After World War II, veterans flocked to Sarasota and formed a tight-knit community of creators.
Two exhibitions are now open in Sarasota documenting the town’s heyday as an artist colony. One is at Ringling College of Art and Design. The other is at the downtown offices of Michael Saunders & Co.
Ringling College’s “Origins: Sarasota Artist Colony, 1945-1965” was co-curated by Tim Jaeger, Ringling College's chief curator, and Bill Hartman, the son of William Hartman, a member of the colony. It’s a fascinating origin story. Florida’s filled with beach communities. This ambitious historical exhibition reveals how Sarasota became an arts community. But it’s not the whole picture.
At Ringling College, historical wall notes put the artworks in context. The effect is like walking into a giant art history book. The illustrations are actual drawings and paintings. World War II is the overarching context. It planted the seeds of Sarasota’s growing artist colony in the post-war years.
Syd Solomon’s “Resurge” (1961) is an abstract piece, but it’s stormy in its own right. A turbulent color field of forceful brushstrokes. A diagonal composition. The energy slashes up from left to right. Solomon painted this before the hard-edge abstractions of his later work. Those evoked a cool sense of oceanic depths and labyrinths of coral caves. This is more like a firestorm.
