Charles Umlauf (July 17, 1911 – November 19, 1994) was an American sculptor and teacher who was born in
South Haven,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. His sculptures can be found in churches, numerous public institutions, outdoor locations, and museums, including the
Houston Museum of Fine Arts
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Build ...
, the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
in Washington, D.C, and the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in New York, as well as in many private collections. Umlauf received a number of accolades, including a
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...
and a
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...
Grant.
In 1941 Umlauf accepted a position at the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
School of Art in
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, where he taught for 40 years. Artists teaching at UT included Loren Mozley, Everett Spruce,
Kelly Fearing
William Kelly Fearing was a visual artist who was termed, in his time, a “magical realist” and “Romantic surrealist”. He was a member of the Fort Worth Circle, a cohort of artists often credited with bringing modern art to Texas and the f ...
,
Seymour Fogel
Seymour Fogel (August 24, 1911 – December 4, 1984) was an American artist whose artistic output included social realist art early in the century, abstract art and expressionist art at mid-century, and transcendental art late in the century ...
, and William Lester. Umlauf retired as Professor Emeritus in 1981. In 1985, he and his wife Angeline Allen Umlauf gave their Austin home, Umlauf’s studio, and 168 sculptures to the City of Austin. Based on this gift and considerable community support, the
UMLAUF Sculpture Garden and Museum was founded and opened its doors in 1991 as at 605
Azie Morton Road in Austin, Texas. The UMLAUF is a private–public partnership with the City of Austin.
Early life
Charles Umlauf was born in
South Haven, Michigan
South Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city is in Van Buren County, although a small portion extends into Allegan County. The population was 4,403 at the 2010 census.
Because of its position on Lake Michigan, at the ...
, on a large farm where his family lived and worked. He was the sixth of eight children born to immigrant parents Christian Heinrich (Bavarian) and Charlotte Derouet (French-Alsatian). The Umlauf children were named Heinrich, Marie, Charlotte, Wilhelm, Edouard, Karl, Emelia, and Louis. The family moved frequently in search of work.
The Umlauf family suffered from anti-German sentiment during the first World War. The family Americanized their names (Heinrich to Henry, Wilhelm to William, Karl to Charles) to avoid persecution in their Michigan town and schools. After enactment of the
Espionage Act of 1917
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code (War ...
, Umlauf’s father was falsely accused of spying while working at an ammunition plant. Soon after, the windows were shattered in the family home. This treatment would influence the subjects and expression in Charles’ work. In 1918 the entire family relocated to Chicago in search of greater opportunities for work.
Umlauf discovered sculpture early in his life, when he was a child, playing in the sand at Lake Michigan. He watched a sand artist on the beach, and subsequently sculpted a life-size sand sculpture of his own. Umlauf claimed that he knew at the age of ten that he was going to be a sculptor. At this age, he was living with his family in Chicago.
In 1922, Christian Umlauf died, further impoverishing the family. Charlotte Umlauf died only 6 years later, leaving the children orphans and emotionally devastated. Charlotte had been a fervent supporter of artistic education for her children, spending a portion of their meager income on music lessons for Charles and his siblings.
Work
In 1918, when Charles was eight years old, the Umlauf family moved to Chicago. Charles and his brothers worked as caddies at Oak Park and Bryn Mawr Country Clubs. Charles was encouraged to pursue his artistic interests by his sister, Marie, who paid for her 11-year-old brother to attend weekend classes at the
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
(AIC). He soon earned a scholarship for continued study. Umlauf was interested in carving and forming figures from an early age. Based on a small lion he molded in clay, Charles received his first commission of a full-sized lion in 1922, at age eleven.
In 1929 Umlauf began three years of study with
Albin Polasek
Albin Polasek (February 14, 1879 – May 19, 1965) was a Czech-American sculptor and educator. He created more than 400 works during his career, 200 of which are displayed in the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park, Flori ...
at the AIC. He subsequently spent one year as an assistant to
Lorado Taft
Lorado Zadok Taft (April 29, 1860, in Elmwood, Illinois – October 30, 1936, in Chicago) was an American sculptor, writer and educator. His 1903 book, ''The History of American Sculpture,'' was the first survey of the subject and stood for decad ...
at his Midway Studio before returning to the AIC where he remained until 1937. Those years saw a growth in Umlauf's interest in the more
abstract sculptures being produced in Europe, and as a consequence, his own art became increasingly abstracted.
From 1934 through 1941, Umlauf was employed by the
WPA
WPA may refer to:
Computing
*Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard
*Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing
* Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada
* Windows Performance An ...
Federal Art Project
The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administrati ...
, created during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. He sculpted for several Federal projects, including two monumental sculptural heads for Merchandise Mart and sculptures for Cook County Hospital. His 1939 work ''War Mother'' caught the attention of
Marion Koogler McNay and professors at the newly formed Art Department at the University of Texas at Austin. They offered him a position as Professor of Life Drawing and Sculpture and the Umlaufs permanently moved to Austin in 1943.
Mentorship
During his tenure at the University of Texas, Charles Umlauf taught many art students, including
Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Leni Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she playe ...
. Fawcett, an art major, called Umlauf her "favorite professor" and they began a close mentoring relationship. Fawcett took classes and worked with Umlauf in his studio, as well as occasionally sitting for him as a muse. Her sculpture work is similar to Umlauf's in style. Work by Fawcett was exhibited at the
UMLAUF in 2017 in the ''Mentoring a Muse'' exhibition.
List of Past Exhibitions at Umlauf
/ref>
Another of his pupils was Bob "Daddy-O" Wade
Bob "Daddy-O" Wade (January 6, 1943 – December 23, 2019) was an American artist, based in Austin, Texas, who helped shape the 1970s Texas Cosmic Cowboy counterculture. He is best known for creating whimsical out-sized sculptures of Texas symb ...
, who studied at the University of Texas from 1961–65, and later became famous for his larger-than-life sized works inspired by Texan cowboy culture.
Selected works
* ''Spirit of Communication'', Post Office, Morton Illinois, 1939
* ''Protection, and Mosaic Pool'', Cook County Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, 1940
* ''Paulding Industries'', Post Office, Paulding, Illinois, 1940
*
* ''Boy with Sea Forms'', Lane Technical High School, Chicago Illinois, 1941
* ''Madonna and Child
In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent in ...
''
* '' The Torchbearers'', Austin, Texas, 1962
References
* Danes, Gibson A., ''The Sculpture and Drawings of Charles Umlauf'', The University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas 1990
* Falk, Peter Hastings, Editor Who Was Who in American Art, Sound View Press, Madison Connecticut, 1985
* Hendricks, Patricia D. and Becky Duval Reese, ''A Century of Sculpture in Texas: 1889–1989,'' Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas 1989
* Little, Carol Morris, ''A Comprehensive Guide to Outdoor Sculpture in Texas'', University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas 1996
* Mavigliano, George J. and Richard A. Lawson, ''The Federal Art Project in Illinois: 1935 – 1943.'', Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, Illinois 1990
* Opitz, Glenn B, Editor, Mantle Fielding’s Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers, Apollo Book, Poughkeepsie NY, 1986
External links
Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umlauf, Charles
1911 births
1994 deaths
Artists from Austin, Texas
School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni
20th-century American sculptors
20th-century American male artists
American male sculptors
People of the New Deal arts projects
Sculptors from Michigan
University of Texas at Austin faculty
People from South Haven, Michigan
Sculptors from Texas