Ralph (Ralf) Christian Henricksen (1907 in

Chicago, IL (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, United States – 1975 in

East Lansing, MI East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

, US) was an American born art educator,

watercolorist Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

, painter, and

muralist A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

Education

The son of Danish immigrant parents, Ralph Henricksen's father was a master craftsman who did decorative work in elegant homes and public buildings. He graduated from Hyde Park High School and earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from The School of

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 ...

, and his Master of Fine Arts from

Instituto Allende The Instituto Allende is a visual arts school in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. The institute provides a range of courses, and offers a BA in Visual Arts and an MA in Fine arts in association with the Universidad de Guanajuato. Its courses and deg ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. He also studied with

Boris Anisfeld Boris Izrailevich Anisfeld (1878–1973) was a Russian-American painter and theater designer. Biography 1878 - October 2. Boris Izrailevich (Srulevich) Anisfeld is born in Bieltsy, in the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire (present- ...

Career

Henricksen did much of his work in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

as a painter, where his murals were commissioned by Illinois Arts and Crafts Projects, as part of the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

(WPA) during the 1930s and 1940s. Some of these are found at Gorton Community CenterMural Project

Gorton Community Center
Lake Forest Illinois, USA. ( Lake Forest, IL),

Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , count ...

, ( Oak Park, IL), and Hookway School (former

Cecil A. Partee Cecil Armillo Partee (April 10, 1921 – August 17, 1994) was an American attorney and politician. He was the first African American to serve as president of the Illinois Senate and the first to serve as Cook County State's Attorney. He serve ...

School; present day

Lenart Regional Gifted Center Ted Lenart Regional Gifted Center is located in the West Chatham neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Lenart School serves grades K-8 with a selective enrollment program for gifted students. The school is part of the Chicago Public S ...

), and at

West Pullman West Pullman is a neighborhood located on the far south side of the city of Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the 77 official community areas of Chicago. The Neighborhood of West Pullman was largely inhabited by workers of the Pullman Train Compa ...

Schools, the latter two located in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, IL. Other public buildings where his work is present are Scott Field (IL), and The Park District Administration Building (IL). Murals were also commissioned to him as part of the

Treasury Section of Fine Arts The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...

at the Stanton (IL) and Monroe (

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 ...

) Post Offices. He exhibited 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 ...

, the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, and Phillips Gallery. He taught at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

until his retirement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henricksen, Ralf 1907 births 1975 deaths Artists from Chicago School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni Instituto Allende alumni American art educators American muralists 20th-century American painters American male painters American watercolorists Michigan State University faculty Federal Art Project artists 20th-century American male artists