Fred Ladwig (1912 - 1995)

Still Life with Figure, 1943, oil on canvas board, signed and dated lower right, 25 x 30 inches, exhibited 1) Rochester Finger Lakes Exhibition, The Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, May 5 - June 11, 1944 (label verso); and 2) (likely) [Solo Exhibition], Rochester Historical Society, May, 1945, presented in its original frame

$5750

Still Life with Figure is a prime examples of Fred Ladwig's spare, streamlined, modernist approach during the early 1940s. Art writer for the Rochester Times-Union, Amy H. Croughton, applauded the present work when it was exhibited at the Rochester Finger Lakes Exhibition in 1944, writing "Fred Ladwig shows a still life with white drapery, a combination of fine, sweeping lines." Reviewing Ladwig's solo exhibition at the Rochester Historical Society the following year, the same paper reported that Ladwig's paintings were "notable for their rich warm color and firm handling of pigment brushed on with smooth, sweeping strokes which would make for flatness were it not for the skillful painting of shadows in the folds of the drapery that form a background for most the still life groups. The figure studies are compositions of voluptuous curves offset by chalky whiteness of the flesh."

Fred Ladwig was a critically acclaimed New York-based painter and printmaker. Although largely self-taught, he did receive art instruction at the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery over a three-year period. After graduating from high school, Ladwig worked for a railroad between 1930 and 1935, while painting during his off hours. In 1936, he left for New York City to become a professional painter, but returned to Rochester after six months. Ladwig first exhibited his art in 1937 at the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery as a member of the Print Club of Rochester. At the end of the year, his work was included in an exhibition of American Block Prints at the Wichita Art Museum which then traveled to venues in California. The following year, three prints were part of an exhibition at the Albright Art Gallery in Buffalo and the Cayuga Museum of History of Art in Auburn, New York. Also in 1938, Ladwig exhibited for the first time at the Rochester Finger Lakes Exhibition at the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, a show that he participated in annually for many of the following years and where he won prizes for both paintings and prints. In 1941, Ladwig was honored with a solo exhibition at the Rundell Library Gallery and a second one-person show at the same venue followed in 1948. The American British Art Center in New York City hosted a solo exhibition of forty-five of Ladwig's prints in 1947. The following year, the American British Art Center included several of Ladwig's paintings in a group show, together with works by Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, and Picasso. Ladwig continued to be an active member of the Arena Group of artists and the wider arts community in the Rochester area through the balance of his life.

Alongside his fine art practice, Ladwig worked for interior design firms, completing projects for prominent citizens in Western New York, but with the advent of the war, he took a defense industry job. After the war, he worked in advertising and as a a department store display painter for Sears. He also designed and created decorative arts, including intricate needlepoint rugs, some of which were based on his prints. From 1955 forward, Ladwig was able to make a living as a professional artist with income from his antiques and decorating business supplementing his income.