Todros Geller
(1889
- 1949)
Chicago
Towers, 1937
woodcut on
paper, 9 by 12 inches
Illinois State
Museum collection
How did Geller use line to create a sense of movement in this urban scene?
What
feelings about the city does this composition inspire in you?
This view of Chicago buildings seems to move with the energy of the Windy City. Because the print is a woodcut, it has only the two colors — black ink and white paper. To achieve textures and values of gray, the artist had to cut lines of texture into the woodblock with a chisel or gouge.
Todros Geller was born in Russia. He studied at the Imperial Art School of Odessa, in Montreal, Canada, and with artist George Bellows in Chicago. He was a printmaker, painter, illustrator, designer, and a cartoonist. He often chose to create images from Judaism, as in the stained glass window designs of Beth Abraham Synagogue in Dayton, Ohio (1954). He also designed a mural for the Spertus Museum of Judaica in Chicago. He was a friend of artist Emil Armin.