Bluemner exhibition and open house at Hoyt

Staff report

NEW CASTLE, Pa.

An exhibition of about 30 drawings by Oscar Bluemner opened this week at the Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts and will run through Dec. 23. They are typical of the travel sketches or art motifs Bluemner developed into themes in his paintings in the early 20th century.

A public reception will be Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. during the Hoyt’s Open House weekend. Activities and admission are free.

Dubbed a modernist by critics, Bluemner’s work can be found in large and small museums. The Prussian-born artist began his career as an architect in Chicago but relocated to New York in 1901. There, he met Alfred Stieglitz, who sparked his interests in the European and American avant-garde. By 1910, Bluemner abandoned architecture to pursue painting full time.

Bluemner’s drawings hold particular significance throughout his career. Like a blueprint, each drawing outlines the span of the land or city with extensive notations of his theories on light, color, shadow and line. His painting diaries of 1911-36 record his walking tours of New Jersey and Pennsylvania in explicit detail, and some of these drawings are included in the Hoyt exhibit.

Hoyt’s Open House weekend features the freshly restocked Holiday Gift Shop, tours of the houses, children’s arts activities and complimentary coffee and dessert.

For more information, go to hoytartcenter.org.