"Public Square". Oil on canvas, signed lower right, framed, circa 1912-1915. Canvas size apprx 20" x 16", in period frame apprx 25-1/2" x 21-1/2". Wolasek was a "Cleveland School" artist and member of the Kokoon Club in Cleveland. This image is a view of the center of downtown Cleveland, and therefore is a historical record of Public Square prior to the construction of the Terminal Tower which survives today as a landmark. The Kokoon Club was founded in 1912 in an abandoned tailor shop on East 36th Street by a group of young Cleveland artists including William Sommer, Carl Moellmann, the first president-elect, Morris Grossman, Elmer Brubeck, and Harry Stebner. Members attracted to the club over the years include Henry Keller, August Biehle, Joseph Jicha, Rolf Stoll and others. The club moved its headquarters frequently during the early years: to Superior Avenue near Public Square in 1912; to Euclid Avenue near Huron in 1919; to "the old Schofield home" at 2121 East 21st Street in 1921 where it remained until 1930, when the club bought "the former Van Camp home" on East 40th Street. The Kokoon Club notably produced an annual Bohemian Fete; a Bal Masque at which the members reveled in wild costumes far into the night and generally behaved like artists.
600/800 Sold $747.50
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