Nocturne
1880-1954
Oil on canvas
30 1/8 in x 36 1/8 in
1915
Label:
Living in Louisville, Paul Plaschke led a dual existence as a newspaper illustrator and as a landscape painter. The steady income from the newspaper insulated him from the demands of gallery owners responding to popular taste.
A posthumous tribute in the local press cited Plaschke’s ability to transform a scene “into a thing of beauty, dappled with sunshine and shadows of leaves and branches.” Although the exact location of Nocturne is unknown, it is presumed to be a view along the Kentucky River. The dominant color blue and the forlorn boat align it with Symbolist painters who endeavored to convey spiritual import to their work.
As Published In:
Scenic Impressions: Southern Interpretations from the Johnson Collection, 2015
As Exhibited In:
Daingerfield & the Tonalist Instinct, Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, Blowing Rock, NC, May 31–October 19, 2025
Beyond the Illustration, TJC Gallery, Spartanburg, SC, January 31–April 20, 2024
Reflections on a Southern Summer, TJC Gallery, Spartanburg, SC, June 9–September 4, 2021
Scenic Impressions: Southern Interpretations from the Johnson Collection, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, TN, November 1, 2015–January 3, 2016, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA, January 16–April 10, 2016, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN, January 16–April 10, 2016, McKissick Museum, Columbia, SC, May 19–August 5, 2017, Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA, October 13, 2017–March 25, 2018, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC, August 28–December 13, 2018
The Art of Southerness: Philosophical Reflections on Paintings from the Johnson Collection, TJC Gallery, Spartanburg, SC, March 15–June 21, 2012