Keller - "May Morning In The Zoo." Abstract modern watercolor painting of birds perched and flying indoors at the zoo

Henry G. Keller • Ohio: 1870-1949

May Morning In The Zoo • Watercolor on Paper 19 3/4” x 13 5/8”

Abel Warshawsky was watching his painting ripped to shreds. The scene at Cleveland’s exclusive Rowfant Club could not nave been any more painful for a young painter recently returned from Paris filled with avant garde ideas about art. As Warshawsky recalled in, “Memories of an American Impressionist,” a jury of Cleveland’s intellectual elite were determined not to allow such a “crude and anarchic” painting into their show.

Then a single juror rose from his seat.

Henry Keller was tired of in-the-box thinking that surrounded Clevelanders with “pale, timid, watered Impressionism, “ so he threatened to quit his position on the Club’s management committee. He railed at the other jurors who preferred the same-old, same-old to bold modernists like Warshawsky.

Keller won. Warshawsky’s picture hung.

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Henry Keller was the first artist in Ohio to achieve distinction in watercolor, so his works have a natural fit at the Canton Museum of Art. But his most valuable contribution to the area was the gift of modernism. An avid student of Cezanne and Henri Matisse, who he viewed as bridges from Impressionism to Modernism, Keller developed a unique style that combined European and Asian modernism. Cyclamen neatly fits that vein.

During his four decades as a beloved instructor at the Cleveland Institute of Art, Keller taught his innovative technique for blending watercolors with tempura and became Cleveland’s most outspoken modernist. Yet, this thoroughly modern man located his summer school in Berlin, Ohio, smack in the middle of the largest Amish population in the world.

The son of German immigrants and an inveterate world traveler, Keller had a special place in his heart for Cleveland, where he wished to be buried on the “Cleveland Heights.” He was, but not before three generations of Cleveland painters rode his coattails from the past to the future.

Canton Museum of Art Permanent Collection • Gift of Ralph L. Wilson, 71.33

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

1.
“Henry Keller was so anxious to see the world, he was born on a ship carrying his immigrant parents from Germany to America.”

2.
“He is the co-author of a groundbreaking scientific study of the effects different colors have on people’s minds.”

3.
“A dedicated modernist, Keller nevertheless had a summer art school in Berlin, Ohio, right in the middle of the world’s largest Amish community. That must have been a sight.”

4.
“He was one of the most celebrated teachers ever at the Cleveland Institute of Art where he taught for over 40 years.”

Keller Timeline. Scroll over images to see timeline.

1869

Born to German immigrants sailing to America. Henry made an early appearance and ended up being born aboard ship off the coast of Nova Scotia. The family eventually settled in Cleveland.

Late 1800s

Received his first art training at the Western Reserve School of Design for Women where he received special permission to attend classes.

1890

Spent a year at the Art Academy in Karlsruhle, Germany. Upon his return to Cleveland, he worked as a circus poster designer at the Morgan Lithograph Company.

1899

Returned to Germany to study at art academies in Dusseldorf and Munich.

1902

Received a medal at the Munich Royal Academy exhibition.

1902

Returned to America and immediately started teaching at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Soon he returned to the Cleveland School of Art (now the Cleveland Institute of Art) where he remained until 1945, becoming a much beloved painting teacher.

1909

Established a summer art school on his family farm in Berlin, Ohio. Since trains connected Berlin with Cleveland, his school became a magnet for Cleveland painters.

1912-16

His most intellectually stimulating period. Studied Asian art and developed a more modernist style. Taught his most famous student, Charles Burchfield. He became the most outspoken defender of modern art in the area and lectured widely in defense of European modernism.

1913

Co-authored an article on The Physiology of Color Vision in Modern Art, culminating a three-year scientific study with John MacCleod of Western Reserve University. Two of Keller’s paintings were accepted into the famous Armory Show of modern art.

1915-45

Keller traveled the world during the summer months, capturing images of Spain, Portugal, Puerto Rico and the Austrian Tyrol in his paintings. His work appeared in major shows in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York.

1925

This year marked his first trip to San Diego. He subsequently spent several summers there and ended up living there after retirement from the Cleveland Institute of Art. Upon returning to the Cleveland School of Art, he was named Director.

1939

Elected to the National Academy of Design. Keller paintings appeared in both the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco and the New York World’s Fair.

1945

After retirement from the Cleveland Institute of Art, Keller moved to San Diego to live with his son.

1949

Died in San Diego. However, his wish was to be buried “upon the Cleveland Heights.” His son made sure his wish was fulfilled.

1950

The Cleveland Art Museum staged a retrospective of his life and work.