Oscar Florianus Bluemner (1867-1938), widely considered one of the most influential figures of the modernist era, helped define and advance abstract art in America. Bluemner’s highly personal and boldly colored landscapes caused a commotion in the famous Amory Show of 1913 in New York among supporters and detractors alike. Impressed by the work of European contemporaries such as Cezanne and Van Gogh, Bluemner was not interested in simply imitating life. Using elements of reality as a starting point, he then transformed them into abstracted ideas. Bluemner explained, I wish to convey not the reproduction of nature for the sake of sentiment or accuracy, but perhaps like the musician’ I want to create freely, artistically.
All images courtesy of the Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, NC.
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- From the Archives of the Smithsonian
