May 19 - July 21, 1996

Significance

For the first time, the work of such nationally acclaimed artists as Margaret Bourke-White, Charles Burchfield, William Sommer, William Zorach, and Clarence Carter will be placed in revealing juxtapositions with works by the Cleveland contemporaries with whom they worked and exhibited. This exhibition breaks new ground in exploring Cleveland's rich artistic tradition from its origins to the mid-20th century, giving particular attention to Cleveland's legacy as a city for artists of diverse backgrounds. The exhibition and accompanying catalogue interpret the city's artistic life in light of the social, economic, and cultural forces that sustained it throughout the city's transformation from a canal village to an industrial center.

Contents

More than two hundred paintings, prints, sculptures, photographs, and decorative arts by more than sixty men and women artists are to be shown. A few highlights: the rural scene of Ella's Hotel, Richfield, Ohio by Otto Bacher; Henry Church, Jr.'s The Monkey Picture, from The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center in Williamsburg; Carl Gaertner's Flying Ponies (Euclid Beach Park), from the Carol and Michael Sherwin Collection; Julius Gollmann's An Evening at the Ark, from The Western Reserve Historical Society; an "Art Deco" Screen by Paul Feher of Rose Iron Works, Inc., on loan from The Rose Family Collection to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Max Kalish's Steel Worker (Steel in the Sky), from the museum's collection; Viktor Schreckengost's Jazz Bowl, from the Cowan Pottery Museum, Rocky River Public Library; The Young Mechanic, by Allen Smith, Jr., from The Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the City of Cleveland's version of The Spirit of '76 by Archibald Willard; prints by Stevan Dohanos, Jolán Gross-Bettelheim, Kálmán Kubinyi, Hughie Lee-Smith, and Dorothy Rutka; and photographs by Allen Cole and Louis Van Oeyen.

Location

The Cleveland Museum of Art is the only venue for this exhibition. It will occupy the main special exhibition gallery and two of the prints and drawings galleries. A complementary exhibition of 1,500 postcards, Greetings from Cleveland: Picturing the City in Postcards, 1898-1996, will be on view in the corridor outside the Museum Cafe.

Background

The exhibition is the second of a cycle of four major exhibitions organized by the museum to celebrate the bicentennial of the City of Cleveland.

Catalogue

A richly illustrated catalogue is being prepared by William Robinson, assistant curator of modern art, and David Steinberg, assistant curator of paintings, organizers of the exhibition. By virtue of their special expertise in the fields of prints, photographs, decorative arts, or other aspects of Cleveland's artistic heritage, the following are additional contributing authors: Henry H. Hawley of the museum's department of later western art; Sabine Kretzschmar of prints and drawings; Mark Cole, research assistant for the exhibition; and Geraldine Wojno Kiefer, independent scholar of the history of photography. The book will have ongoing value after the exhibition has ended for students of American art history.

Lenders

Sixty-one museums and private collections across the United States.

Funding

Cleveland Art is sponsored by Hahn Loeser & Parks.
Promotional support provided by News Center 5, the Plain Dealer, and WCLU 95.5.

Programs

Many events complementing this exhibition are planned as part of the museum's annual June through August summer evenings on Wednesday nights. These and other events throughout the week will include: lectures on Cleveland history, cultural life, and architecture; walking tours; family postcard-making workshops; showings of Cleveland's favorite feature films; poetry reading; folk music; gallery talks; and mural-making. Guided school tours are available by reservation by calling 216/421-7340, ext. 462.

Admission

The exhibition is free. No tickets are required.

Museum hours

• Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, 10-5:45
• Wednesday, 10-9:45
• Saturday, 9-4:45
• Sunday, 1-5:45
• Closed Mondays

Upcoming Bicentennial Exhibitions

• Urban Evidence: Contemporary Artists Reveal Cleveland
  August 25, 1996 - October 27, 1996

• Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art
  November 24, 1996 - February 2, 1997

Contact

News media should contact Denise Horstman, assistant manager, Marketing & Communications, for additional information, photographs, slides, or transparencies. Phone 216/421-7340, ext. 262; fax 216/231-6565.

The Cleveland Museum of Art receives partial funding from the Ohio Arts Council, a state agency created to foster and encourage the development of the arts and to preserve Ohio's cultural heritage. Funding from the Ohio Arts Council is an investment of state tax dollars that promotes economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.