West Virginia Wesleyan College’s Sleeth Gallery will host an exhibit in April from an artist who found inspiration in Appalachia. The exhibit, “Exploring West Virginia: Sketches, Studies and Finished Works” by the late Carl Gaertner will run through May 3 in Sleeth Gallery.
Carl Gaertner was born in Cleveland, Ohio on April 18, 1898. He attended the Cleveland School of Art, now known as the Cleveland Institute of Art, from 1920 to 1922. He then taught at the Cleveland School of Art from 1925 until his death in 1952, where he was highly respected and influential. While his early work focused on his surroundings in Cleveland, he soon began to travel and gained interest and inspiration from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Cape Cod, and New York. Though he garnered much attention for his industrial landscapes, he has also captured the hard work of agriculture with sloping, mountainous backgrounds, demonstrating Appalachian beauty and the labor of the people living there at that time. He died unexpectedly on Nov. 4, 1952 at his home in Cleveland, Ohio.
“Exploring West Virginia: Sketches, Studies, and Finished Works” reflects on Gaertner’s work documenting Appalachian life and landscapes. As an outsider, it can be difficult to capture the essence of the Appalachian people, but Gaertner was able to do so with empathy, understanding, and grace that felt more comforting than critical.
Gaertner visited West Virginia a few times throughout his life, including an extended visit in the summer of 1933, teaching with William Grauer and the Art Colony at The Greenbrier. The first retrospective show in 25 years was exhibited at Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg, West Virginia earlier this year, and we are now happy to share it with West Virginia Wesleyan College at Sleeth Gallery. Carl Gaertner’s granddaughter, Erin Gaertner ’08, has worked to preserve and exhibit Gaertner’s art to share with those who are familiar fans and those who are receiving their first introduction. She has curated this collection to demonstrate his connection to Appalachia with pieces that focus on West Virginia and surrounding areas.
Katy Whitlow ’08 has assisted in research and archival work.
