Chalice (one of a group)

Arts of the Americas

1955–65

Renard Koehnemann (American, 1918–1999)

A student of Daniel Pedersen at the Kalo Shop, Chicago’s preeminent producer of handwrought silver in the early 20th century, Chicago silversmith Renard Koehnemann created custom-designed chalices and patens for newly ordained priests. His religious beliefs also informed his artistic approach, especially the ideals of beauty set forth by Saint Thomas Aquinas: integrity, due proportion, and resplendent form. Each piece by Koehnemann was unique, made by hand, and designed to reflect a contemporary aesthetic. These works display his talent for achieving elegant expressions of modernity through simple forms and the use of contrasting colored materials.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Renard Koehnemann
Title: Chalice (one of a group)
Place: Chicago (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: c. 1955–1965
Medium: Silver, gold plating, and green aventurine
Inscriptions: marked on bottom of chalices: HAND WROUGHT/STERLING/RAK
Dimensions: Diam.: 17.2 cm (6 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Walter Placko in memory of Renard Koehnemann
Reference Number: 2001.3.1

Sharon Darling and Gale Farr Casterling, Chicago Metalsmiths: An Illustrated History, exh. cat. (Chicago: Chicago Historical Society, 1977), 115, fig. 148 (ill.).
Jennifer M. Downs, “ ‘The New Modern Feeling’: A Catalogue of the Collection,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 27, 2 (2001), 99–100, cat. 30.
Judith A. Barter, Elizabeth McGoey, et al., American Silver in the Art Institute of Chicago (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016), p. 241 (ill.).

Chicago Historical Society, Chicago Metalsmiths, May 21–Oct. 23, 1977, cat.

Renard Koehnemann, Chesterton, IN (1918-1999), until 1999; bequeathed to Walter Placko (died c. 2014), Chesterton, IN, 1999; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2001.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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