Oscar Bluemner

An important figure of early American modernism, Bluemner was working as an architect when he met Alfred Stieglitz, who encouraged him to switch to painting. From 1916 to 1926, Bluemner lived in northeastern New Jersey, whose small suburban villages became the frequent subjects of his paintings and their preparatory sketches, such as the present ones. Both drawings typically combine Bluemnerʼs sense of structure with a lively freedom of execution.