Considering it was just Super Bowl Sunday, I thought it was fitting to post about American artist Carl Holty (1900-1973) who created among other works, some great abstract football paintings during his career. Enjoy.
Football players, oil on board, 21.75" x 15". Rose Hill Auction Gallery 2007
Gridiron, ca. 1940's, oil on fiberboard, 48" x 36". Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Long Pipe, 1946, oil on board, 29.5" x 24". Rose Hill Auction Gallery 2008
Europa II, 1947, oil on board, 18" x 14". Vallot Auctioneers 2005
Untitled-factory, 1943, oil on board, 36" x 24". Rago Arts and Auctions (sold $6,710 in 2010)
The Musician, 1932, watercolor and gouache on paper, 14" x 10.25". D. Wigmore Fine Art
Odalisque, 1937, oil on masonite, 35" x 24". Wright Auctions (sold $10,925 in 2001)
Female Bather by the Sea, 1935, oil on masonite, 11" x 14". The Caldwell Gallery
untitled, 1933, ink on paper, 10" x 15". Wright Auctions (sold $5,750 in 2002)
Carl Holty with one of his paintings, circa 1950. Via Archives of American Art
Carl (on left) and Joan Miró (in striped tie) having tea at an artist studio,1947. Archives of American Art
American abstract artist Carl Robert Holty was born to American parents in Freiburg, Germany on June 21, 1900. His family returned to the U.S. while he was still an infant and settled in Milwaukee. Carl pursued art as a young boy and by 16 was already submitting works to the local papers. He briefly studied graphic arts at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1919. The following year he decided to continue his education in New York City, attending the National Academy of Design until 1921. Carl returned home to Milwaukee in 1923 and set up a studio to pursue work as a portrait artist.
It wasn't until 1926, after Carl enrolled at Hans Hoffman's school in Munich, that his interest in abstract art blossomed. This was a major turning point in his career and the beginning of his life's work as a proponent of abstract art. In 1936, shortly after his return to the U.S., he helped form an organization called the American Abstract Artists and acted as its chairman in 1938. The AAA was instrumental in the development and acceptance of abstract art in the United States and is still active today.
Throughout his career, Carl continued to promote and teach the precepts of abstract art, giving lectures in his hometown of Milwaukee and teaching at various institutions such as the Arts Student League and Brooklyn College in New York. He passed away in New York City on March 22, 1973 after a brief illness. For more information about Holty check here.
Throughout his career, Carl continued to promote and teach the precepts of abstract art, giving lectures in his hometown of Milwaukee and teaching at various institutions such as the Arts Student League and Brooklyn College in New York. He passed away in New York City on March 22, 1973 after a brief illness. For more information about Holty check here.
1 comment:
Those are absolutely brilliant. Some of them look less abstract and more cubist!
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