George Ault 1891-1948
By Jesse Anderson
George Ault, Bright Light at Russel’s Corners, 1946, Oil on Canvas, 49.9cm x 63.4cm
Once described by Roberta Smith as a ‘modest, unassuming painter’, George Ault seems to slip between the cracks of recognition when modernism is discussed. Active in the early 20th century in the midst of modernism, expressionism, and cubism, Ault’s work is a quiet reflection upon the loneliness of the everyday expressed through isolated cityscapes and interior spaces. Ault’s tumultuous biography is not necessarily recognisable in his work. Despite being born in Cleveland, Ohio, Ault was raised in England where he studied at the Slade School of University College London. He returned to the United States of America in 1911, where he lived in New York painting city scenes in a pared back, modernist style. However, early in his career, between 1915 and 1929, Ault suffered the suicide of both his brother and his mother, as well as the death of his father. George Ault struggled with his own mental health and alcoholism, issues which pervaded his life and are perhaps reflected in the sad solitude of his work. Whilst some paintings were exhibited in a gallery in New York in the 1920’s, his connections to the art world began to dissipate in the 1930’s as his alcoholism and depression worsened. Ault was one of the artists employed by the Public Works of Art Project which was established by Roosevelt in 1933, which commissioned nearly 4000 artists to produce art for public institutions. Whilst this seemed to prove successful for the career of many budding artists, including José de Rivera and Mark Rothko, this was not the result for Ault. Following his involvement in the project, in 1937 he moved to Woodstock, New York, where he notably avoided the art colony active there. Struggling in the depths of depression and poverty in Woodstock with his second wife, Louise Jonas, George Ault took his life in 1948. However, this was not before building a modest collection of paintings which simply and discreetly evoke the everyday loneliness of human existence in a characteristically unassuming way.
Bibliography
Museum, Smithsonian American Art. n.d. George Ault. Accessed October 14, 2022. https://americanart.si.edu/artist/george-ault-171.
PAFA. n.d. Black Night: Russel's Corner. Accessed October 14, 2022. https://www.pafa.org/museum/collection/item/black-night-russells-corners.
Smith, Roberta. 1988. "Review/Art; George Ault's Sad, Everyday Beauty in Stillness." The New York Times, April 29: 17.
Tate. n.d. Federal Art Project. Accessed October 14, 2022. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/f/federal-art-project#:~:text=In%201933%20Roosevelt%20set%20up,artists%20were%20given%20complete%20freedom.