Rudolph Frank Ingerle

Rudolph Ingerle (1879-1950)
might serve as
the prototype
for distinguished P&C members
(and conservative Chicago painters)
in the early decades of the 20th Century.


It seems as if ---
there were a local award - he won it
and if there were a local arts organization -- he joined it,
founded it and/or led it.

(the above painting, "Swapping grounds"
can now be seen in the Ryerson Library
at the Art Institute)




He was juried into the
Art Institute Chicago Artists exhibit
nineteen times between 1908-1941


His list of awards include:



Bohemian Art Club Gold Medal 1916,
Palette and Chisel Associate Prize, 1921,
Chicago Society of Artists Gold Medal, 1923,
Brower Prize, 1927,
Assn. of Chicago Painters and Sculptors Gold Medal, 1928,
William Randolph Hearst Prize 1928,
Evanston Women’s Club President’s prize, 1932,
Palette and Chisel, Gold Medal 1929



**and last but not least**

Logan Prize, 1938 Sanity in Art Exhibit

(this was Mrs. Frank G. Logan's alternative prize,
presented in protest to the original Logan Prize,
established by her deceased husband,
and annually awarded by the Art Institute.
Mrs. Logan strongly dissented from the modernist
direction the award jury was heading in the mid thirties.

She also published a book, "Sanity in Art",
which once could be found in the P&C library,
and which is quoted below:


"Sanity in Art means soundness, rationalism, a correct integration of the art work itself in accordance with some internal logic. We know sanity is often difficult to define, and we also know insanity is often apparent at a glance. ... I have been called an iconoclast, and indeed I am one, in that I am trying to destroy false gods that have been forced upon us in the museums."





And here's a list of the clubs that he joined:



Society of Western Artists
Chicago Society of Artists
(succeeded Pauline Palmer as President in 1921)
North Shore Art League: Founding member, first acting president, 1924
Cliff Dwellers
Arts Club
Bohemian Arts Club
Assoc. of Chicago Painters and Sculptors
Municipal Art League (served as director)
Highland Park Library (served as director)










Ingerle loved to paint
in scenic areas,

beginning with Brown County, Indiana,
and then moving on to the Ozarks,
where he was a founding member of
the Society of Ozark Painters
(along with his friend, another P&C member,
Carl Krafft)








Above, are two of his Ozark views











Eventually, he moved on to North Carolina,
and the Great Smoky Mountains,
where he painted mountain views
and mountain people
celebrating these simple rural virtues
in contrast to the
corruption of the modern city.

(and where he is also noted
as being active in the movement
to turn that area into a national park)





Sunset Landscape
(now hanging at the Vanderpoel Museum)













But then,
surprise !

Ingerle also painted a series
commissioned by
Westinghouse Corporation
for the 1933 Chicago
Century of Progress exhibit.

(the above shows the Skyride
and the Electrical Building at night)




..and here's one of the fountain
with search lights.

So....
maybe he wasn't so conservative after all.

He was born in Vienna,
moved to Chicago in 1891,
took night classes at the Art Institute,
but also studied with.....

Walter Dean Goldbeck,
a rather flashy,
modern illustrator,
with more than a hint
of Japonais