Beal - "Oysters" Realistic lithograph of oysters, lemons and glass of wine on blue and white table

Jack Beal • American (1931-2013)

Oysters C: 1974 • Lithograph on Paper 12" x 16"

On a pleasant summer day in 1977, Jack Beal was hard at work painting laborers, social workers, scientists and other common working people. The sunlight streamed through the old mill windows of his new upstate New York studio as he worked on four murals for the U.S. Labor Department that established him as “the most important Social Realist to have emerged in American painting since the 1930s.” Then the New York Times critic added, “Given the generally low esteem – bordering on contempt – that the Social Realists have suffered in recent decades, this is not a position likely to be a cause of envy.” Gee, thanks for the compliment.

Jack Beal, hand-in-hand with wife Sondra Freckleton, traveled an uphill path against the popular art tides of the day, moving from abstraction to realism. Enchanted by works of 17th Century Dutch Masters, they were among the first American artists to abandon psychologically-driven Abstract Expressionism in favor of more easily understood realism. Jack Beal returned to his early love of drawing, a talent developed while overcoming a sickly childhood.

(story continues below break)

INTERESTING STORIES FROM OUR SPONSORS

Despite the ridicule of the abstract-obsessed art world, Beal’s minutely detailed paintings ended up in world-class company at the Whitney, MoMA, Smithsonian, and the Canton Museum of Art, among other venues. But his most famous works hung in two distinctly different places. “The History of Labor” with its optimistic view of everyday workers hung in quiet, austere government offices in Washington D.C. 250 miles north, in the subway tunnels beneath bustling Times Square, Beal created two glass tile mosaic panels portraying Persephone, the Greek goddess who spends half the year above ground and half in the underworld. It ends with her emerging from the subway exit to buy flowers at a Korean greengrocer’s stall. The man had a sense of humor.

In 2014, Beals widow, Sondra Freckleton stood before a group admiring the recently restored murals in the Department of Labor. She talked of Jack’s struggle to create art easily understood and capable of leading people in a better direction. “Just before Jack died he was able to watch the restorers using Q-tips to clean the surface of his paintings, just like they did when restoring works of the Old Masters. He turned to me and said, ‘Now, I feel like a painter.’”

Whether facing schoolyard bullies or members of the art elite, Jack Beal’s talent won the day.

Canton Museum of Art Permanent Collection • Purchased by the Canton Museum of Art, 74.28

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

1.
“True story – this guy used his drawing talent to stave off schoolyard bullies. It’s the artistic form of concealed carry.”

2.
“Next time you’re in the Times Square subway station, catch his murals showing a mythological Greek goddess buying flowers from a Korean greengrocer.”

3.
“His wife of 57 years was the almost equally well-known artist, Sondra Freckleton. The Dynamic Duo, art-style.”

4.
“He went from Abstract Expressionist to Realist when abstraction was all the rage. Sort of like a salmon swimming upstream to get home. Think about it.”

Dwight Timeline. Scroll over images to see timeline.

1931

Born in Richmond, Virginia. His father was a factory worker who died when Jack was only 13 years old. Jack was a sickly child who loved to draw and kept school bullies away by making drawings of them as gifts.

1948

Entered the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He nurtured his interest in drawing while studying biology and anatomy. An anatomy teacher convinced him his future lay in art and advised him to enroll at the Art Institute of Chicago.

1953-55

Completed his undergraduate studies at the Art Institute of Chicago. There he met and fell in love with fellow art student, Sondra Freckelton. They married in 1955. At the time they were both accomplished abstract artists, Jack as a painter and Sondra as a sculptor.

1957

Jack and Sondra moved to New York City to pursue art careers. They became part of a group of young American artists who rejected the psychologically driven Abstract Expressionist movement in favor of art based on commonly recognizable things. At the time they were swimming against the tide of popular American art.

1965

Had his first solo exhibition at the Allan Frumkin Gallery in New York City.

1973-74

A solo ten-year retrospective of his work was shown at Boston University, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Received a National Endowment of the Arts Grant in 1973.

1974

After spending summers living on Black Lake in upstate New York, Jack and Sondra move their permanent home and studio to Oneonta where they renovate an old mill house to be their home and studio. In that same year he was commissioned to paint 4 murals for the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. The murals were installed in 1977.

1976

Elected to membership in the National Academy of Design. He became a full member in 1983.

1992

Received Honorary Degree from the Art Institute of Boston.

1994

He and Sondra both received Honorary Degrees from Hollins College. He describes their period as Resident Artists there as among the most enjoyable of their life.

1996

Received an American Academy of Arts & Letters Award.

2001-05

The Times Square Subway Improvement Corporation commissioned him to create two large murals for Times Square station. He created 2 glass tile mosaic panels portraying the Greek myth of Persephone, the goddess who spent half the year above ground and half in the underworld.

2007

Received an Honorary Degree from State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta.

2013

Died of kidney failure in Oneonta, New York. His wife Sondra Freckleton still survives.