About the Object
The third in The Sonnet Series, a group of 12 sketches for paintings, this work is focused on a lighthouse beacon at the center of the drawing, which radiates light across the water. The light is echoed by two orbs just above the horizon, where a low line of buildings, telephone poles, and chimneys appear on the far shore. In the foreground of the sketch two forms jut out, perhaps bridge struts or the railings of a dock. Bluemner envisioned the series as three groups of four works, each group defined by color. The first four works, which were set at night, would be defined by shades of black.
Additional Information
Bluemner created The Sonnet Series based on 12 sonnets by the poet Eirene Mungo-Park. He began work on the drawings for “The 12 Sonnet Paintings” on March 8, 1935, and although he recorded their completion in his painting diary on October 28, 1935, five of the works are dated 1936, suggesting he continued to refine them. He made pages of notes while he worked on the series. These notes include preparatory sketches, illustrating his process as he clarified each composition. Bluemner conceived of the paintings as 15 x 20 inches, three times the size of the finished sketches, but would not live long enough to realize them.
The Artist;
John Davis Hatch, Lenox, MA;
[Sid Deutsch Gallery, New York, NY];
Francoise and Harvey Rambach, New Jersey;
[Martha Parrish & Jim Reinish, Inc., New York, NY];
Private Collection, California;
[James Reinish & Associates, Inc., New York, NY];
Washington, D.C. The Corcoran Gallery of Art. Oscar Bluemner: Landscapes of Sorrow and Joy (December 10, 1988-February 19, 1989); Fort Worth, TX. The Amon Carter Museum (March 18-May 14, 1989); Trenton, NJ. New Jersey State Museum (June 17-September 3, 1989); p. 77, ill. p. 81, cat. no. 123.
Tulsa, OK. Philbrook Museum of Art. Oscar Bluemner: Forces of Nature and Industry. March 19-November 6, 2016.
Corpus Christi, TX. The Art Museum of South Texas. Masterpieces of American Modernism from the Vilcek Collection of American Art. September 13, 2018-January 6, 2019.
New York, NY. The Vilcek Foundation. Oscar Bluemner’s Sonnet Series. 2020-2021.
St. Peter, MN. The Hillstrom Museum of Art. Oscar Bluemner’s Sonnet Series. September 12-November 6, 2022.
Hayes, Jeffrey Russell. “Oscar Bluemner: Life, Art, and Theory,” PhD diss., University of Maryland, 1982, p. 383.
Zimmer, William. “Using ‘Love Red’ as Signature,” New York Times, July 9, 1989.
Brenson, Michael. “Reviews/Art; In New Jersey: A Prussian and Some Passions,” New York Times, August 4, 1989.
Haskell, Barbara. Oscar Bluemner: A Passion for Color. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 2005, pp. 164-165, ill. p. 165, fig. 143.
You may also be interested in
The Sonnet Series Coloring Book
The Synchromists and Oscar Bluemner: The Sonnet Series
Oscar Bluemner’s Sonnet Series
