Japonism, Buddhism, and Regionalism: The Japanese Contexts of Ruth Grotenrath with Martha Chaiklin

 

The American romance with Japanese art began, slightly on the heels of Europe, with the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. That was the first time a wide variety of Japanese arts, crafts and manufactured goods were exposed to a large number of Americans; approximately 10 million people visited during the run of the fair. For example, William Walters, whose collections established the Walters Art Museum, acquired Japanese art there. The fascination with Japan lasted for decades and widely influenced the modernist movement. Even the anti-Japanese sentiment of World War II only briefly outlived the war. Ruth Grotenrath was one such fan, collecting Japanese objects, utilizing Japanese paper, exploring Buddhism and even traveling to Japan. We will trace the history of the American affair with Japanese art, explore the impact of Buddhism on aesthetics, and how these larger events are reflected in the work of Ruth Grotenrath.

About the Exhibition: WAM’s exhibition is the first comprehensive retrospective of her work. It begins with black-and-white images made for the 1929 Riverside High School yearbook. The exhibition includes early social realism for the Work Progress Administration (WPA), textile designs, and numerous still lifes. Most of the exhibition features Grotenrath’s invention of a unique, personal art, for which she is known and remembered.

Open Now – March 31, 2023

About WAM: The Warehouse Art Museum (WAM) is located at 1635 W. St. Paul Ave, Milwaukee. Exhibitions, performances, and lectures are based on The Warehouse Art Museum’s permanent collection of over 7,300 modern and contemporary works on paper, paintings, photography and sculpture. The collection is available for scholars, students and art enthusiasts, and works are available for institutional loans. For more information, please visit wammke.org or call 414-252-0677.
Admission to WAM is always free. Masks are required.