When confronted by trauma, our hearts can sink, our knees buckle. Imagining an affirmation of life after a tragedy like The Holocaust might seem arduous, but for the late-artist Adam Grant (1924-1992), it was catharsis.
Currently on view at the newly re-opened 20 North Gallery, “Adam Grant: Art For Life” exhibits works by the late Polish-Toledo artist. As a Nazi concentration camp prisoner, Grant used his art to survive — creating a new world for himself, providing a window to look through.
Transitions
Following a three year break, the Warehouse District’s 20 North Gallery reopened at the end of June in a space boasting high ceilings in a long, narrow gallery, offering a swanky after work destination for those who prefer cocktails with their artwork.
The space also subverts the traditional gallery’s white cube concept— paintings hang against walls with an earthy brick tone, a curious color choice which emulates a deep glow. “It provides a sense of welcoming and warmth. It makes the art is more approachable,” explains Hillenbrand.
Completing 20 North’s reformation is new art director, Condessa Croninger. Despite the changes, 20 North’s transition connects with the gallery’s past. The Adam Grant exhibit fits snuggly with the gallery’s history— the artist was the husband of 20 North’s previous art director.
“My first art director, Peggy Grant, was instrumental for setting the tone for our gallery,” explains Hillenbrand. “She sought out very high end, nationally collected, museum represented artists.”
When Peggy retired, Croninger, her longtime friend and a fellow Toledo Museum of Art docent, seemed the perfect fit.
“Peggy not only set the tone [for 20 North’s sensibility], but created the framework,” says Croninger. “My goal for our exhibitions… art that is both timely and timeless… work that has really stood the test of time. What better way to start than with an exhibit of Adam’s work? His exhibitions has traveled all over the world, both during his lifetime and afterward.”
Rest, and restitution
Adam’s large, muted oil paintings treat women subjects kindly. Expressive and textured, the models are pensive and engaging, in a cloudy aesthetic atmosphere. As an artist, Adam didn’t labor over the viewer’s visual appetite, unconcerned with minute details.
Adam Grant, 'Ringling Brothers (Lion Poster)', (1981, oil on canvas). Courtesy of 20 North Gallery
Rather, it’s in that ambiguity— the fuzzy shadows, the roughly painted fabric, the blended skin— that the richness of Adam's paintings are illuminated, providing the viewer with enough detail to avoid the abstract, but without the precision of reality. Limbs are unfinished, hands lack detail, faces are obscured— but the viewer knows what lies beyond the paint.
“To be this kid in Warsaw, at such a tumultuous time, to be swept up in world history in a really horrific way, and to have survived that and continued to live with it…” reflected Croninger. “I knew Adam and it was something I never dared to ask him about. For Adam the art was catharsis— it was an affirmation that life was good and worth living.”
Finding expression
In his work, Adam carefully considered necessity. While a master figure painter, he worked outside the bounds of academic styles, often flirting with Impressionist concepts while using the warm, burnt colors of a Realist palette. He rendered his models, young women, dancers and nudes, expressionless in large, warm portraits. While emotional, his subjects do not appear pained— Grant’s traumatic past seemingly informed his work, but did not define it. Yet one consistent exclusion has stuck out for Croninger through the years.
“There’s something I’ve always wondered about, but never asked…” said Croninger, pointing to 'Redhead Model Reflected' (1973), “If you look at her, she’s gorgeous, a great attitude, gorgeous figure and the skin and skeletal structure is beautiful. And if you come up to her face which has so much character… she has no eyes.”
.png)
Adam Grant, 'Redhead Model Reflected' (1973, oil on canvas) Courtesy of 20 North Gallery
Croninger references a series that Adam made in the 70s and 80s, displayed in this exhibit, that echoes this theme. Despite the models “challenging you and engaging with you through their physical attitude, color, and facial expression,” his painted subjects lack the ability to gaze, preventing the viewer from making the eye contact so often crucial in portraiture.
Adam's models rarely gaze back at the viewer. Even in works with a fully painted face, his model’s eyes appear as deep, obscured pools of dark paint— stranded in detached poses, draped loosely in sumptuous fabrics. Adam’s paintings are inhabited by fair-skinned, preoccupied women with mental focus and a nebulous visage.
The viewer is not postured as a voyeur. Adam does not paint women of tragedy. Reclining nudes, circus performers on break, models in wait, bathers undressing, and a full cohort of characters often appear alone, but not lonely. They’re relaxed, in a space of their own and in leisure.
Direct confrontation
Croninger mentions a single piece— considered the great masterwork of Adam’s career— where his subject acknowledges the viewer.
“At the most, it’s an oblique glance to one side or the other.. But we chose ‘The Phrenologist’ (1988) as the signature piece of the exhibit, his only painting that I can think of where the model confronts you,” she remarks.
.png)
Adam Grant, The Phrenologist. (1988, oil on canvas). Courtesy of 20 North Gallery.
Phrenology, a disproved 19th-century science of the mind based on the skull’s shape, has provided fascination and curiosity for many.
The woman’s phrenology skull, a device that guides the hand over the head’s bumps and lumps— illuminating supposed inclinations and proclivities— sits atop loose newspapers in a messy studio. Her state of undress, coupled with an unhumorous expression, cultivates atmosphere. Mystery and mysticism, equally embraced, provide as few answers as her indistinct gaze.
Under layers
As reflected in his work, Adam too seemed to find solace in indirectness. Both Croninger and Hillenbrand were challenged by the task of curating from his prolific portfolio.
“Adam painted until the day he died, so we had works from the early 60s to 1992,” says Croninger. “But we had to narrow all these fabulous jewels down to 22. We wanted to pass through the decades… to represent the different stylistic changes that he’d made, and just personal favorites.”
Victory’s Phoenix, Holocaust Series; 1946; watercolor and ink on paper; signed: A. Grochowski; image size: 13.5”H x 10.25”W; NFS. Courtesy of 20 North Gallery.
They also chose to show some of Adam’s works, recovered after the war, created during his time spent in Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Mauthausen. While imprisoned, Nazi guards would demand that Adam create artwork for them. Adam used materials to secretly-document images of conditions and fellow prisoners. On view are images of war, suffering and tragedy rendered in ink and watercolor.
Look inside the world the artist created, and see his life— in balance— during “Adam Grant: Art For Life” through September 30.
Noon-4pm, Wednesday-Saturday, and by appointment.
20 North Gallery & Venue, 18 N. St. Clair St., 419-241-2400. 20northgallery.com
