Schomer Lichtner

"Season's Greetings, " Abstract Holiday Silkscreen signed by Schomer Lichtner

c. 1958

'Flowers' is an original linocut by Wisconsin-based artist Schomer Lichtner. The composition presents a scattered floral still life amongst abstracted shadows and forms, rendered with Lichtner's quintessential abstract sensibilities. This print is one from a series that each depict abstracted subjects in black silhouette, taking pleasure in the materiality of the linocut technique. The free forms of the flower resemble the lyrical mid-century works of the French artist Henri Matisse, which combined with these material concerns demonstrate Lichter's modern sensibilities. The prints from this series are unusual because of how below the image, Lichtner also includes his Chinese seal and a linocut remarque of a cow, each of which act as an additional signature of the artist on the artwork. Linocut in black and red on Permalife white wove paper 4 x 5.25 inches, image 11.5 x 8.75 inches, sheet 16.5 x 13.63 inches, frame Signed in pencil, below image, lower right. Edition 1/100 in pencil, below image, lower left. Chinese signature stamp in red, below image, lower right. Remaque of a cow in red, below image, lower right. Permalife watermark to paper. Framed to conservation standards in a shadow-box style mounting, using 100 percent rag matting, museum glass, and housed in a silver-finish wood moulding. Overall excellent condition with no creases or discoloration. Milwaukee artist Schomer Lichtner was well known for his whimsical cows and ballerinas and abstract imagery. He and his late wife Ruth Grotenrath, both well-known Wisconsin artists, began their prolific careers as muralists for WPA projects, primarily post offices. Lichtner also painted murals for industry and private clients. Schomer was a printmaker and produced block prints, lithographs, and serigraph prints. His casein (paint made from dairy products) and acrylic paintings are of the rural Wisconsin landscape and farm animals. He became interested in cows when he and Ruth spent summers near Holy Hill in Washington County. According to David Gordon, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, Schomer Lichtner had a tremendous joie de vivre and expressed it in his art. Schomer Lichtner was nationally known for his whimsical paintings and sculptures of black- and white-patterned Holstein cows...

'Winter Silhouettes,' a small and delicate print, is an original offset lithograph by the Milwaukee artist Schomer Lichtner. The composition displays registers of foliage, emerging from the white of the paper as though emerging from the snow-covered ground. The artwork is thus plays with the materials of printmaking; the paper is both the support and the primary indication of the season. The subtle texture of the tooth of the paper also adds life to the image, giving the snow a wind-swept, creature trodden surface. The free forms of the grasses and leaves resemble the lyrical mid-century works of the French artist Henri Matisse, which combined with these material concerns demonstrate Lichter's modern sensibilities. 3.75 x 2.75 inches, image 5.5 x 4.5 inches, paper 10 x 8 inches frame Signed and dated in the stone, lower right Framed to conservation standards in a shadow-box style mounting, using 100 percent rag matting, museum glass, and housed in a cherry wood moulding Overall excellent condition; some toning to edges of paper; some minor abrasions to frame Milwaukee artist Schomer Lichtner was well known for his whimsical cows and ballerinas and abstract imagery. He and his late wife Ruth Grotenrath, both well-known Wisconsin artists, began their prolific careers as muralists for WPA projects, primarily post offices. Lichtner also painted murals for industry and private clients. Schomer was a printmaker and produced block prints, lithographs, and serigraph prints. His casein (paint made from dairy products) and acrylic paintings are of the rural Wisconsin landscape and farm animals. He became interested in cows when he and Ruth spent summers near Holy Hill in Washington County. According to David Gordon, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, Schomer Lichtner had a tremendous joie de vivre and expressed it in his art. Schomer Lichtner was nationally known for his whimsical paintings and sculptures of black- and white-patterned Holstein cows and elegant ballerina dancers. Lichtner also painted all sorts of combinations of beautiful women, flowers and country landscapes. James Auer, former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel art critic, said that his art eventually "exploded into expressionistic design elements with bold, flat areas of color and high energy that anticipated Pop Art." Auer went on to describe Lichtner’s work as full of "wit, vigor and virtuosity." As early as 1930, Lichtner’s work was shown at the prestigious Carnegie International Exhibition in New York and at museums throughout the Midwest. As a student, he was a protégé of another icon of 20th century American art, Gustave Moeller. Lichtner and his wife, Ruth Grotenrath (1912-1988), are celebrated as Milwaukee’s first couple of painting and are regarded as major Wisconsin artists. Lichtner’s impressive production, perseverance, longevity, and positive approach to his life and art made him and his work distinctive and much loved by his many admirers. His work is currently represented in collections at the Milwaukee Art Museum, the John Michael Kohler Art Center, the West Bend Museum, and in the collections of many individuals. Books on the lives and art work of both Lichtner and Grotenrath are in progress and it is anticipated that they will be published next year. Schomer Lichtner passed away on May 9, 2006 at the age of 101. He continued to amaze and create with his whimsical paintings of ballerinas...

"The Prairie School Collection - Rug" is an offset lithograph poster with gold foil. This piece advertises an exhibition of Frank Lloyd Wright's designs. Unsigned. 34 7/8" x 22" art...

In this untitled serigraph, Vincent DiMattio combines the aesthetics of the space age with Pop Art sensibilities and techniques. In the postwar era of the 1950s and 1960s, the United States was in the midst of a period of economic growth for the middle class, and so the trappings and imagery of middle class life became the subjects of a number of artists. While figures like Andy Warhol focused on images of celebrities and soup cans, here DiMattio looks to robots and rockets. At the far left, a figure appears with a round green head and a small clamping arm. To the right, a form like a tank with phallic protrusions, one with a head like the form of a space ship. These signs all alight with the space age toys...

Edward Landon, 'Flyable Objects Identified', color serigraph, 1969, edition 30, Ryan 83. Signed, titled, and annotated 'Edition 30' in pencil. A fine impression, with fresh colors, o...

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This vintage 1934 color serigraph (silkscreen print) by Hilaire Hiler (1898-1966) depicts a Native American figure dressed in a fox costume and holding a bow, showcasing a stylized feather headdress and bold black, red, and white color contrasts. Created during the WPA era, this modernist print reflects Hiler's semi-abstract approach to Native American themes. The print is pencil signed by the artist in the lower right margin and titled on the verso. About the Artist, Hilaire Hiler: Hilaire Hiler was an influential New Mexico artist known for his modernist style and exploration of Native American subjects. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Hiler studied at prestigious art institutions such as the University of Paris and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts before moving to Paris in 1919. Hiler was active in the European avant-garde scene, supporting himself as a jazz musician. In 1934, he returned to America, where he was commissioned by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to create murals for the Aquatic Park...

"Indianapolis Museum of Art Inaugural Exhibitions", 25 October 1970, is an eye popping large bold colorful geometric abstract silk screen. It is signed on the lower right. Robert Indiana, one of the preeminent figures in American art since the 1960s, played a central role in the development of assemblage art, hard-edge painting, Pop art, Neo-Dada, American Modernism and Modern Art. A self-proclaimed “American painter of signs,” Indiana created a highly original body of work that explores American identity, personal history, and the power of abstraction and language, establishing an important legacy that resonates in the work of many contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Roy Lectenstein, David Hockney, Romero Britto, Richard Hamilton and Robert Rauschenberg who make the written word a central element of their oeuvre. Robert Indiana was born Robert Clark in New Castle, Indiana on September 13, 1928. Adopted as an infant, he spent his childhood moving frequently throughout his namesake state. At 14 he moved to Indianapolis in order to attend Arsenal Technical High School, known for its strong arts curriculum. After graduating he spent three years in the U.S. Air Force and then studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Skowhegan School of Sculpture and Painting in Maine, and the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland. In 1956, two years after moving to New York, Indiana met Ellsworth Kelly, and upon his recommendation took up residence in Coenties Slip, where a community of artists that would come to include Kelly, Agnes Martin, James Rosenquist, and Jack Youngerman had studios. Indiana, like some of his fellow artists, scavenged the area’s abandoned warehouses for materials, creating sculptural assemblages from old wooden beams, rusted metal wheels, and other remnants of the shipping trade that had thrived in Coenties Slip. The discovery of 19th century brass stencils led to the incorporation of brightly colored numbers and short emotionally charged words onto these sculptures as well as canvases, and became the basis of his new painterly vocabulary. Although acknowledged as a leader of Pop, Indiana distinguished himself from his Pop peers by addressing important social and political issues and incorporating profound historical and literary references into his works. In 1964 Indiana accepted Philip Johnson’s invitation to design a new work for the New York State Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair, creating a 20-foot EAT sign...