Hulda Rotier Fischer (1892-1982)

Hulda Rotier Fischer was a well know Milwaukee, Wisconsin artist and teacher, exhibiting widely from the 1930’s well into the 1950’s. Fischer studied at the Milwaukee Normal School under Robert Von Neumann. She also studied under Carl Holty, and when in Provincetown, Massachusetts, under Hans Hofmann. She taught art in Milwaukee at the Shorewood Vocational School.

Fischer has sometimes been erroneously described as being married to the well- known Milwaukee artist Peter Rotier (1888-1963). They were not married. Peter Rotier was her cousin.

Hulda Fischer participated in the local WPA project but I have never seen any of her work that was definitely made for that project. She also made at least one print for the World War 2 era effort known as “Artists for Victory.” I have never seen any of those prints, but I have seen the documentation for at least one.  

Fischer was a member of the Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors and exhibited with that group starting in the 1930’s, up into the late 1950’s. She also exhibited with the Wisconsin Salon of Art in Madison, Wisconsin. Fischer also participated in the Wisconsin Calendar of Art project in the late 1930’s, sponsored by the Milwaukee Printmakers, though I have not been able to confirm that she was a member of that group. She also exhibited at the Wisconsin Centennial Art Exhibition in 1948.

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer "Melon Pickers" lithograph, 5"h x 8"w, 1940, signed

 

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer "Farm Lads" lithograph, 5"h x 3"w, 1942, signed

 

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer "Late Fall" lithograph, 7"h x 6.5"w, no date, signed

 

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer "Farm Woman" lithograph, 7.75"h x 6"w, 11/13, 1942, signed

 

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer "Baldy's Ranch Tavern" woodcut, 5"h x 6"w, no date, signed

 

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer untitled (wild antelope) woodcut, 3"h x 3.75"w, unsigned, no date

I have seen this print with Fischer's signature.

 

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer "My Log House Studio at Holy Hill", 10"h x 7.5"w, signed, no date

Holy Hill is northwest of Milwaukee.

 

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer "Red Desert Wyo" lithograph, 8.5"h x 11.5"w, 62/106. signed, no date

The large edition for this print makes me wonder if it was made for "Artists for Victory."

 

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer "Holy Hill Church" lithograph, 10"h x 11.75"w, 1/35, signed, 1940

 

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer "Abstraction A C" lithograph, 7.75"h x 8.75"w, signed, no date

 

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer "Still Life Abstraction" lithograph, 7.5"h x 8.75"w, signed, no date

 

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer "Early Winter" lithograph, 10"h x 12.25"w, signed, no date

 

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer "Composition" oil on board, 16"h x 20"w, unsigned, no date

 

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer untitled (farmyard) oil on board, 12.5"h x 16.5"w, signed, 1932

 

 

Hulda Rotier Fischer untitled (rainy intersection) oil on board, signed, no date

I think this is a later painting, judging by the type of bus, but that is a guess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair (1890-1955)

In his day, Gerrit V. Sinclair was one of Wisconsin’s most significant artists. His influence was felt as an artist, and also as a teacher, having taught numerous artists who went on to become influential in their own right---Joseph Friebert, Karl Priebe, Edmund Lewandowski, Alfred Sessler, Gerhard Bakker, and others. Sinclair was a member of Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors and exhibited with that group many times from the 1920‘s into the 1950’s. He also exhibited at the Wisconsin Salon of Art in Madison, Wisconsin from the 1930’s into the 1950’s, and at the Milwaukee Journal Gallery of Art, which operated from 1924-1931. He won many prizes. He also exhibited at national institutions and many private galleries, locally and around the country, including New York City. I haven’t been able to confirm that Sinclair was a member of the Milwaukee Printmakers (founded 1935), but he was an active printmaker at the time of their founding. He participated in the three artist calendars that they produced in 1936-1938. The 1934 government report on the WPA (Works Progress Administration) lists Sinclair as a participant, but one had to be unemployed to be in the program, so he must not have been teaching in that year. Also, Sinclair created a WPA mural in Wausau, Wisconsin in 1940. I doubt he was in the WPA every year from 1934-40. The WPA artists weren’t paid all that much, and Sinclair had a wife and two children. I don’t know if there is anyone around who can clarify this one way or the other. We’ll see.

Today Sinclair is recognized primarily as a painter, but in this blog I will be highlighting his prints. In both paintings and prints, Sinclair rarely created art that didn’t include human activity. He must have truly loved people. He depicted scenes of everyday life of the average person.  

Sinclair was born in Michigan but grew up in Chicago. He attended the School at the Art Institute of Chicago. Sinclair served in the army in World War 1. After the war, he taught briefly in Minneapolis and then Milwaukee. The Layton School of Art (Milwaukee) was founded in 1920, and Sinclair was on the faculty that first year.  He taught there until 1954.

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair   "Jefferson Street"  (Milwaukee)   linocut, 6.25"h x 8.25"w, signed, 1937. This print appeared in the 1939 Wisconsin Artist Calendar.

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair linocut, 5"h x 6"w, untitled, signed in the plate, no date

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair  "Cambridge Ave Boat House" (Milwaukee) linocut, 6.5"h x 8.25"w, signed 1937

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair  "And Two Cars"  linocut, 6.25"h x 8.25"w, signed, 1935

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair untitled (North Avenue Market) (Milwaukee)  linocut, 5.25"h x 6"w,

signed in the plate.  This print was in the 1938 Wisconsin Artist Calendar,

with the title "North Avenue Market."

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair  "Ox Bow"  lithograph, 8.5"h x 12"w, signed, no date

Ox Bow is an art school in Saugatuck, Michigan. This print is annotated "To Fritzi Brod (Chicago artist) ---for helping me with my first lithograph"

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair  "Bar"  linocut, 8"h x 5"w, signed, 1937

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair  untitled (village square, maybe Saugatuck) lithograph, 8.25"h x 10"w,

unsigned, no date

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair  untitled (Mike's Drive In)  lithograph, 8"h x 11.75"w, unsigned, no date

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair  untitled (baseball)  lithograph, 8.25"h x 9.75"w, unsigned, no date

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair  untitled (three men and a dog)  lithograph, 8"h x 9.5"w, unsigned, no date

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair  untitled (couple on bicycle) lithograph, 9.5"h x 8.25"w, unsigned, no date

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair  untitled (Juneau Ave Bridge, Milwaukee)  linocut, 4"h x 5"w, unsigned, no date

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair  untitled (people on bridge) linocut, 4"h x 5"w, unsigned, no date

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair  untitled (Provincetown)  etching, 3.75"h x 4.75"w, signed in the plate, no date

 

 

Gerrit V. Sinclair  untitled (Provincetown) etching, 3"h x 3.75"w, signed, 1922

Sinclair made a number of etchings while in Provincetown, Massachusetts.