Oscar Bluemner (June 21, 1867 – January 12, 1938), born as Friedrich Julius Oskar Blümner[1] and since 1933, known as Oscar Florianus Bluemner,[2] was a German-born American Modernist painter.
Early life
Bluemner was born as Friedrich Julius Oskar Blümner in Prenzlau, Germany on June 21, 1867.[1]
Architecture
Bluemner moved to Chicago in 1893 where he freelanced as a draftsman at the World's Columbian Exposition. After the exposition, he attempted to find work in Chicago. In 1901, Bluemner relocated to New York City where he also could not find steady employment. In 1903, he created the winning design for the Bronx Borough Courthouse in New York.[3]
Painting
In 1908 he met Alfred Stieglitz, who introduced him to the artistic innovations of the European and American avant-garde. By 1910, Bluemner had decided to pursue painting full-time rather than architecture.
He exhibited in the 1913 Armory Show. Then in 1915 Stieglitz gave him a solo exhibition at his gallery, 291. Despite participating in several exhibitions, including solo shows, for the next ten years Bluemner failed to sell many paintings and lived with his family in near-poverty.[3]
Later life
After his wife’s death in 1926, Bluemner moved to South Braintree, Massachusetts. He committed suicide on January 12, 1938.
Legacy
Stetson University holds more than 1,000 pieces of Oscar Bluemner's work bequeathed in 1997 by his daughter, Vera Bluemner Kouba. Often overlooked in his lifetime, Bluemner now is widely acknowledged as a key player in the creation of American artistic Modernism, with better-known colleagues such as Georgia O'Keeffe and John Marin.
Notes
1. ^ a b Haskell 2005, p. 11
2. ^ Haskell 2005, p. 204
3. ^ a b Corley, Erin (1960). A Finding Aid to the Oscar Bluemner Papers, 1886-1939. Archives of American Art.
References
Haskell, Barbara (2005). Oscar Bluemner: A Passion for Color. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art.
External links
§ The Oscar Bluemner Papers Online includes digitized primary source biographical material, correspondence, diaries, writings, exhibition catalogs, and other printed material held by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
§ Oscar Florianus Bluemner Biography - Hollis Taggart Galleries
§ The Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection - Stetson University
