The Old Market, Cleveland (1920): Art, History and Details

The Old Market, Cleveland (1920) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Frank Wilcox (American, 1887–1964).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

By the time he created this work, Frank Wilcox had visited Europe twice and likely observed similarities between its markets and Cleveland’s own. The historical feel was a strength for attracting immigrants to the city, as it reminded European emigrants of their homelands. The dappled light and airy interior of the market pictured here present Cleveland as a small, homey town rather than the industrial center that it was becoming. The favorable impression of the market may have been an idealization: aside from the new West Side Market, most “old” markets in Cleveland were notoriously crowded and lacked upkeep.

Object facts

• Title: The Old Market, Cleveland
• Date: 1920
• Creator attribution: Frank Wilcox (American, 1887–1964)
• Culture: America, Ohio, Cleveland
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: gouache
• Dimensions: Overall: 73 x 57.8 cm (28 3/4 x 22 3/4 in.)
• Collection: DR - American - Cleveland School
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 1920.279

A detail from the museum

The West Side Market was designed by the architectural firm Hubbell & Benes, the same firm that designed the Cleveland Museum of Art’s 1916 building.

Collection credit

Purchased with funds given by friends of the May Show

Further reading listed by the museum

• Frank Wilcox Entry Card to 1920 May Show. Cleveland Museum of Art May Show Records, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
• Hoffman, Jay, Dee Driscole, and Mary Clare Zahler. A Study in Regional Taste: The May Show, 1919-1975. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1977.
• Robinson, William H., et. al. Transformations in Cleveland Art, 1796-1946: Community and Diversity in Early Modern America. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.