When Gordon Goetemann first arrived in Gloucester in the early 1950s to study with New York City painter Umberto Romano, he met a larger-than-life personality and a man who would influence his own artwork for the rest of his life.
"Umberto Romano: Consummate Romantic" is the title of a free slide show and lecture Goetemann will present on Saturday at the Cape Ann Historical Museum, where Romano's artwork is currently on display. Goetemann will discuss Romano's work and personal memories of him.
Both artists' paintings reflect the tradition of American romantic-realism.
"(Romano) was a dynamic and theatrical guy," Goetemann said. "He was a great showman. When he was in the room, he was a magnetic force, whether at a cocktail party or in the classroom. When people went to his lectures or demonstrations, there was a real air of anticipation and excitement."
Museum Director Ronda Faloon said the exhibit re-introducing Romano's work to a contemporary audience is timely.
"The themes which he explored - the effects of poverty, prejudice and war on mankind, and the pursuit of great men - are quite relevant today," Faloon said.
Titled "Man Sings of Man," the museum exhibition features Romano's artwork over a period of 50 years, from the late 1920s to the 1970s. The work illustrates the evolution of Romano's style, from classical to contemporary.
"But his exploration of the human condition remains the central theme throughout," Faloon said.
An award-winning artist, Romano studied at the National Academy of Design in New York City. He received a Pulitzer traveling scholarship enabling him to study internationally. He painted murals in Springfield for the Works Progress Administration and earned many commissions, including the portrait of Sara Delano Roosevelt. He illustrated Dante's comedy and also served as the director of the Worcester Art Museum School.
But Gloucester artists benefited from his presence here. Goetemann and a fellow art student from the University of Notre Dame first came to Gloucester in the summer of 1954 to study with Romano. Goetemann was a young artist of about 20 at the time.
"He offered us free art instruction, a place to live and he offered us an opportunity to earn some petty cash by preparing the canvases for him and his students," Goetemann said.
Goetemann described Romano, a member of both the Rockport and North Shore art associations, as a "consummate romantic." His photographs of Romano reveal a complex character, from a sophisticate to one in which he is dressed as Charlie Chaplin.
"He was pretty much his own man. He wasn't a plein air painter and that set him apart from others," Goetemann said. "He was a brilliantly clever person and well-informed. He was academically savvy and tremendously skillful. His art is very emotionally charged."
Goetemann's talk will touch on Romano's Italian heritage and the influence of the Mediterranean world and how it gradually came to bear on the development of his life and work. The Italian-born Romano divided his time between New York City and Gloucester, where he first visited in 1933. In 1937, he bought the Gallery on the Moors, which he operated for decades.
Rockport artist Oliver Balf, who began visiting Cape Ann around 1946, remembers the gallery.
"When I first came here, Umberto was a big name in the area, and I went to see the Gallery on the Moors," Balf said. "I was impressed with his strong imagery. The gallery was impressive, especially for Gloucester. It had an ambiance that was different, sort of dark and brooding."
Balf, who visited the current exhibit at the Cape Ann Historical Museum, said he was again struck by the strength of Romano's work now, half a century later.
"It is terrific. Everything that he did was powerful," said Balf, who has a show running at Rockport's Mercury Gallery. "To come back and see the show at the Cape Ann Historical Museum was a kind of affirmation of what I remember from years ago. But it was even better."
Balf, who considers himself an expressionist artist, however, was a bit surprised to find religious implications in some of the paintings. "The work itself actually has a spiritual quality to it, which is really very honest," he said.
As a student of Romano, Goetemann remembers his teacher had him work on a mural to learn how to paint in large proportions. The mural was about 10 feet high, and depicted a crucifixion.
"I was learning about the complexities of painting a mural, and the visual implication of the mural from the standpoint of the viewer," he said.
In discussing his training with Romano, Goetemann looked back at his early art career knowing what a luxury it was to spend the summer in an atmosphere in which he was free to study color, form and texture from a master.
"I want to talk about Romano's work from the standpoint of being his student. He was a fabulous technician, and he knew how to handle the medium of paint," he said. "I look back with fond remembrances of him as a man, a teacher and an artist. I couldn't have asked for more."
Goetemann continued to return to Gloucester each summer, eventually marrying a fellow Romano student, Judith Goetemann, in 1958.
While Romano devoted his life to the figure, Goetemann went on to focus on landscape. An exhibition of Goetemann's work titled "Coastal Landscapes: 2002-2004, Abstract Paintings from Series 1 and 2" is on display in an adjacent gallery at the museum.
"But (Romano's) expressive power is something that is a part of me," said Goetemann. "We share a catholic, with a small c, romanticism, or in other words, a universal view of world."
IF YOU GO
What: "Umberto Romano: Consummate Romantic," a lecture and slide show presented by Rocky Neck artist and professor emeritus Gordon Goetemann. The lecture is given in conjunction with a special exhibition titled "Man Sings of Man: Umberto Romano, 1906-1982."
When: Saturday at 3 p.m.
Where: Cape Ann Historical Museum, 27 Pleasant St., Gloucester
How: Free. Call 978-283-0455 or visit www.capeannhistoricalmuseum.org.
