Corcoran Fine arts is currently featuring works of Cleveland School artists, including works by Viktor Schreckengost, Joseph O’Sickey, Carl Gaertner, and William Sommer.
Viktor Schreckengost was a beloved Cleveland artist and industrial designer, known for his ceramic Jazz Bowls, playful pedal cars, and vibrant two-dimensional cityscapes, as well as a host of other two- and three-dimensional works. Born in Seabring, Ohio and educated in Cleveland at the Cleveland Institute of Art, he was honored by series of prestigious awards for his designs throughout his long life, from prizes at the Cleveland Museum of Art to the 2006 National Medal of the Arts.
Joseph O’Sickey, born in Detroit in 1918, has been a painter and teacher throughout his career. As a child he attended Saturday classes at the Cleveland Museum of Art, which retains one of his paintings in its permanent collection, and the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in 1940. As an undergraduate, he studied with Henry Keller, Paul Travis, Frank Wilcox, William Eastman, Carl Gaertner, Rolf Stoll, Kenneth Bates, and Victor Schreckengost. Afterwards he served in the U.S. Army in Africa, India, and Burma. O’Sickey and his wife currently live in Kent, Ohio, where Joe taught at Kent State University from 1964 until his retirement. He has had numerous solo exhibitions throughout his career, and received many awards, including Cleveland Arts Prize in 1974.
During his life, Carl Gaertner, a native Clevelander, was both a painter and a teacher. He graduated from the Cleveland School of Art, became a member of their faculty and taught there until his untimely death at the age of 54. His realistic style of work addressed a variety of subjects, including the early urban landscapes of the steel industry in Cleveland and Pittsburgh and rural landscapes of the Midwest and east coast. Over the course of his career, Gaertner was a well respected painter winning many awards, garnering both local and national recognition. (from the Butler Institute of Art)
William Sommer is often credited with bringing European Modernism to Northeastern Ohio. Born in Detroit and educated briefly in Germany, he returned to America and co-founded the Kokoon Club with other local artists. In 1913, he retreated with colleagues to Brandywine and began painting primarily in watercolor, capturing the countryside with a spirit of spontaneity and unrestrained emotionalism. His legacy lives on in the work of one of his most successful students, Charles Burchfield, several of whose works are also on display at Corcoran Fine Arts.
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