Gallery Spotlight: Richard Norton Gallery
by Samuel Isenstein
Self-Portrait, Gertrude Abercrombie
Located in the Merchandise Mart, the Richard Norton Gallery showcases Impressionist and Modernist drawings, paintings and sculpture from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Featuring artists such as Getrude Abercrombie, Francis Chapin and Manierre Dawson, the Norton Gallery has a large collection of Chicago art. Of significance to the gallery are historic scenes of the Chicagoland area, rendered before 1950 as well as students of the Art Institute of Chicago.
The most compelling elements of the collection are the city scenes rendered by lesser-known masters. Depicting the municipality masterfully, George A. Aldrich and Richard A. Chase’s works are a major draw of the gallery. Manierre Dawson is also well represented – a Chicago native, Dawson participated in the groundbreaking 1913 armory show. His art is a combination of the old masters and avante garde, pushing him to experiment with figural abstraction. (Untitled (Reclining Nude) is a perfect example of his aesthetics, complete with his characteristic refusal to name his paintings meaningfully.
By The El Tracks, Francis Chapin
Francis Chapin is another standout – a resident of Chicago from 1925 until his death in 1965. A graduate of the Art Institute, he later taught there for many years and kept a studio in Old Town. Focusing on the contrast between urban and rural communities, he maintained that small-town aspects remained alive and well in the big city. His depictions of the city generally contained vibrant colors and human activity, championing the virtues of human community against the cold steel of the adjacent skyscrapers. Well aware of the reality of his surroundings, Chapin remained a proponent of the Midwest and its encompassing values even though the city center was expanding and modernizing all it touched.
The Richard Norton Gallery also offers consignment services, appraisal and consultation. Exhibiting a large body of historically and technically significant art, the Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 to 5. More information at www.richardnortongallery.com.
