Peter Blume (27 October 1906 – 30 November 1992) was an American painter and sculptor. His work contained elements of

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

Precisionism Precisionism was a modernist art movement that emerged in the United States after World War I. Influenced by Cubism, Purism, and Futurism, Precisionist artists reduced subjects to their essential geometric shapes, eliminated detail, and often u ...

, Parisian

Purism Purism, referring to the arts, was a movement that took place between 1918 and 1925 that influenced French painting and architecture. Purism was led by Amédée Ozenfant and Charles Edouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier). Ozenfant and Le Corbusier f ...

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

, and

Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

Biography

Blume, born in Smarhon, Russian Empire to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family, emigrated with his family to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1912; the family settled in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. He studied art at the Educational Alliance, the

Beaux-Arts Institute of Design The Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (BAID, later the National Institute for Architectural Education) was an art and architectural school at 304 East 44th Street in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, in New York City.Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

, establishing his own studio by 1926. He trained with

Raphael Soyer Raphael Zalman Soyer (December 25, 1899 – November 4, 1987) was a Russian-born American painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Soyer was referred to as an American scene painter. He is identified as a Social Realist because of his interest in ...

and Isaac Soyer, exhibited with Charles Daniel, and was patronized by the

Rockefeller family The Rockefeller family ( ) is an American Industrial sector, industrial, political, and List of banking families, banking family that owns one of the world's largest fortunes. The fortune was made in the History of the petroleum industry in th ...

. Blume married Grace Douglas in 1931; they had no surviving children. In 1948, Blume was elected into the

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 ...

as an Associate member, and became a full member in 1956.

Works

An admirer of Renaissance technique, Blume worked by drawing and making cartoons before putting his work on canvas. He received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1932 and spent a year in Italy. His first major recognition came in 1934 with a first prize for ''South of Scranton'' at a Carnegie Institute International Exhibition. The painting was inspired by a trip across Pennsylvania in an old car that required frequent repair. ''Eternal City'' (1934–1937) was politically charged, portraying

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

as a jack-in-the-box emerging from the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

; as a one-man, one-painting exhibition, it excited considerable attention from critics and audiences. This painting was inspired by Blume's trip to Italy which he took as a Guggenheim Fellow in 1932. After the trip from Rome, it took Blume 5 years to create this piece of work. In 1943 when Mussolini was deposed from power, the Museum of Modern Art purchased the artwork for its permanent collection within that same week. Blume worked for the

Section of Painting and Sculpture Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section s ...

of the U.S. Treasury Department, painting at least two post office murals, in Geneva, New York, and

Canonsburg, Pennsylvania Canonsburg is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, southwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 9,735 at the 2020 census. Canonsburg was laid out by Colonel John Canon in 1789 and incorporated in 180 ...

.Park, Marlene and Gerald E. Markowitz, ''Democratic Vistas: Post Offices and Public Art in the New Deal'', Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1984 p. 84 Blume's works often portrayed destruction and restoration simultaneously. Stones and girders made frequent appearances; ''The Rock'' (1944–1948), today in the collection of the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

, was interpreted by its viewers as symbolizing renewal in the wake of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. ''Recollection of the Flood'' (1969) depicted the victims of the 1966 Flood of the River Arno in Florence along with restorers at work. ''The Metamorphoses'' (1979) invoked the Greek legend of

Deucalion In Greek mythology, Deucalion (; ) was the son of Prometheus; ancient sources name his mother as Clymene (mythology), Clymene, Hesione (Oceanid), Hesione, or Pronoia (mythology), Pronoia.A Scholia, scholium to ''Odyssey'' 10.2 (=''Catalogue of W ...

and

Pyrrha In Greek mythology, Pyrrha (; ) was the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora and wife of Deucalion of whom she had three sons, Hellen, Amphictyon, Orestheus; and three daughters Protogeneia, Pandora and Thyia. According to some accounts, Hell ...

, who repopulated the earth after a deluge.

Gallery

File:Blume Peter Vegetable Dinner 1927 Smithsonian American Art Museum.webp, ''Vegetable Dinner'', 1927, Smithsonian Museum of American Art File:Blume Peter Buoy Art Institute of Chicago.jpg, ''Buoy'', 1941, Art Institute of Chicago File:RomeGeorgia.jpg, ''The Two Rivers'' 1943, Federal Building, Post Office & U.S. Courthouse,

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statist ...

File:Blume Peter the Rock Art Institute of Chicago.png, ''The Rock'', 1944-1948, Art Institute of Chicago File:Blume Peter Banyan Tree 1961 Smithsonian American Art Museum.webp, ''Banyan Tree'', 1961, Smithsonian Museum of American Art

References

External links

A finding aid to the Peter Blume papers, 1870-2001, in Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

* ttp://www.factmonster.com/ce6/people/A0808007.html The Columbia Encyclopediaat factmonster.com
Peter Blume - South of Scranton

Research Material on the Artist Peter Blume
from the Frank Trapp Papers at the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Blume, Peter 1906 births 1992 deaths People from Smarhon People from Oshmyansky Uyezd Belarusian Jews Jews from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent 20th-century American painters American male painters National Academy of Design members Art Students League of New York alumni Precisionism Jewish American artists Jewish painters Section of Painting and Sculpture artists Artists from Brooklyn American muralists Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (New York City) alumni 20th-century American male artists Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters

Biography

Works

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links