Accession Number
1984.1057
Medium
watercolor
Dimensions
Image: 71.1 x 40.7 cm (28 x 16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick A. Biehle
Tags
Drawing Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Watercolor Color: Orange
Background & Context
Background Story
August Frederick Biehle (1886-1972) was an American painter known for the precisely observed, dynamically composed drawings and paintings that make him one of the most accomplished painters of the Cleveland School. Sketch of Interior Design from before 1918 depicts an interior in the precisely observed, dynamically composed manner that distinguishes Biehle's best work from the more general painting of his contemporaries. Biehle was known for his precisely observed, dynamically composed works that combine the influence of European modernism with the American realist tradition, and the interior design sketch shows his talent for combining precise observation with dynamic composition.
Cultural Impact
Sketch of Interior Design is important in the history of American painting because it demonstrates the precisely observed, dynamically composed manner that Biehle brought to interior subjects as one of the most accomplished painters of the Cleveland School. Biehle's precisely observed, dynamically composed works—combining the influence of European modernism with the American realist tradition—represent one of the most accomplished traditions in Cleveland School painting, and the before 1918 sketch shows this tradition at its most precisely observed.
Why It Matters
Sketch of Interior Design is Biehle's precisely observed interior sketch: an interior rendered in the dynamically composed manner of one of the most accomplished painters of the Cleveland School. The before 1918 sketch shows the combination of precise observation with dynamic composition that makes Biehle distinctive.
