Joseph Plavcan
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Joseph Michael Plavcan (July 19, 1908 – February 7, 1981) was an American painter and teacher, active in
Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...
.


Early life, family

Plavcan was born in
Braddock, Pennsylvania Braddock is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela River. The population was 1,721 as of the 2020 United States ...
, to
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
n immigrant parents. Soon after his birth his parents moved the family back to
Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...
. Plavcan spent much of his youth reading and studying art at the Erie Public Library, which at the time included the Public Library, the Public Museum, and the Art Club (later The
Erie Art Museum Erie Art Museum is located in Erie, Pennsylvania. The Museum holds a collection of more than 8,000 objects, with strengths in American ceramics, Tibetan paintings, Indian bronzes, photography, and comic book art. Focusing on the museum collecti ...
.) Plavcan studied trade at Academy High School but did not flourish there until noted instructor and
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illustrator Eugene Iverd suggested that he take art classes. Under Ericson’s tutelage Plavcan developed a lifelong appreciation for landscape painting, and in October 1926, he was accepted into the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...
.


Academic accomplishments

In 1928, after his second year at the Academy, Plavcan was awarded the
Cresson Traveling Scholarship The Cresson Traveling Scholarship, also known as the William Emlen Cresson Memorial Traveling Scholarship, is a two-year scholarship for foreign travel and/or study awarded annually to art students at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Phi ...
for further study in Europe. This time overseas shaped his work for the rest of his life. He was particularly influenced by
Hans Memling Hans Memling (also spelled Memlinc; – 11 August 1494) was a German-Flemish people, Flemish painter who worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. Born in the Middle Rhine region, he probably spent his childhood in Mainz. During ...
and was an early promoter of the watercolors of
J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbu ...
. In 1930, Plavcan returned to Erie and graduated from the Academy. That same year his painting ''The Blue Pitcher'' was accepted into the 29th Carnegie International in Pittsburgh; an exhibition that was juried by
Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
. At the age of twenty-two, Plavcan received the Clark Award at the Corcoran Biennial in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
for his painting ''Mechanic Street, New Hope, Pennsylvania''. He also had two paintings on display at the Art Institute of Chicago’s annual show.


Teaching career

In 1936, he was inducted into the
Who's Who in American Art ''Who's Who in American Art'' is a biographical hardcover directory of noteworthy individuals in the visual arts community in the United States, published by Marquis Who's Who,"Who's Who in American Art 2011 – Publications", Marquis Who's Who, ...
. Plavcan married Catherine Burns, an artist he had met at the Academy and returned to Erie in 1931. The scarcity of jobs for artists during the depression led Plavcan to accept a job teaching at Erie Technical High School. Within a year, Plavcan was teaching vocational courses full-time; a position he would keep until his retirement in 1970. Unlike other instructors, Plavcan taught many of his classes outdoors, and his students recall how he emphasized observation and the fundamentals of fine art. Many of his students, including
Richard Anuszkiewicz Richard Joseph Anuszkiewicz (; May 23, 1930 – May 19, 2020) was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor. The son of Polish immigrants, he developed a geometric style. Life and work Anuszkiewicz was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, the son of ...
, Robert Joy, John Vahanian, Vitus Kaiser, George Gaadt, Robert Gerbracht, and John Silk Deckard went on to garner national and international fame.


Style

Throughout his career Plavcan was continually committed to color, though his work itself ranges from the realistic to the highly stylized. With the development of acrylic paints in the 1960s, Plavcan turned away from his earlier representational style and began experimenting with a hard-edged geometric style. These later paintings incorporate vibrant, unblended colors and were inspired by the work of his own student, Op-artist
Richard Anuszkiewicz Richard Joseph Anuszkiewicz (; May 23, 1930 – May 19, 2020) was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor. The son of Polish immigrants, he developed a geometric style. Life and work Anuszkiewicz was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, the son of ...
. Plavcan continued to develop this style until the end of his life, ultimately settling on a more subtle approach that used the same bright colors but softer edges. On the evolution of his art, Plavcan stated, "I don’t think that I have gone back to my earlier style. It is a building process, not necessarily regression. It is very hard once you’ve learned additional information to not use that in your art."


Exhibitions

*
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania *
Carnegie International The Carnegie International is a North American exhibition of contemporary art from around the globe. It was first organized at the behest of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie on November 5, 1896, in Pittsburgh. Carnegie established ...
, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania *1930 and 1951 Corcoran Biennial, Washington, D.C. *
National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...
, New York *
Butler Institute of American Art The Butler Institute of American Art (BIAA), located on Wick Avenue in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, was the first museum dedicated exclusively to American art. Established by local industrialist and philanthropist Joseph G. Butler, Jr., the ...
, Youngstown, Ohio *Pepsi-Cola "Artists for Victory" National Show,
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, New York *Chautauqua Institute, New York *Biennial Drawing Exhibition, Norfolk, Virginia *
Erie Art Museum Erie Art Museum is located in Erie, Pennsylvania. The Museum holds a collection of more than 8,000 objects, with strengths in American ceramics, Tibetan paintings, Indian bronzes, photography, and comic book art. Focusing on the museum collecti ...
, Erie, Pennsylvania


References


Bibliography

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External links


Erie Art Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plavcan, Joseph 1908 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists Artists from Erie, Pennsylvania American male painters American people of Slovak descent Painters from Pennsylvania People from Braddock, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni