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William C. GrauerUntitled (Amish Farm) Watercolor, American Modern, Circa 1940, Signedc. 1940
c. 1940
About the Item
Untitled (Amish Farm)
Watercolor, c. 1940
Signed by the artist lower right: Wm C Grauer (see photo)
A masterpiece Modernist American watercolor.
Condition: Excellent
Sheet/Image size: 19 5/8 x 26 3/8 inches
Provenance: Estate of the Artist
By descent to his daugher Gretchen
William C. Grauer (1895–1985)
William C. Grauer was an American painter, muralist, educator, and one of the leading figures in the development of modern art in Cleveland during the twentieth century. Born in Philadelphia on December 2, 1895, he studied at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art before serving in France during World War I. In 1927 he settled in Cleveland, where he established a distinguished career as both an artist and teacher. Together with his wife, the artist Natalie Eynon Grauer, he became an influential force in the region's cultural life. Grauer and Eynon founded the art department at Cleveland College of Western Reserve University and helped shape generations of artists through their teaching and advocacy.
Grauer achieved recognition as a landscape painter and muralist whose work evolved from Regionalist and American Scene subjects toward a more abstract style in his later years. His paintings frequently depicted the industrial and rural landscapes of Ohio and West Virginia, rendered with a strong sense of design and color. Throughout his career he exhibited widely and became a familiar presence in the annual May Show exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art, participating in fifty-five editions of the exhibition over nearly six decades.
In 1932 Grauer was commissioned to paint murals for the historic President's Cottage at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The success of this project led Grauer and Natalie Eynon to establish the Greenbrier Art Colony, also known as the Old White Art Colony, School and Gallery, which operated during the summers from 1934 to 1940. The colony attracted students from across the region and became one of the most important seasonal art schools in Appalachia. Grauer also created murals for the West Virginia exhibits at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago (1933) and the New York World's Fair (1939). Several surviving murals at The Greenbrier depict scenes from the history of White Sulphur Springs, including nineteenth-century resort life, Virginia Reel dances, and Civil War subjects associated with the resort's past.
Grauer's work is represented in numerous public collections. Holdings include the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which owns Brick Kilns (ca. 1927–1929), and the Cleveland Museum of Art, which holds paintings including Ohio Landscape (1937) and Prairie (1956). Murals removed from Cleveland's historic Schofield Building are preserved by the Western Reserve Historical Society. His paintings also entered many private and institutional collections throughout Ohio and West Virginia.
Grauer retired from Western Reserve University in 1966 but continued painting and teaching privately. He died on April 6, 1985, leaving a legacy as a painter, muralist, educator, and founder of the Greenbrier Art Colony, an institution that played a significant role in the cultural life of Appalachia and the American Midwest.
Grauer's association with the Greenbrier Art Colony is widely regarded as one of his most significant historical achievements. Founded with his wife, Natalie Eynon Grauer, in the mid-1930s at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, the colony became an important center for artistic instruction and cultural exchange in Appalachia. Through the summer school and its exhibitions, Grauer helped connect the modernist traditions emerging in Cleveland with the artistic life of West Virginia, creating a regional network that influenced generations of artists and students. The Greenbrier Art Colony remains an important chapter in the history of American regional art education and is central to Grauer's legacy as both an artist and teacher.
- Creator:William C. Grauer (1896, American)
- Creation Year:c. 1940
- Dimensions:Height: 19.63 in (49.87 cm)Width: 26.38 in (67.01 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Fairlawn, OH
- Reference Number:Seller: FA74781stDibs: LU14018176002
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