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Rolph Scarlett
"Geometric Design"

About the Item

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork. Signed lower left. Rolph Scarlett (1889 - 1984) A major exponent of non-objective painting, Rolph Scarlett's career and artistic philosophy is closely linked with the early history of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Rolph Scarlett was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, in 1889. During his childhood he received painting lessons from his grandmother. He later took art classes at the secondary school level. Upon graduating, he began an apprenticeship in his family's jewelry firm, where he learned to design and execute settings for precious and semi-precious stones. In 1907 Rolph Scarlett traveled to New York in order to refine his skills as a craftsman. He returned to Canada in 1914 and for several years continued to work in the family business. In 1918, Rolph Scarlett emigrated permanently to the United States. Over the next few years, he worked as a commercial designer in New York and Toledo and painted during his spare time. He also spent many years in Southern California, designing sets for the Pasadena Playhouse and for various motion pictures. During a trip to Europe in 1923, he was introduced to the work of Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky, both of whom exerted important influences on his art. Rolph Scarlett settled in New York City in 1936. He soon learned of the collection of art being formed by Solomon and Irene Guggenheim under the direction of the German-born curator, Hilla Rebay. The group of paintings assembled by Rebay, which included works by Kandinsky and Klee, was established in 1939 as Art of Tomorrow, the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, and is known today as the Guggenheim Museum. Rolph Scarlett subsequently attended Rebay's lectures on modern art and sent her numerous examples of his work. By this time, he had developed a non-objective geometric style, distinguished by a poetic delicacy and a unique sensitivity towards color. Rebay eventually became one of Scarlett's strongest supporters, awarding him a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1938, and acquiring many of his paintings for the Guggenheim collection. Scarlett, who shared Rebay's belief that art was a reflection of the spirit, also served as the Guggenheim Museum's chief lecturer from 1939 until 1947. In this respect, he played an important role in disseminating Rebay's theories about art. Rolph Scarlett spent his later years in Woodstock, New York, where he divided his time between painting and jewelry design. Examples of his work can be found in many public collections, including the Museum of Art, at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, and the University of Guelph. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum owns over sixty of Scarlett's oils, watercolors, and drawings.
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Bio courtesy of Kathleen Spicer (Searles) Selected Periodical Citations: Newhall, Edith, "Dual Celebration of Self-expression", Philadelphia Enquirer, May 2013 Fabbri, Anne, "A Farewell to Charles Searles", Art Matters, January 2005 Cornell University Review, August 2000 O'Neill, Denise I., "Black Experience Puts Soul Into the Heart of Christmas", Chicago Sun-Times, December 1996 Gleuck, Grace, Review, The New York Times, December 1996 McBride, Octavia, "An Artist Acclaimed", Philadelphia Tribune, April 1993 Fox, Catherine, "National Black Arts Festival Program Guide", The Atlanta Journal, July 1990 Wilson, William, "Black Artists in Tune with Ancestors", Los Angeles Times, January 1990 Jamusch, Ann, "Special Show-Legacy of Black Art", Dallas Times Herald, January 1990 Binkley, Barbara, "Colors, Bright and Bold", The Daily News, April 1986 Grafly, Dorothy, "Charles Searles at Neumans", ART in Focus, Summer 1978 Crittendon, Denise, "Back Home from Nigeria", The Michigan Chronicle, December 1977 Garrett, Bob, Art Section Review. Boston Sunday Herald, November 1975 Patry, Louise, "A Jubilee of Afro-American Art in Boston", New England Journal, December 1975 Wright, Charles, "Paint Art Racist", The Village Voice, April 1971 Nelson, Nells, "Black Artists Rise Above the Tempest", Philadelphia Daily News, April 1971 Canaday, John, "Black Artist on View in Two Exhibitions", The New York Times, February 1970 Collections: - Philadelphia Museum of Art - The Woodmere Art Museum - Smithsonian Institute of American Art - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts - LaSalle University Art Museum - Howard University Gallery of Art - Dallas Museum of Art - Delaware Valley Arts Alliance - Montclair Museum of Art - Afro-American Historical & Cultural Museum - Museum of Afro-American History - 35 + corporate collections - National & international private collections 75+ Group Exhibitions, Including: - Woodmere Art Museum - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts - Whitney Museum of American Art - Museum of American Art - Boston Museum of Fine Arts - Brooklyn Museum - Art Alliance - National Afro-American Museum - Liberty Museum - National Blacks Fine Arts Show - Institute of Contemporary Art - Ackland Arts Museum - Arnot Art Museum 30+ Solo Exhibitions, Including: - Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia PA - The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA - LaSalle University, Philadelphia, PA - Temple University, Philadelphia, PA - Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ - Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ - Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, Narrowsburg, NY - North Carolina State University - Winston Salem State University, Winston Salem, NC - G.R. 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