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 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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