Church Scene "Turpentine"

Object NamePrint

Artist / Maker Mortimer Borne (Polish-American, 1902 - 1987)

Date1936

MediumDrypoint

Dimensions6 7/8 x 10 in. (17.5 x 25.4 cm)

ClassificationsPrints and Printing Plates

Credit LineTransferred from the Applied Art Department, Iowa State University. In the permanent collection, Brunnier Art Museum, University Museusms, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberUM82.216

Status

Not on view

Collections

Works of Art on Paper & Photography

CultureAmerican

Label TextA preacher stands at the lectern addressing his congregation in an African American church. Why might this Polish immigrant choose to depict a typical African American scene? Did Borne feel that scenes like this promoted a social awareness, or was he trying to educate viewers on racial acceptance and cultural understanding? Whatever Borne's motivation, in Church Scene "Turpentine," he allows the folkways of African American culture to illustrate the way some Americans coped with hard times--through the bond of organized religion. Mortimer Borne was born in Rypin, Poland. His aptitude for art was noticed by his teachers at an early age, but his education was interrupted by World War I. In 1916, following the war, he immigrated with his family to the United States. He enrolled in art classes at the National Academy of Design and the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown. From 1945 to 1967 Mortimer Borne taught art at the New York School for Social Research. He is also the founder of the Tappan Zee Art Center in Nyack, New York, where he worked and taught for nearly four decades until his death, at age 89. Throughout his life, Borne was an extremely prolific and versatile artist, producing works in several media including wood sculpture, painting, and drawing, in addition to printing techniques. His works are represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the National Gallery of Art, as well as many other major museums and collections.

PeriodDepression Era

Locations