Santos Zingale  (1908-1999)

Santos Zingale was a well-known and widely respected Wisconsin artist and teacher of art. He was born in Milwaukee and studied at Milwaukee State Teachers College (MSTC) under highly regarded artists Gustave Moeller, Robert Von Neumann, Elsa Ulbricht, and Howard Thomas. He was affiliated with federal art programs as early as 1937. He created several murals in Wisconsin---in Sturgeon Bay, Racine, and at Marquette University. According to “WPA Artwork in Non-Federal Repositories (Edition 2)” he created work for the WPA at various times during the years 1935-1942. I suspect there are probably other WPA works that are unrecorded. He received a master degree in education from the University of Wisconsin Madison, and began teaching art there in 1946. He worked with John Steuart Curry when Curry was artist in residence at UW-Madison. Zingale retired from UW-Madison in 1978.

Santos Zingale exhibited widely. In Wisconsin, with the Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors beginning in 1930; with the Wisconsin Salon of Art beginning in 1937, into the 1950’s, and in other venues such as the Wisconsin Centennial Exhibition of 1948. He also exhibited numerous times around the United States.

Santos Zingale  "Scrub Ladies"  lithograph, 7 1/4"h x 8 3/4"w, signed, no date.

 

Santos Zingale  "The Thing"  lithograph, 8"h x 9 3/4"w, signed, 1938.

There is a record of a painting and print titled "Junk Man"---maybe the same image?

 

 

Santos Zingale  "On Relief"  woodcut, 11 1/2"h x 9"w, signed, no date.

 

 

Santos Zingale  "Lodi"  lithograph, 11 1/4"h x 17"w, state 1, ed. 21, signed, no date.

Lodi is a town near Madison, Wisconsin.

 

 

Santos Zingale  "Blackhawk No 1"  lithograph, state 1, ed. 10, signed, 1950.

 

 

Santos Zingale  "Air Raid"  woodcut, 12"h x 9 1/2"w, signed, 1937.

I have seen this print with the tittle "Refugees."

 

 

Santos Zingale  "Cigar Sniper"  lithograph, 7 1/2"h x 9 1/2"w, signed, 1937.

 

 

Santos Zingale  untitled etching (?), 7"h x 7 1/2"w, 1/1, no date.

The signature on this print seems to be authentic. However, the subject and technique is unusual for Zingale. So is the small edition. I found it in Wisconsin. Maybe someone can verify this print.

 

 

Santos Zingale  untitled oil on canvas, 23 1/4"h x 36 1/2"w, signed, 1934 (or 1939)

This is nearly identical to a painting at the Oshkosh Public Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, titled "Fall." It is on the cover of an exhibition catalog called "Wisconsin's New Deal Art."

 

 

Santos Zingale "Madison Gas and Electric"  oil on canvas, 23 1/2"h x 29 1/2"w, signed, ca 1950

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Von Neumann, part 2
This is a continuation of my previous blog on this wonderful Wisconsin artist, and it features more of his prints. Like many prolific artists, Von Neumann was not very fastidious in documentation of his work. He usually signed his prints, but only rarely dated them. Sometimes I have located three identical prints, all with different (but similar) titles. Also, he rarely issued his prints in editions. None of this really matters much to me, but it will make the job of doing a catalogue raisonne a formidable challenge. I like his work no matter what, but it would be nice to be able to date them, to better understand his growth as an artist.
Although Von Neumann's style and subject matter have the WPA (Works Progress Administration)feel to them, he was never part of the program. He was always employed, and you had to be unemployed to qualify for the WPA.

Robert Von Neumann  "Great Lakes Harbor"  woodcut, 8.5"h x 11"w, signed, no date
I think that it is fairly likely that this is Jones Island, Milwaukee.

Robert Von Neumann  "Wharf at Jones Island" (Milwaukee)  lithograph, 10"h x 7.25"w, signed, no date

Robert Von Neumann untitled, woodcut, 8.5"h x 11"w, signed, no date
I have seen this print with the title "The Sawyers"

Robert Von Neumann  untitled  woodcut, 9"h x 12"w, signed, no date

Robert Von Neumann "On the Shore of Lake Superior" woodcut, 8"h x 11"w, signed, no date

Robert Von Neumann  untitled, woodcut, 8.75"h x 11"w, signed, no date

Robert Von Neumann  untitled, woodcut, 11"h x 8.5"w, signed, 1934

 

Robert Von Neumann  untitled, woodcut, 11"h x 8.5"w, signed, no date

 

 

Robert Von Neumann  untitled (feeding cows)  linocut, 8.5"h x 11"w, signed, no date

Robert Von Neumann  "Reeling the Nets"  lithograph, 5.75"h x 9.75"w, signed, no date

Robert Von Neumann  untitled, woodcut, 8.25"h x 11"w, signed, no date

 
Robert Von Neumann  "The Last of the Lot"  lithograph, 6.75"h x 10.5"w, signed, 11/25, no date
This is one of the few prints that indicates a specific edition
I have had a couple of print experts look at this print to better determine the technique. So far no definitive answer on that.

Robert Von Neumann (1888-1976) was arguably Wisconsin’s most significant artist of the first have of the 20^th Century. He was extremely prolific, creating many prints and paintings, he exhibited widely, and as a teacher he influenced many other artists.

Robert Von Neumann was born in Germany in 1888. He studied art in Germany, fought in World War I, and taught for some years in Berlin after the war. He also worked as an illustrator and a lithographer in Germany. Along with his wife, he emigrated to America in 1926 and settled in Milwaukee. He soon started teaching at Milwaukee’s Layton School of Art, and shortly thereafter began teaching at Milwaukee State Teachers College (later the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), where he spent the remainder of his teaching career, retiring in 1959.  Over the years he actively participated in many arts organizations, and exhibited numerous times. He exhibited at the Milwaukee Journal Gallery of Art, with the Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors, at the Wisconsin Salon in Madison, Wisconsin, with the Milwaukee Printmakers, and other groups. He also participated in national organizations and exhibitions, most notably at the Chicago Art Institute (on numerous occasions), with the Prairie Printmakers, and also the Associated American Artists. (AAA was a New York based concern that brought art to the masses, offering original prints by fine artists, many of whom were already well known, or later became noteworthy.)

Von Neumann’s favorite subject matter was working people---you will quickly see that theme in the numerous prints that I will show. From the considerable amount of his work that I have seen, I have loosely classified his categories as commercial fishing, lumbering, farming, and landscapes. You will see examples of all of these in this blog and future blogs. Because Von Neumann was so prolific I intend to profile him in different blogs, possibly not all in sequence. I may decide to take a break from “Vonnie” to showcase some other artists. I have my prints sorted by size, for ease of storage, so this first blog will be Von Neumann’s smallest prints.

 

Robert Von Neumann  "Supper on the Boat"  woodcut, 6"h x 5"w, signed, no date

This print was featured in the 1936 Wisconsin Artist's Calendar

 

 

 

Robert Von Neumann "The Trout Net" woodcut, 6"h x 5" unsigned, no date

The print, aka "Fishermen", was featured in the 1936 Wisconsin Artist's calendar

 

 

Robert Von Neumann "Reeling the Nets"  wood engraving, 5" h x 6"w, signed, no date

This print was featured in the 1938 Wisconsin Artist's Calendar

This print has a label from the 1943 San Francisco exhibition of Drawings and Prints

 

 

Robert Von Neumann "Fishing" etching, 5"h x 7"w, signed, no date

 

 

Robert Vo Neumann  Untitled (fisherman) woodcut, 6"h x 5"w, signed, no date

 

 

Robert Von Neumann "Morning" etching, 6"h x 8"w, signed, no date

 

 

Robert Von Neumann untitled ("Reapers")  woodcut, 6"h x 5"w, unsigned, no date

This print was feature in the 1936 Wisconsin Artist's Calendar, titled "Reapers"

 

 

Robert Von Neumann   untitled (lumberjacks) etching, 6"h x 8"w, signed, no date

 

 

Robert Von Neumann  untitled (fishermen)  etching, 6.5"h x 9.5"w, unsigned, no date

 

 

Robert Von Neumann  untitled (fisherman)  etching, 7"h x 5"w, unsigned, no date

 

 

Robert Von Neumann  "Beaching the Boat"  etching, signed, no date

 

 

Robert Von Neumann  untitled (women working in field) mezzotint, 8"h x 9.5"w, unsigned, no date