Draft:George J. Seideneck

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George Seideneck
Seideneck in 1920
Born
George Joseph Seideneck

February 4, 1885
Chicago, Illinois, US
Died7 March 1972(1972-03-07) (aged 87)
Monterey, California
Resting placeSan Carlos Cemeter
EducationChicago Academy of Fine Arts
Occupation(s)painter, Photographer
Years active1905-1923
Known forPortrait, landscape artwork
Notable workCornish Fisherman
Spouses
Lola E. Stouder
​
​
(m. 1909; died 1910)​
Catherine Comstock
​
(m. 1920)​
AwardsAnna Elizabeth Klumpke Award – Cornish Fisherman
1949 figure or portrait painting

George J. Seideneck (February 4, 1885 – March 7, 1972), was an American painter and photographer known for his portrait, landscape artwork, and the early development of the art colony in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He and his wife, Catherine Comstock, were accomplished painters.[1][2] His artwork has been exhibited nationally and can be found in the permanent collections of the Trotter Museum-Gallery,[3] Monterey Museum of Art,[4] and the National Gallery of Art.[5] In 1949, he won the Anna Elizabeth Klumpke Award during the Tenth Annual Exhibition of Art held by the Society of Western Artists at the De Young Museum in San Francisco.[6]

Early life and education[edit]

Seideneck was born on February 4, 1885, in Chicago, Illinois of Czechoslovakian descent.[7] He went to the local high school and upon graduation he became an apprentice wood engraver, carving woodblocks. As a youth he excelled in drawing boats on the Illinois lakes.[8]

In 1903, he went to the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.[9] He attended classes at Chicago's Smith's Art Academy and worked as a fashion illustrator for boys’ and men’s wear for several years.[1][10] During this time, he shared a studio-apartment for six years alongside muralist Eugene Savage.[1][8] His first marriage was to Lola E. Stouder on April 14 1909, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.[11] She died on July 13, 1910 at Lake Wawasee in Indiana due to appendicitis.[12]

Adriatic Fishing Boats, Venice 1912 by George J. Seideneck

In 1911, Seideneck left by boat for art training in Europe with painter and teacher William Victor Higgins. The first year was spent with studies in St Ives, a seaport town at Cornwall, England. There, he received instruction from the Canadian painter Harry Britton, and developed skills in portraiture. He also delved into landscape painting and utilized his camera to capture scenes for future reference in his artwork. He exhibited with the St Ives painters at their Show Day in March, 1912.[13][14] He traveled to Paris, where he was one of the founders of the American Art Club with a small group of Chicago artists. He went to Venice and Austria, and by the autumn of 1912, he was enrolled in studies at the Royal Academy in Munich, under Walter Thor and Carl von Marr. He exhibited more than thirty paintings at the Kunstverein München, one of the oldest German art associations.[9] In late 1913, he visited Chicago before returning to Europe the subsequent spring as the ambassador for Meyer-Roth.[10][1][8]

Seideneck came back to Chicago and taught composition, life classes, and portrait painting at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts for three years. He became a member of several Chicago clubs, including the Chicago Society of Artists and the Palette and Chisel Club.[1][10] His initial trip to the West Coast was in 1915 to attend the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.[1]

Career[edit]

George Seideneck, Arthur Vachell, Daniel W. Willard, John N. Hilliard at the Forest Theater

In March of 1918, Seideneck moved to the art colony at Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He first rented the Carmel Highlands home from painter William Frederic Ritschel.[1] By June of that year, he exhibited several paintings in the office of the Carmel Pine Cone.[15]

In May 1919, he was elected as a director of the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club. He was also involved in the administration of the Arts and Crafts Theatre. That March he was chosen as the secretary of the Forest Theatre Society and helped with the construction of the sets for the amphitheater.[1]

Seideneck married Catherine Comstock (1885-1967) in Santa Rosa, California on January 25, 1921. She was a landscape painter and worked with leather crafts.[2] Her brother was designer and master builder Hugh W. Comstock (1893-1950) who lived in Carmel-by-the-Sea. In 1922, the couple established a Carmel home situated at the intersection of Monte Verde and 8th Avenue. They had a studio on Ocean Avenue.[16] Seideneck served as a resident artist for the coastal botanical laboratories of the Carnegie Institution in Carmel, creating botanical drawings under the direction of William Cannon.[10][1]

Between 1919 and 1922, Seideneck participated in the yearly displays of the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club.[17] In the spring of 1921, he showcased portrait sketches and numerous landscapes alongside his wife in a combined exhibition at the Arts & Crafts Hall. Later that June, he displayed seven canvases, featuring portraits, at the Carmel Artists exhibition held in the Stanford University Art Gallery.[1]

In the early 1920s, the Seidenecks undertook the restoration of several historic homes in Carmel. With the earnings from this endeavor, they embarked on a two-and-a-half-year journey to Europe in 1924, where they spent their time painting and traveling in Germany and Italy. They came back to Carmel in January 1927.[10][1][18]

George and Catherine helped in the formation of the Carmel Art Association. The Association held its formal opening on October 15, 1927. Seideneck showed two oils On the Giudecca, and Italian Hillside.[19] As a charter member, Seideneck was elected as the second president of August 13, 1928. He participated on the executive board in 1927, and from 1930-1932,[10] and once more from 1942 to 1950. He helped start the Carmel Music Society and was a director of that organization.[1][16] In October 1927, the Seidenecks exhibited at the Carmel Art Association's first exhibition at the Seven Arts Building at Ocean Avenue in downtown Carmel.[20]

In March 1927 Seideneck was interviewed by Alice de Nair for the Pine Cone, where Seideneck talked about his start in Chicago, his travels, and about the portrait of the old fisherman, and portrait of Judge William Henry Seaman of the United States Court of Appeals in Chicago, which now is in the United States courts of appeals in the Federal Building in Chicago.[21][9]

Cornish Fisherman (1927) by George J. Seideneck

In December 1927, for the “Thumb Box Sketches” exhibition at the Carmel Art Association he submitted a portrait entitled Cornish Fisherman. His painting of the Cornish fishermen alongside various sketches of boats appeared at the Fifteenth Carmel Art Association Exhibition.[22] During the autumn of 1949, at the Tenth Annual Exhibition of Art, with 58 paintings and held at San Francisco's De Young Museum by the Society of Western Artists, Seideneck was granted the Anna Elizabeth Klumpke Award, valued at 250 dollars (equivalent to $3,201 in 2023). This award was bestowed for the best figure or portrait painting, recognizing his canvas titled Cornish Fisherman.[6]

The Old Philosopher (1913) by George J. Seideneck

Outside the Monterey Peninsula, Seideneck exhibited his work at different locations. In 1927, he displayed his work at the East-West Gallery in San Francisco and participated in the California State Fair in 1929 and 1933. By 1935, he joined the Monterey History and Art Association, where he was appointed to its board of directors.[1]

The painting, The Old Philosopher, completed in 1913, was first exhibited at the Carmel Art Association member's exhibition held at the Stanford Gallery in 1929. Selected as one of the top thirty-five paintings, it was featured in a touring exhibition, making stops at the Oakland Art Gallery and the East-West Gallery. Seideneck also exhibited "The Old Philopsoher" in 1932 at the Carmel Art Association's Sixteenth Exhibition.[23]

By 1939, the Seidenecks had purchased 12 acres (4.9 ha) property in Carmel Valley and constructed a home with a view of Pinyon Peak and having a hillside orchard.[24]

As part of the federally sponsored SERA project, the Seidenecks created murals at Presidio of Monterey and also at Carmel’s Sunset School. Their initial commission at the Sunset School was titled Fishing Boats at St. Ives.[1][25]

Copper Kettle sketch for the Index of American Design exhibit, c. 1937, by George Seideneck

Sponsored by the WPA Federal Art Project, Seideneck made watercolor sketches of early-American artifacts for the Index of American Design exhibit, showcased in June 1937 at the Federal Art Gallery in Carmel. Thelma Miller, a critic for the Pine Cone, made postive comments about his artworks.[26]

In 1945, Seideneck captured images of Cannery Row and Monterey Fishing, featuring the California Packing Corporation plant 101. Additionally, he photographed Carmel, the Hatton and Berta Ranches in Carmel Valley, and the Big Sur Coast.[27][28]

In January of 1959, Seideneck was granted a lifetime membership to the Carmel Art Association. In July 1966, the Seidenecks were recognized with a joint retrospective exhibition, supported by the Monterey Peninsula chapter of the American Federation of Arts at the Monterey Museum of Art.[1]

Death and legacy[edit]

Seideneck died on March 7, 1972, at a Monterey convalescent hospital after a long illness.[2] His artwork can be found in the permanent collections of the Trotter Museum-Gallery,[3] Monterey Museum of Art,[4] and the National Gallery of Art.[5] The Harrison Memorial Library has the Barbara Meyer Collection of the George and Catherine Comstock Seideneck Papers. This collection includes 9 boxes and 1 oversized folder of photographs, color slides, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and woodcuts of various sizes.[29]

On June 30, 1967, Betty Hoag McGlynn conducted an interview with Seideneck for the oral history interview series for the Monterey Museum of Art archives. This interview is available online through the California State Library.[30]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Jennie V. Cannon. "George Joseph Seideneck (1885-1972)" (PDF). Traditional Fine Arts Organization: Biographies of Carmel and Berkeley Artists. pp. 616–617. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Carmel pioneer George Seideneck dies at 87". Carmel Pine Cone. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. March 9, 1972. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "George Joseph Seideneck (1885-1972)". Trotter Museum-Gallery. Pacific Grove, California. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "George Seideneck". Monterey Museum of Art. Monterey, California. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "National Gallery of Art". The Berkeley Gazette. Washington, D.C. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Winners Named in 10th Annual Show Of Western Arts". The Berkeley Gazette. Berkeley, California. October 20, 1949. p. 14. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  7. ^ Hughes, Edan Milton (2002). Artists in California, 1786-1940: L-Z. Crocker Art Museum. p. 1003. ISBN 978-1-884038-08-2. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c Eleanor Minturn James (December 11, 1931). "George Seideneck, Painter". Carmel Pine Cone. p. 6. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c "An Artist's Impressions of Life in Many Climes". Fine Arts Journal. 34: 300–303. June 1, 1916. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Betty Hoag McGlynn (September 17, 1978). "Old Mural Found In Carmel". Herald Weekend Magazine. p. 4. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  11. ^ "Society". The Fort Wayne Sentinel. Fort Wayne, Indiana. April 10, 1909. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  12. ^ "Seideneck". Fort Wayne Daily News. Fort Wayne, Indiana. July 14, 1910. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  13. ^ "Around The St. Ives Studios". The Cornishman. Penzance, Cornwall, England. March 21, 1912. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  14. ^ "George Joseph Seideneck". Cornwall Artist Index. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  15. ^ "Pine Needles". Carmel Pine Cone. June 6, 1918. p. 1. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  16. ^ a b Hale, Sharron Lee (1980). A tribute to yesterday: The history of Carmel, Carmel Valley, Big Sur, Point Lobos, Carmelite Monastery, and Los Burros. Santa Cruz, California: Valley Publishers. pp. 43, 100. ISBN 9780913548738. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  17. ^ "Exhibitors of the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club (1906-1924)" (PDF). www.tfaoi.org. p. 259. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  18. ^ "Have Vital Impact on Life in Area". Monterey Peninsula Herald. October 29, 1960. p. 14. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  19. ^ "The New Art Gallery at Carmel". The Argus. 1927. p. 69. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  20. ^ "Artists and Their Work". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. October 30, 1927. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  21. ^ Alice de Nair (March 3, 1927). "Portrait Painter Home From Sojourn Abroad". Carmel Pine Cone. p. 10. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  22. ^ Gary Gables (November 27, 1931). "Current Exhibitions". Carmel Pine Cone. p. 8. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  23. ^ "The Old Philospher". Trotter Galleries, Inc. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  24. ^ Francis L. Lloyd (August 25, 1939). "Carmel Art Pair Turn To Valley". Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. p. 5. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  25. ^ "SERA Art Project at School Is Progressing". Carmel Pine Cone. June 7, 1935. p. 10. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  26. ^ Thelma B. Miller (June 25, 1937). "WPA Watercolors Shown, Federal Gallery Exhibits Index of American Design". Carmel Pine Cone. p. 8. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  27. ^ "The Pat Hathaway Photo Collection". Salinas, California. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  28. ^ "Cannery Row Historic Monterey". The Pat Hathaway Photo Collection. Salinas, California. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  29. ^ "Barbara Meyer Collection of the George and Catherine Comstock Seideneck Papers" (Document). Carmel-by-the-Sea, California: Harrison Memorial Library: Henry Meade Williams Local History Room. 1910–1972.
  30. ^ "George Seideneck interviewed in 1967 by Betty Hoag McGlynn". California Revealed. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. June 30, 1967. Retrieved May 12, 2024.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Joseph Seideneck.



Category:1885 births Category:1972 deaths Category:Painters from California Category:Artists from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Category:20th-century American artists Category:20th-century American painters Category:People from Chicago, Illinois

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