Vintage Wisconsin Art: Milwaukee Printmakers

Showing posts with label Milwaukee Printmakers. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

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.

Friday, January 30, 2015

Tom Lee Rost, Jr. (1909-2004)

“No biographical information was found.” That is the statement on the website of the Museum of Wisconsin Art’s research department under the heading for “Tom Rost.” That is unfortunate, because Rost’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel obituary can readily be found online. Here are some details from it. Rost’s family moved to Milwaukee from Indiana when he was young. He attended high school in Milwaukee and attended Milwaukee State Teachers College (MSTC) from 1926-1930. He was an artist/illustrator at a local Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in the early 1930’s (Camp Honey Creek). Rost told me he did similar work at the Boerner Botanical Garden in Hales Corners, Wisconsin; that is, making drawing of the work projects there. In 1936 he began working for the Milwaukee Journal as an illustrator (He told me that Robert Von Neumann got him that job) and stayed there until 1945. During the war years he created many military maps for the newspaper. After the war he moved to New York City to work as a commercial artist. After five years, he moved back to Milwaukee and cofounded an advertising and illustration firm. During this time Rost worked as a freelance commercial artist, creating a number of magazine covers for the likes of “Field and Stream” and other similar publications.

I first met Rost in the 1990’s. I was searching for information on Wisconsin artists of interest to me, and I just looked him up in the phone book. I found someone with his name, but not knowing if it was the same person, I sent a letter of polite inquiry. With it, I sent a list of artists whose work I sought. He turned out to be the person I was looking for and I got a speedy reply from Rost. He invited me up for a visit and we got along well. He told me my list of artists “brought back a flood of memories.” He said he had forgotten many of those artists, but I could see in his eyes that he remembered much, too. We chatted for some time. I ended up buying some of his prints from the 1930’s, as well as some prints he got from other artists in “art trades.” We met several more times. One time I asked him about a specific print of his that showed CCC workers peeling potatoes in the camp kitchen. He remembered the print, but said they were all gone. Then he thought for a moment and said that he still had the block and offered to pull a new print for me. I readily accepted. Not long after, I visited again and he gave me the print. What a fantastic experience for me. At that time Tom was about ninety years of age, and I think he enjoyed pulling the print as much as I did receiving it.

What Rost’s obituary didn’t say was that he created well regarded WPA murals that can still be found in three Midwest post offices; two in Wisconsin---Elkhorn (1938) and Lancaster (1940), and one in Paoli, Indiana (1939). He also created a number of prints for the WPA, but the exact number is uncertain. He was a charter member of the Wisconsin Printmakers, a group that originated in 1935. His prints can be found in two of their Wisconsin Artist Calendars, 1936 and 1937. He exhibited numerous times with the Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors and at the Wisconsin Salon in Madison, Wisconsin in the 1930’s. He also exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago and other institutions.

Tom Rost "Excavators" woodcut 11.25"h x 15"w 1934

Tom told me this was his favorite print.

Tom Rost "Camp Honey Creek" woodcut 4"h x 6"w 1934

Tom Rost untitled (Newspaper Seller) woodcut 5"h x 8"w no date

Tom Rost "Winter Farm Chore" woodcut 11"h x 14.25" 1933

Tom Rost untitled (Outside the Factory) woodcut 11"h x 13.25"w 1934/35

I have two of this print. One is dated 1934 the other 1935.

Tom Rost untitled (Mixing Cement) woodcut 12"h x 15.5"w 1934

Tom Rost "Dump Wagon" woodcut 10.75"h x 14.24"w no date

Tom Rost "Quarry at Grafton" (Grafton, Wisconsin) woodcut 4"h x 6"w no date

I have seen this print with the title "Lime Kiln".

Tom Rost "Lunch Hour" woodcut 8"h x 10"w no date

Tom Rost "Caulkers" woodcut 6.5"h x 8.75"w 1934

Tom Rost "Peeling Potatoes" woodcut 10"h x 8"w no date

I think the original date was 1934. Rost printed this in the late 1990's but I don't know if it is considered a restrike, since it was pulled by the artist himself.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Howard W. Thomas (1899-1971) was born in Ohio and studied art at Ohio State University, followed by study at the Art Institute of Chicago. He began teaching art to high school students in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1923, continuing to 1930. He was director of the art education department at Milwaukee State Teachers College (MSTC) from 1930-1936. In the later 1930’s, I believe Thomas was head of the WPA art program in Milwaukee. Right now I can’t locate my documentation for that, but I believe it to be accurate. By the mid 1940’s Thomas had moved south, first at the University of North Carolina, and then the University of Georgia, where he spent the rest of his career.

While at MSTC, Thomas was exposed to other teachers in the art department, most notably Carl Holty. Holty was already making modernist art, and Thomas was influenced by Holty. Thomas mostly worked in the modern idiom after WWII. The University of George held an exhibition for Thomas (possibly after his death), and they produced a nice catalog, albeit a slim one. I can’t seem to locate that right now, either, unfortunately. As I recall, it mostly pertained to his later work.

Thomas’s Wisconsin years were very active in the local art community. He was a member of the Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors and also the Milwaukee Printmakers. He exhibited with both of them many times. He also participated in many national exhibitions. He exhibited at the Milwaukee Journal Gallery of Art, which operated from 1924-1931.