:::Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts::: Artists

George Ault ( 1891-1948 )

	Vase of Flowers - 1934 Watercolor and pencil on paper 21 ¼ x 14 ½ inches Print Click image for detailed view Contact the Gallery for more information
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Provenance:

Private educational institution, New York State
Private collection, USA

Exhibited:
The American Still Life Tradition: 1855-1985, Montgomery Gallery, San Francisco, 1985, no. 35, illus.
American Masterworks on Paper, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1985-86, no. 58, illus. in color, p. 56
Modern Times: Aspects of American Art: 1907-1956, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1986, no. 4,

illus. in color, p. 14
George Ault, Vanderwoude Tananbaum Gallery, New York, 1988, no. 24
Variations on a Theme: Still Life Painting in America, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1988-89, no. 1

George Copeland Ault was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1891. The son of a print-manufacturer, he began his art studies at an early age, upon the relocation of his family to London for business. Taking classes at both the Slade and St. John’s Wood Schools of Art, Ault was heavily influenced by the European avant-garde paintings he saw on his frequent sojourns to the museums of London and Paris. Ault’s first picture was exhibited in 1908, at the age of 17, for a show at the St. John’s Wood School. In 1911, Ault returned to the United States, first settling in New York City and then by 1938 in Woodstock, New York.

Ault’s early works were primarily geometric urban landscapes, often depicting the skyline of New York City. His first professional gallery show in 1920 was well received by art critics and the public. In 1921, the Society of Independent Artists recognized him by including his painting A New York Skyline in their exhibition “Our Choice of Independents.” Ault’s style gradually evolved toward Precisionism, using flattened shapes, a variety of perspectives, and a palette of bright colors infrequently seen in nature, adding a surreal quality to the work. Ault is often associated with artists Charles Sheeler (who coined the term Precisionism) and Charles Demuth.

Painted during his New York years, Vase of Flowers is a quiet work, the majority of which is rendered with precise realism. Ault’s handling of the amber vase—the stems within it and the light refracting off of it—has a tinge of the surreal. This is also true of the lack of shadow outside of the actual objects (all of which are exquisitely shaded), an implication that space does not exist outside of the composition.

The entire work was first drawn with a faint pencil line, after which Ault applied his watercolors with smooth, graceful strokes, some of them opaque, others translucent. At first glance the palette seems dominated by tones of yellow and green with touches of red, but slowly one becomes aware of the artist’s use of blue and gray/blue throughout. Ault presents this arrangement of calla lilies, daffodils and narcissi with forthrightness, yet each flower is rendered with sublime delicacy and the slight curves of the stems and petals acutely convey each flower’s fragility. The result is a serene, subtle and beautiful work of art.