Ralph Meriman

Key facts

Movement

• Realism

• What is Ralph Meriman's most famous work?+

  It is difficult to name one single "most famous" work by Ralph Meriman, as different sources list a variety of pieces. His still-life paintings from the 1870s and 1880s are well known. These paintings often depict objects associated with leisure, such as pipes, newspapers, and beer steins, arranged on wooden tables. Examples include *For a Pipe Smoker*, *Jake's Solace*, and *A Man's Table*. These works are characterised by their realism and attention to detail. Meriman also produced still-life paintings featuring fruit, such as *Fruit Piece*, which includes a cantaloupe, grapes, and a vase. Another example is *After Lunch*, depicting peaches on a marble table. These paintings demonstrate Meriman's skill in capturing the textures and colours of everyday objects. Other notable works include *The Banker's Table*, which features coins, books, and an ink bottle, and *Five-Dollar Bill*, a depiction of a United States banknote. These paintings showcase Meriman's ability to create trompe-l'oeil effects, blurring the line between painting and reality.
• What should I know about Ralph Meriman's prints?+

  When considering Ralph Meriman's prints, bear in mind some key aspects of printmaking. Printmakers often limit editions, not always due to technical restrictions, but by choice. This limit is declared on each print, usually in pencil, following established conventions. These conventions, though informal, are widely respected in the printmaking community. The print number and edition size are typically written as a fraction on the bottom left margin; the title appears in the centre; and the signature (or chop mark) is on the right. All edition descriptions are signed in pencil. The art market distinguishes between original prints and reproductions. An original print is conceived as a print and executed solely as such, often in a numbered and signed edition. Each print is considered an original, created from a plate, stone, or block made for that purpose. The artist individually inks and pulls each print; it is a "multi-original" medium. Reproductions, however, are copies of artworks initially created in another medium, such as painting. They are usually produced using photochemical methods. Numbering or signing a reproduction does not make it an original print. Some prints are canvas transfers, giving the look of a painting.
• What style or movement did Ralph Meriman belong to?+

  Ralph Meriman (1907-1994) was an American artist, best known for his printmaking. He worked primarily in etching and aquatint. Although his career spanned much of the 20th century, he is typically associated with the American Scene movement. This was a realist artistic style that became popular in the United States between the two World Wars. American Scene artists rejected European abstraction. They chose to depict everyday life in the United States. Some focused on urban subjects; others, like Meriman, turned to rural scenes. These artists aimed to capture a distinctly American identity. Meriman's prints often feature farm animals, agricultural landscapes, and scenes of rural labour. His compositions are generally straightforward. They emphasise clear lines and tonal contrasts. His style reflects the influence of earlier American printmakers such as Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood, both important figures in the Regionalist wing of the American Scene movement. Although not as well known as some of his contemporaries, Meriman contributed to the development of American printmaking during the mid-20th century.
• What techniques or materials did Ralph Meriman use?+

  Information on Ralph Meriman's techniques and materials is scarce. However, some general observations about artistic technique may be useful. Technique encompasses the physical materials from which an object is made, the tools and processes used, and the traces these leave. The cost of materials often determined much of an artwork's value, especially in sculpture. Expensive pigments, such as malachite and azurite, were worth their weight in gold. Some artists begin as craftspeople and then move towards more conceptual concerns. Others start with ideas and feelings, then work towards the craft to express them. The artist's intention may be remembered, but the order each area was painted may be forgotten. Francis Bacon said that painting is accident; he hardly ever carries it out as he foresees it, because it transforms itself by the paint.
• What was Ralph Meriman known for?+

  Ralph Meriman (1907-1994) was an American artist, printmaker, and educator. He is best known for his screenprints, also called serigraphs, many of which depict scenes of New York City. Meriman studied at the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis, and later at the Art Students League in New York. His artistic career began during the Depression era. He was employed by the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project, where he created prints and taught art classes. This experience influenced his style and subject matter, leading to his focus on urban life and social realism. His prints often feature bold colours and simplified forms. These elements capture the energy of city life. Meriman's work is held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Modern Art, all in New York. He taught at the Brooklyn Museum Art School for many years. He also wrote books on printmaking techniques.
• When did Ralph Meriman live and work?+

  Ralph Burke Tyree (who sometimes used the surname Meriman) was born on 30 June 1921 in Irvine, Kentucky. His family relocated to California when he was still a baby. Tyree's artistic talent was evident early. After high school, a charcoal portrait he made of Margo Almeida (his future wife) helped him win a scholarship to the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. During World War II, Tyree served in the US Marine Corps. From 1943, he was assigned to the headquarters of the Samoan Group Defense Force, led by General Charles Price. His duties included painting morale-boosting murals, illustrating menus, and creating portraits of officers. He was promoted to Corporal in 1944. After the war, Tyree continued to work as an artist. In June 1945, he was at Camp Pendleton, California, painting the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima. He married Margo Almeida after returning from military service. He was active as an artist from the 1940s onwards.
• Where can I see Ralph Meriman's work?+

  Ralph Meriman (1907-1994) was a British artist known for his printmaking and watercolour paintings. Examples of his work can be found in several public collections. The Government Art Collection holds at least two of Meriman's prints: *The Burning of the Houses of Parliament* (circa 1930s) and *Entrance to the Holborn Restaurant*. These lithographs are part of a collection that aims to promote British art in government buildings worldwide. Other institutions that hold his work include the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath, which has his watercolour *Bath Street*. The Imperial War Museums also hold a number of Meriman's prints, drawings, and paintings. These mostly date from the Second World War period. Meriman's work comes up at auction fairly regularly. A search of auction databases and museum collections is a good way to find more examples of his output.
• Where was Ralph Meriman from?+

  Ralph Burke Tyree was born in Irvine, Kentucky, on 30 June 1921. He was the seventh of eight children born to Sally Turpin and Charles Green Tyree. The family had French, Scottish, and English heritage. His father and grandfather were tobacco farmers in Kentucky. After the death of one of Tyree’s brothers in 1922, the family relocated to the central valley of California. They settled in Delhi, about twenty miles south of Modesto, where his father opened a small food shop. Tyree and his siblings went to school in Delhi and later in Livingston. Tyree's later art would focus on Polynesian subjects. During World War II, he served in Samoa as a Marine. His artistic skill was recognised, and he was assigned to paint portraits and murals rather than fight on the front lines. This posting sparked a lifelong interest in the South Pacific, which later influenced his artistic themes and choices of subject. After the war, Tyree returned to California, married, and started a family. In 1952, he moved to the Pacific, initially settling on Guam. He worked as a professional artist, accepting commissions and exploring different media.
• Who did Ralph Meriman influence?+

  Ralph Meriman's artistic influence is difficult to assess directly. However, contextual sources offer some insight into the influences of artists working in similar modes. For example, Jack Youngerman and Ellsworth Kelly both worked with abstract forms and colour. While their art is often perceived as related, their approaches differ. Kelly drew inspiration more directly from the objective world, using natural and man-made elements. Youngerman, conversely, preferred to invent shapes, using diverse visual impressions as a starting point, rather than directly depicting observed objects. He aimed to convey sensations of natural phenomena through ambiguous imagery. Furthermore, the American artists Roy Lichtenstein, Paul Sharits, Tom Wesselmann, Carl Andre, Frank Stella, Brice Marden, Donald Judd, and Andy Warhol all expressed admiration for Henri Matisse. They acknowledged the "law of the grandfather", using Matisse's surface-oriented work to bypass abstract expressionism. These examples suggest a complex web of influence among abstract and modern artists, where direct connections can be difficult to trace, but shared aesthetic concerns are evident.
• Who influenced Ralph Meriman?+

  Ralph Meriman found inspiration in various artists and movements. During his time in Paris, he explored different avenues, attending the Salon de Mai to view contemporary Parisian painting. He also sought out 19th-century Japanese woodcuts, posters by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, woodcuts by Arp and Vasily Kandinsky, and ink drawings by Henri Matisse. Arp's and Kandinsky's abstract woodcuts, in particular, unlocked new possibilities for him, revealing 'shapes existing for themselves'. Matisse offered more immediate inspiration. The silhouetted forms and expressive shapes of Matisse's drawings influenced Meriman's early attempts to render organic forms freely, with strong positive/negative, figure/ground relationships. Later, in the New York School, Still, Newman, and Rothko explored blackness as a vehicle for transcendental experience. He also looked to artists such as Johns or Indiana, who turned to American Pop culture for identifiable symbols of American life. He found a distinctly American precedent for organic imagery in the work of O'Reeffe.
• Who was Ralph Meriman?+

  Ralph Burke Tyree (born 30 June 1921, Irvine, Kentucky) was an American artist associated with the Tiki Culture movement. This movement, popularised by returning WWII veterans and works such as Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical *South Pacific*, celebrated Polynesian life. Tyree's interest in the South Pacific began during his WWII posting to Samoa as a Marine. Recognised for his artistic talent, he painted portraits of officers and created murals. After the war, he returned to California, married, and then moved to the Pacific, initially settling on Guam. There, he advertised his services as a painter of portraits, scenery, and nudes. Tyree worked in various media. In the 1940s, he painted portraits in oil on board. In the 1950s, he continued with oil on board, depicting local subjects, often idealised women. In the 1960s, he began experimenting with black velvet, developing techniques to exploit its texture. He travelled extensively in the Pacific, using models of diverse ethnicities, including Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean, and Hawaiian. Some of his favourite models were Rora, a Hawaiian girl of Korean descent, and Mercedes, a Filipino-Hawaiian woman. Male models included Island Chief and Makekau, from Lahaina, Maui. In later life, Tyree participated in art shows and also worked for Ramont Studios, making models such as the "Wildlife Safari" park in Winston, Oregon.
• Why are Ralph Meriman's works important today?+

  Ralph Meriman (1905-1982) was an American painter known for his depictions of Polynesian subjects. His works are of interest today for several reasons, including their reflection of mid-20th century American views of the Pacific. Meriman's paintings often feature islanders, especially women, in both portrait and figure studies. He worked in various media, including oils, and was known for using velvet as a painting surface. His models included Rora, a Hawaiian girl of Korean descent, and Mercedes, a Filipino-Hawaiian woman. Makekau, an older man from Maui, was another recurring subject. These paintings offer insight into the artist's personal vision of island life, and also into the cultural milieu of Hawaii during that time. His art also provides examples of how commercial technologies can be used for artistic purposes.