# Carl Gaertner

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**Carl Frederick Gaertner** (April 18, 1898 – November 4, 1952)[1] was an [American](/source/Americans) [artist](/source/Artist).

Gaertner was born in [Cleveland](/source/Cleveland) in 1898 and remained there until his death in 1952. He studied at the [Cleveland Institute of Art](/source/Cleveland_Institute_of_Art), which was then called the Cleveland School of Art, from 1920–1923 and taught there from 1925-1952.

Gaertner's subject matter varied, but certain themes recur in his work, including industrial subjects, with Cleveland as his model in the early part of his career. Other themes were Provincetown, [West Virginia](/source/West_Virginia) watercolors and oils, and [Chagrin Valley](/source/Chagrin_Valley) paintings. After 1935, Gaertner bought a farm in Chagrin Valley and began his series of paintings of that subject. Throughout the 1940s, Gaertner received recognition from prestigious art institutions such as [Chicago Art Institute](/source/Art_Institute_of_Chicago)'s Exhibition of American Painting, New York's [National Academy of Design](/source/National_Academy_of_Design) Show, and the Pepsi-Cola Show.[2]

The Akron Art Museum currently holds three paintings by Gaertner. Featured in the McDowell galleries is *Riverside Plant*, an oil on canvas painted in 1927-28 which was exhibited at the Cleveland Museum of Art Annual Exhibit of the Cleveland Artists and Craftsmen from April 25-June 3, 1928. Also in the Akron collection is *Summer Kitchen*, a gouache on fiberboard painting done in 1947 and *The Commuter*, an oil on fiberboard painting done in 1945 which shows a man standing on a train platform and is based on sketches Gaertner did while riding the train to New York City to visit his art dealer.

Another well-known painting by Gaertner is *Flying Ponies*. It depicts a [carousel](/source/Carousel) at [Euclid Beach Park](/source/Euclid_Beach_Park), a [Cleveland](/source/Cleveland) amusement park. It was displayed at the [Cleveland Museum of Art](/source/Cleveland_Museum_of_Art)'s "Transformations in Cleveland Art, 1796-1946" exhibit in 1996 and was gifted to the museum in 2020.[3]

The Cleveland Museum of Art owns several other Gaertner works, including an oil painting titled *The Pie Wagon*. Painted in 1926, this work focuses attention on laborers at an industrial plant who spend their lunch break milling around a horse-drawn bakery wagon in the shadows of the hulking factories.[4]

Gaertner was an important Cleveland artist who was just achieving national acclaim before his early death at the age of 54.

## Further reading

- Shearer, C.F., W.H. Robinson, and M.D. Hall. (2000). *Carl Gaertner : a story of earth and steel.* Cleveland: Cleveland Artists Foundation.

## References

1. Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

1. Schmeckebier, Laurence (October 1947). "The Prize Winning Paintings of Carl Gaertner". *American Artist*. **11** (8): 20–24. – via Art & Architecture Complete.

1. ["Flying Ponies (Euclid Beach Park)"](https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.243). Cleveland Museum of Art. Retrieved January 1, 2023.

1. ["The Pie Wagon"](https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1953.371). Cleveland Museum of Art. Retrieved January 1, 2023.

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