Peter BlumeAmerican, born former Russian Empire, now Belarus
Not on view
South of Scranton gathers various scenes that the artist encountered during an extended road trip in spring 1930. Setting out from his residence in Pawling, New York, Blume drove through the coalfields of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and then headed south toward the steel mills of Bethlehem. Blume then traveled further south to Charleston, South Carolina, where he witnessed several sailors performing acrobatic exercises aboard the deck of a German cruiser ship in the harbor. In an account of the painting's origins, the artist stated, "As I tried to weld my impressions into the picture, they lost all their logical connections. I moved Scranton into Charleston, and Bethlehem into Scranton, as people do in a dream." Blume’s crisp technique heightens the painting’s surreal appearance.
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Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right): Peter Blume 1931
the artist, Gaylordsville, Conn. (1931–42; sold to MMA)
New York. Daniel Gallery. "Group exhibition," November 2–30, 1931, no catalogue.
Pittsburgh. Carnegie Institute. "The 1934 International Exhibition of Paintings," October 18–December 9, 1934, no. 54 (awarded First Prize).
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Summer Exhibition: The Museum Collection and a Private Collection on Loan," June 4–September 24, 1935, no catalogue [added to the exhibition on June 18, 1935].
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today," June 21–October 4, 1937, no. 10 (lent by the Artist, Gaylordsville, Connecticut).
Paris. Musée du Jeu de Paume. "Trois Siècles d'Art aux Etats-Unis," May–July 1938, no. 13 (lent by the artist).
New York. Associated American Artists Galleries. "Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture by the Art School Alumni of the Educational Alliance," October 7–22, 1940.
New York. Downtown Gallery. "What is Wrong with this Picture?," May 6–30, 1941, unnum. brochure.
Worcester Art Museum. "A Decade of American Painting, 1930–1940," February 18–March 22, 1942.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory: An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art," December 7, 1942–February 22, 1943, unnumbered cat. (p. 2; awarded a Second Prize).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory: Prize Winners," March 8–May 10, 1943, no catalogue.
Boston. Institute of Modern Art. "Artists for Victory: Prize Winners," May 22–June 19, 1943, no catalogue.
Art Gallery of Toronto. "Museums' Choice: Paintings by Contemporary Americans," February 2–25, 1945, no. 42.
Providence. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. "Museums' Choice," February 8–28, 1946, no catalogue.
Andover, Mass. Addison Gallery of American Art. "Museums' Choice," March 8–April 8, 1946, no catalogue (withdrawn March 21, 1946 for Exh. London 1946).
London. Tate Gallery. "American Painting from the Eighteenth Century to the Present Day," June 14–August 5, 1946, no. 23.
Norfolk, Va. Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences. "Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art," December 1, 1946–January 26, 1947, no catalogue.
American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Institute of Arts and Letters, New York. "Exhibition of Work by Newly Elected Members and Recipients of Honors and Awards," May 22–June 30, 1947.
Salt Lake City. Centennial Art Gallery, Centennial Exposition, Utah State Fair Grounds. "One Hundred Years of American Painting from the Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City," July 1–29, 1947, no. 57.
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. "Milestones of American Painting in Our Century," January 20–March 1, 1949, no. 33.
Art Association of Montreal. "Milestones of American Painting in Our Century," March 15–April 15, 1949, no. 33.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. "Milestones of American Painting in Our Century," May 5–June 25, 1949, no. 33.
San Francisco. M. H. de Young Memorial Museum. "Milestones of American Painting in Our Century," July 10–August 25, 1949, no. 33.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Milestones of American Painting in Our Century," September 7–October 16, 1949, no. 33.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Milestones of American Painting in Our Century," November 4–December 11, 1949, no. 33.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "20th Century Painters: A Special Exhibition of Oils, Water Colors and Drawings Selected from the Collections of American Art in the Metropolitan Museum," June 16–October 29, 1950, unnum. brochure (p. 3).
Los Angeles. Pan Pacific Auditorium. "6th Annual National Construction Industries Exposition and Home Show," June 14–24, 1951 [loan extended to the Tower Gallery, Los Angeles City Hall until August 10, 1951], no catalogue.
Seattle Art Museum. "Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture," February 4–April 5, 1953, unnum. brochure.
Hartford, Conn. Wadsworth Atheneum. "Twentieth Century Painting from Three Cities: New York, New Haven, Hartford," October 19–December 4, 1955.
Pittsburgh. Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute. "Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings from Previous Internationals, 1896–1955," December 5, 1958–February 8, 1959, no. 63.
Washington, D.C. St. Albans School. "50th Anniversary Exhibition: Art and Secondary Education," May 21–June 3, 1959, no catalogue [exhibited in the section "50 American Paintings from 1873–1958"].
American Federation of Arts circulating exhibition. "Private Worlds (Contemporary Surrealist and Symbolic Art)," March 1960–March 1961, no catalogue.
Washington, D. C. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "The New Tradition: Modern Americans Before 1940," April 27–June 2, 1963, no. 8.
Manchester, N.H. Currier Gallery of Art. "Peter Blume in Retrospect 1925 to 1964: Paintings & Drawings," April 18–May 31, 1964, no. 11.
Hartford, Conn. Wadsworth Atheneum. "Peter Blume in Retrospect 1925 to 1964: Paintings & Drawings," July 9–August 16, 1964, no. 11.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Three Centuries of American Painting," April 9–October 17, 1965, unnum. checklist.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Paintings, Drawings and Watercolors from the Museum's Collections," October 1–December 7, 1969, no catalogue.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. "Peter Blume: A Retrospective Exhibition," January 10–February 29, 1976, unnumbered cat.
Milwaukee Art Center. "From Foreign Shores: Three Centuries of Art by Foreign Born American Masters," October 15–November 28, 1976.
New Brunswick, N.J. Rutgers University Art Gallery. "Surrealism and American Art, 1931–1947," March 5–April 24, 1977.
Staten Island Museum. "20th Century American Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 9–28, 1978, brochure no. 3.
Trenton. New Jersey State Museum. "American Art of the 1930s: A Survey," February 10–April 22, 1979, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selection One: Twentieth-Century Art," February 1–April 30, 1985, no catalogue.
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. "Revolt in Boston: Fear vs. Freedom," February 18–April 20, 1986.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Landscape Painting," April 4–August 13, 1989, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Painting: 1905–1950," April 19–October 7, 1991, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory," October 1, 1996–January 12, 1997, extended to January 22, 1997, no catalogue.
New York. National Academy Museum. "Surrealism USA," February 17–May 8, 2005, unnumbered cat. (pl. 11).
Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. "Peter Blume: Nature and Metamorphosis," November 14, 2014–April 5, 2015, no. 23 (dated 1930–31).
Hartford, Conn. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. "Peter Blume: Nature and Metamorphosis," July 3–September 20, 2015, no. 23.
New York. Jewish Museum. "Edith Halpert and the Rise of American Art," October 18, 2019–February 9, 2020, unnumbered cat. (p. 145).
Edward Alden Jewell. "Art: Exhibition at Daniel Gallery." New York Times (November 4, 1931), p. 29.
"The Week: Roster of Openings Since Oct. 31." New York Times (November 8, 1931), p. XX12, ill. p. XX13.
Charles Daniel. Letters to Peter Blume. [March 1931]; May 11, 1931; December 8, 1942 [published in Ref. Mellby 1993, pp. 21, 22, 25].
Philippe Soupault. "Un peintre d'Amerique." La Renaissance 15 (October 1932), p. 157, ill.
Virginia Nirdlinger in "On View in the New York Galleries." Parnassus 4 (February 1932), p. 16.
Robert Ulrich Godsoe. "Peter Blume: A New Vision." Creative Art 11 (September 1932), pp. 10–15, ill.
Holger Cahill. "American Painting 1856-1934: The Impact of Modern Art." Art in America in Modern Times. Ed. Holger Cahill and Alfred H. Barr Jr. New York, 1934, ill. p. 40.
"Charleston is Background for $1,500 Prize Painting." News and Courier (Charleston, SC) (October 30, 1934).
E [dward]. A [lden]. J [ewell]. "Vale: The 1934 Carnegie." New York Times (December 9, 1934), p. X9.
Edward Alden Jewell. "Peter Blume Wins $1,500 Art Award." New York Times (October 19, 1934), p. 21.
Edward Alden Jewell. "In the Realm of Art: Carnegie International Opens." New York Times (October 21, 1934), p. X8, ill. p. RP2.
"U.S. Artist Gets International's Highest Honor." New York Herald Tribune (October 19, 1934), p. 7, ill.
Abram S. Galland. "South of Scranton: Prize Painting Perplexes Lifelong Resident." New York Herald Tribune (November 7, 1934), p. 26.
Royal Cortissoz. "The American and European Art on Exhibition at Pittsburgh." New York Herald Tribune (November 25, 1934), p. D10.
Peter Blume. "South of Scranton." Carnegie Magazine 8 (October 1934), p. 155, ill. front cover (color).
"Mr. Carnegie's Good Money." Time Magazine 24 (October 29, 1934), p. 42.
"1934 International Now in Progress Lists Its Awards." Art News 33 (October 20, 1934), p. 3, ill.
"Surrealist Work Wins First Prize at Carnegie International." Art Digest 9 (October 15, 1934), p. 5, ill. front cover.
Forbes Watson. "Pittsburgh Postpones Its Awakening." Parnassus 6 (November 1934), p. 13.
Henry McBride. "This Year's International." American Magazine of Art 27 (December 1934), pp. 655–56, ill.
"Anthracite Scene Wins at Carnegie Institute." Wilkes-Barre Record (October 19, 1934), p. 17.
"Can This Be Wilkes-Barre?" Wilkes-Barre Times Leader (October 23, 1934), p. 2.
Douglas Naylor. "Artists Defend International Prize Winner." Pittsburgh Press (October 21, 1934), p.. 2.
"Two Sniffs of 'Pinchot Poison,' 10 Shots on One Camera Plate." Pittsburgh Press (October 21, 1934), p. 2, ill.
"'South of Scranton' Badly Beaten in Popular Ballot." Pittsburgh Press (December 3, 1934), p. 6.
Dorothy Grafly. "Strength of American Art Stressed in Carnegie Institute International." Philadelphia Record (October 31, 1934), p. 6, ill.
"Among the Exhibitions." New York Times (June 23, 1935), p. X6.
Edward Alden Jewell. "Modern Museum Augments Exhibit: Summer Show Adds Sculpture and Other Art Work to Its Current Display." New York Times (June 18, 1935), p. 19.
Lewis Gannett. "Books and Things." New York Herald Tribune (January 5, 1935), p. 13.
Carlyle Burrows. "Further Works from the Rockefeller Gift." New York Herald Tribune (August 11, 1935), p. D4.
H. B. "New York." London Studio 9 (February 1935), p. 107, ill.
"Additions Made to Summer Show." Art News 33 (August 17, 1935), p. 12.
Edward Alden Jewell. "The Year in Retrospect." New York Times (May 26, 1935), p. X7.
Madelin Blitzstein. "It May Be Hard to Take but It's Art." Ogden Standard Examiner (February 24, 1935), p. 28, ill.
E[manuel]. M. Benson. "Enjoying Your Museum." Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Museum 31 (March 1936), p. 11, ill. p. 7.
E[manuel]. M. Benson. "Exhibition Reviews." American Magazine of Art 29 (February 1936), p. 109.
"At Carnegie." New York Times (October 25, 1936), p. X9.
Carlyle Burrows. "Notes and Comment on Events in Art." New York Herald Tribune (November 28, 1937), p. E8.
Edward Alden Jewell. "Americans at Carnegie: Current International Brings to Light Familiar Work and Accents of Change." New York Times (October 24, 1937), p. X10.
Alfred H. Barr Jr. Trois siècles d'art aux Etats-Unis. Exh. cat., Musée du Jeu de Paume. Paris, 1938, pp. 12, 29, 35, no. 13; album, fig. 54.
L'Art et les artistes 36 (June 1938), p. 298, ill.
Beaux-Arts: Chronique des arts et de la curiosité 76 (May 1938), ill. p. 3.
Carlyle Burrows. "Notes and Comment on Events in Art." New York Herald Tribune (October 13, 1940), p. E8.
Edward Alden Jewell. "Art School Holds Anniversary Show." New York Times (October 8, 1940), p. 28.
Edward Alden Jewell. "Melange: Varied Attractions of the Week." New York Times (May 11, 1941), p X7.
Carlyle Burrows. "Notes and Comment on Events in Art." New York Herald Tribune (May 11, 1941), p. E5.
Lewis Gannett. "Books and Things." New York Herald Tribune (December 19, 1941), p. 27.
Art News 40 (May 15, 1941), ill. p. 25.
Richard Carl Medford. American Painting. Philadelphia, 1941, p. 54, ill.
A. Hyatt Mayor. Artists for Victory: An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art. A Picture Book of the Prize Winners. New York, 1942, unpaginated, ill.
"Artists for Victory Score Victory in Metropolitan Exhibition." Art Digest 17 (December 15, 1942), p. 6, ill. p. 5.
Edward Alden Jewell. "Artists for Victory: Afterthoughts on the Huge Nation-Wide Survey at the Metropolitan Museum." New York Times (December 20, 1942), p. X9.
"Record Art Show Has $52,000 Prizes." New York Times (December 8, 1942), p. 30.
Edward Alden Jewell. "'Artists for Victory': Metropolitan Opens Tomorrow the Huge Contemporary American Survey." New York Times (December 6, 1942), p. X9.
"Metropolitan Museum Opens Artists for Victory Exhibition." New York Herald Tribune (December 8, 1942), p. 21.
"Worcester Surveys a Decade of American Painting, 1930–1940." Art Digest 16 (March 1, 1942), p. 6, ill. p. 5.
"The Met's Biggest." Newsweek 20 (December 14, 1942), p. 101.
Robert M. Coates. "The Art Galleries: Whew!." New Yorker (December 19, 1942), p. 82.
Alfred M. Frankfurter. "The Artists for Victory Exhibition: The Paintings." Art News 41 (January 1–14, 1943), p. 11, ill. p. 8.
"Museum Buys 'Eternal City,' Satire on Rome." New York Herald Tribune (March 3, 1943), p. 164.
John Alford. "Letters to the Editor." Art Bulletin 25 (September 1943), p. 272.
Roy R. Neuberger. "Artists for Victory." Art in America 31 (January 1943), p. 54.
"This Week in the Art World: 'Artists for Victory' Exhibit Here." Daily Boston Globe (May 30, 1943), p C7.
Holger Cahill. "In Our Time." Magazine of Art 39 (November 1946), pp. 310, 319, ill.
"Art Exhibit Opens Sunday at Museum." Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch (November 30, 1946), p. 3.
James Thrall Soby. "The Fine Arts: History of a Picture." Saturday Review of Literature 30 (April 26, 1947), pp. 30–32, ill.
E [dward]. A [lden]. J [ewell]. "Academy and Institute." New York Times (May 25, 1947), p. X10.
Edward Alden Jewell. "Inductions Today by Two Art Groups." New York Times (May 22, 1947), p. 27.
Aline B. Louchheim. "Institute Offers Proof of Pudding: But Long Awaited Show Leaves Manifesto Unclarified." New York Times (January 16, 1949), p. X9.
Frederick S. Wight. Milestones of American Painting in Our Century. Exh. cat., Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. New York, 1949, pp. 31, 98, no. 33, ill. p. 99.
Alexander Fried. "Restless Experiment in De Young Exhibit." San Francisco Examiner (July 24, 1949), p. 141.
Paul B. Metzler. "American Painting Exhibition Lures Crowds to Museum." Cleveland Plain Dealer (November 6, 1949), p. 19D.
Robert Beverly Hale. 100 American Painters of the 20th Century: Works Selected from the Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1950, ill. p. 74.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Miniatures. Vol. 17, album W, Twentieth-Century American Painters. New York, 1950, unpaginated, no. 12, ill. (color).
Doris Brian. "The Metropolitan's American Policy—A Long View, No Blind Flying." Art Digest 24 (July 1, 1950), p. 9, ill. p. 8.
"South of Scranton." Time Magazine 56 (October 30, 1950), ill. p. 70.
John I. H. Baur. "American Art After 25 Years: A Richer Diversity than Ever Before." Art Digest 26 (November 1951), p. 17, ill.
John O'Connor, Jr. "People's Choice: The Rock by P. Blume." Carnegie Magazine 25 (January 1951), pp. 13–15, ill.
Arthur Millier. "Art Masterpieces Lent for Exhibit." Los Angeles Times (June 17, 1951), p. 11, ill.
Carnegie Magazine 26 (October 1952), ill. p. 266.
A. B. L. "Directions in Art." New York Times (October 19, 1952), p. SM25, ill.
Emily Genauer. "Art and Artists: American Art Landmarks Selected by Top Museum Men, Disappointing." New York Herald Tribune (March 1, 1953), p. D7.
Francis Henry Taylor. Fifty Centuries of Art. New York, 1954, ill. p. 180 (color).
Robert M. Coates. "The Art Galleries: American Art, In Quantity." New Yorker (January 2, 1954), p. 47.
James Thrall Soby inNew Art in America: Fifty Painters of the 20th Century. Ed. John I. H. Baur. Greenwich, Conn., 1957, pp. 203, 207, ill.
George Biddle. The Yes and No of Contemporary Art, An Artist's Evaluation. Cambridge, Mass., 1957, ill.
Bartlett H. Hayes Jr. "For a Healthy Prejudice." New York Times (July 21, 1957), ill. p. BR6.
Emily Genauer. "Carnegie Show Controversial." New York Herald Tribune (December 7, 1958), p. E14.
Leslie Judd Ahlander. "What a School Can Do With Art." Washington Post and Times Herald (May 31, 1959), p. E7.
"Arts and Letters Academy Elects Painter, Sculptor." New York Herald Tribune (December 3, 1960), p. 7.
Stuart Preston. "A Dissenter to Reckon With: Peter Blume's Forty-Year Retrospective in Hartford." New York Times (July 19, 1964), p. X12.
Henry Geldzahler. American Painting in the Twentieth Century. New York, 1965, pp. 158–59, ill.
A. L. Chanin. Art Guide/ New York. New York, 1965, p. 101, no. 154.
Gerald Eager. "Fantastic Painting in America." PhD diss., University of Minnesota, 1969, pp. 120–21, fig. 70.
Doris E. Brown. "Art Canvasses '30s Lifestyle." Central New Jersey Home News (February 18, 1979), p. F10.
Vivien Raynor. "Surrealism in Exhibit at New Britain Museum." New York Times (November 7, 1982), p. CN28.
Robert F. Brown in "Regional Reports." Archives of American Art Journal 24, no. 2 (1984), p. 33.
Henry Adams inAmerican Drawings and Watercolors in the Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute. Pittsburgh, 1985, pp. 160–61, 163.
Malcolm Cowley. "Peter Blume: Painting the Phoenix." Virginia Quarterly Review 61 (Summer 1985), pp. 531–33.
Piri Halasz. "Manhattan Museums: The 1940s vs. the 1980s; Part Two: The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Arts Magazine 59 (March 1985), p. 91.
Elyse Topalian. "Modern Art in the Met." Apollo 124 (October 1986), p. 362.
Malcolm Cowley in Frank Anderson Trapp. Peter Blume. New York, 1987, pp. 8–9.
Frank Anderson Trapp. Peter Blume. New York, 1987, pp. 29, 36, 38, 40, 49–53, 56, 67, 69–70, 136, ill. p. 44 (color).
William Zimmer. "Painter, Known for 30s Works, Still Explores Epic Themes." New York Times (April 21, 1991), p. CN24.
Peter Blume. "Interview with Peter Blume." Archives of American Art Journal 32, no. 3 (1992), pp. 2, 9–11, ill.
Julie Mellby. "Letters from Charles Daniel to Peter Blume." Archives of American Art Journal 33, no. 1 (1993), pp. 16, 18, 21–22, 25, 26 nn. 43, 46, 55.
Jocelyne Rotily. "Politique des musées du Luxembourg et du Jeu de Paume face à l'art américain: Histoire de deux grandes expositions dans le Paris de l'entre-deux-guerres." Gazette des beaux arts 130 (November 1997), fig. 5.
Mark Andrew White. "Slicing and Dionysian: Peter Blume's 'Vegetable Dinner'." American Art 14 (Spring 2000), pp. 80, 89 n. 1, p. 90 n. 6.
Ori Z. Soltes. Fixing the World: Jewish American Painters in the Twentieth Century. Lebanon, N.H., 2002, pp. 43–44, fig. 26 (color).
Marshall N. Price in Isabelle Dervaux. Surrealism USA. Exh. cat., National Academy Museum. New York, 2004, p. 174, colorpl. 11.
Roberta Smith. "Filling In the Many Gaps In American Surrealism." New York Times (March 31, 2005), p. E5.
Robert Cowley inPeter Blume: Nature and Metamorphosis. Ed. Robert Cozzolino. Exh. cat., Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Philadelphia, 2014, pp. 14, 343, colorpl. 23.
Robert Cozzolino inPeter Blume: Nature and Metamorphosis. Ed. Robert Cozzolino. Exh. cat., Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Philadelphia, 2014, pp. 21–25, 27, 30, 35, 37, 38 n. 8, p. 86, ill. p. 23 (installation photo, Exh. Pittsburgh 1934)
.
Sarah Vure inPeter Blume: Nature and Metamorphosis. Ed. Robert Cozzolino. Exh. cat., Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Philadelphia, 2014, pp. 41, 52–54, ill. p. 40 (color detail).
Ken Johnson. "Vivid Visions, Unsettling Still." New York Times (January 16, 2015), p. C30.
Rebecca Shaykin. Edith Halpert, the Downtown Gallery, and the Rise of American Art. Exh. cat., Jewish Museum. New York, 2019, pp. 144, 207 n. 40, ill. p. 145 (color).
Peter Blume (American (born former Russian Empire, now Belarus), Smarhon (Smorgon) 1906–1992 New Milford, Connecticut)
1961
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