Ma Heuer Peeling Apples

Painting

-

Milwaukee Public Library

Name/Title

Ma Heuer Peeling Apples

Artwork Details

Medium

Oil on Canvas

Subject Person

Anna Heuer (Ohlheiser)

Context

The painting probably depicts Anna Heuer (Ohlheiser) who, with her husband John Deitrich "Dick" Heuer, was a favorite subject of Fursman's during his extended stays in Saugatuck where he operated the Summer School of Painting.

Collection

Wisconsin Art Collection, Artwork Collection

Acquisition

Accession

1970.4

Source or Donor

Friends of Elsa Ulbricht

Acquisition Method

Gift

Made/Created

Artist

Frederick F. Fursman

Date made

1921

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Signature and Date

Location

Lower right

Transcription

"Frederick F. Fursman 21"

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Framed Size

Height

40 in

Width

40 in

Dimension Description

Image Size

Height

36 in

Width

36 in

Provenance

Notes

Purchased from the Frederick Fursman Art Foundation, Saugatuck, Michigan by Friends of Elsa Ulbricht and Frederick Fursman. Among the Ulbricht-Fursman Fund contributors were: Marian Bode, Aaron Bohrod, Max Fernekes, Emily Groom, Dorothy Inbusch, Gerald P. Landt, Willis and Lillian Leenhouts, Dorothy Meredith, Frederick Olson, Charlotte Partridge, George and Jeune Wussow, and others.

Exhibitions

Notes

"Frederick Frary Fursman: A Rediscovered Impressionist," University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Art Museum, 1991.

Interpretative Labels

Label

Frederick Frary Fursman (1874-1943) painted and taught in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Michigan and made notable contributions to the development of impressionism. He is especially remembered for founding the Saugatuck Summer School of Painting which for more than 30 years was an important influence on generations of regional artists. As an instructor at the UW-Milwaukee Art Department, he formed a lifelong friendship with Elsa Ulbricht who would succeed him as director of the Saugatuck Summer School of Painting. This work was purchased for the Milwaukee Public Library in honor of both Fursman and Ulbricht, who is displayed nearby in the Historical Rotunda Gallery. On the advice of Elsa Ulbricht, the Charles Allis Art Library, then part of the Milwaukee Public Library System, held an important exhibition of Fursman’s work in Milwaukee in 1969. This work was also exhibited as part of a wide-ranging retrospective exhibit featuring more than one hundred paintings by the artist at the UWM Art Museum in 1991. The artist is represented in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. This work is a notable contribution to the Historical Rotunda Gallery, both as an expressive character study and as an important depiction of a working-class woman in the 1920s. Fursman also innovates with the depiction of light and color, reflecting his career-spanning embrace of impressionism.

Research Notes

Notes

Smithsonian Catalog of American Portraits, National [American] Portrait Gallery Survey, 1982: control number IAP 89710078.

Notes

This piece is pictured in June Edlhauser's "Art of the State" feature in vol. 42, no. 20 of the Milwaukee Reader dated May 14, 1984 (attached).