Alfred Maurer: The First American Modern at Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greenburg

Alfred Maurer: The First American Modern
Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greenburg
August 1 - October 17, 2004

The Westmoreland Museum of American Art (WMAA) presents the exhibition Alfred Maurer: The First American Modern. The exhibition includes 52 works consisting of 21 oil or casein paintings on canvas or board, 10 large gouache, tempera or watercolors on paper or board, 21 pen and ink, conté crayon, graphite or pastel drawings on paper.

This exhibition examines the full spectrum of the artist's career. Alfred Maurer was an active member of the American avant-garde in the early years of the 20th century. His academic training in New York and Paris shaped his work before the turn of the century. After spending 17 years in Paris, Alfred Maurer turned to his own interpretation of Cubism and Fauvism to become one of the most important American modernist painters of the century. A ninety-page catalogue accompanies the exhibition. The exhibition was organized by the University of Minnesota's Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis.

A symposium is scheduled for Friday, September 24, 2004, featuring Daphne Anderson Deeds, an art consultant and curator who has organized more than fifty exhibitions of American art and is author of numerous associated articles and catalogue essays. She is the author of the catalogue Alfred Maurer: The First American Modern.

ABOUT ALFRED MAURER

Alfred Henry Maurer (1868-1932) was one of the most prolific and progressive artists of the early modern period in America. Often referred to as "the first American modern," Alfred Maurer left a burgeoning career as an academic painter in New York City to relocate in Paris from 1897-1914 where he enthusiastically embraced Henri Matisse's intense vision, and almost singled-handedly imported fauvism to the United States.

Alfred Maurer's complex career bridged virtually all the major stylistic developments of the early twentieth century: impressionism, postimpressionism, fauvism and expressionism. From his early traditional portraits to his fauvist still lifes and landscapes to his striking, eccentric nude figures, Alfred Maurer's diversity of style and subject is remarkable. Despite his many artistic accomplishments, Alfred Maurer seldom attracted critical praise during his lifetime, and even today his name is secondary in the artistic pantheon.

Recent scholarship reveals a fresh perspective and presents Alfred Maurer's various methods and styles in a new light. His art is now celebrated as a uniquely American vision. Alfred Maurer's restless spirit and his valiant pursuit of an authentic expression are now prized as the work of a genuinely original artist.

In conjunction with Alfred Maurer: The First American Modern, the WMAA features glass art by JOELLE LEWITT in the exhibition entitled Melting and Blooming. Joelle Levitt was the recipient of the WMAA exhibition award selected from the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh annual exhibition in 2002. She describes her work as "fantastical creatures that might appear on some silicon planet" and has been experimenting with blowing small components at the furnace and then melting them together to form a creature or flower in the kiln. Joelle Levitt combines elements from both the natural world and her imaginary one to create her glass sculptures.

WESTMORELAND MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART
221 North Main Street, Greensburg, PA 15601
www.wmuseumaa.org