![The Pool by William Sommer 1918](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/The_Pool_by_William_Sommer_1918.jpg)
William Sommer (1867–1949) was an
American Modernist painter.
William Sommer was born in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
in 1867. He was largely self-taught, but received instruction early on from artist and commercial lithographer
Julius Melchers. He apprenticed with the
Detroit Calvert Lithograph Company for seven years but in 1890 he traveled to Europe where he trained with Professors
Johann Herterich,
Ludwig Schmid, and
Adolph Menzel
Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel (8 December 18159 February 1905) was a German Realist artist noted for drawings, etchings, and paintings. Along with Caspar David Friedrich, he is considered one of the two most prominent German painters of th ...
. In 1907 he accepted a position with the
Otis Lithograph Company of
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
and in 1911 he co-founded the
Kokoon Arts Club
The Kokoon Arts Club, sometimes spelled Kokoon Arts Klub, was a Bohemian artists group founded in 1911 by Carl Moellman, William Sommer and Elmer Brubeck to promote Modernism in Cleveland, Ohio. Moellman had been a member of New York City
...
to promote modern art in Cleveland. In 1914 he relocated to
Brandywine, Ohio Brandywine is an unincorporated community in Summit County, in the U.S. state of Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly ...
. He worked on several
large-scale murals for the
Federal Art Project
The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administrati ...
, including ''Rural Homestead'' in the
Geneva, Ohio
Geneva is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The area which would become Geneva was originally settled in 1805, and was incorporated as a city in 1958. It is named after Geneva, New York, Geneva, New York (state), New York. The pop ...
post office.
Biographical Highlights
*1878-1883: Studies with
Julius Melchers
*1881-1888: Works as lithographic apprentice in Detroit for Calvert Lithograph Co.
*1888-1907: Works as lithographic journeyman in Boston, England, Munich, and NYC; Sommer studied fine art in Munich for a year in 1890, then returned to New York City and married. Sommer continued to work as lithographer and privately concentrated on his own art.
*1892: Sommer joins NYC's bohemian artists' group known as the
Kit Kat Klub.
*1907: Sommer moves his wife and children to Cleveland where he worked for Otis Lithograph Co.; the Sommer family ultimately settled in Brandywine, Ohio (today Northfield). Sommer remained there, working in Cleveland and painting in watercolors and oils at home and on outdoor junkets.
*1912- : Sommer co-founds Cleveland's bohemian artists' group known as the
Kokoon Arts Club
The Kokoon Arts Club, sometimes spelled Kokoon Arts Klub, was a Bohemian artists group founded in 1911 by Carl Moellman, William Sommer and Elmer Brubeck to promote Modernism in Cleveland, Ohio. Moellman had been a member of New York City
...
; exhibits in the 1913 Taylor Show, Cleveland's response to the
Armory Show
The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was a show organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors in 1913. It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of ...
in NYC; frequents the Laukhuff Bookstore with other members of the Kokoon Club; this club was known for its evening activities of "painting, talking, reading and--not infrequently--drinking. . . .the Kokoon Club would still be honored today as the home-away-from-home of William Sommer."
[Northern Ohio Live, November 1982]
*1929: Sommer loses his job as a lithographer to the new
offset printing process
*1933: Sommer exhibits at the Whitney Biennial and the Museum of Modern Art, both in NYC; paints mural for the
Cleveland Public Hall
Public Auditorium (also known as Public Hall) is a multi-purpose performing arts, entertainment, sports, and exposition facility located in the civic center district of downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The 10,000-capacity main auditorium shares its stag ...
as part of the
Public Works of Art Project
The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) was a New Deal program designed to employ artists that operated from 1933 to 1934. The program was headed by Edward Bruce, under the United States Treasury Department with funding from the Civil Works Admin ...
*1934: Sommer paints a mural for the
Cleveland Public Library
Cleveland Public Library, located in Cleveland, Ohio, operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 27 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and the Ohio Library for the ...
*1937-1949: Sommer receives numerous exhibitions and one-artist shows in NYC, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Youngstown, Oberlin, and Akron
Artist William Sommer spent most of his life in
Summit County near Brandywine Falls. Sommer was an acknowledged leader of the "
Cleveland School," a group of Cleveland-based artists who were active from the teens through the mid-1940s. These artists formed the core of an art community whose size and activity paralleled the growth and energy of Cleveland during that period. Sommer painted from the turn of the 20th century into the 1940s, absorbing the ideas of the Cubists and other adventurous artists of that time and integrating these concepts and techniques into his own work. His subjects were thoroughly rooted in the American midwest, however; favorite subjects included young children and farm scenes.
He continued to paint until his death in 1949.
Hart Crane
Harold Hart Crane (July 21, 1899 – April 27, 1932) was an American poet. Provoked and inspired by T. S. Eliot, Crane wrote modernist poetry that was difficult, highly stylized, and ambitious in its scope. In his most ambitious work, '' The Brid ...
dedicated his 1927 poem ''Sunday Morning Apples'' to Sommer.
Citations
External links
William Sommer Biography: Hollis Taggart Galleries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sommer, William
1867 births
1949 deaths
19th-century American painters
American male painters
20th-century American painters
Modern painters
Fauvism
Cleveland School (arts community)
American lithographers
Place of death missing
Public Works of Art Project artists
Artists from Detroit
Painters from Michigan
Painters from Ohio
People from Summit County, Ohio
American muralists
Federal Art Project artists
20th-century American printmakers
19th-century American male artists
20th-century American male artists
20th-century lithographers