SHAKER LIFE | SPRING 2015 51
The gallery has
dozens of works
by Cleveland
School artists.
“They inspired
one another,”
says Wolf.
“Saturday at Chagrin Falls” (1931) by Cleveland School artist Carl Gaertner (1898-1952).
Oil on canvas, 42 x 60”. Photo courtesy of Wolfs Gallery.
WOLFS is particularly well-known
for its collection of work by artists in
the Cleveland School, a community of
artists who lived and worked in the region
beginning in the mid-20th Century.
“They had their own style. They
collaborated. They inspired one another,”
says Wolf.
The gallery boasts dozens of works
by these artists, including Friedrich
Carl Gottwald, the grandfather of the
movement, and Henry Keller, Marion
Bryson, Paul Riva, Ora Coltman, and
Kenneth Marcus Hugh, among many
others. It also represents the estates of
two leading Cleveland School artists,
Paul Travis and Carl Gaertner.
Enthusiasm for Gaertner’s work
has grown steadily since his death in
1952. A Gaertner painting sold recently
for $250,000 at auction. The artist is
particularly admired for his American
Scene paintings, and many of those
scenes are of Cleveland and its environs,
including the stunning “Saturday at
Chagrin Falls,” a signature piece that
presides over the main floor at WOLFS.
“Gaertner rolled that up and hid it in his
farmhouse on River Road,” says Wolf. “His
son only found it a couple of years ago.”
FACING PAGE: Bridget McWilliams, office
manager Megan Arner, and Michael Wolf.