Growing the Canon

Following a successful women-focused exhibition last year, CW American Modernism hosts a new show highlighting American women of the 20th century

One of Los Angeles-based gallery CW American Modernism’s primary goals focuses on unearthing artists from the past, who often haven’t received the recognition they deserve, and telling their stories—often for the very first time.

Undoubtedly, this endeavor leads to women artists who’ve fallen outside the art historical canon, despite their immense talents. Following the success of last year’s exhibition America Coast to Coast: Women Artists at Mid Century, the gallery is now hosting the ongoing show Growing the Canon: 20th Century American Women, which features more than two dozen paintings and sculptures spanning the 1920s to the 1970s.

Priscilla Roberts (1916-2001), Home to Thanksgiving, ca. third quarter 20th century. Oil on Masonite, 26¼ x 20 in., signed lower left.

“We are excited to host our second annual exhibition honoring the contributions of 20th-century American women artists,” says Chris Walther, owner of CW American Modernism.

Among the most accomplished artists included in the show is Priscilla Roberts, a National Academician known for her still lifes. “Working in an enigmatic form of magic realism that the artist preferred to call ‘Arch Realism,’ Roberts imbued her work with a mysterious feeling of stillness, longing, and loss,” Walther reflects. “Home to Thanksgiving is a strong example not only Roberts’ technical prowess, but also her ability to leave the viewer with the conflicting impressions that someone has just left the composition and that the person has been gone for a very long time, in each case, leaving behind an unusually staged assortment of objects that hint at the missing sitter’s story.”

Lucile Blanch (1895-1981), Eighth Avenue at 56th Street, 1930. Oil on canvas, 31¾ x 24 in., signed and dated lower right. Ex collection Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, gift of the artist (labels verso).

Much less known, but equally adept, is mid-century artist Carol Sideman. “Her untitled work, which most likely depicts Carmel / Point Lobos, was painted with unforgiving inks and aqueous pigments on silk and draws extensively on Japanese techniques and aesthetics,” says Walther. “This is the type of work that could only be created on the West Coast, where artists looked across the Pacific for inspiration and training.”

He continues, “Turning to the East Coast, the exhibition includes four large paintings exploring the vertical expanses of Manhattan during the 1920s through the 1940s. Among them are two paintings by artists whose husbands were also painters, Bena Frank Mayer, wife of Ralph Mayer, and Lucile Blanch, wife of Arnold Blanch. Although both male artists are better known today, the women in these marriages were prominent and respected during their lives. By the time Lucile Blanch was in her 30s, she had received a Guggenheim Fellowship, and her paintings were in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art. During the Depression Era, she was commissioned by the federal government to paint public murals and she helped train the next generation of artists through appointments at a number of colleges and universities.” Blanch’s Eighth Avenue at 56th Street—a bright and colorful depiction of Midtown New York—is a prime example of her early 1930s work.

Carol Joyce (Kushner) Sideman (1925-2020), Untitled (Likely Carmel – Point Lobos), ca. 1950. Mixed media on silk, 16 x 20 in., signed lower right.

Other artists in the show include Ilse Getz, Anna Franke Gonzalez, Florence Prince Ewing and Elizabeth Mailliard. Growing the Canon: 20th Century American Women can be viewed at the gallery by appointment through June 1 and is also accessible online. —