William Schwartz (1896 - 1976)
Outskirts of Galena, 1938 
oil on canvas, 30 by 36 inches
Illinois State Museum Collection 
Gift by Mr. & Mrs. William Schwartz 

Do you think the painting shows a time just before or just after a storm? What in the painting makes you think this? 

What, if any, symbolic meaning could that have, considering the year it was painted?

William Schwartz was born in Russia, where he studied art at Vilna Academy. He joined his brother and sister in the United States at age fifteen. Five years later he graduated with honors from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago with a degree in portraiture, life study, and painting. He supported himself in these years by singing tenor in vaudeville, operas, concerts, and on the radio. The landscapes and cityscapes impressed him with their power, which he tried to communicate in his paintings. 

Schwartz made WPA murals in the Illinois towns of Fairfield, Eldorado, Pittsfield, and Chicago. His friends included Chicago artists Ivan and Malvin Albright, Aaron Bohrod, and Anthony Angarola. He exhibited regularly in the Chicago and Vicinity Shows at the Art Institute. In addition, he participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States. He exhibited in important shows at the Whitney Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the National Academy of Art and Design, all in New York. His work is in 79 museum and gallery collections.