Jonas Lie, Norwegian-American artist with Plainfield ties gets New York show

Norwegian-American artist Jonas Lie, who painted the landscape that graces City Hall library is getting his own show in New York. Co-sponsored by the Embassy of Norway and the Spanierman Gallery, the show runs through February 25, 2006.



















Plainfield actually has two Lie [pronounced 'lee'] paintings, the landscape in City Hall and a small painting of a solitary, wind-swept tree against a bright sky that is in the collection of the Plainfield Public Library.

The City Hall painting, with a donation plaque dated 'January 1, 1923,' is a very large landscape of a mountain tarn as seen through a stand of birches, a favorite motif of Lie, with mountains in the distance.

Although the value of the City Hall painting is not known, auction records showed recent sales of more modestly sized paintings in the $40,000 range. The painting, now mounted for 83 years, was recently cleaned, courtesy of Plainfield's Cultural and Heritage Commission. The dark tones are perfectly congruent with the Arts & Crafts period in architecture, in which a painting like this would have made itself right at home.

Who were the 'friends' who paid for, and donated, the painting? Only more research will reveal, but it was a magnificent gift and is an important part of our community cultural heritage, whether or not we pay much attention to it.




Spanierman Gallery
45 East 58th Street
New York City
(212) 832-0208
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 9:30 - 5:30

Spanierman has some of the exhibit online here
A biography of Jonas Lie is here
The Plainfield Public Library's painting is here

Keywords: Art, Lie