Harmonizing

Native Virginian Robert Gwathmey began his art career at the Maryland Institute of Art before entering the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1926. Before graduating, he spent two summers in Europe on a scholarship; he was particularly enthralled by Gothic stained glass. By pulling inspiration from the Late Middle Ages in Europe, he created a fascinating, reverent stylistic backdrop for the social commentary art he produced.

Gwathmey went on to teach at the Cooper Union School of Art in Manhattan for twenty-six years. During that time, Gwathmey received a Julius Rosenwald Fellowship, which he used to live among African American tobacco farmers in North Carolina. His compassionate depictions of rural Southern life became his most well-known paintings. Gwathmey traveled throughout the region with his friend and fellow artist, Claude Howell, collecting stories and imagery. Gwathmey’s figures, which remained representational throughout his career, are characterized by simplified color blocks and strong outlines that mimic the soldering of church glass.