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The Eckhart G. Grohmann Collection at
Milwaukee School of Engineering

With over 650 European and American paintings and sculptures that depict various forms of work, Man at Work: The Eckhart G. Grohmann Collection at Milwaukee School of Engineering is the world's most comprehensive collection of its kind. The artworks span over 400 years of history (17-20th centuries) and comprise a variety of styles and subjects that document the evolution of organized work, from manpower and horsepower to water, steam and electrical power. The works were gifted to Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) in 2001 from the collection of Milwaukee businessman and collector Dr. Eckhart Grohmann.

Valckenborch, Marten van [Flemish, 1535-1612], A River Valley with Iron Smelter, ca.1600, oil on canvas.
Valckenborch, Marten van [Flemish, 1535-1612]: A River Valley with Iron Smelter, ca.1600, oil on canvas.
Man at Work: The Eckhart G. Grohmann Collection at Milwaukee School of Engineering is the first art collection acquired by the university. Some of the works are now displayed in MSOE's Student Life and Campus Center (1025 N. Broadway) and the Walter Schroeder Library (500 E. Kilbourn Ave.), which are accessible to the public, and the Alumni Partnership Center (1120 N. Broadway), which is open for special events only.

In discussing his gift, Grohmann identified the similarity between the evolution of work and the pragmatic educational approach of MSOE. A university setting provides students, staff and visitors with a historical context for their own activities as they relate to engineering and business.

"Exposure to this collection will help open students' eyes to the historical evolution of work from its early, modest beginnings and allow them to better understand the roots of today's production processes," said Grohmann.

"The beneficiaries of Dr. Grohmann's generosity are the MSOE students, faculty, staff and all those who will be exposed to this collection through visits to campus or through the book," said MSOE President Hermann Viets, Ph.D. "It will be of ongoing value to all of MSOE."

The earlier paintings depict the early forms of work, such as men and women working on the farm or at home. Later images show tradespeople engaged in their work, such as the blacksmith, chemist, cobbler, cork maker, glass blower and taxidermist. The most recent works are images of machines and men embodying the paradoxes of industrialism of the mid-18th century to post-World War II. These works, often commissioned by the factory's owner, are exterior views of steel mills and foundries surrounded by hefty trains and tracks or dark factory interiors where glowing molten metal is juxtaposed with factory workers and managers.

Most of the paintings are by German and Austrian artists, although others include American, Belgian, Bohemian, Danish, Dutch, English, Hungarian, Flemish, French and Spanish. The collection includes outstanding examples of works by European artists including Flemish painter Marten van Valckenborch (1535-1612), Dutch artists Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1638), Jan Josefsz van Goyen (1596-1656) and Jan Brueghel II (1601-1678), and an oil study by German painter Max Liebermann (1847-1935) that led to his renowned Flax Barn at Laren painting, now at the National Gallery in Berlin.

The collection includes numerous paintings by German artist Erich Mercker (1891-1973) who, working in loose brushwork style, rendered colorful images of steel mills and foundries, bridge- and ship-building, quarries and interior views of factories.

The collection of bronze sculptures captures longshoremen, farmers, miners, foundry workers and other laborers in the process of using the tools of their trades. Artists include Adrien-Etienne Gaudez, Gerhard Adolf Janensch, Constantin-Emile Meunier, Emile Louis Picault, and Americans Malcom Alexander, Max Kalish, Landon Lamb and Frederic Remington.

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Last Update Thursday, 23-Aug-2007 15:47:15 CDT
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