On View
Not on viewObject number1977/8.28
Johnny Appleseed
Artist
William Gropper
(American, 1897-1977)
Date1947
Mediumlithograph
Dimensionsimage: 13 1/4 × 8 7/8 in. (33.7 × 22.5 cm)
sheet: 16 1/4 × 13 in. (41.3 × 33 cm)
mat: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
sheet: 16 1/4 × 13 in. (41.3 × 33 cm)
mat: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Mrs. Cornelia Robinson
Exhibition History"36 Regionalist prints from the KIA," Dennos Museum Center (Sept. 8 - Nov. 24, 1996), Ella Sharp Museum, Jackson, MI (May 17 - July 13, 1997), Midland Center for the Arts (Aug. 2 - Sept. 21, 1997).Label TextGropper was born in New York City and studied under Robert Henri and George Bellows. It was from these teachers that he developed his belief in the personal nature of art: “I began to realize that you don’t paint with color – you paint with conviction, freedom, love, and heartaches – with what you have.” Associated closely with liberal causes and social criticism, Gropper’s prints of folklore and American landscapes are often contrasted with the sometimes uncritical celebrations of rural America by many of the Regionalists. In works like Johnny Appleseed, Gropper may have a close affinity for the subject matter of the Regionalist school, but he displays an incisive criticism that is far from the typical Regionalist point of view.
