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Gouache Sponged and Paint on Paper
xx x xx inches
xx x xx inches framed
Signed “Carl E. Schwartz” lower center
Excellent condition
Chicago origin
Carl E. Schwartz (1935 – 2014) taught figure drawing and painting in Chicago at the North Shore Art League for almost 30 years and in 1984 moved to Florida permanently. In 1999 he returned to teaching for another 14 years at Florida Gulf Coast University where he taught drawing and painting and enjoyed the satisfaction of watching the growth of young artists. He passed away on September 21, 2014.
Mr. Schwartz was born in Detroit and educated at the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago where he earned a BFA degree. His impressive biography lists awards, such as the Logan Medal from the Art Institute of Chicago, juried and invitational exhibitions like Art Across America, sponsored by Mead Corporation, and one and two person shows at Illinois State Museum and the Art Institute S&R Gallery in Chicago to name a few. His works are on display in more than 25 colleges and universities throughout the country, including Harvard, Ball State, Loyola, Michigan State, Nevada, Minnesota, Chicago and others. He has many major placements in permanent collections throughout the United States, such as The Smithsonian Institution, Kemper Insurance, AT&T, Sears, Delta Airlines, Beatrice Foods, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and abroad, including the British Museum in London. He worked with and was published by both Reader’s Digest and Playboy Magazine. He can be found in Who’s Who, Who’s Who in the Midwest as well as Who’s Who in American Art.
Mr. Schwartz was an assiduous student of light. He isolated and painted the pattern and forms he saw.
carl-schwartz-shadows-and-reflections-8-300x200The influence of abstract expressionism hangs just below the surface of his work. Seen in detail, it is completely abstract. Mr. Schwartz created tight shapes under a controlled technique. Using these controlled forms he produced what we perceive as “real”. The subject of the painting becomes secondary to the form. Mr. Schwartz crystallized the act of seeing for us, focusing our attention where his passion and vision lead him. The strength and energy of his work was created by sheer hard work combined with his ability to break down shape and form to its smallest components.
Mr. Schwartz extended his interested beyond the canvas. He created a number of gardens, which were written up in various magazines. His own water garden contains several Koi ponds complete with water lilies, some of which he propagated himself. He also filled his garden with unusual plant life not often seen elsewhere. It provided a perfect setting and was the subject of many of his watercolors and acrylic paintings.
Mr. Schwartz was a realist whose work shows an influence of both abstract expressionism and cubism. An interest in the effects of light assumed a central importance in his work. He often stated…
“I am a painter of light. I’m intrigued and fascinated with form. To me, there are two worlds…the one we live in… and the one that I create. Painting is the discipline by which I constantly rediscover both of these worlds.”
Member Gallery: Celeste Borah
Source: Alliance for the Arts