Charles Logasa (July 14, 1883February 2, 1936) was an artist.

Early life

Charles Logasa was born in Davenport, Iowa, United States, on July 14, 1883 to

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

Jewish parents and Ukrainian immigrants. His father was Seth Moses Logasa. He had two sisters, Jeanie Deana Bogen née Logasa, and

Hannah Logasa Hannah Logasa (1878–1967) is considered a pioneer of school libraries. Credited with identifying the necessity of libraries in school, Logasa worked to achieve strong interaction between the library, students, and teachers at the University of ...

He came with his parents to Omaha, Nebraska between the ages of three and five years old. As a boy he became a pupil of J. Laurie Wallace who was a pupil of

Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artists. For the length ...

. As a young man he studied drafting and engineering and around 1905 was employed as a draftsman for the City of Omaha in the Engineer's Office drawing maps. At the age of 22 he turned to oil painting. About 1910 or 1911 he left Omaha. He entered the service of the United States Geological Survey as a topographic draftsman in Washington D.C.

Art Student in Washington, D.C.

Logasa continued his art education with Messer and Brooke as a part-time student at the

Corcoran College of Art and Design The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design (known as the Corcoran School or CSAD) is the professional art school of the George Washington University, in Washington, DC.Peggy McGloneUniversity names first director of Corcoran School of the Arts and ...

. In 1913 he took a year's leave of absence from his duties as topographic draftsman for the United States Geological Survey and went to Paris where he entered the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

studying under Paul Laurens. He returned to Corcoran until 1917. While he was a student, he rented a studio at 1421 F Street where, in 1916, he exhibited a selection of works from the

Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was a show organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors in 1913. It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of ...

(1913), introducing Washington D.C. to the new abstraction being made in Europe. The show contained 34 or 35 pictures on loan from

Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz (January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was kno ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It had an immediate impact in Washington: it was very controversial. Logasa was called a "hopeless degenerate" and expelled from art school. The show featured among its works two watercolors by

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a ...

, two drawings and two oils by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, a drawing and a watercolor by

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

and two by

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculpture, sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his all ...

, as with most other American art schools before the 1930s, was controlled by academics hostile to the new European

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

Europe & Travels

In 1920, growing recognition enabled Logasa to devote himself full-time to his painting. He traveled in Europe during the 1920s, returning to establish a residence in New York City in 1928. When

Joaquín Torres García Joaquín or Joaquin is a male given name, the Spanish version of Joachim. Given name * Joaquín (footballer, born 1956), Spanish football midfielder * Joaquín (footballer, born 1981), Spanish football winger * Joaquín (footballer, born 1982), ...

returned to Europe from New York City in 1924 and gave up his art, Logasa was able to convince him to start working again. A foreword he composed after a Mexican stay in Old Monterrey in 1936 reveals a wry humor not often seen in his painting.

New York City

In 1928 after his return to New York, he exhibited with the Salons of America and with the Independents. On April 2, 1930, he was listed on the United States Federal Census as living in a hotel on 7th Avenue and 51st Street in Manhattan. He lists himself as an artist having been in that occupation for 6 years. In May 1931, he was asked to hang a one-man show, his first, at the Contemporary Arts Gallery in New York. The same year he was invited to the Carnegie International. In 1932 he was represented in the Pennsylvania Annual Academy and in the Whitney Museum Biennial of American Art. Logasa was also a director of the

Society of Independent Artists Society of Independent Artists was an association of American artists founded in 1916 and based in New York. Background Based on the French Société des Artistes Indépendants, the goal of the society was to hold annual exhibitions by avant-gard ...

, an organization created to organize annual exhibitions by avant-garde artists. Exhibitions were to be open to anyone who wanted to display their work, and shows were without juries or prizes. Founded in 1916, the Society was begun by collectors

Walter Arensberg Walter Conrad Arensberg (April 4, 1878 – January 29, 1954) was an American art collector, critic and poet. His father was part owner and president of a crucible steel company. He majored in English and philosophy at Harvard University. With his w ...

, and Katherine S. Dreier, along with Modern artists John Covert,

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

William J. Glackens William James Glackens (March 13, 1870 – May 22, 1938) was an American realist painter and one of the founders of the Ashcan School, which rejected the formal boundaries of artistic beauty laid-down by the conservative National Academy of De ...

Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...

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Walter Pach Walter Pach (July 1, 1883 – November 27, 1958) was an artist, critic, lecturer, art adviser, and art historian who wrote extensively about modern art and championed its cause. Through his numerous books, articles, and translations of European ar ...

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, although his t ...

John Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight. He is best known ...

and

Joseph Stella Joseph Stella (born Giuseppe Michele Stella, June 13, 1877 – November 5, 1946) was an Italian-born American Futurist painter best known for his depictions of industrial America, especially his images of the Brooklyn Bridge. He is also as ...

Joslyn Art Museum

Twenty paintings by Charles Logasa were given to the Society of Liberal Arts,

Joslyn Art Museum The Joslyn Art Museum is the principal fine arts museum in the state of Nebraska, United States. Located in Omaha, it was opened in 1931 at the initiative of Sarah H. Joslyn in memory of her husband, businessman George A. Joslyn. It is the only m ...

, Omaha, Nebraska, by his sister,

of Chicago. In March 1939, the complete collection was shown there. On June 25, 1966, another exhibit opened at the Joslyn and included Logasa's paintings and drawings.

Death

He died in New York City on February 23, 1936 at the Hotel Taft (New York Times, 24 February 1936, 17:3).Unidentified New York City Newspaper Exact date unknown
He was interred in Rock Island, Illinois at Chippianook Cemetery.

References

;References {{DEFAULTSORT:Logasa, Charles 1883 births 1936 deaths American artists American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Jewish American artists Society of Independent Artists