William Sommer Still-life Drawings and Watercolors
American, 1867-1949
William Sommer is seen as a key person in bringing European modernism to Northeast Ohio. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, and in his youth apprenticed for seven years to a lithographer.
He briefly studied at an art academy in Germany and then worked as a lithographer in New York before moving to Cleveland, where he was awarded a major contract with the Otis Lithography Company. There he became friends with sculptor and painter William Zorach, and the two, determined to be fine artists, began painting together on weekends. They also became intrigued by avant-garde movements, especially after Zorach's trip to Paris in 1910.
In 1911, Sommer co-founded a group in Cleveland called the Kokoon Club, a mixed group of commercial artists and radical modernists who sought the freedom to pursue their independent tendencies. They converted a tailor's shop into a studio and held exhibitions and lectures and organized an annual masked ball that became the focus of Cleveland's bohemian life.
In 1913, he and his colleagues began painting at Brandywine, about 30 miles south of Cleveland and made a school house into a studio. They devoted increasing time to watercolor painting because they could work spontaneously and it would dry quickly. Rejecting the conventional ideas of beauty, they strove for the expression of emotion and spontaneity and fantasy. One of Sommer's most successful students was Charles Burchfield.
As he was perfecting his mature style, he had financial difficulties because he made his living from commercial lithography, which was becoming obsolete, and the Depression was hitting the nation causing him to lose his job. He became a WPA artist, doing murals in northeastern Ohio.
After his death at age 82, he was largely forgotten until 1980 when Hilton Kramer, a "New York Times" critic, praised his work. In May to July, 1994, the Ohio Arts Council held a retrospective of his work at the Riffe Gallery in Columbus. His work is found in many public collections including the National Museum of American Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.to
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Artist: William Sommer
Still Life with Tromp L'Oeil
By William Sommer
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Still Life with Tromp L'Oeil
Graphite and watercolor on a book page.
Signed in ink by the artist lower right corner
(see photo)
Provenance:
Estate of the artist (Estate No. 00916 verso)
Ray Sommer (the artist's son)
Joseph M. Erdelac (No. 18 JME verso)
Book page verso is an illustration of a Durer woodcut...
Category
1920s American Modern William Sommer Still-life Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
untitled (Still Life with Apples and Vase of Flowers)
By William Sommer
Located in Fairlawn, OH
[recto];untitled (Sketches for Still
Unsigned
9 1/2 x 12 inches (24.2 x 30.6 cm.)
Category
20th Century William Sommer Still-life Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Graphite
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William Sommer still-life drawings and watercolors for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic William Sommer still-life drawings and watercolors available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of still-life drawings and watercolors to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by William Sommer in graphite, paint, pencil and more. Not every interior allows for large William Sommer still-life drawings and watercolors, so small editions measuring 12 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Dick Wray, Lou Fink, and Ian Hornak. William Sommer still-life drawings and watercolors prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $550 and tops out at $3,000, while the average work can sell for $1,775.