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About William Clusmann
Clusmann, born in North Laporte, Indiana, exhibited a grand total of 156 works at the Art Institute of Chicago between 1889 and 1925. Then he became active in the Hoosier Salon (1925-1927). Clusmann was also a member of the Chicago Water Color Club and the Chicago Society of Artists. He was trained first under James Farrington Gookins (1840-1904) and Henry Fenton Spread (1844-1890), then in Munich under the Hungarian academic painter Gyula Benczúr. Weimer (1940, p. 434) surmised that Clusmann came to Munich in July of 1880. In 1884, he won an Honorable Mention in Stuttgart, where he was studying briefly with Frederick Keller. The artist developed a lighter palette for his plein-air scenes of Chicago, such as Lincoln Park, Chicago (Private coll.). Clusmann happened to be in Germany again in 1917 when America declared war -- he was allowed to return home but had to leave his paintings behind. Back in Chicago, he painted Jackson Park, Chicago, which is admirable for its successful rendering of full sunlight and its clear depiction of space.
Chicago residences and studios: 1889: 70 Monroe St.; 1892-1894: 460 W. 12th St.; 1895-1907: 446 S. Paulina St.; 1907-1909: 2041 Wilcox Ave.; 1910-1914: 4058 Wilcox Ave., AIC; 1917-1923: 3831 W. Adams St.
References: Weimer, Aloysius G. "The Munich Period in American Art." Diss., University of Michigan, 1940, pp. 433-435; Gerdts, Art across America (New York: Abbeville Press, 1990), vol. 2, p. 298, illustrates On the Desplaines River (1915); Robert Rosenblum, "Art: Chicago Impressionists," Architectural Digest (March 1990), pp. 206-207, illustrates Jackson Park, Chicago. |
Paintings by William Clusmann
| Down the Road |
| oil on canvas: 30 x 40 inches |
| signed: lower right |
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