Roger MedearisMissouri Farm1970
1970
About the Item
- Creator:Roger Medearis (1920 - 2001, American)
- Creation Year:1970
- Dimensions:Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)Width: 24 in (60.96 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:All works are in good to excellent condition. Detailed condition report available upon request.
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU11910487492
Roger Medearis
Though he came of age after Regionalism’s heyday in the 1930s, Roger Medearis is a direct connection to the Regionalism of Thomas Hart Benton. Born in Fayette, Missouri, Medearis went to Kansas City at the age of eighteen to study at the Kansas City Art Institute, with the hopes of becoming a commercial illustrator in the manner of Norman Rockwell. Shortly after his arrival, Medearis learned that Benton was an instructor at the Institute, and he soon was a regular in Benton’s classroom. In very short order, Meadearis absorbed every tenet of Benton’s pedagogical exhortations to study the masters of the Renaissance, with particular emphasis on formulating a strong overall design using repeated formal patterns as a structural principle for each painting. Meadearis also absorbed many of Benton’s own techniques as well, producing multi-figure Regionalist works in tempera and oil akin to the works of his master.
Medearis’s ascent in the art world was swift. After two years of schooling under Benton, in the summer of 1940, at the age of twenty, Medearis attempted his first major painting, Breaking Ground at Bethel (formerly in the collection of Himan Brown, New York), a genre painting featuring over twenty figures that depicted the groundbreaking of a country church. Benton was so impressed with this painting that he quickly had it added to an upcoming exhibition of the work of his more senior students to be held at the venerable Associated American Artists gallery in New York. What followed was a decade-long period of activity and sales in the New York art world, and the beginning of a lifelong friendship with Benton. (Medearis later penned a short and charming memoir of his relationship with Benton; see Roger Medearis, “Student of Thomas Hart Benton,” Smithsonian Studies in American Art 4 [Summer–Autumn 1990], pp. 47–61.)
Now under Benton’s wing, Medearis painted a number of striking Regionalist paintings, oftentimes using Benton’s studio. With Benton’s art world connections, Medearis found easy entry into New York galleries (Associated American Artists before World War II, Kende Galleries afterward), where he enjoyed a growing reputation as a notable exponent of Regionalism. When Benton was fired by the Kansas City Art Institute in the spring of 1941 for impertinent remarks about museum administrations, he and Medearis continued to enjoy a happy master-student relationship, with Medearis regularly bringing his paintings to Benton for critiques. After the outbreak of World War II, Medearis left Kansas City for New York in 1942, but he remained close with Benton, the two men keeping in close correspondence and visiting each other regularly. By 1950, however, with abstraction achieving a dominant position in the contemporary art world, Medearis decided to leave behind his career as an artist, and instead became a salesman for Container Corporation of America. Though he was successful in the business world, at Benton’s behest Medearis eventually returned to painting in 1966, though without the same vigor or incisive perception of Midwestern life as he had in his youth.
The subject of Saying Grace, a humorous work that dates from the artist’s student days in Kansas City, is very much in line with the oftentimes cheeky humor of Regionalist painters, who gently send up the lifestyles of their Midwestern subjects for consumption among New York collectors. A review of a 1949 exhibition of Medearis’s work at Kende Galleries, New York, aptly sums up his art:
In condensed form, the prankish scenes of Roger Medearis, on view at the Kende Galleries, are reminiscent of Bruegel, Koerner, and his teacher Thomas Hart Benton. His egg tempera travesties are peopled with good and bad mannered creatures in the best natured sense. They wallow in imagined luxuries or sit straight-jacketed in newly-wedded blisslessness. There seems no end to paintable ideas, no dearth of amusement or lack of straight-forward characterization. Landscapes, houses, folks and animals are all alive in a jolly and luminous world (“Condensed Americana,” The Art Digest 23, April 15, 1949).
Saying Grace is an iconic work by one of Regionalism’s most interesting artists, who until recently was little known because his best works were in private hands. Now that works like this one are coming back into circulation, Roger Medearis’s reputation will likely return to the level he had achieved in the 1940s.
(Biography provided by Hirschl & Adler)
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Landscape with Green TreeBy Alfred Henry MaurerLocated in New York, NYAlfred Henry Maurer has been called the First American Modern because of his role in bringing modern methods of working to the United StatesCategory
Early 20th Century American Modern Landscape Paintings
MaterialsOil, Board
- December 25thLocated in New York, NYIn his artwork entitled, “December 25th,” Alec Montroy paints a New York City street blanked with snow but illuminated still by the numerous neon signs ab...Category
Late 20th Century American Modern Landscape Paintings
MaterialsOil, Canvas
- StarsBy Dale NicholsLocated in New York, NYSigned and dated lower right: DALE NICHOLS 1953; on stretcher bar: “STARS” by Dale NicholsCategory
Mid-20th Century American Modern Landscape Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- The Big News is Always on 42nd StreetLocated in New York, NYAlec Montroy depicts a group of figures standing on a street corner a few blocks from Times Square in his work entitled “ The Big News is Always on 42nd S...Category
Late 20th Century American Modern Landscape Paintings
MaterialsOil, Canvas
- Thru a Glass BrightlyLocated in New York, NY“Thru a Glass Brightly” by artist Alec Montroy is a view of Times Square from a unique elevated perspective.Category
Late 20th Century American Modern Landscape Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Lindy’sLocated in New York, NYIn this artwork by Alec Montroy entitled “Lindy’s,” the artist paints the iconic Times Square in New York City and the numerous electronic signs above it.Category
Late 20th Century American Modern Landscape Paintings
MaterialsOil, Canvas
- The Lonely Road by William Charles PalmerLocated in Hudson, NYThe Lonely Road (1940) Tempera on panel 12" x 16" 19 1/2" x 23 1/2" x 1 1/2" framed Hand-signed "Palmer '40" lower center. Provenance: Midtown Galleries, New York, NY (labels verso...Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Paintings
MaterialsPanel, Tempera
- Venetian CanalBy Frank WilcoxLocated in Beachwood, OHVenetian Canal, c. 1910-11 Tempera on board Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 – April 17, 1964) was a modernist American artist and a master of water...Category
1910s American Modern Landscape Paintings
MaterialsTempera
- The Blue TopBy Robert VickreyLocated in Boston, MASigned verso: "Robert Vickrey". Titled verso: "The Blue Top". In fine condition.Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Paintings
MaterialsCasein
- The Carved Door, Semi-Abstract Tempera Landscape Painting with Flora and FaunaBy Archie MusickLocated in Denver, COTempera on board painting titled 'The Carved Door' by Archie Musick, signed by the artist in the lower right corner. Depicts a semi-abstract landscape with flora and fauna. Presented...Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Landscape Paintings
MaterialsBoard, Tempera
- Americans Modernist Tempera Painting, Penguins in Snowy Landscape, Blue WhiteBy Archie MusickLocated in Denver, COOriginal American Modernist tempera painting on masonite by Archie Musick (1902-1978). Signed by the artist in the lower right corner. Depicted is a landscape with penguins marching ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Animal Paintings
MaterialsTempera, Masonite
- Spring Storm, Modernist Southwestern New Mexico Landscape Casein PaintingBy Doel ReedLocated in Denver, COSpring Storm, original vintage painting by New Mexico & Oklahoma modernist, Doel Reed (1894-1985). Evening scene with hint of a moon, clouds and rain over a rocky western landscape with low mountains/buttes, dated, June 1980 and signed by the artist lower right. Presented in a custom frame, outer dimensions measure 24 ½ x 37 ½ x 1 ¼ inches. Image size is 14 ¾ x 27 ¾ inches. Provenance: Private Collection, Denver, Colorado Expedited and international shipping is available - please contact us for a quote. About the Artist: Early in his artistic career, Doel Reed knew he wanted to be a printmaker. Influenced by Goya's aquatints, he extended himself beyond his formal art training to learn this technique, and he established himself as one of its masters. For decades, he devoted himself to the art program at the University of Oklahoma, taking it from a faculty of one to a major mid-Western department. Upon retirement, Reed focused totally on his work, moving with his family to Taos, New Mexico, where they had previously summered. Marked by strong tonal contrasts, his landscapes of this region are deeply emotional renderings with a sense of mystery -- modernist forms combined with romantic moodiness. Born and raised in Indiana, Reed originally studied architecture, which he credits with a lifelong attention to "how something is constructed." His mature style can be characterized as architectonic in his concern with assembling volumes and planes. Even the intense northern New Mexico light becomes the means to articulate three-dimensional patterns into cubistic interplay. When painting, Reed used thick strokes of oil and casein as another structural element. Transferring to fine art, his studies at the Cincinnati Art Academy were then interrupted by military service in World War I. Suffering a gas attack in the trenches of France, Reed spent months in a hospital temporarily blinded. The effects of the gas also damaged his lungs, which later prompted him to live in the dry climates of Oklahoma and New Mexico. After the war, he returned to his studies, but it was discovery of Goya's aquatints rather than his art classes that inspired. Considered the master, Goya drew on the tonal range available with this medium to create powerfully haunting imagery. Perhaps Reed responded personally to the eloquent series "The Disasters of War." Now his course was set, and he built his own etching press, which he continued to use for the rest of his life. In 1924, he accepted a teaching position at Oklahoma State University, where he remained for thirty-five years. Emphasizing drawing, Reed encouraged students to go to nature and translate the scene through their own sensibilities. Beginning as the sole art professor, he developed the program when it became an independent department in 1930. Through his stewardship, the university gained a reputation as one of the best for printmaking in the country. During the forties, Reed also prepared a series of lectures and demonstrations on aquatint for the Association of American Colleges. His most public offering in art education is the book "Doel Reed Makes An Aquatint" (1965). Sabbaticals allowed him to visit Paris in 1926 and 1930-31. Summer travel took him to Nova Scotia and Mexico, but gas rationing during World War II necessitated a closer destination. Thus the Reed connection with Taos was established. Finally in 1959, he, his wife, and daughter moved there to Talpa Ridge, the same outlying area in which artists like Andrew Dasburg, Howard Cook, and Barbara Latham resided. Settling into a complex of three adobe buildings, Reed was welcomed by these artists, who referred to their community as Neurosis Ridge. Rena Rosenquist of Mission Gallery remembers that Reed was "the most affable man" who liked cold martinis. For Reed, the surrounding Sangre de Cristo Mountains offered "end of abstract pattern." His inventive mind came up with techniques to transform a natural scene into a richly dimensional object. He fashioned a rosin box and concocted his own formula of etching ground to achieve a velvety texture with his prints. Described as "not for the faint-hearted,”" casein became a medium with which built up paint surfaces that almost seem sculpted. Both the prints and drawings are characterized by a tension between the two-dimensional surface pattern and the articulated space it conveys. In addition to landscapes, Reed produced a number of works of voluptuous women with the figures echoing landscape elements. As a boy, his first art experience was a grade-school field trip to the John Herron Art Museum (now the Indianapolis Art Museum), where he expressed his admiration for a painting of a nude mermaid -- an image that made a lasting impression. Reed was proudest of his recognition by the National Academy of Design (now just the National Academy). In 1942, he was named associate member; in 1952, he was named full academician. ©David Cook Galleries, LLC Exhibited: Society of Independent Artists, 1927 & 1929; Society of American Etchers, 1930-1946; Kansas City Art Institute, 1932; “100 Etchings of Year,” 1932-44; Art Institute of Chicago, 1934, 1937, 1939; National Academy of Design, 1934-46, 1965 (Samuel Morse Medal); Tulsa Art Association, 1935 (prize); Paris Salon, 1937; Rome, Italy, 1937; Sweden, 1938; Chicago Society of Etchers, 1938 (prize); Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1940; Philadelphia Print Club, 1940 (prize); Venice, Italy, 1940; Carnegie Institute, 1941; Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH,1942, (prize); Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1942; Whitney Museum of American Art, 1942; Northwest Printmakers, 1942 (prize), 1944 (prize); Herron Art Institute, 1943; Library of Congress, 1944-46; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1944-45; Philbrook Art Club, 1944 (prize); Laguna Beach Art Association, 1944 (prize); Southern States Art League, 1944 (prize); “50 American Prints,” 1944; Oakland Art Gallery, 1945 (prize); Audubon Artists, 1945, 1951 (Gold Medal of Honor), 1954 (John Taylor Arms Memorial Medal); Albany Institute of History and Art, 1945; Pasadena Art Institute, 1946; London; Allied Art Association; National Society of Painters Casein; Mission Gallery, Taos, NM, and Blair Galleries, Ltd. Santa Fe, NM. Works Held: Carnegie Institute; Honolulu Academy of Art; Grinnell College; Library of Congress; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Art, Houston; New York Public Library; Oklahoma Art Club; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Philbrook Art Club; Seattle Art Museum; Southern Methodist University; University of Montana; University of Tulsa; Bibliotéque Nationale, Paris; Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Further Reading: Harmsen's Western Americana: A Collection of One-Hundred Western Paintings with Biographical Profiles of the Artists, Dorothy Harmsen, Northland Press, Flagstaff, Arizona, 1971.; The Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West, Peggy and Harold Samuels, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1976.; Taos Artists...Category
1980s American Modern Landscape Paintings
MaterialsCasein, Archival Paper