Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend opens a new show dedicated to Milwaukee artist Adolph Rosenblatt this month.
“Impressions in Clay: The Sculpted World of Adolph Rosenblatt” will be on view from Jan. 29 through April 13, and includes 10 works from MOWA’s own permanent collection.
The show debuts as MOWA, which is closed Jan. 20-28, reopens.
The show will be a nice complement to the "Moments & Markers: An Adolph Rosenblatt Retrospective," shown at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee in 2017, a few months after the artist’s passing.
Rosenblatt’s works in clay are extremely distinctive and instantly recognizable as were some of his subjects, such as Benji’s Deli on Oakland Avenue in Shorewood, the balcony at the Oriental Theater and art gallerist Michael Lord, whose likenesses are in this MOWA show.
“After a decade of painting, Rosenblatt found his true calling in clay – a medium that allowed him to sculpt the world around him with his hands," said MOWA Associate Curator of Architecture and Design Thomas Szolwinski.
"His impressionistic sculpting style remains as distinctive today as when he first started."
Unlike many sculptors who use tools to create their work, Szolwinski noted, Rosenblatt used his hands, which is how he achieved his expressive, tactile ceramic surfaces.
Rosenblatt earned his BFA at the Yale School of Art and Architecture, where he was mentored by Josef Albers. In 1966, Rosenblatt moved to Milwaukee to work as an art professor at UWM, a position he held until his retirement in 1999.
“In 2018, we received a major gift of Rosenblatt’s ceramic works from the Kohler Foundation,” said MOWA Deputy Director Jane Aspinwall.
“Considering his significant impact on the Milwaukee art community, we are excited to have this work on view for the first time here at MOWA.”
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
