MD -- Baltimore -- Maryland Historical Society -- Exhibit: Art of Jacob Glushakow:
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Description of Pictures: Images of a Vanished Baltimore: The Art of Jacob Glushakow
In 2014, thanks to the generosity of the Glushakow family and Helen Glushakow in particular, the Maryland Historical Society received a gift of paintings, drawings and oil sketches by the artist. From touching family portraits to more jarring scenes of urban renewal at work, Glushakow's art explores the human experience with sensitivity, honesty, and sometimes, humor. On November 13, 2014, the Maryland Historical Society launched "Images of a Vanished Baltimore: The Art of Jacob Glushakow," an exhibition which will highlight this important acquisition and celebrate the significance of this Baltimore artist's work.
"Jacob's dream was to have his paintings at the Maryland Historical Society," remarked Helen Glushakow, his sister. Glushakow's work intersects seamlessly with the museum's other 20th century holdings of paintings and photography. "This gift of Glushakow's paintings and drawings offers us so many opportunities to interpret life in twentieth-century Baltimore. His art provides glimpses of the everyday, but it tells big stories about this city's history. His work "puts the viewer on the ground" in this city as it looked in the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and 70s..." Alexandra Deutsch, the museum's Chief Curator observes. "Images of a Vanished Baltimore: The Art of Jacob Glushakow" will remain on view thru 2015.
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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
MDHSJG_150830_001.JPG: Jacob Glushakow (1914-2000) painted the everyday of Baltimore: the people, the neighborhoods, the harbor, the markets, and perhaps most significantly, the vanishing urban landscape of the city. The first child of Russian Jewish immigrants, Esther and Abraham Glashakow, Jacob entered the world at sea on the ship Bradenburg traveling from Bremen, Germany to Philadelphia. The family, after fleeing the beginning of World War I, settled in East Baltimore.
Jacob graduated from City College in 1933, attended the Maryland Institute of Art, and from 1933 to 1936 studied at the Art Students League in New York City. Until the end of his life, he sketched and painted the city he loved, creating more than 1,000 works. His paintings are in several museum collections, including the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Phillips Collection, and the Metropolitan Museum [of] Art. His paintings and drawings, given by his family and acquired in 2014, now form the Jacob Glushakow Collection at the Maryland Historical Society.
MDHSJG_150830_004.JPG: Self Portrait, n.d.
MDHSJG_150830_012.JPG: Glushakow's Portraits:
Although Glushakow is best known for his scenes of everyday life in the city, his portraiture represents one of his greatest artistic achievements. His sketches and paintings of his family members capture both the sitter's personalities as well as the artist's obvious affection for them. Often, he painted family members over and over again during various periods of their lives. In later life, he ceased to paint himself, not thinking he wanted to paint his "old" face.
MDHSJG_150830_015.JPG: Artist's Mother, 1962
MDHSJG_150830_020.JPG: Drawing of Helen, the Artist's Sister, March 22, 1935
MDHSJG_150830_024.JPG: Drawing of Naomi, the Artist's Sister, n.d.
MDHSJG_150830_028.JPG: Herb Denenberg, The Artist's Brother-in-law, n.d.
MDHSJG_150830_032.JPG: Portrait of Mickey, the Artist's Sister, n.d.
MDHSJG_150830_064.JPG: Vanishing Cityscapes, Hidden Alleys:
Glushakow moved about his city observing the deterioration and destruction that characterized much of the twentieth century cityscape. In the alleys of the city, he found shabby, haphazard buildings and houses rightly clustered together, their inhabitants largely invisible. These stark scenes foreshadowed the eventual eradication of many of the city's nineteenth-century rowhouses and shop fronts.
More interested in the naked skeletons of buildings being torn down than the "modern" city replacing them, Glushakow's compositions allow the viewer to glimpse the remnants of the architectural past in its most exposed state: windows broken, doors off hinges, and interiors rendered exteriors by the wrecking ball.
MDHSJG_150830_074.JPG: Evangelism in Fells Point:
The Port Mission, founded in 1881, was located in the center of Baltimore's Fells Point neighborhood on Broadway. Founded by several of the city's businessmen to combat the crime and squalor of the waterfront area, Port Mission's supporters spread the gospel, particularly to seamen. The building included a reading room, hosted religious services, and provided aid of clothing a food for seamen who had fallen on hard times. By the mid-1950s, when Glushakow probably painted the Port Mission building, the evangelical activities of the Mission had all but ceased and the building had fallen into disrepair.
MDHSJG_150830_076.JPG: Port Mission
MDHSJG_150830_085.JPG: Druid Hill Park, 1947
MDHSJG_150830_094.JPG: Picnic Grounds, 1941
MDHSJG_150830_097.JPG: Everyday Scenes, Everyday People:
"Glushakow's art is realistic but also symbolic. He found nobility in the ordinary aspects of the city, and by extension in the ordinary life as well," wrote Baltimore Sun art critic John Dorsey. This comment rings true when looking at scenes like these that depict simple human moments with figures and landscapes that are both familiar and emblematic. Glushakow populated his scenes with the people he saw, depicting the diversity and humanity of Baltimore's residents as they went about their daily lives.
MDHSJG_150830_103.JPG: Tailor's Workshop, n.d.
MDHSJG_150830_107.JPG: The Tailor's Shop:
"I used to visit Mr. Golding's shop... I liked the place -- it was so chaotic-looking. It made Mr. Golding nervous for me to be in there. He was stunned that anyone would want to sketch the place...," remarked Glushakow in a 1993 interview. Glushakow's series of paintings of the interior of the tailor's shop represent some of his finest realist works. Although devoid of figures, a human presence is felt in these compositions that look as if the tailor has just stepped away from his work.
MDHSJG_150830_111.JPG: Sewing Machine, n.d.
MDHSJG_150830_115.JPG: Central & Fairmont Streets, n.d.
MDHSJG_150830_119.JPG: Sam's Billiards, n.d.
MDHSJG_150830_128.JPG: Pop's Surplus, 1987
MDHSJG_150830_131.JPG: Market Scene, n.d.
MDHSJG_150830_137.JPG: Ralph's Poultry, 1986
MDHSJG_150830_140.JPG: Street and Market Scenes:
Glushakow's street and market scenes are well-known, the themes he returned to again and again. "I used to walk around the city sketching things," he explained. "I was either foolish or had no fears." Seeing the changing city with both a historian's acuity and an artist's eye, Glushakow traced the evolution of many of Baltimore's business districts, watching them fade away over several decades. "Every block had two barbershops, a tailor, a bakery -- that's all evaporated," he lamented.
MDHSJG_150830_150.JPG: Art School Model, 1935
MDHSJG_150830_155.JPG: Early Days and Education:
According to family history, Glushakow's mother, Esther, played a strong role in encouraging his artistic endeavors. His sister, Helen, commented, "Jacob was always drawing!" In speaking about his art education, Glushakow credited his visits to the fine arts department of the central Enoch Pratt Free Library as the most significant part of artistic development.
Speaking of his early career, he said, "I had some portraits to do in those meager days, then World War II came along and gave me a steady job." After the war, he studied in France and England, but chose to return to Baltimore to make his living. For more than five decades he taught art at the Jewish Community Center.
MDHSJG_150830_159.JPG: WWII Aircraft Hanger, n.d.
MDHSJG_150830_166.JPG: Self-Portrait of the Artist, WWII Uniform, n.d.
MDHSJG_150830_170.JPG: Self-portrait of the Artist, 1968
MDHSJG_150830_175.JPG: The Park in Autumn, 1940
MDHSJG_150830_180.JPG: Kids at Play, n.d.
MDHSJG_150830_186.JPG: Used Furniture and Clothing Stores, July 16, 1963
MDHSJG_150830_190.JPG: Hollins Market, 1958
MDHSJG_150830_195.JPG: St. Leo the Great Catholic Church, Exeter Street, n.d.
MDHSJG_150830_199.JPG: Synagogue, Park Heights Avenue, n.d.
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Description of Subject Matter: The collections include the original copy of Francis Scott Key's writing of the Star-Spangled Banner.
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[Museums (History)]
2015 photos: Equipment this year: I mostly used my Fuji XS-1 camera but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000.
I retired from the US Census Bureau in god-forsaken Suitland, Maryland on my 58th birthday in May. Yee ha!
Trips this year:
a quick trip to Florida.
two Civil War Trust conferences (Raleigh, NC and Richmond, VA), and
my 10th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including Los Angeles).
Ego Strokes: Carolyn Cerbin used a Kevin Costner photo in her USA Today article. Miss DC pictures were used a few times in the Washington Post.
Number of photos taken this year: just over 550,000.
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