Evening Tones

Oscar Bluemner, born Prenzlau, Germany 1867-died South Braintree, MA 1938 · 1911-1917

Evening Tones abstracts a landscape along the Hudson River into a vibrant range of colors. Bluemner came to the United States to escape Germany's conservatism, hoping to find the freedom to try new ideas. After years of struggling in his architectural practice, he turned to painting, throwing himself into the exciting theories of modern art that were making their way across the Atlantic from Europe. But in the climate of World War I, foreign painters and foreign ideas were suspect. A critic reviewing Bluemner's work in 1915 avowed that his art was "utterly alien to the American idea of democracy."