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Farm Yard, by Herman Maril, 1933. Oil on canvas. 16 3/4 x 20 3/4 in. (42.6 x 52.7 cm.) Maryland Historical Society, Accession: 2002-31-6.
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Long Dock - Eastern Shore, by Herman Maril, 1941. Oil on canvas. 29 1/4 x 35 1/2 in. (74.3 x 90.2 cm.) Maryland Historical Society, Accession: 2002-30-3.
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Construction, by Herman Maril, 1963. Oil on canvas. 47 61/64 x 36 1/16 in. (121.8 x 91.6 cm.)
Maryland Historical Society, City Life Museums Collection, Accession: MA5324.
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Medium/Discipline: Painting
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland
Place of Death: Baltimore, Maryland
Maryland Affiliation: Born here, Depicts Maryland subjects, Active while in residence
Prominent Theme: Genre; Landscape; Seascape
Subject Headings: Maril, Herman; Maril, Hermann
Style/Period: Modern
Active Dates and Place: Maryland, through high school; New York, 1930s; Baltimore, Maryland and Cape Cod, Massachusetts thereafter
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Biography: The work of Herman Maril is characterized by a cool palate and modernist abstraction in his depiction of seascapes, interiors, landscapes and genre subjects. He is recognized by scholars as a quintessential American artist working during the middle of the century. Lou Zona, director of the Butler Institute of American Art, writes, "I underscore the description 'American' because Maril personifies the art of this country at mid-century - highly individualistic, expressive, and rich in social relevance. Maril represents the innovative spirit of an American painter who, while fighting the overwhelming influence of Picasso's cubism and various European expressionistic modes, pounded out an American vision inspired by the uniqueness of this culture...Our admiration for the talent of Herman Maril could not be greater for in him, we see the very best America has to offer."
Maril is also seen as a quintessential Maryland artist since he worked primarily in Baltimore and Cape Cod (Massachusetts) after World War II. While on Cape Cod, he was discovered by the late Duncan Phillips, who collected modern American art and founded the Phillips Collection, which currently owns 13 of Maril's works. Phillips' support was a harbinger of success, and Maril was selected as a WPA artist and was commissioned to paint murals in the post offices of Scranton, Pennsylvania (WPA mural, West Scranton Post Office, 127 S. Main St., Scranton, PA 18504; 570-342-4279) and Alta Vista, Virginia (Alta Vista Post Office, 700 Broad St., Alta Vista, VA 24517; 434-369-5091). He also had a painting selected by Eleanor Roosevelt to hang in the White House and was included in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Carnegie Institute. In 1967, the Baltimore Museum published a monograph book, entitled Herman Maril, in conjunction with a one-man exhibition of his works. The Institute of Arts and Letters honored him in 1978.
He was active in NY in the 1930s, and while there met artists Raphael Soyer, Mark Rothko, Marsden Hartley and Arshile Gorky, though scholar William Hauptmann has suggested that Maril was as influenced by them as by the writer Sidney Cox and the poet William Bronk, who he met in the summers in the Berkshires, as well as by poet W. H. Auden, sculptor Chaim Gross and collector Etta Cone. Maril stated that the works by Matisse in Ms. Cone"s collection were a "valuable addition" to his learning.
Throughout his life, Maril was a prominent member of the Maryland regional art community, including serving on the Baltimore Board of Trustees of the Baltimore Museum of Art and working as an instructor of painting, drawing and watercolor at the University of Maryland, College Park from 1946 until his death. He was a dedicated teacher. In an interview, he addressed the teaching process: "Sometimes students are too cerebral; sometimes they are totally intuitive and uncontrolled, undisciplined. Compromising the intellectual with the intuitive...It is a very difficult problem, and I'm not certain that this compromise can be brought out. You can't force ideas. You can, however, provide them with explorations into the possibilities that exist and hope that these will be understood from the artistic standpoint. I insist that students visit museums frequently and see exhibitions they don't think they would like. Sometimes enough exposure to other works helps in clarifying these ideas. But certainly the student who hopes to mature as a painter has to come to grips with this issue before he can find his own specific direction, before he can explore his newness." (Hauptmann, p. 29)
Maril's work is represented today by James Graham & Sons Gallery on 1014 Madison Avenue in New York City. Pieces can also be seen at the Harmon-Meek Gallery in Naples, Florida. University of Maryland University College, in Adelphi, Maryland, has, since 1983, shown Herman Maril pieces in its Maryland Artists Collection. Now, the university has established a permanent retrospective of Herman Maril works that is open to the public. Many of the pieces can be viewed in an online exhibition (see link below).
Education/Training: Maryland Institute College of Art, during high school
Art-related Employment: painter
Selected References: Hauptman, William. Herman Maril (College Park, Maryland: University of Maryland Art Department Gallery, February 17-March 17, 1977).
University of Maryland University College: http://www.umuc.edu/maril/maril_main.html
Other Publications: Herman Maril. With an introduction by Frank Getlein. (Baltimore, MD: Distributed by October House, Inc. for The Baltimore Museum of Art), 1967.
Maryland Institutions Holding Artworks: Baltimore Museum of Art (painting, drawings, prints); Maryland Historical Society; University of Maryland University College; Walters Art Museum
Single-Artist Exhibitions: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1967, 1976; University of Maryland, College Park, 1977
Artist Web site:http://www.umuc.edu/maril/maril_main.html
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