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William Sommer

(Detroit, Michigan, 1867 - 1949, Northfield Center, Ohio)

Study for Bordner Mural

1936

Watercolor, graphite and gouache on paper

12 x 11 in. (30.5 x 27.9 cm)

Collection of the Akron Art Museum

Gift of Robert Bordner

1973.18

More Information

This drawing is a study for the Bordner Mural, which hangs at the end of the wall to your right. The Bordners and Sommers were close friends. The painting, which is not really a mural, was probably commissioned by Ruth Bordner as a birthday gift for her husband Robert, a newspaperman in Cleveland. The scene probably depicts the Bordners’ residence in Peninsula, where the painting hung over the mantel for thirty years. The inclusion of the boy is curious as the Bordners were childless and by this time, Sommers’ children were adults.

Keywords
Farmland
Watercolor
Cleveland School
American
Regional