Karl Umlauf | Industrious : Then and Now!

W I L L I A M R E AV E S | S A R A H F O LT Z F I N E A R T P R E S E N T S

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Exhibition Events On View: Januar y 8 - Febr uar y 6, 2016 A r t i s t Ta l k : S a t u r d a y, J a n u a r y 9 t h , 2 - 4 P M O p e n i n g R e c e p t i o n : S a t u r d a y, J a n u a r y 9 t h , 6 - 8 : 3 0 P M

William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art | 2143 Westheimer Road | Houston, Texas 77098 | 713.521.7500 Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-5pm and by appointment, please call 713.521.7500 or email info@reavesart.com.

• INDUSTRIOUS : Then and Now! • William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art rings in the New Year in their recently re-named gallery with an incredible exhibition of industrial paintings and assemblages by renowned Waco artist, Karl Umlauf.

Umlauf, a veteran painter with an illustrious career spanning seven decades, will be a familiar player to many who follow Texas art. With formal art training at The University of Texas and Cornell (as well as a Yale Fellowship), Umlauf held long-term and productive tenures as an instructor and artist-in-residence at both East Texas State University (now Texas A&M University-Commerce), and more recently, at Baylor University. Along the way his works have been shown in an impressive resume of solo and group exhibitions throughout the Texas and across the nation. Indeed, Umlauf paintings are counted among the permanent collections of over 30 museums across the country (including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Philadelphia Museum of Art and The Fogg Museum), as well as many important private and corporate collections.

Raised in a prominent art family, the son of two professionally trained artists, Karl Umlauf was destined to become an artist himself. His father, Charles Umlauf, ranked among the state’s most prominent sculptors and was a stalwart of the art department at The University of Texas. Following high school graduation in Austin, Umlauf entered the University of Texas for undergraduate training, falling under the early influence of Regionalist painters William Lester and Everett Spruce. Supporting his art studies through a series of part-time jobs in lumberyards and related factories in the vicinity, Umlauf developed a keen eye and artist’s sensibility for the unique metaphysical qualities of the industrial habitat. Little surprise, therefore, that his earliest art work beatified this industrial landscape with his paintings addressing the accompanying waterfronts, steel mills, machine shops, cotton gins, and petroleum refineries. Pursuing this industrial nomenclature in his earliest work with remarkable success, Umlauf continued to visit and perfect such themes at various intervals throughout a long and accomplished career.

As noted by art historian Katie Robinson Edwards, Umlauf’s approach to his industrial abstractions represents a “distinctive blend of

regionalism and expressionism”, bringing both an elegance and sublimity to his muscular, metallic scenes. His paintings articulate everyday scenes and objects such as those encountered by “working men” (and women) in the plants, factories, refineries, mills and docks that abound on the coastal plains surrounding the Bayou City.

They capture and celebrate the interaction of man and machines at work. While these places of industry are overlooked by most artists as redeeming sources of inspirational art, Umlauf has found solace there and reminds us that such settings possess their own powerful blend of dynamic energy, bold patterns, structural intrigue, sensual light and dramatic color – all of which combine under the informed eye and capable hand of a master painter to foster incredible works of art.

Umlauf’s industrials present an interesting, edgy point of view, and the selections reveal the artist’s refined expertise in composition, palette and brushwork. The selections also track the evolution of Umlauf’s industrial perspectives and stylistic approach over the course of his career. It constitutes a fresh and compelling display by one of Texas’ most distinguished latter-twentieth-century painters, bringing a subject matter and “heavy-metal” style that seems especially at home in Houston, the epicenter of industrial Texas. Overall, Reaves and Foltz have curated an intriguing exhibition filled with the strong paintings of a notable Texas artist, all of which emanate formidable mechanistic energies and distinctive technological narrative. It is for sure another worthwhile assemblage at Houston’s home for Texas art, and a perfect way to usher in the new year!

-William Reaves, Sarah Foltz & Mary Margaret Albritton

William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art

• INDUSTRIOUS : Then and Now! • No.

Title of Work

Date

Medium

Size (inches)

1

Abandoned Warehouse 2015

pastel on rives paper

10 x 6

3

Attic IV 2015

acrylic/pigment on canvas

60 x 24

5

Coastal Power Station 2015

7

Door of the Blast Furnace

2

Altered States 1990

4

Boiler Room 2013

6

Cross Wedging Chamber 2009 pastel 44 x 30

8

Faded Memories 14 2014

10

Industrial Complex 1996

12

Northwest Oil Field 1959 pastel 14.5 x 8

2008

pastel on rives paper acrylic on linen

pastel on rives paper

66 x 54 x 6 20 x 10 10 x 6

mixed media wood and ink on vinyl

41 x 56

wood, steel and enamel

70 x 36 x 6

acrylic on canvas

48 x 44

9

Icon III 1995-97

11

Industrial Rail Yard 1960 oil on canvas 18 x 16

13

Oil Rigs, East Texas 1958 pastel 15.5 x 9.5

14 15

mixed media on paper

12 x 13

Oil Transport Center 1960 pastel 15 x 8.5

Overburden 1996 oil on canvas 56 x 16.5

• INDUSTRIOUS : Then and Now! • No.

Title of Work

16

Pipe Fitters 1960 oil on canvas 20 x 10

18

Salvage Yard 1992 charcoal pastel 30 x 44

20

Small Salvage Yard 1993

22

Southern Oil Field 1959 pastel 14 x 8

17 19

Refinery

Date

Medium

Size (inches)

2015 pastel 10 x 6

Salvage Yard 1996

acrylic on canvas mixed media on paper

55 x 52 9 x 7.5

21

Southeast Oil Field 1959 pastel 14 x 8.5

23

Spanish Wall 2015

acrylic on canvas

62 x 24

24

Steel Mill, Lower Level 2009 pastel 14.5 x 10

26

The Welder II 1959 oil on canvas 40 x 30

25 27 28 29 30

Steel Mill Interior 2015 pastel 10 x 6

Transfer Station 2015 pastel 10.5 x 6 Wedging Chamber 2010 pastel 36 x 30 Western Oil Field 1959 conte 12 x 8

Oil Field Near El Paso 1958 pastel 8 x 10

1. Abandoned Warehouse, 2015, pastel on rives paper, 10 x 6 inches.

2. Altered States, 1990, pastel on rives paper, 66 x 54 x 6 inches.

3. Attic IV, 2015, acrylic/pigment on canvas, 60 x 24 inches.

4. Boiler Room, 2013, acrylic on linen, 20 x 10 inches.

5. Coastal Power Station, 2015, pastel on rives paper, 10 x 6 inches.

6. Cross Wedging Chamber, 2009, pastel, 44 x 30 inches.

7. Door of the Blast Furnace, 2008, mixed media wood and ink on vinyl, 41 x 56 inches.

8. Faded Memories 14, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 44 inches.

8. Faded Memories 14, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 44 inches.

9. Icon III, 1995-97, wood, steel and enamel, 70 x 36 x 6 inches.

10. Industrial Complex, 1996, mixed media on paper, 12 x 13 inches.

11. Industrial Rail Yard, 1960, oil on canvas, 18 x 16 inches.

12. Northwest Oil Field, 1959, pastel, 14.5 x 8 inches.

13. Oil Rigs, East Texas, 1958, pastel, 15.5 x 9.5 inches.

14. Oil Transport Center, 1960, pastel, 15 x 8.5 inches.

15. Overburden, 1996, oil on canvas, 56 x 16.5 inches.

16. Pipe Fitters, 1960, oil on canvas, 20 x 10 inches.

17. Refinery, 2015, pastel, 10 x 6 inches.

18. Salvage Yard, 1992, charcoal pastel, 30 x 44 inches.

19. Salvage Yard, 1996, acrylic on canvas, 55 x 52 inches.

20. Small Salvage Yard, 1993, mixed media on paper, 9 x 7.5 inches.

21. Southeast Oil Field, 1959, pastel, 14 x 8.5 inches.

22. Southern Oil Field, 1959, pastel, 14 x 8 inches.

23. Spanish Wall, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 62 x 24 inches.

24. Steel Mill, Lower Level, 2009, pastel, 14.5 x 10 inches.

25. Steel Mill Interior, 2015, pastel, 10 x 6 inches.

26. The Welder II, 1959, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches.

27. Transfer Station, 2015, pastel, 10.5 x 6 inches.

28. Wedging Chamber, 2010, pastel, 36 x 30 inches.

29. Western Oil Field, 1959, conte, 12 x 8 inches.

30. Oil Field Near El Paso, 1958, pastel, 8 x 10 inches.

Karl Umlauf (American, B. 1939) Karl Umlauf is a nationally and internationally recognized artist and educator whose ouevre spans five decades. He has been motivated, chiefly, by two subjects: the baroque agglomerations of piping and machinery found in factories, refineries and other human industrial enterprises, and the rugged beauty of the earth’s topography. Umlauf has used paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings to explore these two distinct—yet related—interests, and to investigate themes of construction, growth, degeneration and annihilation. His oeuvre— expressive and experimental—is remarkable for its ambition. Katie Robinson Edwards, an Assistant Professor of Art History at Baylor University says that “Grasping [Umlauf’s] art takes patience—the same kind of patience the artist has dedicated to his investigations for decades. But Umlauf is also a rare breed of artist in that virtually all of his series are interrelated, fitting together like an enormous jigsaw puzzle. Or like an unimaginably deep slice of the earth.”

It was in Austin that Umlauf first began to explore the subject of industry and mechanization. Umlauf’s choice of subject was partly a matter of practicality; he was working in lumber yards and other industrial settings. But he also found that these spaces satisfied his creative energies. Umlauf recalls that “these mechanized spaces offered an intriguing linear relationship that allowed me to create unique compositions in charcoal/pastel drawings and oil on canvas paintings.”

Karl Umlauf was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1939 but moved, with his family, to Austin Texas in 1941. His father, Charles, was a noteworthy sculptor who taught at the Chicago School of Sculpture. Umlauf’s father exercised an early influence on him. Umlauf recalls a childhood surrounded by artists, and often traveling to commissioned sites in Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. Although he was the son of a visual artist, Umlauf initially planned to pursue a music career; beginning in 1947, he made the viola his chosen creative outlet. In 1951, however, he began to doubt that a career in music would be suitable for him and so, when he enrolled in the University of Texas in Austin, he chose to major in painting and drawing. At the time, the University of Texas in Austin had one of the most highly ranked art programs in the nation, and it afforded Umlauf the opportunity to study under a number of notables in the Texas art scene. While in Austin, Umlauf studied under Texas luminaries like Everett Spruce, John Guerin, Loren Mozley and William Lester.

In 1961, Umlauf graduated from the University of Texas with his BFA. He then relocated to Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York.

Here, he continued to explore the landscape painting he had come to appreciate in Connecticut. He also gained contacts in New York’s Abstract Expressionist movement, including Jack Tworkov, Willem de Kooning, and Joan Mitchell. He also showed work at Frank Roth’s American Gallery in New York City and the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York. Umlauf graduated from Cornell in 1963.

In his work, Umlauf intends to “to create polarities, properties of tension, measured rhythms and surface energies,” adding that, “if the work appears to have an abstract yet unique personal identity and if it provides a distinct physical presence, then I have succeeded in establishing my visual signature.”

In 1960, however, Umlauf first encountered his second primary subject: the earth’s harsh allure. In that year, Umlauf traveled to New England as part of the Yale Norfolk program; while part of the program, he lived in wooded, wild country at the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains. During a conversation with the contemporary New England artist Bernard Chaet, Chaet suggested that Umlauf consider taking up landscape painting. Umlauf did so and soon became an unrepentant convert to pure landscape. After his excursion into landscape and his return to Texas, Umlauf says he “I looked at my sources for subject matter with a different focus, emphasis and change of priorities.” By 1960, then, Umlauf had discovered the twin subjects which would, remain with him for the rest of his career.

For a time, Umlauf taught at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Northern Iowa. He relocated to East Texas State University in 1966, animated by the school’s ambition. Perhaps energized by the challenging environment he found in the East Texas State University art department, Umlauf began to experiment with other media, including fiberglass, vacuum-form plastics, and wood.

These explorations stemmed from Umlauf’s inquiries into landscape and topography. Umlauf says that “I became disenchanted with

painting techniques I had digested through historical traditions and wanted to reach for more unique visual solutions. As the 60s drew to a close my work focused on a more pure abstracted displacement of the landscape form.”

Umlauf continued exploring the artistic potential of a variety of sculptural media throughout the 1970s. For Umlauf, the 1970s were a fertile and successful period. He was in the vanguard of an approach to art, and was awarded prizes from the Chicago Art Institute, the Whitney Museum, the Fort Worth Art Center, the Los Angeles County Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and other prestigious institutions and figures.

In the 1980s, Umlauf began experimenting with sculptural bas-relief surfaces. Umlauf wanted to create more viscerally impactful work. By applying sand and clay to canvas, Umlauf was able to create the kind of expressive naturalism he had long sought. Umlauf says that “the result [of tinkering with clay and sand] was astonishingly rewarding as visual expressions and unique statements of a new and intrinsic surface.” Umlauf considers the 1980s, when he was creating work which nearly attained the tectonic monumentality of the earth itself, a particularly rewarding artistic period.

In 1989, Umlauf joined Baylor University’s art department. Here, he discovered an additional subject, one related to his initial interest in men and machines. He says that he uncovered the “organic linear arrangements of the machine,” adding that “There was a new intrigue and it wasn’t in the sciences or topographic meanderings of the earth. It was instead the influence of industrial technology and the energetic raw beauty of the dynamic machine.” Umlauf began exploring the subject of mechanization, incorporating additional subjects into these works, like the bones of extinct beasts, and other excavated materials. Umlauf assimilated these new subjects into his oeuvre and has continued exploring them until the present.

Umlauf has had a long career, but as Katie Robinson Edwards says that “Umlauf is also a rare breed of artist in that virtually all of his series are interrelated, fitting together like an enormous jigsaw puzzle.” Though he has changed media throughout his career and has expanded his range of interests, Umlauf has indeed been exploring the same subjects since the inception of his artistic career; construction and destruction, and growth and decay have always

been Umlauf’s chief preoccupations. He has explored these themes with an uncommon imagination and expressive power.

Umlauf’s artwork can be found in more than forty museums and public collections, including the following: • Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas

• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York • Modern Museum of Art, New York City, New York • El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas

• Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska

• Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana

• Oklahoma City Art Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York

• Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts

• Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas

• Martin Museum of Art, Baylor University, Waco, Texas • Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, Louisiana

• Evansville Museum of Art and Science, Evansville, Indiana • Longview Art Museum, Longview, Texas

• Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, New Mexico

About William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art

H OUSTON’S T EXAS- C ENTERED G ALLERY

William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, originally established in 2006 in Houston, Texas, is dedicated to the promotion of

premier Texas artists of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, focusing particularly on historically significant artists active in the state during the period of 1900‒1975.

The gallery showcases many of the state’s most accomplished and recognized talents, all of whom have significant

connections to Texas and have evidenced the highest standards of quality in their work, training, and professionalism. In addition to its general focus on Early Texas Art, the gallery places special emphasis on the rediscovery and presentation

of midcentury works by Houston and South Texas artists. William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art is the foremost provider of

Texas Modern Art, which includes midcentury masters and pioneering expressionists working in the state. The gallery also

represents a dynamic group of contemporary artists, known as the Contemporary Texas Regionalists, actively showing their works in annual gallery exhibitions as well as traveling exhibitions throughout the state.

William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art is a comprehensive gallery offering fine art appraisals, consultation, collections

management, brokerage, and sales services. The gallery exhibits artists working in a variety of media including painting, sculpture, works on paper, and photography. In order to promote interest and broaden knowledge of earlier Texas art,

William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art supports related gallery talks, community events, scholarly research, and publications.

Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-5pm and other times by appointment.

Gallery Contact:

William Reaves, President william@reavesart.com

Sarah Foltz, Director sarah@reavesart.com

William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art 2143 Westheimer Road • Houston, Texas • 77098 • www.reavesart.com Tel : 713.521.7500 • Contact : INFO@reavesart.com