In a season dedicated to family gatherings, Roz Sommer’s “Foremothers and Forefathers” series of family portraits on view through December 6 at the Maud Morgan Arts’ Chandler Gallery, is a visual heartfelt embrace for all family members who have passed. The vividly painted portraits are based on two black and white photos from 1929, where 20 family members gathered to face the camera. Sommer’s American grandparents and six-year-old mother were visiting in Poland. Every Polish relative — children, elders, young and old couples — died in the Holocaust.
Sommer is a master of paint; in this series, she used gauche on Yupo. She invented the colors that bring her ancestors back life. Their terrible demise is subtly foreshadowed in the coloration and stern stares, but their individual identities are portrayed with deep longing, awe and reverence. Each portrait is so vital that one could imagine the subjects sitting in her studio.
The original photos are included in the exhibit, so the visitor can compare the origin with this tour de force of family love by Sommer.
(“Roz Sommer: Foremothers and Forefathers” remains on view through December 6 at the Chandler Gallery at Maud Morgan Arts, 20A Sacramento St., Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://www.maudmorganarts.org/event/chandler-gallery-current-exhibition-37/. Learn more about the artist at rozsommer.com.)