Culture

This oil on board painting was created by artist Robert J. Aldern in 1955.  While attending the University of Hartford School of Art from 1954 to 1957, Aldern worked part-time as a draftsman for van Zelm Heywood and Shadford.  The inspiration for this work of art was clearly derived from the engineering design and drafting activities that Aldern witnessed and was engaged in at van Zelm.

True to its mid-century inception, this painting was created in the Cubist style – an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture.  Pioneered by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, Cubism has been considered the most influential art movement of the 20th century.

In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassembled in an abstracted form. — Instead of depicting objects from a single viewpoint, the artist portrays the subject from a multitude of viewpoints utilizing faceting, or simplification of geometric forms, and the association of mechanization and modern life to represent the subject within a greater context.

According to Firm legend, the central figure shown holding the slide rule is our founder, Henry B. van Zelm.

Upon receiving his BFA degree from The University of Hartford in 1957, R.J. returned to Sioux Falls where he opened the Aldern Art Studio.  Aldern worked as an architectural and liturgical artist and consultant in addition to creating his own works of art.  Recipient of multiple awards for artistic achievement during his lifetime, Aldern was also honored as Artist-in-Residence and served as Director of the Center for Liturgical Art at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Born in 1929, Mr. Aldern, “an artist and a gentleman”, passed away on June 11, 2011 at the age of 82… We are fortunate that a part of his artistic legacy resides here at van Zelm, where it has been studied and admired by generations of staff, clients and visitors.