, Pennsylvania, October 15, 1936, vol. 53, no. 114, p. 16.
"Art Depicts World Chaos," The Sunday Times-Union, Jacksonville, Florida, October 18, 1936, vol. LXXI, p. 3. (as The Horizon)
"Nightmare on Canvas. Violent Stabs of Color Depict World in Chaos As Artists Show Their Works At Exhibition," The Charlotte News, North Carolina, October 18, 1936, p. 2. (as Horizon)
"'Nightmares' Put in Art Exhibit. Violent Stabs of Color Depicting World in Chaos Displayed.," The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., October 18, 1936, no. 1,689, p. A-12. (as Horizon)
"Artists Fail to Digest U.S. Life, Clevelander Says," The Pittsburgh Press, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1936, vol. 53, no. 149, p. 13, illustrated. (as The Horizon)
Art News, February 5, 1942.
John R. Grabach, 1880-1981: Urban America Between the Wars, exhibition catalogue, 1981, p. 36.
P. Hill, Social Concern and Urban Realism: American Paintings of the 1930s, exhibition catalogue, 1983, p. 48.
E. Watkins, "Art in Jersey: Summit exhibit offers 50 years of realism," The Star-Ledger, Newark, New Jersey, April 17, 1983, sec. 4, p. 13.
V. Raynor, "Art; Is Realism Really An Illusion," The New York Times, April 17, 1983, sec. 11, p. 24.
P.H. Falk, ed., Record of the Carnegie Institute's International Exhibitions: 1896-1996, Madison, Connecticut, 1998, p. 133.
J.M. Alterman, New Hope for American Art: A Comprehensive Showing of Important 20th Century Painting from and Surrounding the New Hope Art Colony, Lambertville, New Jersey, 2005, p. 198, illustrated.
"John R. Grabach: Century Man," Daily Record, Parsippany, New Jersey, July 24, 2006, p. A13, illustrated.
"John R. Grabach: Century Man," Daily Record, Parsippany, New Jersey, July 25, 2006, p. D5, illustrated.
"John R. Grabach: Century Man," Daily Record, Parsippany, New Jersey, July 27, 2006, p. E6, illustrated.
"John R. Grabach: Century Man," Daily Record, Parsippany, New Jersey, July 28, 2006, p. D4, illustrated.
J. Zeaman, "Enough time to paint in all styles. Grabach was a grab-bag artist," The Record, Hackensack, New Jersey, August 11, 2006, p. G22.
"Local Events, Exhibiting until Sept. 24 John R. Grabach: Century Man," The Star-Ledger, Newark, New Jersey, September 14, 2006, p. DNM-7. (as The Horizon (Arizing))
John R. Grabach's oeuvre informs our understanding of American art throughout the twentieth century. Born in 1886, he expressed an interest in drawing from a young age while growing up in Newark, New Jersey. At the age of 18, he decided to enroll in The Art Students League, where his instructors included Kenyon Cox (1856-1919), George Bridgman (1864-1943) and Frank Dumond (1865-1941).
Grabach relocated to New England in 1912, where he found inspiration in the landscape. He captured winter plein air scenes, despite the elements, throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. During this period, Grabach embraced tonalism and these works enabled him to gain acceptance into premier exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Carnegie Institute.
In the early 1920s, Grabach took a studio in New York near the Brooklyn Bridge. It was here that he forged his distinctive urban realist style which many art historians have compared to the work of his Ashcan peers. However, "Grabach did not view America through rose colored glasses. Grabach's paintings never portrayed the American dream. He preferred to focus on the American way of life revealing the outgrowth of social conformity." (John R. Grabach: Century Man, exhibition catalogue, New Castle, Pennsylvania, 2006, p. 8) The artist chose to infuse his politics into a great deal of his work from this period, which is evident in The Horizon (Arising).
The Horizon (Arising) was painted as a companion piece in response to the reception of an earlier work, The Fifth Year (1934, Smithsonian American Art Museum, object no. 1979.119.1). The Fifth Year captures Grabach's interpretation of the working class's lifestyle during the Great Depression, five years after the stock market crash of 1929. The desolate conditions evident in this painting contributed to the rise of the Socialist and Communist movements, themes that are evident in The Horizon (Arising). In the present work, Grabach, "depicts an angry group of people bearing various weapons and objects with political connotation forging forward above the cityscape below and beyond the boundaries of America." (John R. Grabach: Century Man, exhibition catalogue, New Castle, Pennsylvania, 2006, p. 9) The group of workers in The Horizon (Arising) carry knives, sickles, and poles fixed with bayonets as they march over New York City, and possibly around the world as critics claim the Eiffel Tower can be seen in the upper right. Both works provide a glimpse into the social history of the 1930s, when American politics highlighted the discontent among the working class and the call for unionization.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW JERSEY
JOHN R. GRABACH (1886-1981)
The Horizon (Arising)
signed 'John R. Grabach. NA' (lower left) and signed again (lower center) and signed again (on the reverse) and inscribed with title (on an artist's label affixed to the reverse)
oil on board
42 x 48 in. (106.7 x 121.9 cm.)
Painted in 1935.
Footnotes
Provenance
Paul W. Doll, Jr., Lake Toxaway, North Carolina.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, circa 2004.
Exhibited
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carnegie Institute, The 1936 International Exhibition of Paintings, October 15-December 6, 1936, no. 64. (as The Horizon)
Newark, New Jersey, Cooperative Gallery, John R Grabach: Recent Paintings, March 14-April 2, 1938, illustrated on the front cover.
Montclair, New Jersey, Montclair Art Museum, Paintings by James Chapin, John R. Grabach, Luigi Lucioni, A.N.A, Finger Tip Paintings by Francis R. Fast, Etchings by Kerr Eby, N.A., October 3-27, 1940, n.p., no. 29. (as The Horizon)
Washington, D.C., National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, John R. Grabach: Seventy Years an Artist, May 23-August 17, 1980, pp. 19, 22, 31, 36, fig. 9, no. 10, illustrated.
Summit, New Jersey, Summit Art Center, American Realism 1930s/1980s: A Comparative Perspective, March-May 8, 1983.
Morristown, New Jersey, The Morris Museum, John R. Grabach: Century Man, July 5-September 24, 2006, pp. 9, 17, 52, no. 20, illustrated, and elsewhere.
Island Heights, New Jersey, John F. Peto Museum, John R. Grabach and Henry M. Gasser: Masters of the Newark School, May 13-August 27, 2017, p. 17, illustrated on the front cover, and elsewhere.
Literature
D. Naylor, "Subjects at Carnegie International Exhibit Cover Wide Field," The Pittsburgh Press, Pennsylvania, October 15, 1936, vol. 53, no. 114, p. 16.
"Art Depicts World Chaos," The Sunday Times-Union, Jacksonville, Florida, October 18, 1936, vol. LXXI, p. 3. (as The Horizon)
"Nightmare on Canvas. Violent Stabs of Color Depict World in Chaos As Artists Show Their Works At Exhibition," The Charlotte News, North Carolina, October 18, 1936, p. 2. (as Horizon)
"'Nightmares' Put in Art Exhibit. Violent Stabs of Color Depicting World in Chaos Displayed.," The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., October 18, 1936, no. 1,689, p. A-12. (as Horizon)
"Artists Fail to Digest U.S. Life, Clevelander Says," The Pittsburgh Press, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1936, vol. 53, no. 149, p. 13, illustrated. (as The Horizon)
Art News, February 5, 1942.
John R. Grabach, 1880-1981: Urban America Between the Wars, exhibition catalogue, 1981, p. 36.
P. Hill, Social Concern and Urban Realism: American Paintings of the 1930s, exhibition catalogue, 1983, p. 48.
E. Watkins, "Art in Jersey: Summit exhibit offers 50 years of realism," The Star-Ledger, Newark, New Jersey, April 17, 1983, sec. 4, p. 13.
V. Raynor, "Art; Is Realism Really An Illusion," The New York Times, April 17, 1983, sec. 11, p. 24.
P.H. Falk, ed., Record of the Carnegie Institute's International Exhibitions: 1896-1996, Madison, Connecticut, 1998, p. 133.
J.M. Alterman, New Hope for American Art: A Comprehensive Showing of Important 20th Century Painting from and Surrounding the New Hope Art Colony, Lambertville, New Jersey, 2005, p. 198, illustrated.
"John R. Grabach: Century Man," Daily Record, Parsippany, New Jersey, July 24, 2006, p. A13, illustrated.
"John R. Grabach: Century Man," Daily Record, Parsippany, New Jersey, July 25, 2006, p. D5, illustrated.
"John R. Grabach: Century Man," Daily Record, Parsippany, New Jersey, July 27, 2006, p. E6, illustrated.
"John R. Grabach: Century Man," Daily Record, Parsippany, New Jersey, July 28, 2006, p. D4, illustrated.
J. Zeaman, "Enough time to paint in all styles. Grabach was a grab-bag artist," The Record, Hackensack, New Jersey, August 11, 2006, p. G22.
"Local Events, Exhibiting until Sept. 24 John R. Grabach: Century Man," The Star-Ledger, Newark, New Jersey, September 14, 2006, p. DNM-7. (as The Horizon (Arizing))
John R. Grabach's oeuvre informs our understanding of American art throughout the twentieth century. Born in 1886, he expressed an interest in drawing from a young age while growing up in Newark, New Jersey. At the age of 18, he decided to enroll in The Art Students League, where his instructors included Kenyon Cox (1856-1919), George Bridgman (1864-1943) and Frank Dumond (1865-1941).
Grabach relocated to New England in 1912, where he found inspiration in the landscape. He captured winter plein air scenes, despite the elements, throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. During this period, Grabach embraced tonalism and these works enabled him to gain acceptance into premier exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Carnegie Institute.
In the early 1920s, Grabach took a studio in New York near the Brooklyn Bridge. It was here that he forged his distinctive urban realist style which many art historians have compared to the work of his Ashcan peers. However, "Grabach did not view America through rose colored glasses. Grabach's paintings never portrayed the American dream. He preferred to focus on the American way of life revealing the outgrowth of social conformity." (John R. Grabach: Century Man, exhibition catalogue, New Castle, Pennsylvania, 2006, p. 8) The artist chose to infuse his politics into a great deal of his work from this period, which is evident in The Horizon (Arising).
The Horizon (Arising) was painted as a companion piece in response to the reception of an earlier work, The Fifth Year (1934, Smithsonian American Art Museum, object no. 1979.119.1). The Fifth Year captures Grabach's interpretation of the working class's lifestyle during the Great Depression, five years after the stock market crash of 1929. The desolate conditions evident in this painting contributed to the rise of the Socialist and Communist movements, themes that are evident in The Horizon (Arising). In the present work, Grabach, "depicts an angry group of people bearing various weapons and objects with political connotation forging forward above the cityscape below and beyond the boundaries of America." (John R. Grabach: Century Man, exhibition catalogue, New Castle, Pennsylvania, 2006, p. 9) The group of workers in The Horizon (Arising) carry knives, sickles, and poles fixed with bayonets as they march over New York City, and possibly around the world as critics claim the Eiffel Tower can be seen in the upper right. Both works provide a glimpse into the social history of the 1930s, when American politics highlighted the discontent among the working class and the call for unionization.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
