Frank Lobdell
Kelso No. 76, 2.12.00, 2000
Color etching, edition 29/30
Racine Art Museum, Gift of Frank Lobdell Trust
Photography: Jon Bolton, Racine
California Dreamin’: Mark Adams and Frank Lobdell
February 21 – June 5, 2016
While the work of Mark Adams (1925-2006) and Frank Lobdell (1921-2013) may not be similar in terms of subject matter, the artists share a desire to explore how pattern and color develop a composition. In addition, they both made their way to California where they spent the better part of their artistic careers producing work and teaching.
Born in Fort Plains, New York, Mark Adams formally studied painting, but first worked as a tapestry and stained-glass designer. In the 1950s, he married printmaker Beth Van Hoesen (also featured in RAM’s collection) and they settled in California. Adams eventually shifted to watercolor, printmaking, and acrylic painting as his primary forms of expression. Drawing on his experience building images with large planes of color, Adams created realistic, color-infused compositions. He favored everyday subjects, such as still lives—reflecting on items that could be both personal to him and understandable to others.
Raised in Minnesota, Frank Lobdell served in WWII then made his home in California. He was an exacting and intense figure—known to mutter the phrase, “nothing worth anything is easy.” Although primarily a painter, Lobdell also produced lithographs, etchings, and monoprints. He participated in weekly figure drawing sessions with famous San Francisco Bay area artists, including Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn (also featured in RAM’s collection), and Nathan Oliviera. Lobdell was familiar with representing the human form. After his wartime experiences, and as his career developed, he sought to explore humanity in broader terms—utilizing a “vocabulary of archetypal themes and abstract symbols.”
More About the Exhibition
California Dreamin’: Mark Adams and Frank Lobdell
February 21 – June 5, 2016
Frank Lobdell
Kelso No. 76, 2.12.00, 2000
Color etching, edition 29/30
Racine Art Museum, Gift of Frank Lobdell Trust
Photography: Jon Bolton, Racine
While the work of Mark Adams (1925-2006) and Frank Lobdell (1921-2013) may not be similar in terms of subject matter, the artists share a desire to explore how pattern and color develop a composition. In addition, they both made their way to California where they spent the better part of their artistic careers producing work and teaching.
Born in Fort Plains, New York, Mark Adams formally studied painting, but first worked as a tapestry and stained-glass designer. In the 1950s, he married printmaker Beth Van Hoesen (also featured in RAM’s collection) and they settled in California. Adams eventually shifted to watercolor, printmaking, and acrylic painting as his primary forms of expression. Drawing on his experience building images with large planes of color, Adams created realistic, color-infused compositions. He favored everyday subjects, such as still lives—reflecting on items that could be both personal to him and understandable to others.
Raised in Minnesota, Frank Lobdell served in WWII then made his home in California. He was an exacting and intense figure—known to mutter the phrase, “nothing worth anything is easy.” Although primarily a painter, Lobdell also produced lithographs, etchings, and monoprints. He participated in weekly figure drawing sessions with famous San Francisco Bay area artists, including Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn (also featured in RAM’s collection), and Nathan Oliviera. Lobdell was familiar with representing the human form. After his wartime experiences, and as his career developed, he sought to explore humanity in broader terms—utilizing a “vocabulary of archetypal themes and abstract symbols.”
More About the Exhibition
Gallery of Work
Exhibitions at RAM are made possible by:
Platinum Partners
Anonymous
The Estate of Karen Johnson Boyd
Ron and Judith Isaacs
The Estate of Marilyn Rothschild
Windgate Foundation
Diamond Partners
David Charak
Ruffo Family Foundation
Ruth Arts Foundation
Diane Zebell
Gold Partners
Judith and David Flegel Fund
Osborne and Scekic Family Foundation
Reliance Controls Community Fund
W.T. Walker Group, Inc.
Silver Partners
Anonymous
Anonymous
Bader Philanthropies
Baird
A.C. Buhler Family
Dave’s Wine Garage
Paula and E.L. Donovitz Memorial Endowment Fund
Ben and Dawn Flegel
Tom Harty
Horizon Retail Construction, Inc.
Johnson Financial Group
Robert E. Kohler Jr. Fund
Luanne Frey and Mark Lukow
Sheri and Frank Sullivan
Wisconsin Arts Board
Bronze Partners
Sandy and Gus Antonneau
Carol Baylon
Susan Boland
Rose and Peter Christensen
Educators Credit Union
Carol Griseto
Julia Ann Oas and Don Gloo
Hitter’s Baseball
Debbie and Chuck Hoffman
Susan and Dan Horton
Gary Van Wert and Ronald Jacquart
Paula Kalke
Bill and Debbie Keland
Nancy Kurten
Susan Manalli
Norbell Foundation
O&H Danish Bakery
Rita Petretti
Rasmussen Diamonds
SC Johnson
Harold and Lois Solberg
Twin Disc
Marc J. Wollman
Amy and Robb Woulfe
Media Sponsor
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