Art by Subscription
In 1934. New York art dealer and publicist, Reeves Lewenthal, hatched a plan to form the Associated American Artists (AAA). The mission of the enterprise was to make art accessible, affordable and attractive to Americans. Lewenthal met with several American artists in Thomas Hart Benton’s New York studio. This group of talented, well-known artists were offered a flat artist fee of $200 to create original print stones and plates. From these the company produced limited edition etchings and lithographic prints. At the onset of AAA, these original impressions were available for five dollars each, and they were initially sold in department stores and later through mail order. Budding collectors sprung up across America and some of these collectors lived in and near Springfield, Ohio—resulting in this collection of limited series prints.
Springfield Museum of Art’s Associated American Artists Collection
During its more than four-decade span, AAA created an art series with hundreds of prints by dozens of prominent artist members. Collectors and donors who contributed to the Springfield Museum of Art’s collection include Ms. Susan Wayne and Miss Leslie Wayne Loftus, Mr. Daniel Summers, Mr. & Mrs. Robert Goldberg, Ms. Helen Bosart Morgan, Mrs. Victoria Cooper and others. These generously donated Associated American Artists prints are no an integral part of the Museum’s permanent collection.
Artists Included in the Exhibition
C.W. Anderson, Peggy Bacon, Thomas Hart Benton, Isabel Bishop, Aaron Bohrod, Alexander Brook, Clarence Holbrook Carter, Federico Castellon, Asa Cheffetx, John E. Costigan, Jack Coughlin, Miguel Covarrubias, John Steuart Curry, John S. DeMartelly, Adolf Dehn, Mabel Dwight, Churchill Ettinger, Ernest Fiene, Emil Ganso, Gordon Grant, William Gropper, Joseph Hirsch, Ellison Hoover, Peter Hurd, Joe Jones, Philip Kappel, James Kearns, Hans Kleiber, Doris Lee, Julian Levi, Walter R. Locke, Luigi Lucioni, Joseph Margulies, Reginald Marsh, David Stone Martin, John McCrady, Thomas W. Nason, Jackson Lee Nesbitt, Alfred Rudolph, Georges Schreiber, Raphael Soyer, Lawrence Beall Smith, Sam Thal, Reynold Weidenaar, Charles B. Wilson, and Grant Wood.
Specifications:
Number of Works: 75 prints
Organized by: Springfield Museum of Art
Curator: Erin Shapiro, Curator
Requirements: Moderate security, 200-250 linear feet
Participation Fee: $6000 per booking period (Reduced fees are available for smaller versions of the exhibition)
Shipping: Fowler Artistic makes all arrangements, exhibitors pay incoming shipping cost from previous venue.
Booking Period: 12 weeks
Tour: September 2019 – December 2021
For more information contact christine@fowlerartistic.com
Categories: Traveling Exhibitions