Theodore Van Soelen

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Theodore Van Soelen
Born(1890-02-15)February 15, 1890
St. Paul, Minnesota
Died May 14, 1964(1964-05-14) (aged 74)
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Resting place Rosario Cemetery, Santa Fe, NM
Nationality American
Alma mater St. Paul Art Institute
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
Known for Western landscapes, portrait painting, murals
Spouse(s) Virginia Morrison Carr
Elected National Academician

Theodore Van Soelen (1890–1964) was a New Mexico-based artist best known for his Western landscapes and portraits.

New Mexico State of the United States of America

New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern region of the United States of America; its capital and cultural center is Santa Fe, which was founded in 1610 as capital of Nuevo México, while its largest city is Albuquerque with its accompanying metropolitan area. It is one of the Mountain States and shares the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona; its other neighboring states are Oklahoma to the northeast, Texas to the east-southeast, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua to the south and Sonora to the southwest. With a population around two million, New Mexico is the 36th state by population. With a total area of 121,590 sq mi (314,900 km2), it is the fifth-largest and sixth-least densely populated of the 50 states. Due to their geographic locations, northern and eastern New Mexico exhibit a colder, alpine climate, while western and southern New Mexico exhibit a warmer, arid climate.

Van Soelen was born in 1890 in St. Paul, Minnesota. He studied at the St. Paul Art Institute from 1909 to 1911 and then at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. From that school he won a "Cresson Traveling Scholarship" for study in Europe in 1913 and 1914. [1] After his return a doctor recommended him to move west after a serious case of tuberculosis and pneumonia in 1916. He first settled in Albuquerque, New Mexico before moving to Santa Fe in 1922, and, finally, Tesuque in 1926. [2] He died in Santa Fe in 1964. [3]

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the first and oldest art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th- and 20th-century American paintings, sculptures, and works on paper. Its archives house important materials for the study of American art history, museums, and art training.

Tuberculosis infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections do not have symptoms, in which case it is known as latent tuberculosis. About 10% of latent infections progress to active disease which, if left untreated, kills about half of those affected. The classic symptoms of active TB are a chronic cough with blood-containing sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. It was historically called "consumption" due to the weight loss. Infection of other organs can cause a wide range of symptoms.

Pneumonia inflammatory condition of the lung

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung affecting primarily the small air sacs known as alveoli. Typically symptoms include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and trouble breathing. Severity is variable.

Life and career

He made his successful career both in the Eastern and Southwestern parts of the United States. His favorite theme was painting of ranch scenes performed in realistic manner, but he also is known by his landscapes and portraits. For better understanding of the theme he lived in towns and ranches throughout the state of New Mexico and spent a year at San Ysidro's Indian Trading Post. It was in that period that his paintings were exhibited in the Cincinnati Art Museum and obtained a national attention.

San Ysidro, New Mexico Village in New Mexico, United States

San Ysidro is a village in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 238 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Cincinnati Art Museum Art museum in Cincinnati, Ohio

The Cincinnati Art Museum is one of the oldest art museums in the United States. Founded in 1881, it was the first purpose-built art museum west of the Alleghenies. Its collection of over 67,000 works spanning 6,000 years of human history make it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Midwest. Museum founders debated locating the museum in either Burnet Woods, Eden Park, or downtown Cincinnati on Washington Park. Charles West, the major donor of the early museum, cast his votes in favor of Eden Park sealing its final location. The Romanesque-revival building designed by Cincinnati architect James W. McLaughlin opened in 1886. A series of additions and renovations have considerably altered the building over its 120-year history.

He moved to Santa Fe after his marriage to Virginia Carr in 1922. And since 1926 they resided in Tesuque. [1] In 1930s he established a second studio in Cornwall, Connecticut and gave exposure of his paintings in the East. He painted several post office murals, including one at the Portales Main Post Office, on W. 1st St. in Portales in Roosevelt County, New Mexico. He also did murals in the Grant County Courthouse in Silver City, New Mexico, and in the post offices of Waurika, Oklahoma and Livingston, Texas. [3]

Cornwall, Connecticut Town in Connecticut, United States

Cornwall is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,420 at the 2010 census.

Portales Main Post Office

The Portales Main Post Office, on W. 1st St. in Portales in Roosevelt County, New Mexico, was built in 1937. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990 as US Post Office-Portales Main.

Portales, New Mexico City in New Mexico, United States

Portales is a city in and the county seat of Roosevelt County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 12,280 at the 2010 census. Portales is located near the larger city of Clovis, as well as Cannon Air Force Base, a major contributor to the economy of the region.

The Portales mural is an oil-on-canvas mural titled "Buffalo Range", executed in 1939 under a New Deal program, the Federal Works Agency's Section of Fine Arts program. The mural is about 5 by 12 feet (1.5 m × 3.7 m). [3]

The Federal Works Agency (FWA) was an independent agency of the federal government of the United States which administered a number of public construction, building maintenance, and public works relief functions and laws from 1939 to 1949. Along with the Federal Security Agency and Federal Loan Agency, it was one of three catch-all agencies of the federal government pursuant to reorganization plans authorized by the Reorganization Act of 1939, the first major, planned reorganization of the executive branch of the government of the United States since 1787.

Van Soelen was elected as a member to the National Academy of the USA and had his works exhibited in the East museums the likes of the National Academy and the Chicago Art Institute. His works were exhibited at the Carnegie Institute, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. [3] He was named Honorary Fellow in Fine Arts by the School of American Research in Santa Fe in 1960. [4]

American Academy of Arts and Sciences United States honorary society and center for independent policy research

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It is devoted to the advancement and study of the key societal, scientific, and intellectual issues of the day.

Art Institute of Chicago art museum and school in Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879 and located in Chicago's Grant Park, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 million guests annually. Its collection, stewarded by 11 curatorial departments, is encyclopedic, and includes iconic works such as Georges Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Pablo Picasso's The Old Guitarist, Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, and Grant Wood's American Gothic. Its permanent collection of nearly 300,000 works of art is augmented by more than 30 special exhibitions mounted yearly that illuminate aspects of the collection and present cutting-edge curatorial and scientific research.

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References

  1. 1 2 Theodore Van Soelen Retrieved on 3 Feb 2018
  2. ↑ Falk, Peter (1999). Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975 : 400 Years of Artists in America. Madison, CT: Sound View Press. p. 3393. ISBN   0932087574.
  3. 1 2 3 4 H.J. "Jim" Kolva and Steve Franks (September 1988). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Post Office". National Park Service . Retrieved June 4, 2017. With four photos (including one of the mural).
  4. ↑ Theodore Van Soelen Retrieved on 3 Feb 2018


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