With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Ralph Lewis Nelson
Painting/Drawing
1885 – 1967
WPA
- Biography/Description of Work
Ralph Lewis Nelson (1885 -1967) painted four murals of the founding of Wethersfield for the public schools in town as a commission by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project. Nelson discovered his artistic skills while attending Baptist College in Kalamazoo, MI. Nelson worked in commercial art, newspaper cartooning and free-lance work after graduation. He is most famous for his collaborative design with James Montgomery Flagg on the Uncle Sam ‘I Want You’ poster he conceived while a sergeant in the U.S. Marines during World War I. The Uncle Sam recruiting poster is an adaptation of the British poster created in 1914 featuring Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War. Nelson is credited with the design of the sketch and concept, while Flagg colored and finished the poster. Nelson was always dismayed that he never received credit for his adaptive design. Following the war, Nelson lived and worked out of a studio in New York City until 1932, when he and his wife moved to Wilton, Connecticut. He began working for the Public Works of Art Project and then the Federal Arts Project in 1935. Nelson is credited with 188 easel works and numerous murals to be displayed around the state. During World War II, Nelson worked at the American Brass company and his wife at the Timex Watch Company, both in Waterbury, CT, while he volunteered his artistic talents with the Army Corps of Engineers designing portable altars for Sunday services at the front lines. Following the war, he worked designing greeting cards for Bethlehem Greeting Card Company and Hallmark Greeting Card Company, as well as selling his paintings privately. Nelson continued to paint despite failing eyesight until his death on May 7, 1967 in Bethlehem, Connecticut.
- Sources view
- Uconn database; http://wpa.cslib.org/index.php/532/nelson-ralph/ http://www.wethhist.org/collections/2012/10/uncle-sam-wants-you-to-thank-ralph-nelson-for-his-art.html http://www.wethhist.org/site/keeney-history.htm
- Associated Resource(s)