Albert Lorey Groll (1866–1952) was an American artist and etcher. He was born in New York City and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany, the Royal Academy in Antwerp, Belgium, and for some time in London. In 1910 he was elected into the National Academy of Design. He is best known for his landscape paintings of the American Southwest.

Life and career

George Inness Gold Medal MET AW 1980 514-001

Groll was born in New York in 1866, the son of a pharmacist immigrant from Darmstadt, Germany. During his early years he travelled to Europe to study at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

in Munich, then called Royal Academy of Fine Arts, under Nicholas Gysis and

Ludwig von Löfftz Ludwig von Löfftz (21 June 1845 – 3 December 1910) was a German genre and landscape painter. Biography He was born at Darmstadt. He was a pupil of August von Kreling and Karl Raupp at Nuremberg, then of Wilhelm von Diez at the Academy o ...

. He also studied in London and in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. Groll went back to New York in 1895 and moved from figure painting to landscape painting in part due to the high cost of hiring models. He also became well known as an etcher. In 1904 Groll made the first of several trips to the American Southwest, travelling to Arizona with ethnographer

Stewart Culin Stewart Culin (July 13, 1858 – April 8, 1929) was an American ethnographer and author interested in games, art and dress. Culin played a major role in the development of ethnography, first concentrating his efforts on studying the Asian-Amer ...

of the Brooklyn Museum, and later going to New Mexico with his friend the artist and illustrator William Robinson Leigh. He mostly focused on oil paintings of the Native American lands, which were mostly realistic, however, encompassed some abstract shapes as well. The

Laguna Pueblo The Laguna Pueblo ( Western Keres: Kawaika ʰɑwɑjkʰɑ is a federally recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people in west-central New Mexico, near the city of Albuquerque, in the United States. Part of the Laguna territory is includ ...

people were impressed by Groll's paintings and gave him the name "Chief Bald Head Eagle Eye". Groll kept a studio in the

Gainsborough Studios Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...

in Manhattan, and won several awards for his work in both Arizona and New York, such as the

Salmagundi Club The Salmagundi Club, sometimes referred to as the Salmagundi Art Club, is a fine arts center founded in 1871 in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, New York City. Since 1917, it has been located at 47 Fifth Avenue. , its membership roster ...

Shaw Prize in 1904, and a gold medal at the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appa ...

in 1906. He also won a

George Inness George Inness (May 1, 1825 – August 3, 1894) was a prominent American landscape painter. Now recognized as one of the most influential American artists of the nineteenth century, Inness was influenced by the Hudson River School at the s ...

gold medal in 1912 for his painting of Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. This medal was awarded in the annual exhibit of National Academy of Design from 1901 to 1918 to the best landscape paintings. In 1910 he was elected into the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

, in 1919 Groll was elected as an associate member of the

Taos Society of Artists The Taos Society of Artists was an organization of visual arts founded in Taos, New Mexico. Established in 1915, it was disbanded in 1927. The Society was essentially a commercial cooperative, as opposed to a stylistic collective, and its foundation ...

, and in 1933 became a member of the

National Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

. He was also invited to join the

American Watercolor Society The American Watercolor Society, founded in 1866, is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to the advancement of watercolor painting in the United States. Qualifications AWS judges the work of a painter before granting admission to the soc ...

. He died on 2 October 1952, aged 85 years old, with funeral services held at the

Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel The Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel is a funeral home located on Madison Avenue at 81st Street in Manhattan. Founded in 1898 as Frank E. Campbell Burial and Cremation Company, the company is now owned by Service Corporation International. The fun ...

in Manhattan.

Selected exhibitions

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, Venice, 1909. * Carnegie International, Pittsburgh, 1910. *

Panama–Pacific International Exposition The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely s ...

, San Francisco, 1915.

Style and legacy

Groll's work is characterized by his skillful technique, rich colors, and poetic approach to landscape, being called a "musical dreamer in color", and "America's sky painter". His landscapes are mostly realistic but also use abstract shapes. The musical quality of his works was recognized by contemporary musicians, and a painting by Groll inspired by an

Edward MacDowell Edward Alexander MacDowell (December 18, 1860January 23, 1908) was an American composer and pianist of the late Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites '' Woodland Sketches'', ''Sea Pieces'' and '' ...

symphony was kept by the composer in his bedroom. Groll helped popularize the desert as an artistic subject for American art, introducing other artists from the East coast such as William Robinson Leigh to the Southwest. Groll's paintings are part of the collections of museums such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum,

Gilcrease Museum Gilcrease Museum, also known as the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, is a museum northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma housing the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West, as well as a gro ...

, the

University of Arizona Museum of Art The University of Arizona Museum of Art (UAMA) is an art museum in Tucson, Arizona, operated by the University of Arizona. The museum's permanent collection includes more than 6,000 works of art, including paintings, sculptures, prints and draw ...

, and the

San Diego Museum of Art The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Galler ...

, among others.

Gallery

File:Acoma Valley 0137.1491.jpg, "Acoma Valley",

File:Albert lorey groll apache trail arizona).jpg, "Apache Trail, Arizona" File:Albert Lorey Groll Sunset in Nevada.jpg, "Sunset in Nevada" File:Arizona Desert 10934.jpg, "Arizona Desert" (c. 1929), File:The Painted Desert - Arizona - 1915 - Albert Lorey Groll.jpg, "The Painted Desert - Arizona" (1915),

Phoenix Art Museum The Phoenix Art Museum is the largest museum for visual art in the southwest United States. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the museum is . It displays international exhibitions alongside its comprehensive collection of more than 18,000 works of ...

File:Laguna, New Mexico-1912.3.4 1.jpg, "Laguna, New Mexico" (c. 1912), Smithsonian American Art Museum

References

External links

Fully digitized 1911 exhibition catalog featuring Groll
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries.
''Biographical Notes''
a catalog of American artists containing additional information on Groll (page 22). {{DEFAULTSORT:Groll, Albert Lorey Artists from New York (state) 1866 births 1952 deaths Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) alumni Taos Society of Artists National Academy of Design members Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters