July 5 - September 24, 2006

The Horizon (Arising), oil on panel, 1935, 42 x 48 inches.

This exhibition will highlight rare drawings, watercolors and paintings by New Jersey native John R. Grabach, many of which have not been seen in over 60 years. The Morris Museum's Sailing Off the Cape will be traveling with the exhibition. The museum is pleased to be the premiere location for the show.

Grabach was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts in 1880 and moved to Newark, New Jersey in 1881. At an early age, he achieved a remarkable degree of sucess his reputation skyrocketed to celebrity status.

Although Grabach is best known for his urban paintings in the Aschan school style, he also created a remarkable body of work inspired by the Massachusetts landscape surrounding the Connecticut River. His large exhibition paintings are boldly executed social commentaries reflecting the time between the two world wars.

In 1981, Grabach died at the age of 101. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC honored him with a one-man show followed by an exhibition at the Graham Gallery in New York City in 1981 and 1984.

Sailing Off the Cape, watercolor on paper, ND, 30-1/4" x 35."