Skip to main content
Vilcek Foundation
  • About
    • About

      The Vilcek Foundation raises awareness of immigrant contributions in the United States and fosters appreciation of the arts and sciences.

    • Our Mission
    • Our Founders
    • Board & Staff
    • Press Center
    • Contact
  • Prizes
    • Prizes

      The Vilcek Foundation Prizes are awarded to foreign-born individuals for extraordinary achievement in the arts and sciences.

    • About the Prizes

      Learn more about the Vilcek Foundation Prizes and the prizewinners.

    • Vilcek Prizes

      Awarded to immigrants with a legacy of major accomplishments.

    • Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise

      Awarded to young immigrant professionals who have demonstrated outstanding achievement early in their careers.

    • Vilcek Prize for Excellence

      Awarded to immigrants who have had a significant impact on American society, or to individuals who are dedicated champions of immigrant causes.

    • Prize Recipients
    • Grants for Organizations
  • Art
  • Events
  • News
Sign Up Search
Home > Art > No. 6 Valley

No. 6 Valley

Artist

Oscar Bluemner

Date

1935-36

Medium

Crayon

ink and wash on paper

Object Type

Work on Paper

Dimensions

H- 4 7/8 x W-6 5/8 in. (12.4 x 16.8 cm)

Artist's Country of Birth

Germany

Collecting Area

American Modernism

Credit Line

The Vilcek Foundation

Accession Number

VF2014.04.05

Copyright

© The Vilcek Foundation

Tags
crayon drawing ink sketch sonnet series work on paper
Share this page
Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

About the Object

The sixth in The Sonnet Series, a group of 12 sketches for paintings, this work features stacked bands of snow, buildings, trees, and sky that dip across the length of the composition. Bluemner envisioned the series as three groups of four works, each group defined by color. This group of four, which included scenes from sunrise to sunset, would be marked by greens.

 

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];
Francoise and Harvey Rambach, New Jersey;
[Martha Parrish & Jim Reinish, Inc., New York];
Private Collection, California;
[James Reinish & Associates, Inc., New York];

Washington D.C. The Corcoran Gallery of Art. Oscar Bluemner: Landscapes of Sorrow and Joy (December 10, 1988-February 19, 1989); Fort Worth. The Amon Carter Museum (March 18-May 14, 1989); Trenton. New Jersey State Museum (June 17-September 3, 1989);p. 77,  ill. p. 81, cat. no. 123.

Tulsa. Philbrook Museum of Art. Oscar Bluemner: Forces of Nature and Industry. March 19-November 6, 2016.

Corpus Christi. 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. 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.

Tags
crayon drawing ink sketch sonnet series work on paper
Share this page
Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

Related Objects

No. 1 Orion

1935-36 Oscar Bluemner
Landscape with the constellation Orion in the sky at the center of the drawing.

No. 2 Twilight

1935-36 Oscar Bluemner
Landscape featuring trees and houses seen through the center of a bridge.

No. 3 Port Beacon

1935-36 Oscar Bluemner
Landscape with a shoreline and a lighthouse on the far shore casting a beacon of light.

No. 5 Age

1935-36 Oscar Bluemner
Two anthropomorphic trees set in a landscape.

No. 7 Budding

1935-36 Oscar Bluemner
Anthropomorphic plants surround a small bud emerging from the earth.

No. 8 Entangled

1935-36 Oscar Bluemner
Landscape dominated by large entangled tree trunks, a small church in the background.

No. 9 Blue Arc

1935-36 Oscar Bluemner
A group of buildings on the left, on the right an arc of light over an open landscape with distant trees and sky.

No. 10 Tenement

1935-36 Oscar Bluemner
A building, one side cast in shadow the other in light, set between trees.

No. 11 The Village

1935-36 Oscar Bluemner
Three buildings, one fully visible in the center, and distant trees and hills in the background.

No. 12 Back Yard

1935-36 Oscar Bluemner
Buildings alogside a twisted tree trunk full of leaves.

You may also be interested in

September 23, 2020

The Sonnet Series Coloring Book

Inspired by our online exhibition Oscar Bluemner’s Sonnet Series, we bring you the latest coloring book from the Vilcek Foundation: The Sonnet Series Coloring Book.
The Sonnet Series Coloring Book
May 15, 2020

The Synchromists and Oscar Bluemner: The Sonnet Series

The Vilcek Foundation launched two online exhibitions of works from the Vilcek Collection: “The Synchromists” and “Oscar Bluemner: The Sonnet Series.”
Painting of abstract geometric divisions of bright pastel colors inlayed with three spirals.
Virtual Exhibition,

Oscar Bluemner’s Sonnet Series

German-born Oscar Bluemner created The Sonnet Series, a group of sketches for paintings, based on twelve sonnets by the poet Eirene Mungo-Park.
Landscape with the constellation Orion in the sky at the center of the drawing.

Join our mailing list

Sign Up
Vilcek Foundation
21 East 70th Street
New York, New York 10021

Phone: 212.472.2500

Email: info@vilcek.org

  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Our Founders
    • Board and Staff
    • Press Center
    • Contact
  • Prizes
    • Vilcek Prizes
    • Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise
    • Vilcek Prize for Excellence
    • Prize Recipients
    • Grants for Organizations
  • Art
  • Events
  • News
  • Careers
Connect with us
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Youtube
  • Vimeo
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility Statement
© 2023   Vilcek Foundation