20 North Gallery collaborates with Indiana museum to bring late Toledo-area painter’s work to Midwest Museum of American Art
Gallery coordinates the inclusion of 20 paintings into posthumous, museum retrospective, “Joanne Grossmann: The Narrative of Quiet Spaces”
On May 4, 2024, 20 North Gallery visited the late Toledo-area artist Joanne Grossmann’s first solo exhibition at the Midwest Museum of American Art (Elkhart, Indiana). The posthumous retrospective, which includes the first painting Grossmann ever exhibited, opened on May 3 and will continue through July 14, 2024.
In 2017, 20 North Gallery proudly presented over a dozen works on canvas by Grossmann in Joanne Grossmann: The Larger Narrative. The interest surrounding the artist’s large-scale paintings, which have been described as “Hopperesque,” inspired the development of the 2024 exhibit arranged by the Midwest Museum of American Art (MMAA). In April of 2024, twenty artworks by Joanne Grossmann were released from the care of 20 North Gallery, to travel to the MMAA exhibit, Joanne Grossmann: The Narrative of Quiet Spaces.
20 North Gallery Owner Eric Hillenbrand and Art Director Condessa Croninger represented the gallery at a May 4 celebration, which marked the Midwest Museum of American Art’s 45th anniversary. Croninger shared remarks on Grossmann’s visual storytelling techniques and expansive exhibition history in a presentation to MMAA donors and museum members.
20 North Gallery Art Director Condessa Croninger states, “Since 2017, 20 North Gallery has been proud to represent the Art Estate of Joanne Grossmann; her masterful and massive paintings create vast and compelling stories of human relationships, composed within the confines of familiar settings. We are delighted to be able to share her artwork with the patrons of Midwest Museum of American Art and thank MMAA Director and Curator Brian Byrn and the Grossmann family for making this retrospective exhibition possible.”
MMAA Director and Curator Brian Byrn states, “This month, Midwest Museum of American Art celebrates its 45th anniversary. We are delighted to celebrate this milestone with the paintings of Toledo artist Joanne Grossmann, whose depictions of familiar midwestern landscapes are imbued with unexpected narratives of both mystery and nostalgia.”
Joanne Grossmann (b. 1930 – d. 2017, Toledo, Ohio) graduated from Perrysburg High School (Ohio) in 1948 and went on to attend Bowling Green University (Ohio) before studying art at Ohio University (Athens, Ohio). In 1952, Grossmann and her family settled in West Toledo, where she continued to study at The Toledo Museum of Art. In 1972, the family moved to a home in Toledo’s Westmoreland neighborhood where Grossmann converted the historic ballroom into a grand studio, giving her the freedom to create scores of large-scale paintings, on seven-foot canvases.
Grossmann drew inspiration for her paintings from many parts of her life, including her love for horse racing. Twice yearly, Grossmann and her husband, Fred Grossmann, would travel to Keeneland, Kentucky to view the horses and landscape that often inspired annual contributions to the former Derby Days exhibition at 20 North Gallery. Other scenes captured in Grossmann’s expressive and personal imagery create ambiguous spaces with figures isolated in time and context. Her paintings display a sense of familiarity through the representations of rural and urban settings, but also reveal subtle themes of emotional distance.
During her period of professional activity as an artist, Grossmann’s paintings were accepted into a variety of shows, including the national Annual Midyear juried shows at The Butler Institute of American Art (Youngstown, Ohio). She also frequently entered the distinguished Toledo Area Artists Exhibition, at The Toledo Museum of Art (Ohio) for which she won multiple awards over the years. Her paintings are in the permanent collections of the Toledo Federation of Art Societies and the City of Perrysburg. Collectors of Grossmann’s paintings include those of regional patrons and Owens-Illinois, Inc. In her final years, Grossmann returned to her native city of Perrysburg before passing away in May of 2017.
Joanne Grossmann: The Narrative of Quiet Spaces will continue at the Midwest Museum of American Art (29 S Main St, Elkhart, IN 46516) through July 14, 2024.