Framers’ show a fantasy come true

Framer finds little treasures within a collection of a Concordia artist’s works.

By: Leon Tovey
   JAMESBURG — One day last fall, Ted Ehmann got to live every art collector’s wildest fantasy.
   He remembers it well.
   Mr. Ehmann, the owner of Family Framers in Jamesburg, had been invited into the Concordia home of Iris Ivers, widow of the Polish-born artist George Ivers, to assemble an exhibit of Mr. Ivers’ work.
   "I just went into his studio and there they were," Mr. Ehmann said Feb. 4. "All these little works, a lot of which were unknown — like lost treasure. So that’s what I decided to call the show: ‘Little Treasures.’"
   Mr. Ivers, who was born Jerry Iwaszkeiwicz in Poland in 1923, lived a wildly colorful life. He joined the Polish Merchant Marines at the age of 17; returned home to fight the Nazi invasion in 1939; was a prisoner of the Nazis and Franco’s Guardia Civil during World War II; and finally immigrated to the United States, where he became a citizen after serving with the U.S. Army in Korea.
   His colorful life influenced his career as an artist, which was prolific. Upon his death from Parkinson’s disease in 2001, he left behind a veritable mountain of work at his home in Monroe, which Mr. Ehmann explored last fall. The resulting, 32-piece "Little Treasures" exhibit, which opened Feb. 1 and runs through the end of March, includes works in several media covering some of the late Mr. Ivers’ favorite recurring themes, Mr. Ehmann said.
   "Pan is one of my favorites that shows up a lot," he said, pointing out a small oil painting, "Nocturn for Woodwind and Snow."
   In the painting, the mythical Greek god, his head thrown back with joy, rides through a moonlit winter forest on the back of a snow leopard.
   The colors, muted blues and grays, have a very soothing effect broken in a sudden and startling way by the burning green and red eyes of the leopard, which seem to stalk the painting’s viewer. Mr. Ehmann said he considers it "playful."
   Next to this surreal, mythical scene, another of Mr. Ivers’ oil paintings hangs in sharp contrast.
   "Garages of Trenton," which comes from what Mr. Ehmann referred to as Mr. Ivers’ "Ben Shahn realist period," is just what its title suggests; a series of three large, old, rundown, green garages standing in front of a large, old, run-down, green house.
   In the background to the left of the garage, a small African-American child, dressed for the snow that surrounds her and carrying a sled, looks over her shoulder, quietly challenging the viewer to ignore the painting’s subtle social message.
   The two paintings seem to represent different facets of Mr. Ivers’ personality. There’s the George Ivers who made his living painting flowers on porcelain for Lenox china and there’s the George Ivers who extolled the readers of his 1993 memoir, "Escape Into Danger," to remember the horrors perpetrated by fascism in the 1930s.
   By juxtaposing the two paintings, Mr. Ehmann makes a powerful statement about the broad nature of Mr. Ivers’ artistic impulse.
   "I think George would be very happy with the way the pieces are presented," Mr. Ehmann said.
   Mr. Ehmann said setting up an exhibit for an artist of Mr. Ivers’ stature was a daunting task that took most of the fall to complete.
   But he added that it was an honor to assemble the exhibit. Himself an artist who grew up in Trenton, Mr. Ehmann said he had met Mr. Ivers a few times, but that the man had been a presence in his life for as long as he could remember.
   "My fondest memory of him was just that there was this spirit out there, running around, doing these things that nobody else was doing," Mr. Ehmann said. "I think the show captures that."
   The show also features a broad selection of prints — all original artist proofs, numbered and signed by Mr. Ivers — woodcuts and etchings, ranging in price from $90 to $350. The oil and goauche paintings range from $200 to $2,000.
   A wine and cheese reception celebrating the show will be held at Family Framers, 15 East Railroad Ave., Saturday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The public is invited.