Ramer, Nathaniel (“Nat”) (1904-1987)

Born in Lemberg, Ukraine, Ramer immigrated to the US with a family holding strongly progressive views (a younger brother, Aaron, was killed in the Spanish Civil War while serving in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade). During the 1930s Ramer’s work was exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1934), the Corcoran Gallery (1935), and the Montross Gallery (1936), among other venues. Reviews of his work suggest a protean sensibility, of choosing “to experiment in different fields of painting and “submit[ting] them all to public scrutiny” (Offin). Another visitor thought his “more imposing” figures and still lifes were “not as inviting as his lighter and more fluent” landscapes—an opinion seemingly shared by those who allocated three works to the Mt. Morris sanatorium (“The Critic”). Ramer continued to evolve, in the 1950s influenced by abstract expressionism, in the 1960s and ‘70s according to his nephew “doing some large lucite cast abstractions with found objects that had a La Brea tarpits kind of quality” (Friedman). All this while he maintained a studio upstairs from Max’s Kansas City on Lower Park Avenue, sometimes teaching art classes at Brooklyn College. Much of his work suffered fire damage from the club below or was not preserved after his death. 1 more image at FAP.

Sources consulted: Charles Z. Offin, “Introducing Nat Ramer,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle 23 Feb. 1936: C13; “The Critic Takes a Glance Around the Galleries,” New York Post 22 Feb. 1936: 24. For additional information, a special thanks to Alan Friedman.

Works in the New Deal Collection at GVCA by Nat Ramer:

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Fishkill Fields
Fishkill Fields

Using a fairly flat picture plane, Ramer uses an array of muted colors to depict a rural scene in Duchess County (mountains in the background may be the Fishkill range). The composition is balanced between an aging tree at left, a windmill at right. Between them is an area somewhat nebulous in its use; colors may indicate corn tassels, or simply overgrown fields. The building seems in good repair, however, so its effect is to serve as antipole to the largely natural landscape.

The Lot Next Door
The Lot Next Door

It would appear that we’re looking at a farm—barn, silo, outbuildings, a line of trees—around haying season. So why the painting’s title? The nearest lot seems to be across a road, but fence posts run across it; if so this would be an informal farm road, not a county highway, and our proximity to the work of agriculture is even closer. Golds of haystacks stand out against lines of green.

Woods House
Woods House

Across a field we see two small buildings next to a larger one mostly obscured by trees at left. Given their size and dilapidation, it can be inferred that the lives within the homes are humble ones—perhaps agricultural workers, given the pile of hay at right. Telephone or electrical poles are visible near a road at right, along with an unreadable sign. Ramer’s subtle composition emphasizes the things we don’t know about the woods house(s), but they’re tucked into the center of his painting. Note: the line across this painting is due to broken glass in the painting’s frame.

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