Grinder (Welder)

Artist Edward Arnold Reep (1918 - 2013)

Date1939

MediumWatercolor on paper

Dimensions14 x 21 in. (35.6 x 53.3 cm)
Framed (Frame is gold, wired, glazed): 25 3/4 x 31 x 1 3/4 in. (65.4 x 78.7 x 4.4 cm)

ClassificationsPainting

Credit LineThe Sally and David Martin Collection

Object number2026.049

DescriptionWhen Ed painted this work, he was 21 years old and had just finished his art school studies in watercolor painting with master watercolorist Barse Miller, who was teaching at Art Center School in Los Angeles. This piece reflects Ed's interest in producing California Scene Paintings using the California Style of watercolor painting techniques that was receiving national and international attention, and to some extent peaking as an art movement, in 1939.

In conversations I had with Ed, he stated that back then he wanted to be identified with that school of painting and was seeking to find creative new subject matter for his works. He felt that his unique subject matter selections, combined with his spin on how they were painted, would be enough to set them apart from what had been done previously. The fact that he was accepted as a member of the California Water Color Society that same year, 1939, confirmed he was on the right track.

Ed and I discussed this exact watercolor (Grinder). We talked about the composition revolving around the firm stance of the man grinding, and the excitement one experiences when standing next to something being welded, feeling the heat and being amazed by the flying sparks and snapping sounds. He felt the watercolor accomplished the goal of communicating all that. I agreed with him, and from what David Martin told me, that was essentially why he and Sally chose to add this watercolor to their collection.

Although Ed ultimately became best known as a post-World War II mid-century modernist, this work and his others from the 1930s hold their own as examples of engaging American Scene Painting. This particular watercolor also speaks of everyday work life in America during the Great Depression, when jobs of any type were welcome and something to be thankful for.

– Gordon McClelland, curator

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