Still Life with Music

Never-before-seen paintings of ‘Newark’s Painter Laureate’ are on view at Rider Art Gallery through April 21.

By: Ilene Dube
   Looking at the still life paintings of Adolf Konrad, it is easy to glean the artist’s passions. Cello fingerboards, mandolins, the French horn, a flute and a violin, even sheet music populate his paintings.

Harry Naar, professor of fine art at Rider University, is especially interested in Adolf Konrad’s still lifes: "I admire his ability to organize things, no matter what he paints." Above, "Signal Lantern," 1962.

   "As a child I took a year of violin," says the 87-year-old artist, who lived in Bremen, Germany, the first 10 years of his life, before his family emigrated to the United States. Bremen, an international seaport, was alive with sound from concerts in the park to gypsy music in cafés. "I took up the cello at 15, but it was too late. I was already too old to become a string player," says Mr. Konrad, who has been called "Newark’s Painter Laureate."
   Fortunately, his perfectionism didn’t stop him from studying chamber music at Cummington School of the Arts in Massachusetts in the late 1930s. Inspired by the early works of Bach, Beethoven and Haydn, he performed in a community orchestra.
   The Asbury resident, whose lively speech is tinged with a German accent, hasn’t picked up a cello in 40-50 years. "But I am a great listener," he says.
   Harry Naar, professor of fine art and director of the Gallery at Rider University, has assembled an exhibition of Mr. Konrad’s still lifes, on view through April 21. "Most people know him for his urban landscapes and Victorian architectural studies with surrealist imagery, but he has always painted still lifes," says Mr. Naar. The Rider show includes many paintings that have never been exhibited.
   Mr. Naar, who professes a long-time passion for Mr. Konrad’s work, is especially interested in the still lifes because of what they teach. "You can see the artist’s hand at work. I admire his ability to organize things, no matter what he paints."
   In "Still Life with Shoe," a tabletop is cluttered with everything from a roll of paper towels to wine bottles, cans of paintbrushes, an open pack of cigarettes, splayed sheet music and a half-eaten loaf of bread stabbed with a knife. "It’s basically junk, but he puts it together in a wonderful way," says Mr. Naar. "Some areas are described, some are alluded to. It shows students how to vary their paint strokes." The shoe that gives the painting its name was a last-minute addition, because Mr. Konrad had removed it after coming in from the garden and placed it in the scene.

"It has been a tradition in painting for musical instruments to be objects in paintings," Mr. Konrad says, "That’s because the artists always hung around with musicians." Above, "Mandola," 1965.

   "It adds another dimension, a human quality, to the painting," says Mr. Naar. "It is the artist in the picture." A still life is not only about what the artist has to say about the objects in it, but the objects say a lot about the artist. "I once gave an assignment in my fundamentals of drawing class on how to make a drawing of yourself without putting yourself in it," says Mr. Naar.
   "Homage to Chausson" is like a portrait of the artist without the artist. It contains his instruments — mandolin, French horn, clarinet — and his paintings, his subjects and his sheet music. There are peaches and a bowler, a seashell and a bust of Venus. A piece of accordion-folded paper is tacked to a canvas on which a woman’s torso has been sketched.
   Although Mr. Konrad was not necessarily a fan of all the works of Ernest Chausson (1855-1899), he liked his romantic music, his "Poeme," and painted this as a romantic fantasy.
   Did the artist play all of the instruments he paints, at one time or another? He laughs. "They are antiques. I got them at auctions and yard sales. The clarinet is from the 18th century. The old flute and broken-down violin were given to me by a friend who knew I collected old instruments. I don’t really collect them, they are interesting objects hanging around the studio. Inevitably they wind up in paintings.
   "It has been a tradition in painting, when still life came to the fore in the early 18th century, for musical instruments to be objects in paintings. That’s because the artists always hung around with musicians. Guitars and mandolins were always used in the Cubist paintings of Picasso and Braque. I think most artists have an interest in music."
   Ironically, Mr. Konrad cannot paint while listening to music. "It is too distracting," he says.

"The objects are really just an excuse for painting, for exploiting and playing with paint," says Mr. Konrad. Above, "Repast," 1962.

   "The objects are really just an excuse for painting, for exploiting and playing with paint," says Mr. Konrad, who prefers oils to acrylics. "Oil has a richness and flexibility. You can make a thick impasto. The objects are just an excuse to bring out the expressive quality of paint."
   "Work Gloves" is a simple painting of three gloves nailed to a piece of plywood, but Mr. Konrad brings out the texture of the gloves by building up the paint. Even though the plywood is painted on canvas, it has so much texture a viewer can fancy getting a splinter by touching it.
   Mr. Konrad was influenced by the Surrealists as well as the Cubists. As a child in Germany, he had a teacher who taught him to paint less from the literal world and more from his imagination. The teacher would take the class on walking trips, pointing to the beauty of the medieval city. When they returned to the classroom they would paint from memory, rather than the "vedutas," or picture-postcard views that artists would paint for tourists during the age of the grand tours of Europe.
   "I never use color in a decorative way or purely for its own sake," Mr. Konrad says. "Some abstract painters superficially splash paint on the canvas, hoping it turns interesting. It’s pretty but doesn’t have ideas, composition or design. I use color to define space and also for emotional reasons. Agreeable, warm friendly colors would be used for a romantic painting, such as ‘The Letter.’"
   "The Letter" is the only painting in the show with a figure in it, and yet it is still a still life. A woman in a pink robe seated on a striped sofa reading a letter is painted softly, as if receding into the background. In the foreground is a mahogany table with a fruit bowl, coffee cup and sheet music, along with the envelope and letter. Books, wine bottles and the mandolin litter the floor.
   Has this woman been spurned or received tragic news about a loved one?
   "It is important not to answer, to explain, or the viewer would lose interest," says Mr. Konrad. "That’s the problem with Norman Rockwell — everything is explained, there is no mystery. It is boring. It should raise questions."
Moments of Vision: The Still-Lifes of Adolf Konrad is on view at the Gallery at Rider University through April 21. Gallery talk by Mr. Konrad, April 11, 7 p.m. Still Life Overtones, a concert by pianists Ena Bronstein Barton and Phyllis Alpert Lehrer celebrating the influence of music on Mr. Konrad with duets by Mozart, Brahms and Schumann, will be performed in the gallery April 18, 7 p.m. Seating is limited; to reserve, call (609) 896-5303. Gallery hours: Mon.-Thurs. 2-8 p.m., Fri.- Sun. 2-5 p.m. For information, call (609) 896-5168.