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About William Kinnicutt
This Cleveland artist was the son of a merchant who made a fortune supplying the Union Army during the Civil War. William began his studies at the Cleveland School of Art with DeScott Evans (1847-1898), then transferred to New York where he pursued both art and medicine. Kinnicutt joined the Cleveland Society of Artists in the early 1910s and exhibited only in the Cleveland area, including at the annual "May Show" at the Cleveland Museum of Art. This juried exhibition, commenced in 1919, was designed to include both fine and applied arts. To promote the artists themselves, all works were offered for sale.45 Kinnicutt’s paintings are quite rare.
Public Square, Cleveland should be considered an example of Ohio proto-regionalism, that is the period preceding the American Scene and regionalist movements of the 1930s. This colorful, modern urban landscape communicates the intense spirit of optimism following the first world war. Commerce is booming as the twenties are about to roar. The square is crowded with shoppers, people going to work, out-of-town visitors and fun seekers. The bustling, old-fashioned downtown area is depicted in all its former splendor, when Americans valued the convenience of a central location accessible by streetcar, unlike today, when in most cities, one is forced to drive to generic suburban malls filled with the same predictable chain stores. Kinnicutt chose a grid composition with a large open square in the foreground where people wait for streetcars. Behind this is a basically flat, expansive façade topped with billboards. The upper zone is an intriguing pile of cube-like structures and "prettified" smokestacks, symbols of industrial progress, but which to our eyes seem rather ominous. |
Paintings by William Kinnicutt
| Public Square, Cleveland |
| oil on canvas: 30 x 36 inches |
| signed: lower right |
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