CHICAGO NO-JURY SOCIETY OF ARTISTS

The group was formed in May 1922[1] after two successful no-jury shows in 1921 of the Salon des Refuses at the Rothschild’s Department Store in Chicago,[2] and an exhibit of 150 paintings during the Pageant of Progress at Municipal Pier.[3]

The founders were Carl Hoeckner, Raymond Jonson and Rudolph Weisenborn, the first President. The name No-Jury was, nine years later, ascribed to artist Helen West Heller.[4] Their first catalog stated “standards of the past...are chains by which the free development of art is hampered.” Technique was less important than “honest, spiritual content.” Their first shows were held at the Marshall Field & Co. gallery where about 200 artists exhibited. The department store had seen the large crowds at Rothschild’s the earlier year and wanted to capitalize on bringing those shoppers to its own store.[5] Exhibitors in the NJSA were also frequent exhibitors at the more conservative Art Institute, Chicago & Vicinity shows. Artists from around the country exhibited, including John Sloan. The inclusion of artists outside Chicago added a somewhat competitive aspect to the shows.[6] The Society had planned on securing permanent exhibition space but was never successful in this effort.[7] By 1924 the Art Institute liberalized its jury which had a substantial impact in drawing away works from the No-Jury shows.[8] The next year, critic Samuel Putnam urged a group of the artists attending a rally prior to their next show to make a decision; either submit to the Art Institute juried shows or submit to the No-Jury shows, but not both.[9] The No-Jury shows soon were noted to be of very uneven quality due to the lack of the jury process. One article commented on the 1926 show, “Here we discover how many persons with little or no instruction are dabbling away with pain in the privacy of their attics or back yards, how still larger is the number of those who, though better equipped, are just hanging on the fringe of real art.”[10] Critic Putnam remained ecstatic encouraging the artists with his strong criticisms.[11] Influential critic C. J. Bulliet denuded the show of 1928 by calling it tame and later commented it was no different from the regular Art Institute show, as similar as “tweedle dee and tweedle dum,” a “fiasco”.[12] The 1928-1929 show, however, rebounded in Bulliet’s important eyes as he considered it much more charged with newness than had been the case for several years.[13] Anyone could enter the shows by paying a $2 fee per painting. If an artist wanted an illustration in the catalogue, that could be had for another $2 fee.[14] The charge was later changed to $4, which included a two dollar membership fee and entitled the exhibitor to show two works not more than forty inches in height or width.[15] The 1930 show was considered by art critic Eleanor Jewett to be rather conservative in comparison to past shows of modern art.[16] In 1933, then president V. M. S. Hannell and the board decided there should be no show and even questioned the efficacy of another show given the success of the open air Art Mart.[17] Around the same time or shortly thereafter, all the accumulated funds of the organization were lost in a bank failure due to the Depression. While it seemed the organization would pass quietly into the past, a Chicago sculptor/woodcarver named Tud Kempf decided there was a need for the group and recharged the organization late in 1933.[18] The shows restarted with the “eleventh annual” on July 9, 1934.[19] However, by the fall 1934, a subversive group of artists from the John Reed Club took control of the organization by consolidating votes for directors.[20] The shows became biennial for a time,[21] and continued through the war. Controversy continued to be a hallmark of the group when the 1936 show scheduled to be hung at the Fair Store was withdrawn because the store managers objected to hanging nudes.[22] After a successful thirteenth show the group decided to offer sketch classes to members.[23] Beginning in 1942, they became annual summer events.[24] In 1957 a show totaling 1,525 artists was the largest ever of the No-Jury exhibitions. It came under the auspices of the City of Chicago, and oddly enough, the Art Institute of Chicago. There was another exhibition held in 1958, the last catalogue which has been discovered and perhaps the last show of this name.[25]

[1]Marguerite B. Williams, “Art Notes,” Chicago Daily News, 5/17/1922 in Art Institute of Chicago scrapbooks, vol. 43. For a thorough discussion of the entire “independent” movement in Chicago, one which gives an accurate chronology, see Samuel Putnam, “Whooping It For Chicago And Independent Art,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 8/3/1926, pp.1, 3. The article was one of a three part series continued on 8/10, “No-Jury Idea Born from Spirit Urge,” pp.1, 3 and 8/17 “Of Flaming Hearts and Naughty Bulbs,” pp.1, 3. Another full account on the founding and history of the organization is Clarence J. Bulliet, “How Modern Art Came to Town: IV. No-Jury: its Rise, Rage and Decline,” The Chicagoan, Vol. 12, November 1931, pp.47-49, 64, 66.

[2]C. J. Bulliet, “Artless Comment,” “Chicago Art Revolt Flying Down the Wind,” Chicago Evening Post, 2/9/1932, Art Section, p.6. Eleanor Jewett, “Gurley Memorial Collection on View at Art Institute,” Chicago Tribune, 9/3/1922, p.D8.

[3]“ ‘Chicago’s Own’ Art Shown At Pageant,” Chicago Daily News, 8/2/1922 in Art Institute of Chicago scrapbooks, vol. 43.

[4]Op. cit., Bulliet, The Chicagoan, November 1931, p.47.

[5]Op. cit., Bulliet, The Chicagoan, November 1931, p.49.

[6]“Forward,” No-Jury Exhibition, First Annual Exhibition of the Chicago No-Jury Society of Artists Held in the Galleries of Marshall Field & Company, 10/2/1922. See also: Lena M. McCauley, “No-Jury Exhibit Is Nation-Wide,” in “News of the Art World,” supplement, Chicago Evening Post, 10/3/1922, p.9.

[7]At their “Cubist” ball held in the Trianon ballroom earlier in the year, the government imposed a ten percent amusement tax on the receipts which had a further negative impact on the development of funds. Art Institute director Robert Harshe wrote a letter to the then Internal Revenue Service protesting on the Society’s behalf. For complete details see: “Tax Hardship On No-Jury Receipts,” no source, in Art Institute of Chicago scrapbooks, vol.48, vol. 3, p.111. Their plans for permanent space were made more clear in “No Jury Society Starts Drive to Establish Own Gallery,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 7/27/1926, p.1.

[8]As a means of generating publicity, to which art critic Lena M. McCauley was sympathetic, a general letter to the public was published in “No-Jury Society,” in “News of the Art World,” supplement, Chicago Evening Post, 9/2/1924. See also: Marguerite B. Williams, “Activity In Artist Circles Beginning,” Chicago Daily News, 9/11/1924 in Art Institute of Chicago scrapbooks, vol. 48. See also: “ ‘No-Jury’ Philanthropy,” in “News of the Art World,” supplement, Chicago Evening Post, 9/23/1924. They secured John Sloan as an exhibitor for the third annual show in 1924 and this event was heralded by critic Sam Putnam in “ ‘No Jury’ Forward,” in “News of the Art World,” supplement, Chicago Evening Post, 9/30/1924.

[9]“Pleads at No-Jury Rally for Genuinely Independent Art,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 12/22/1925, pp.1, 12.

[10]“Free-For-All Show at Marshall Fields,” Art News, Vol. 24, 2/6/1926, p.3.

[11]Samuel Putnam, “Holding A Wistful Wake For Juried Painting. Our Independents Invade Cabarets,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 11/16/1926, pp.4-5.

[12]C. J. Bulliet, “No-Jury, Told Art Has Grown Tame, Believes It,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 2/28/1928, p.1 and “Artless Comment,” in the 4/3/1928 issue, p.8.

[13]C. J. Bulliet, “No-Jury Kicks Up, Runs Away, Cuts Coltish Capers,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 11/27/1928, pp.1, 6. The show was also praised by critic Inez Cunningham, “No-Jury Show Truly Eclectic This Year,” in the 12/4/1928 issue, pp.1, 3.

[14]This policy was somewhat changed from the initial call for membership at four dollars, see: Lena M. McCauley, “Chicago No-Jury Show Is National in Scope,” Christian Science Monitor, 10/18/1922.

[15]“Sixth No-Jury Show Will Open Feb. 27,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 9/6/1927, p.2. For further analysis of their success to date see William T. Biesel, “No-Jury Getting Ready 1928 Show,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 10/4/1927, p.8.

[16]“ No-Jury Exhibit Turns Conservative: Solid Worth of Present Show Wins Respect,” Chicago Tribune, 1/19/1930, p.F6.

[17]C. J. Bulliet, “Artless Comment,” Chicago Daily News, 7/8/1933, Art and Artists section, p.17.

[18]C. J. Bulliet, “Artless Comment: Tud Kempf Wakes Up No Jury,” Chicago Daily News, 11/25/1933, Art and Artists section, p.24.

[19]C. J. Bulliet, “Around the Galleries: No-Jury Revived,” Chicago Daily News, 6/2/1934, Art Section, p.21.

[20]C. J. Bulliet, “Artless Comment,” Chicago Daily News, 11/17/1934, Art and Artists, p.8.

[21]The 1936 show was announced in C. J. Bulliet, “Around the Galleries: No Jury May 16,” Chicago Daily News, 3/28/1936, Art, Antiques and The Artists section, p.4R. A much larger and all encompassing no-jury style exhibit was held at Navy Pier for all artists celebrating Chicago’s Charter jubilee. The catalogue is in the Ryerson Library, Art Institute of Chicago: Chicago’s Charter Jubilee Art Exhibit By Chicago Artists, (Chicago: Chicago’s Charter Jubilee, 1937).

[22]C. J. Bulliet, “Around the Galleries: No-Jury Show Shortly,” Chicago Daily News, 5/23/1936, Art, Antiques and The Artists section, p.4R. The show was hung the next week at the three storey apartment residence of Misses  Miriam Bard and Claire Kellogg at 1418 Lake Shore Drive. C. J. Bulliet, “Around the Galleries: No-Jury Show June 13,” Chicago Daily News, 6/6/1936, Art, Antiques and The Artists section, p.4R.

[23]C. J. Bulliet, “Around the Galleries: No-Jury Sketch Class,” Chicago Daily News, 4/9/1938, Art and Music Section, p.15.

[24] Eleanor Jewett, “No-Jury Artists Summer Exhibit Unusually Fine,” Chicago Tribune, 7/15/1950 in Art Institute of Chicago Scrapbooks, vol. 85.

[25]Edith Weigle, “Modern Art for you, the Jury,” Chicago Tribune, 2/17/1957.