Emil Janel (21 September 1897 – May 1981) was a Swedish-born, American artist. A still life painter, he is mainly known for his

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

s in the

Scandinavian flat-plane style of woodcarving The Scandinavian flat-plane style of woodcarving is a style of figure carving. The figures are carved in large flat planes, created primarily using a carving knife. Tool marks are left in the carving and very little (if any) rounding or sanding i ...

, and is considered by many to be one of the best of this genre.

Biography

Emil Gottfred Janel was born in the village of Hansjö near Orsa in

Dalarna Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland Värmland () also known a ...

County,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. In 1923, Janel moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, then to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. After some encouragement by a local store keeper, he eventually settled in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

with his wife and began study at what is now the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

. During the 1930s, he spent considerable time at Russian River, where he produced carvings of a local species of

Alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

wood. It is said that he preferred that particular medium because of the similarity to flesh tones, and that he kept his carvings in a bucket of water to keep them wet while working on them. He used very thin

aniline dye Aniline is an organic compound with the formula C6 H5 NH2. Consisting of a phenyl group attached to an amino group, aniline is the simplest aromatic amine. It is an industrially significant commodity chemical, as well as a versatile starting ...

s on the non-flesh portions of his carvings. Emil is said to have referred to his style as "exaggerated realism".

Honors

*Emil Janel was awarded The Royal

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

(''Kungliga Vasaorden'') by the

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument o ...

for his artistic contributions in 1965. *The Maxwell Galleries Collection on Emil Janel contains over 35 carvings which are part of the permanent collection of the

American Swedish Institute The American Swedish Institute (ASI) is a museum and cultural center in the Phillips West neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The organization is dedicated to the preservation and study of the historic role Sweden and Swedish A ...

, They were donated by collector, artist and author

Ira Weissman Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name * Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law * Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status o ...

References

Other sources

*Weissman, Ira & John Matthews (1984) ''Master American Woodcarver - Emil Janel'' (New York Woodcarving Press) * Winnie, Thelma ''The Little People of Emil Janel'' (Western Collector Magazine: October 1964) *Seal, Thomas (1973) ''The Life and Works of Emil Janel: an Illustrated Essay'' (Thomas C. Seal)

External links

Gallery of many of Emil Janel's worksThe Art of Emil Janel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Janel, Emil 1897 births 1981 deaths Swedish artists American woodcarvers Swedish emigrants to the United States People from Dalarna San Francisco Art Institute alumni Recipients of the Order of Vasa