Sommer, William

Sommer, William, 1867–1949, American painter and lithographer, b. Detroit. He was apprenticed as a lithographer and studied drawing with Julius Melchers in Detroit and drawing and painting in Munich. He settled near Cleveland. After years of painting part-time in addition to his work in lithography, he developed in the 1920s a highly personal style, which fused fine line and sensitive color into intense, evocative visions of rural scenes, children, and still lifes. Working chiefly in watercolor, he made portraits of children that are remarkable and highly original. Among his many works in the Cleveland Museum of Art are The Pompous Boy, Pink Snow, and The Blue Vase.