Paper

1992.20

William A. McGill

Gift

Gift of William A. McGill

Mar 5, 1945

16 x 20

7-15/16 in

11-15/16 in

Cultural/Historical Context

"Reynold H. Weidenaar, N. A. 1915-1985 Reynold H. Weidenaar is increasingly noted for his contributions to 20th century American art. His forte was in the intaglio techniques of printmaking: etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint, softground, and mezzotint. He also has an extensive body of work in watercolor and resin oils. His love for line is manifested in the many thousands of drawings he completed throughout his lifetime - many as studies for more serious work; some as complete compositions in themselves. He was rarely seen without a notebook in his hands. His watercolors also show his fondness and affinity to the land and shore of West Michigan, painted plein air, weather permitting, or from the shelter of his automobile during severe weather and blizzards. He is recognized as a forerunner in reviving the “lost” art of mezzotint in the early 20th century through his independent research and experiments in this exacting and unforgiving medium. His quest also led him into the formerly elusive realm of color mezzotints, a complicated process involving the addition of three separate color plates. In every medium in which he worked, Weidenaar was largely self-taught. He was only 15 when he won his first award in a national art contest, later winning scholarships to the Kansas City Art institute, where he also spent many solitary nights experimenting with inks, plates and tools. By the time he was 26, Weidenaar’s work had caught the eye of the founder of the Chicago Society of Etchers, Berthe Jacques. His emerging genius was evident to her and she took the unusual step of providing him with an etching press. This significant gift enabled him to burst upon the national printmaking scene where his work was noted by artworld luminaries like John Taylor Arms, president of the Society of American Etchers and James Swann, president of the Chicago Society of Etchers. Both mentored Weidenaar, paving the way for invitations to memberships in prestigious art organizations like the National Academy of Design, Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, and the Arts Club of Washington. Within ten years of creating his first plate, Weidenaar’s meteoric rise in the print world was demonstrated by such widely varied national acclaim as invitational exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Carnegie Institute. He won a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Tiffany Scholarship. His work was being purchased by major institutions like the Library of Congress, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Detroit Institute of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Wales. As well as his full membership in the National Academy of Design, he was an invited member in many prestigious art organizations that included the Society of American Graphic Artist, the American Watercolor Society, the Audubon Artists, the Chicago Society of etchers, the Knickerbocker Artists, and the American Artists Professional League. His awards are many and varied, showing his genius and unusual mastery of all the mediums in which he worked. Weidenaar was not only a nationally acclaimed and collected artist, but was also extremely articulate about his craft, publishing scholarly articles on various aspects of watercolor and printmaking. His books, Out Changing Landscape and A Sketchbook of Michigan (with Anne Zeller) also render to the reader a deeply personal side. He is also fondly remembered today by the many students he taught for over twenty years at Kendall School of Design. His contributions to printmaking have been recorded in texts like American Prize Prints of the 20th Century by Albert Reese, A Spectrum of Innovation: Color In American Printmaking 1890-1960 by David Acton, and The Mezzotint by Carol Wax. His work can be found in many major museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Wadsworth Athenaeum, Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, Brooks Memorial, Muskegon Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, and the Liverpool (England) Public Library."