By Schomer Lichtner
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Cow and Ballerina" is an original painted wood sculpture by Schomer Lichtner. It features a high-kicking ballerina standing on the back of a cow. The artist signed the piece.
36" x 61" x 26" art
Milwaukee artist, 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 and cows. He and his late wife Ruth Grotenrath, both well-known Wisconsin artists, began their prolific careers as muralists for WPA projects, primarily post offices.
Schomer Lichtner was well known for his whimsical cows and ballerinas, such as his "Ballerina Dancing on Cow" sculpture below. The late James Auer, art critic for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel referred to Lichtner as the artist laureate of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the official artist of the Milwaukee Ballet.
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, " joy of life," and expressed it in his art.
Schomer Lichtner was nationally known for his whimsical paintings and sculptures of black- and white-patterned Holstein cows...
Category
1990s Neo-Expressionist Sandro Chia Figurative Sculptures