cross-section of a 24-floor department store in Detroit. It took him

two weeks to complete the pen and ink drawing for Life Magazine: during

the first week, he "went all through the place, taking notes and

photographs"; the next week he drew it, three floors a day.

"I don’t get involved in long-term projects," Ramus says.

So "illustration was perfect for me." He was struck by a quote

that appeared in Larry Rivers’ obituary last summer: "I go from

this to that, and why be ashamed of it? It seems to me this is the

human condition," Rivers had said. Noting that the different kinds

of work he’s done "have developed in parallel, rather than one

from another," Ramus decided he, too, is a "this and that"

sort — making an easy job of the exhibition title.

On top of his commercial "day job," entailing

regular commutes to New York City from his Princeton home, Ramus drew

for fun, with no preconceived notion of image or message. Instantly

funny and invariably satiric, these drawings have not been exhibited

before. Luckily, Ramus took the concept of "retrospective"

seriously, and together with other two- and three-dimensional work,

showed some of these drawings to Naar, who, recognizing buried treasure

when he saw it, counted them in — first requiring Ramus to name

them.

Modestly dubbed "doodles," his drawings might be viewed as

microcosms of Ramus’s art. Finely wrought and caption-free, they capture

his irony and wit, a decidedly sharp-edged combination.

A nebbishy-looking little man, often balding and always endowed with

a big nose is a ubiquitous Ramus character. He may be dressed in fancy

military uniform ("I’m know for my irreverence toward military

pomp and circumstance") or wearing business attire. Regardless,

"The everyman figure expresses my basic view of the human condition

as a losing battle against ignorance and error. Source material is

no problem."

"All cartoonists have to do big noses," Ramus says, brushing

aside any reference to his own petite proboscis. And that reminds

him of a story about the old cartoonists’ home, with "a string

of old guys sitting on the porch, and one’s saying, `I once drew a

nose this big!’"

consumer items as a man in suit and wings flies in with still more

stuff. Another drawing shows "The Money Tree, or, Dear Old Dad."

"I seem to have been able to render in various ways," Ramus

began, in considering what about his career he most proud of. Although

he thought of himself as a cartoonist, he could never manage punch

lines. "I found my niche in the illustration business doing humorous

drawings for otherwise serious articles."

"As a rule, the better the job, the less specific were the instructions

of the art directors. They would just give you the typewritten script

and the deadline. It was at the old Life magazine that I was first

able to bring my cartooning bent into my work," he says. "At

that time, there was not much `humorous’ illustration being done in

serious journalism. There were not really any precedents so what elements

of style I developed were pretty much sui generis."

and the itching they cause featured a nasty male chigger distantly

related to Thomas Nast’s "Boss Tweed" images. An article about

how doctors territorialize their patients was accompanied by Ramus’s

drawing of a Gulliver-like figure being fastened down by a multiplicity

of practitioners — "the system." He memorialized a dog

show in Connecticut with a scene of countless recognizable "dog-show

types" under a tent, Little Orphan Annie and Sandy among them.

To imagine Ramus’s "doodles," think of the drawings by Saul

Steinberg (1914-1999), a particular Ramus favorite: "He is closest

to my sensibilities. For me, the obvious view of the human condition

is satirical, and his marvelous drawings are perfection." Steinberg’s

"View of the World from Manhattan" provided a livelihood for

countless poster makers and artists who put their own spin on the

concept. Who knows what will happen once Ramus’s doodles are out there?

Doodles aside, Ramus’s two-dimensional art also includes paintings

and collages. "Poseidon’s Anger," his mixed-media collage

for the Princeton Artists Alliance’s "Odyssey" exhibition,

went on to become the catalog cover-image for the Newark Museum’s

recent reprise of that show. He has made oversized paintings of rusty

railroad bolts and such objects in photo-realism style, and created

a series of poster-size playing cards, giving them his own piquant

twists. Overall, though, "I’ve always been more of a drawer than

a painter," Ramus says.

His sculptures range from abstract ("Caribbean") to figurative-with-found-objects

("Old Man"), and from droll ("Fire Bird," a chicken

whose rows of feathers are made of paper matches) or outright whimsical

("Dry Fly," festooned with shocking pink feathers and American

flags, to lure a free-spirited and chauvinistic fish) to wistfully

charming: his much loved papier-mache "Chimp." Ramus’s paper

sculptures include giant tools, a banana and a peanut — all apparently

on steroids. His three-foot long lion, couchant, was suggest ed by

a stone sarcophagus from Cyprus, and he has tired, so far unsuccessfully,

to have it cast.

In all cases, Ramus’s witty art comes stocked with allusions and suggestions.

Charles McVicker, a colleague in the Princeton Artists Alliance, says,

"Mike is one of the serious artists who can combine that with

a wry sense of humor. He knows art history and incorporates that knowledge

in what he does."

"He never compromises the aesthetic integrity for the whimsy or

satire he expresses," adds Margaret K. Johnson, another PAA colleague

and one who has enjoyed a couple shared shows with Ramus. Gallery

director Naar sums up: "Mike’s work can be appreciated on a variety

of levels."

"Part Danish, Irish, German, English — a typical American,"

Ramus was born in Naples, where his doctor-musician father was stationed

with the U.S. Public Health Service. He was the first of two children

(his sister lives in Doylestown), and his mother, who felt strongly

about the arts, encouraged his early drawing.

He attended Lincoln School, affiliated with Teachers College Columbia,

in New York, and while his father was stationed in Boston, Shady Hall

School in Cambridge. Then came two years at Exeter and a brief stay

at Yale before he quit to go to art school, starting at the Art Students

League.

Ramus’s first job was drawing comic books, and it lasted till March

1940, when his draft number came up. ("I missed a $5 raise by

a week.") During more than four years in the Army, he spent some

time in the Recruiting Publicity Bureau on Governor’s Island. Some

of his art department colleagues came from the advertising business,

and before long he had his first commercial art job.

With his late wife, Grace, Ramus has three children; his two daughters

live in the area, and his son is based in New Hampshire.

Maybe of necessity, this "this and that" artist is ambidextrous.

He’s a lefty for drawing and painting, but spells himself by eating

and writing with his right hand. Those who have enjoyed his notes

and cards, often including quick sketches, can savor the fact that

two hands produced them.

Ramus is also left-handed in golf, which he took up at 75. "I

reached my peak a while ago," he claims — a statement disputed

by golfing partner Bill Dwyer, former columnist with the Trenton Times:

"I used to beat Mike," Dwyer said. "Now he beats me. He’s

in good shape. He’s accurate and he’s a great hitter." Dwyer and

Ramus were often half of golf and tennis foursomes with author J.P.

Miller and Governor Brendan Byrne.

The announcement card for Ramus’s retrospective at Rider shows his

"Egyptian Golf" (tempera on gesso), complete with what at

first appear to be classic poses, symbols, and hieroglyphics. Then

the mushroom cloud in the upper-right sequence, followed by a green

mutant form of life, suggest otherwise. His collage from earlier this

year includes a golf-ball image and the kind of delicious ambiguity

that marks his work.

"Retired Artist," a Ramus doodle, shows a man pushing a disk

on a shuffleboard . . . with a giant paintbrush. It is not a self-portrait

of Ramus — one more artist making "retired artist" a contradiction

in terms. Praise be!

— Pat Summers

Art Gallery, Student Center, Lawrenceville, 609-895-5589. Gallery

open Tuesday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.;

to December 17. An artist’s reception takes place Thursday, November

7, from 5 to 7 p.m.

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Art in Town

609-924-6700. Jules Schaeffer Retrospective with more than 30 found

object-welded sculptures, assemblages, monoprints, and works on paper.

Gallery is open weekdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. To November 14.

is Just Better with Trento!" Trenton artist Thomas Reaves’ show

includes paintings, illustrations, and designs, created with the idea

of starting a souvenir shop for the capital city’s move toward becoming

a tourist destination. Open during school hours; to November 8.

Nassau Street, 609-921-6748. "From Tow Path to Bike Path: Princeton

and the Delaware and Raritan Canal," an exhibition on the history

and creation of the canal, the life of death of its workers, and recent

environmental and preservation issues. Open Tuesday to Sunday, noon

to 4 p.m. Show runs to March, 2003.

Dining room show of original paintings by Livy Glaubitz. Part of proceeds

benefit the Medical Center. Show may be viewed daily from 8 a.m. to

7 p.m. To November 13.

Jorge Armenteros, owner of Little Taste of Cuba, introduces "Artista

Cuba," an exhibition of contemporary Cuban folk art presented

on the walls of Triumph. Show is on view through December.

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Area Museums

New Brunswick, 732-846-5777. "From the Old World to the New World,"

recent additions to the collection featuring works by nine Hungarian

Americans who emigrated to the U.S. between 1920 and 1957. Artists

are Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Bertha and Elena De Hellenbranth, Sandor Sugor,

Emil Kelemen, Willy Pogany, Tibor Gergely, Zoltan Poharnok, and Vincent

Korda. Museum hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and

Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. $5 donation. To April, 2003.

732-745-4177. "Uncommon Clay: New Jersey’s Architectural Terra

Cotta Industry," an exhibition of artifacts and written and oral

histories of New Jersey’s once booming architectural ceramics industry.

Open Tuesday through Friday, 1 to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

On view to May 30, 2003.

215-340-9800. "Earth, River, and Light: Masterworks of Pennsylvania

Impressionism," an exhibition of notable and rarely exhibited

Pennsylvania Impressionist works drawn from the private holdings of

regional collectors. The touring show originates at the Michener and

is accompanied by a new, comprehensive study of Pennsylvania Impressionism

by Brian Peterson; to December 29. $6 adult; $3 child.

Also "The Berenstain Bears Celebrate: The Art of Stan and Jan

Berenstain," the storybook authors’ first museum retrospective,

organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum. The show coincides with the

publication of "Down a Sunny Dirt Road: An Autobiography"

by Random House; to January 12. $10; $7 children.

Also, "Retreating to Ideal Environments," works from the New

Hope colony by Daniel Garber, Fern Coppedge, Robert Spencer, and others;

to February 2. Open Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday

and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Wednesday evenings to 9 p.m.

Route 1, North Brunswick, 732-249-2077. "Barnscapes: The Changing

Face of Agriculture in New Jersey," photographs of New Jersey

barns and farmlands, with 42 images by New Jersey landscape photographer

Louise Rosskam. On view to January 17. $4 adults, $2 children.

609-292-6464. "Searching: New Jersey Photographers and September

11," works by Stanley Brick, Donna Clovis, Donald Lokuta, and

Phil McAuliffe; to November 24. "River of Leisure: Recreation

Along the Delaware," to November 3. "Cruising Down the Delaware:

Natural History You Can See," an introduction to New Jersey’s

natural features by the historic waterway, to November 10. Museum

hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.; Sunday noon

to 5 p.m.

from the Collection;" "New Jersey’s Native Americans: The

Archaeological Record;" "Delaware Indians of New Jersey;"

"The Sisler Collection of North American Mammals;" "Of

Rock and Fire;" "Neptune’s Architects;" "The Modernists;"

"New Jersey Ceramics, Silver, Glass and Iron;" "Historical

Archaeology of Colonial New Jersey;" "Washington Crossing

the Delaware."

West State Street, Trenton, 609-292-6464. "A Decade of Collecting:

Works from the Museum’s Archaeological, Ethnographic, and Natural

History Collections." Open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.,

to January 5, 2003.

Area Galleries

New works by Bill Giacalone. Open Wednesday through Sunday and evenings

by appointment. To December 1.

609-298-6970. Group show by new gallery artists Eugene Maziarz, Joe

Kassa, and Ed DeWitt. Open Thursday through Saturday, 4 to 8 p.m..

Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. To December 15.

Exhibition of works by members and their guests. Exhibitors include

Selena Persico, Peter Roos, Robert Borsuk, Ken Kaplowitz, William

van der Veer, Nancy Ori, and Frank Magalhaes. Techniques range from

platinum prints to manipulated Polaroids. Saturday and Sunday, noon

to 5. To November 17.

In the Broad Street Antiques Center, a gallery featuring the oil,

pastel, and watercolor paintings of Olga Holroyd. Open Wednesday to

Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"Sky Flowers," paintings by Hartini Gibson. Open Tuesday to

Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. To December

24.

Lawrenceville, 609-296-0334. Garden State Watercolor Society sixth

annual Associate Member Juried Exhibition, judged by Betty Stroppel

and Ed Baumlin. To November 22.

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Campus Arts

in Focus: Watercolors from the Henry and Rose Pearlman Collection,"

an exhibition of 16 rarely-seen works on paper by the precursor of

modern painting. Organized by Laura Giles, associate curator of prints

and drawings, the exhibition celebrates the publication of the first

scholarly catalogue on these watercolors which span the entire range

of Cezanne’s career. On long-term loan to the museum since 1976, the

works are rarely shown due to their sensitivity to light. To January

12.

609-258-3184. "Unseen Hands: Women Printers, Binders, and Book

Designers," a Milberg Gallery exhibition curated by Rebecca Warren

Davidson. Show runs to March 30, 2003.

School, Robertson Hall, 609-258-1651. "After September 11,"

an exhibition that explores how area artists have been influenced

by the events surrounding September 11, curated by Kate Somers. Artists

represented: Robert Beck, Eleanor Burnette, Thom Cooney Crawford,

Alan Goldstein, Margaret Kennard Johnson, Amy Kosh, Ken McIndoe, Barbara

Osterman, Margaret Rosen, Ludvic Saleh, Sheba Sharrow, and Madelaine

Shellaby. Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. To December 1.

609-620-6026. In the Hutchins Gallery, Annual Faculty Exhibition with

Brian Daniell, Allen Fitzpatrick, Jamie Greenfield, Leonid Siveriver,

William Vandever, and Ed Robbins; to November 2. Also opening "Building

a Teaching Collection: New Acquisitions in Photography," to November

18. Gallery hours, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to noon; and 1 to 4:30

p.m.; Wednesday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon.

609-586-4800, ext. 3589. "The Faculty," paintings by Mel Leipzig

of his MCCC colleagues. To November 7.

Library Place, 609-497-7990. "Mountain Tops," an exhibition

of miniature landscape sculptures of natural stones and sand by William

Brower, poet, sculptor, and seminary faculty member emeritus. Gallery

hours are Monday to Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Sunday 2 to

8 p.m. To November 30.

Faculty Group Show by 26 full-time and adjunct faculty members in

painting, ceramics, photography, sculpture, graphic design, drawing,

and video. Open Monday 3 to 8 p.m.; Tuesday, noon to 3 p.m.; Wednesday,

1 to 8 p.m., and Thursday, noon to 3 p.m. To November 21.

Brunswick, 732-932-7237. Exhibitions include: "Sonia Delaunay:

La Moderne," celebrating the accomplishments of the key figure

(1885 to 1979) in the development of 20th-century abstraction; to

December 28.

Also "Yurii Dyshlenko: Abstraction, Modernity, and Mass Media;"

to January 12. "The National Association of Women Artists Collection

at Rutgers," to December 8. "Identity and Resistance: Abstract

Painting from the Dodge Collection," to November 17. "Ben

Shahn: The Rilke Portfolio," to December 31. Museum hours are

Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday,

noon to 5 p.m. Spotlight tours every Sunday at 2 and 3 p.m. Admission

$3 adults; under 18 free; and free on the first Sunday of every month.

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Art by the River

609-397-0275. "Prints, Paintings and Progression," group exhibit

by Bette Baer, Laura Blasenheim, Merle Citron, John Marcus, Lola Wykoff,

and others. Gallery hours are Monday to Thursday, 1 to 9 p.m.; Friday

1 to 5 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. To November 22.

609-773-0881. November group show by Robert Allen, Connie Campbell,

Sheila Coutin, Wendy Gordon, Daniele Newbold, Jeane Nielsen, Nancy

Shelly, and Sandra Young. Open Thursday to Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.

To December 1.

"Another Woman’s Dream," a group show of works by Stacie Speer

Scott, Kim Robertson, and Angela Del Vecchio. Open Thursday to Sunday,

noon to 5 p.m. To December 2.

609-397-5679. Bob Beck’s "Excursion" series, part of his American

Road series, painted on site in Maine, Washington, D.C., and Bucks

County. Also featured is his Mississippi River series painted in September

aboard a working tow-boat pushing barges from St. Louis to New Orleans.

Open Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 p.m., and weekdays by appointment.

To November 17.

Fall exhibition features New Jersey artists, Alexander Farnham and

Charles McVicker. Farnham, a noted landscape painter, is known for

his interest in patterns of light and shadow. Open Wednesday to Sunday,

noon to 5 p.m. To November 17.

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Art In Trenton

Tom Kelly, Jack Knight, and Isabella Natale, an introspective and

humorous show by three area artists. Also "Crowns: Portraits of

Black Women in Church Hats" by Michael Cunningham. Museum hours

are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

To November 10.

609-586-0616. Fall/Winter Exhibition. In the Museum, new work by glass

artist Dale Chihuly, to April 6, 2003. In the Domestic Arts Building,

work by winners of 2002 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary

Sculpture Award, to January 10, 2003. Regular park admission $4 to

$10.

Open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., year round; Sunday

is Members Day. Adult admission $4 Tuesday through Thursday; $7 Friday

and Saturday; and $10 Sunday. Memberships start at $55.

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Art in the Workplace

609-252-6275. "Up the River, Now" an exhibition of works by

contemporary painters in the Delaware Valley area. Artists include

Elizabeth Augenblick, Joseph Barrett, Robert Beck, Malcolm Bray, Tom

Chesar, Anne Cooper Dobbins, Suzanne Douglass, Evelyn Faherty, and

James Feehan. Open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; weekends and

holidays, 1 to 5 p.m. To December 1.

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Auditions

open auditions for its annual holiday musical, "’Twas the Night

Before Christmas," on Saturday, November 9, from 1 to 4 p.m.,

presented by the Kelsey Players and directed by Diane Wargo. Auditions

for ages 8 to adult; come with a short monologue and a Christmas Carol

to sing. Performances are December 12 to 15. Call Diane Wargo, 609-530-0912.

auditions Monday and Wednesday, November 11 and 13, at 7 p.m., for

the Jean Kerr comedy "Mary, Mary." All roles are open for

the show directed by Gerry Appel, to be presented January 3 to 26.

Call 732-469-7700.

"Ten Little Indians," to be performed by the Yardley Players

in February. Auditions are Saturday and Sunday, November 23 and 24,

from 1 to 4 p.m. Schedule with Marge Swider at 215-968-1904.

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Call for Entries

illustrate the concept, "Behind Every Choice is a Story."

Any original artwork or graphic work is eligible. First place winner

receives $800; second place, $350; third place, $150. Scanned images

should be submitted electronically to www.roevbush.com by December

13.

to perform at its holiday village in conjunction with the fifth annual

Holiday Light Spectacular. For application, call 732-335-0400.

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Volunteer

volunteers familiar with model railroading to assist with its annual

free holiday exhibition of running Lionel 027 gauge model trains.

Show takes place at the center from December 1 to 27. Call 732-634-0413.

volunteer mentors to coach students in Trenton, Princeton, or Lawrence

high schools in their research projects. Website: members.aol.com/njenvmntor.

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Donations

for Mercer County, is registered at Barnes & Noble in MarketFair.

Donors can stop by the Giving Tree, select a name tap, purchase a

discounted children’s book, have it wrapped, and place it under the

tree. For information call 609-396-1506.

paperback books for distribution to disadvantaged children throughout

Middlesex County for the program, Books to Keep. Books may be brought

to a book drop-off display in the lobby in the library at 2 Jean Walling

Civic Center, East Brunswick. Checks payable to Libraries of Middlesex

are also welcome. Call 732-390-6789.

Policing Unit, West Windsor Lions Club, and the American Legion Post

#76 seek Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, clothing, and toys for

families. If you know someone who can use their help please call.

RSVP by November 18 for Thanksgiving meal; by December 10, for Christmas

meal, toys, and clothing. Call 609-799-0452.

Corrections or additions?

— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.