Sy Mohr Pennsylvania Amish Farm Life Oil on Canvas 1991 ©SMPA

How often do you hear of an artist who moves from Brooklyn, New York to Central Pennsylvania’s Amish Country? It is a rarity, but that is exactly what Sy Mohr did over 50 years ago. After a trip to the area, he fell in love with the architecture of Lancaster and eventually relocated there. The same landscape that served as inspiration for relocation also proved to be a favorite subject for Mohr’s work. 

The buildings, people, and ways of life of Lancaster are all represented with a refreshingly, original style distinctively discernable as Mohr’s. Conjured images of Amish life very infrequently include bold, bright, loud, and vibrant colors, characteristics easily apparent in Mohr’s work. Mohr’s images, including Pennsylvania Amish FarmLife, use flat planes of solid color and the thick, black outlines favored by the German, Fauvist artists of the early 1900’s. The large-scale which Mohr favors also suggests the influence of mural artists. These elements of early 20th century art trends, coupled with the respect for American folk art traditions, and the visual detailing, only achieved by an intense observer, make Mohr’s style recognizable as his uniquely.

Pennsylvania Amish Farm Life does more than “snapshot” a moment of time within an Amish community. It celebrates, as do many of Mohr’s paintings, the relationships between people and their environment. “Nearly always the people are set in a place-be it city, town, or neighborhood-which speaks of them as richly as their clothing, shapes, complexions, races, groups, gender, and expression,” (www.symohrgallery.net).

After suffering a debilitating stroke that left him initially unable to speak, Mohr wrote the word “JOY” on a blackboard. The central theme for his recovery also serves as a central theme for his artwork. Mohr’s work celebrates the simple joys found in life, places, and people.

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