Heinrich Lefler and Joseph Urban
[From the Community Collection, a public trust in Agincourt, Iowa]
LEFLER, Heinrich [1863-1919] and Joseph URBAN [1872-1933]
“St. Georgius” / “St. Leopold” / “Returning from the Field” / “St. Stanislaus” / “St. Hedwig of Silesia”
1899
color lithographs / each 9 inches by 9 1/16 inches
Where is the line betwixt fine art and graphic design? Perhaps, in an ideal world, there is none.
From the set Österreichische Kalender Monatsbilder, each image illustrated a calendar month. These are characteristically “Secession”, the Viennese contribution to the European-wide Art Nouveau movement usually identified with France and Belgium. The contribution of each artist is still a matter of research. Agincourt has had a remarkable link with Austria through the Wassermann-Kolb family.
“pang” / noun and adjective
These days I’ve invested much of my time in words — the written sort, rather than spoken [there have too many of those already]. And I’ve become more cautious about their use; it’s often useful to find the etymology and, perhaps, in doing so, to give it more genuine meaning. The word very early this morning was “pang”, which I cannot recall having used in multiple decades.
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a sudden sharp pain or painful emotion.“Lindsey experienced a sharp pang of guilt”
Nelson Dawson
[From the Community Collection, a public trust in Agincourt, Iowa]
DAWSON, Nelson Ethelred [1859-1941]
“Two Sailboats at High Sea”
ca1910-1930
color etching on paper / 20.6 cm by 22.5 cm (plate)
Nelson Ethelred Dawson — does it take something special to live your life as an Ethelred? — was an English member of the Arts & Crafts. Though he worked in etching and woodcut, it’s comforting to know that his first studies were in architecture and painting. The colors of this captivating woodcut suggest the ’30s. It might easily have illustrated a novel by Herman Melville.
E. Pederson
[From the Community Collection, a public trust in Agincourt, Iowa]
PEDERSON, E. [dates unknown]
“Jewels of the Night”
ca1930
oil on canvas / 27.4 inches x 18.3 inches (image)
Chicagoans will easily recognize this view of their city, principally the tower of the Chicago Temple, home of First United Methodist Church, at the corner of Washington and Clark Streets. Two blocks beyond is a station on the Wabash stretch of the Loop, elevated railway. For business and cultural connections—higher education, for example—America’s “Second City” may have been a greater influence than Des Moines or Omaha.
The artist, identified only as “E. Peterson”, is unfamiliar and may have been associated with the former artists’ colony at Sturm & Drang. The work itself was acquired at an estate sale.