Woodstock.2C_Louisiana_and_the_war_years Ralph_Wickiser

in summer of 1939, wickiser first went woodstock, new york study color lithography emil ganso. fell in love catskill mountains artist colony of woodstock. after that, , jane returned woodstock each summer. there met franz kline, barnett newman, , yasuo kuniyoshi, became friend. kuniyoshi threw party ralph , jane @ house, introducing them many artist friends. ralph invited kuniyoshi , paul burlin lsu lecture students. while in woodstock, wickiser established friendships arnold blanch, paul burlin, rollin crampton, doris lee, eddie millman, milton avery, philip guston, , barnett newman. affectionately referred newman barney.

in summer of 1940, wickiser traveled guadalajara , tosco, mexico, visited diego rivera. jane said of rivera, ugly beautiful. summer wickiser painted watercolor series in plein air in marketplaces of guadalajara , tosco.

in 1941, wickiser named chair of art department @ louisiana state university in baton rouge. during years of war, enlisted in navy , stationed in washington, d.c. in 1942 had exhibitions @ corcoran gallery in washington, d.c., san francisco museum, , oakland museum of california. delgado museum in new orleans, (now new orleans museum of art), granted him solo show in 1943. after that, had shows @ dayton museum in ohio (1944) , associated american artist gallery in new york (1946). in 1947 work shown @ dallas museum of art in texas, , ten of color lithographs reproduced in article american highway in lamp, published standard oil, new jersey. in 1948-49, ford motor company commissioned ralph watercolor series magazine, ford times. library of congress showed work in 1948 @ annual print exhibition. continued paint abstraction, figures, landscapes, , combinations of these, striving reconcile them in mind.

in 1949, wickiser bought land in woodstock , built house , studio. in 1950, held conference @ woodstock artists association, featured talks franz kline, robert motherwell, , yasuo kuniyoshi. in 1951, wickiser hosted fourth annual conference on art @ same venue, including speakers herman cherry, franz kline, yasuo kuniyoshi, robert motherwell, barnett newman, , ben shahn. kuniyoshi assisted wickiser conferences.

wickiser exhibited work @ metropolitan museum of art in 1950 , @ pennsylvania academy in 1951.