Take the mystery out of art history
 
Groshans - "A Woman in a Striped Dress" Realistic oil painting of a lone woman seen from the waist up dressed in a striped dress
 
 

Werner Groshans • German/American: 1913-1986

A Woman in a Striped Dress • Oil On Canvas 22 3/4” x 28”

Is reality what you see, or what I see? Only Werner Groshans knew for sure, and he wasn’t telling. This New Jersey artist, by way of Eutigen-Phorsheim, Germany, was determined to “… paint my own reality.” His style, often referred to as Magic Reality, or Mysterious Reality took realistically-painted images and added a dash of pixie-dust to create something no two people saw the same way. At various stages of his life he put more emphasis on the “real”, as he did with Woman In A Striped Dress. At other times, he was more concerned with the mystery of life, as in one of his best known paintings, Lake Erie Shore.

Groshan’s is often thought of as a Surrealist painter, and he certainly shared their love of off-kilter, dream-like scenes that asked more questions than they answered. But since he raised the question, what was the girl in this painting thinking?

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Well, we know a few pertinent facts. One, it’s been reported that Groshans had a tendency, bordering on obsession, to paint young girls dressed only in shirts. Two, Groshans was always interested in adding an air of mystery to his work. Did this woman tentatively walk into Groshans Weehawken, New Jersey feeling a bit fearful? Was she wary of this slim artist with the quiet, intense manner. Her eyes don’t look at him, instead darting nervously from side-to-side. There’s a crack in the wall. Is it real or commentary? Is her life far more difficult than her well-ordered, neatly striped dress let’s on?

I see a woman whose family has shattered, yet she struggles to maintain her dignity. She has agreed to sit for a portrait by this well-known local artist, whose reputation includes just a wisp of delicious scandal. And, she doesn’t know if she likes the results, but she’ll live with it.

That’s my story. What’s yours? The magic is that Groshan’s reality is big enough to include everyone’s viewpoint.

Canton Museum of Art Permanent Collection • Gift from the Henry W. Ranger Fund 77.25

 
 

4 Ways to Sound Smart When Viewing at The Canton Museum of Art

1.
“This is really one of Groshan’s more tame canvases, with just a hint of the mystery he was known for.”

2.
“Calling him a Realist just doesn’t seem right. There is too much else going on in all of his works.”

3.
“Of course, calling him a Surrealist doesn’t seem right, either. He never bent the laws of nature, only the arrangement.”

4.
“His art was part of a movement called ‘Magic Reality’ or ‘Mysterious Reality.’ It was a very small movement.”

 
 

Groshans Timeline. Scroll over images to see timeline.