Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
American, 1905-2006
Schomer Lichtner was well known for his whimsical cows and ballerinas and abstract imagery. He and his late wife, Ruth Grotenrath (1912–88), both well-known Wisconsin artists, began their prolific careers as muralists for WPA projects, primarily post offices. Lichtner also painted murals for industry and private clients. Lichtner was a printmaker and produced block prints, lithographs and serigraph prints. His casein (paint made from dairy products) and acrylic paintings are of the rural Wisconsin landscapes and farm animals. He became interested in cows when he and Ruth spent summers near Holy Hill in Washington County. According to David Gordon, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, Lichtner had a tremendous joie de vivre and expressed it in his art.
Lichtner was nationally known for his whimsical paintings and sculptures of black-and-white-patterned Holstein cows and elegant ballerina dancers. Lichtner also painted all sorts of combinations of beautiful women, flowers and country landscapes. The late James Auer, former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel art critic, said that his art eventually "exploded into expressionistic design elements with bold, flat areas of color and high energy that anticipated Pop Art." Auer went on to describe Lichtner’s work as full of "wit, vigor and virtuosity." In as early as 1930, Lichtner’s work was shown at the prestigious Carnegie International Exhibition in New York and museums throughout the Midwest. As a student, he was a protégé of another icon of 20th century American art, Gustave Moeller.
Lichtner and his wife, Ruth, are celebrated as Milwaukee’s first couple of paintings and are regarded as major Wisconsin artists. Lichtner’s impressive production, perseverance, longevity and positive approach to his life and art made him and his work distinctive and much loved by his many admirers. His work is currently represented in collections at the Milwaukee Art Museum, the John Michael Kohler Art Center, the West Bend Museum and in the collections of many individuals. He continued to amaze and create with his whimsical paintings of ballerinas and cows. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Auer referred to Lichtner as the artist laureate of Milwaukee. Lichtner was the official artist of the Milwaukee Ballet and was a recipient of the 2006 Wisconsin Visual Artist Lifetime Achievement Award. He passed away on May 9, 2006 at the age of 101.
to
2
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
2
14
859
382
366
310
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
Artist: Schomer Lichtner
"Meditation, " Figure
Farm Tool Linoleum Cut signed by Schomer Lichtner
By Schomer Lichtner
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Meditation" is an original linoleum print by Schomer Lichtner, signed in the lower right hand corner. It features a man in the middle of a project, in quiet meditation.
Image: 6" x 8"
Framed: 14.5" x 14.37"
Lichtner and his wife, Ruth Grotenrath (1912-1988), are celebrated as Milwaukee’s first couple of painting and are regarded as major Wisconsin artists. Lichtner’s impressive production, perseverance, longevity, and positive approach to his life and art made him and his work distinctive and much loved by his many admirers. His work is currently represented in collections at the Milwaukee Art Museum, the John Michael Kohler Art Center, the West Bend Museum, and in the collections of many individuals. Books on the lives and art work of both Lichtner and Grotenrath are in progress and it is anticipated that they will be published next year. Recipient of the 2006 Wisconsin Visual Artist Lifetime Achievement Award The late Milwaukee artists, Schomer Lichtner and Ruth Grotenrath, created original silkscreen prints as a part of their Christmas celebration starting in the 1940's. The subjects and colors varied from year to year but they laboriously printed these little gems themselves. Ruth Grotenrath, 1912-1988, and her husband, Schomer Lichtner, (1905-2006), are celebrated as Milwaukee’s first couple of painting and are regarded as major Wisconsin artists. From the outset, Lichtner and Grotenrath were determined to become full-time artists. Ruth Grotenrath and Schomer Lichtner began their careers by creating numerous murals for the WPA (Work Projects Administration), primarily post offices. A wonderful example can be seen in the Sheboygan, Wisconsin post office. Even during the Great Depression they worked producing Post Office murals under the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts (SFA). According to James Auer, former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel art critic, "As art and economic trends evolved, the couple’s palettes brightened and warmed. Both fell under the spell of the Mexican social realists, notably Diego Rivera, and modernists such as Matisse and Dufy. The couple’s perspective changed further after they became friends with philosopher Alan Watts...
Category
1930s American Modern Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Linocut
"Rest, " Farmer leaning on Work Tool Linoleum Cut signed by Schomer Lichtner
By Schomer Lichtner
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Rest" is an original linoleum print by Schomer Lichtner, signed in the lower right hand corner. It features a man in the act of resting on a stick in the middle of work.
Image: 5.6...
Category
1930s American Modern Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Linocut
Related Items
Original Cruise with S.S. Oceanic to the Bahamas - Caribbean travel poster
Located in Spokane, WA
Original cruise with S.S. Oceanic to the Bahamas and the Caribbean (original travel poster). This image features the original stamp from the travel agency on the right side. Linen-ba...
Category
1960s American Modern Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$750
H 32 in W 21.25 in D 0.3 in
Martha Reed, (Fishing)
By Martha Reed
Located in New York, NY
Martha Reed was the daughter of the artist Doel Reed and as an adult she joined her parents in Taos, New Mexico.
There she designed clothes with a south-we...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Linocut
Original Formidable! - Bal du Moulin Rouge Paris vintage cabaret poster
By René Gruau
Located in Spokane, WA
Original Moulin Rouge - Striking small-format vintage poster by Rene Gruau. Archival linen-backed and in excellent condition, ready to frame. Bright, vibrant colors. Grade A.
Celebrate the electric allure of Parisian nightlife with this authentic René Gruau poster made for the Moulin Rouge. In flowing ribbons of red and a bold splash of inky black, Gruau captures the can-can's motion in a memorable silhouette. Elegant, striking, and unmistakably Paris, this piece makes a perfect addition to any collection of fashion, advertising, or mid-century graphic art.
The legendary Moulin Rouge poster...
Category
1980s American Modern Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Offset
$387
H 23.5 in W 16 in D 0.3 in
Sisters
— Renowned Black American, Harlem Renaissance Artist
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
James Lesesne Wells, 'Sisters', linocut, edition not stated but small, 1928. Signed, titled, and annotated 'imp' in pencil. A fine impression on off-white wove Japan paper, with wide margins (1 7/8 to 3 3/4 inches), in excellent condition. Printed by the artist. Very scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed.
Image size 8 3/16 x 6 3/4 inches (208 x 171 mm); sheet size 13 1/2 x 10 3/4 inches (343 x 273 mm).
Exhibition and Literature: 'Narratives of African American Art and Identity: The David C. Driskell Collection,' The Art Gallery at the University of Maryland, extensive touring exhibition, 1998-2000.
Collections: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution (Anacostia Community Museum).
ABOUT THE ARTIST
“Wells is more than an artist with a deep concern for his fellow man. He carries many of his themes a step further into an apocalyptic world, a world of revelation and shifting lights. … He works on large blocks in a bold free style. … His work has a vigor, therefore, that is not often used in the medium today.”
—Jacob Kainen (painter, critic, and collector) from Richard J. Powell’s 1986 essay Phoenix Ascending: The Art of James Lesesne Wells.
James Lesesne Wells was an American painter, printmaker, educator, and pioneering figure of the Harlem Renaissance, whose work established a vital connection between African heritage, modernist form, and African American cultural identity. Known for his innovative use of linoleum and woodblock printing, Wells played a key role in shaping 20th-century African American art and inspired countless students throughout his lengthy career as a teacher at Howard University.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Wells' early exposure to the arts came through church and community, where African American cultural traditions were central. He pursued formal artistic training at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (earning a B.A. in 1924), followed by studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Barnes Foundation, where he encountered European modernists as well as traditional African sculpture, which profoundly influenced his style.
Wells moved to New York in the late 1920s, swiftly immersing himself in the lively artistic and intellectual scene of Harlem. There, he became associated with artists, writers, and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance, contributing to the growth of Black cultural identity. Considered a mentor to many famed artists of the Harlem Renaissance, Wells served as director of a summer art workshop in Harlem where his assistants included Charles Alston, Jacob Lawrence, and Palmer Hayden...
Category
1920s American Modern Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Linocut
$3,500
H 8.19 in W 6.75 in
Modern Music
— WPA Modernism, New York City El
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Albert Potter, 'Modern Music' also Twilight Melodies', linocut, c. 1935, from the posthumous edition of 20, printed in 1977, authorized by the artist’s widow. Estate authenticated in...
Category
1930s American Modern Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Linocut
Prodigal Son
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in London, GB
A man raises his hand to his chin, his neck tilted and face turned to look at a dilapidated farmhouse, barely held together by planks of wood and exposed to the elements. Behind him ...
Category
1930s American Modern Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Discussion
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in London, GB
In this charming regionalist lithograph, Benton captures a classic Midwestern American scene: two men talking, drinking, and smoking together in a bar. Titled 'Discussion', the artwo...
Category
1930s American Modern Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
LIDO " Gala Revue" Pourquoi pas! original French cabaret poster, linen-backed
By René Gruau
Located in Spokane, WA
Original Lido “Gala Revue” Pourquoi pas!, linen-backed French cabaret poster by famed artist Rene Gruau. Very fine, grade A condition.
The image of an elegant woman in her cabaret...
Category
Late 20th Century American Modern Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Offset
$350
H 23.75 in W 15.5 in D 0.3 in
Harold E. Keeler, Water Fall
Located in New York, NY
Harold E. Keeler worked in Hollywood as a set designer. That seems especially important here because the Water Fall looks a little as though it could be a w...
Category
1930s American Modern Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Linocut
Down the River
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in London, GB
In this sentimental work from 1939, Benton expresses his admiration for the rural lifestyle of the Midwest. He highlights the connection between man and the land by depicting two fig...
Category
1930s American Modern Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Old Man Reading
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in London, GB
Accompanied by a lantern, an elderly man sits alone, engrossed in a newspaper. Benton used a lithographic process to draw and produce this image. He renders the face and paper well-l...
Category
1940s American Modern Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Plate 11 from
Album 19
By Joan Miró
Located in Palo Alto, CA
Rhythmic serenity emanates from this delightful work. Miro creates a quirky yet sophisticated pattern of decorative and playful spots, irregular yet repetitive like a Dalmatian's coa...
Category
1960s American Modern Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Previously Available Items
"Cow Crown, " a Color Lithograph signed by Schomer Lichtner
By Schomer Lichtner
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Cow Crown" is an original color lithograph signed and dated in pencil lower right. It is edition 10/30 and was created in 1993. It depicts a woman's head with three cows emerging fr...
Category
1990s Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Nude and Cat #1
By Schomer Lichtner
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Nude and Cat #1" is an oil pastel stencil print signed and dated in pencil lower right. It depicts a nude woman lounging with her two cats. All figures and the border are rendered i...
Category
1990s Contemporary Schomer Lichtner Figurative Prints
Materials
Oil Pastel, Stencil
Schomer Lichtner figurative prints for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Schomer Lichtner figurative prints available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Schomer Lichtner in linocut and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 1930s and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Schomer Lichtner figurative prints, so small editions measuring 15 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Will Barnet, Isabel Bishop, and Benton Murdoch Spruance. Schomer Lichtner figurative prints prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $2,500 and tops out at $2,500, while the average work can sell for $2,500.