Joseph Plavcan (1908-1981)
Classroom, 1940
In 1926 Joseph Plavcan began studying at the Pennsylvania Academy, where his teacher, George Ericson, had also studied. Plavcan did well in his studies, winning a Cresson Scholarship to study and travel in Europe in 1928. In 1931 Plavcan returned to Erie. The next year he took a teaching position at Erie Technical High School, where he taught between 1932 and 1970. By the time of his retirement, he had earned a reputation as Erie’s most influential art teacher and had earned the respect of several generations of students. Scenes from the city inspired him throughout his half-century career.
Plavcan’s Classroom (1940) presents the constants in his life: his art, his students, and his interest in the community around him. While Erie Tech was a trade school whose purpose was to teach students practical skills with which they could secure employment after graduation, he gave his vocational art classes a broad general grounding in the fine arts. To hone their skills of observation, he took them outside to draw and paint from nature. When it was too cold to do this during the winter, his students worked from models or modest still life arrangements inside. In this scene, four students are visible. One pauses to look directly at the artist, while the other three are absorbed in their drawings. The class is diverse, with an African-American, two women, and a young white man. On the window sill may be seen a small collection of plaster casts taken from Renaissance and classical works. Outside a wintry landscape is visible. The trees are bare of leaves and the ground snow covered.
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