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Oscar Bluemner

Canal at Philipsburg, 1916

Description

Maker

  • Oscar Bluemner, 1867-1938, American

Title

Canal at Philipsburg

Year

1916

Medium

Watercolor and gouache on pebbled paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • watercolor

Supports

  • medium wove paper

Dimensions

Sheet: 9.1 x 12.7 cm (3 9/16 x 5 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

On verso:sketch for oil "canal" (canal Philipsburg); in pencil:BR vin WA a stanhaps sketches for Philipsburg Canal; 12 3/4 x 13 1/4"

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Drawings and Watercolors

Credit

Anonymous gift

Object Number

1992.001.22

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Tradition and Innovation in American Watercolors

January 27 - April 11, 1999

Bluemner came to the US from Germany in 1892, hoping to make his living as an architect; however, within a few years of meeting photographer Alfred Steiglitz, he became a regular at the 291 gallery and a frequent contributor to Steiglitz's journal, Camera Work. This small but powerful watercolor sketch for a painting not yet located is dominated by the color red. Bluemner's choice of colors was never spontaneous, although these rich, bleeding marks might suggest it. Careful study of 19th-century color theorists, combined with exploration of the Eastern spiritualists, led him to his own highly developed hybrid hierarchy of color symbolism. Within that structure, red was the most potent of colors, and Bluemner felt it should be used in every painting. For him, it represented vitality, energy, life, passion, struggle, and rage. It is no wonder that Bluemner had become known as the "vermillionaire" by the 1920s.

Early Modernism in America

February 24 - April 16, 1995

American Prints and Drawings from a Private Collection

January 17 - March 29, 1992

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Canal at Philipsburg with the accession number of 1992.001.22. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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