August Issue 2002
ElderArt Gallery in Charlotte, NC, Features Works by Leon Makielski
ElderArt Gallery in Charlotte, NC, will present the exhibition, Leon Makielski (1885-1974) American Impressionist, from Aug. 31 through Oct. 26, 2002.
His paintings inspired Robert Frost and were
collected by J.M. Studebaker, his patron. He studied with the
French Impressionist in Paris and Giverny from 1909 through 1912
and his return to the United States on the Titanic was postponed
when he received a commission to paint a portrait in Paris. Four
of his paintings were on board the Titanic in 1912.
ElderArt Gallery and the heirs of Leon A. Makielski are pleased
to offer a selection of the artist's landscapes, drawings and
etchings executed between 1903 and 1960. The paintings in the
exhibit were done both in the United States and in Europe and
include landscapes and as well as portraits.
In 1903, Makielski left his home in South Bend, IN, to study at the Art Institute of Chicago. At the turn of the century Chicago was a major artistic center and the five Hoosier Impressionists - Theodore C. Steele, Otto Stark, William J. Forsyth, Richard B. Gruelle, and John Otis Adams - were the most prominent artistic force in the Midwest. Makielski would have seen their work in the annual exhibitions of the Society of Western Artists.
While a student in Chicago, Makielski spent the summer months at the Eagle's Nest Art Colony which is situated west of Chicago. Eagle's Nest was the most important summer art center in Illinois and attracted such notables as the Chicago sculptor Larado Taft, the painters Ralph Elmer Clarkson and Charles Francis Browne, and the influential writers Hamlin Garland and Henry B. Fuller.
In 1908, Makielski became an assistant instructor at the Art Institute of Chicago and was awarded the school's top prize, the John Quincy Adams Traveling Scholarship. On Apr. 19, 1909, he sailed for Paris, which he made his headquarters for the next four years. He enrolled at the Academie Julian and the Grande Chaumiere, studied with Henri Martin and Richard E. Miller, and exhibited his work at the Paris Salons of 1910 and 1911. Makielski spent his spare time painting in the city's parks, on the Seine, and in the countryside around Paris, especially Giverny and Versailles. He also visited the museums of Italy, England, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Holland, and Austria. He painted towns, cities, and landscapes along the way.
The artist was mentored by J.M. Studebaker,
president of Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company. Studebaker
provided Makielski with his financial and moral support during
his studies and travels in Europe.
Makielski returned to South Bend in 1913. In 1915 he moved to
Ann Arbor, MI, to take a position as instructor of fine arts at
the University of Michigan. His move to Ann Arbor launched his
career as a portrait and landscape painter. During the rest of
his life, Makielski divided his time between his Ann Arbor studio
and another he maintained in Detroit. In Detroit, he taught drawing
and painting at the Meinsinger Art School and portraiture to fellow
members of the Scarab Club. He painted portraits of Detroit's
elite business leaders including the Kresge family, Ralph Modjeski,
designer of the Ambassador Bridge that links Detroit & Windsor,
Ontario. During his teaching days in 1923 he painted a portrait
of his friend, Robert Frost. This portrait of Frost now hangs
in the Museum of Art at the University of Michigan. Some 50 of
his oil portraits of faculty members hang in other University
buildings.
Makielski earned many of the annual awards given at Indiana, Michigan and Illinois art exhibitions, and his paintings also received honors from the Detroit Art Institute, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the St. Louis Museum of Art. He died at his studio in Ann Arbor in 1974 at the age of 89. His studio was closed and approximately 460 paintings were placed in storage. The family still owns these paintings, and ElderArt Gallery will represent the work by Leon Makielski.
Makielski was included in William Gerdts' book, Monet's Giverny: An Impressionist Colony (New York: Abbeville, 1993), p. 218, 260.
ElderArt Gallery will exhibit original letters
from Robert Frost to the artist along with a painting that Frost
purchased from Makielski which is owned by Frost's granddaughter.
The University of Michigan's Museum of Art has agreed to loan
ElderArt the portrait that Makielski painted of Frost. These items,
along with letters from Mr. Studebaker, will be on display during
the exhibition.
During the evening of the show's opening a number of restored
Studebaker automobiles will be on display at the gallery courtesy
of The Studebaker Driving Club of the Carolinas.
The exhibit runs in conjunction with Charlotte Shout, a thirty-day celebration of the culinary, visual and performing arts, which is sponsored by Charlotte's Center City Partnership.
For further information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 704/370-6337 or on the web at (www.elderart.com).
Mailing Address: Carolina Arts, P.O. Drawer
427, Bonneau, SC 29431
Telephone, Answering Machine and FAX: 843/825-3408
E-Mail: carolinart@aol.com
Subscriptions are available for $18 a year.
Carolina Arts
is published monthly by Shoestring
Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc.
Copyright© 2002 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston
Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts
from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts
Online, Copyright© 2002 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved
by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use
without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina
Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.