Sam Rosenthal and Ralf Feyl

Sam Rosenthal
stopped by my shop today
to reminisce
about the Schmid era
at the Palette and Chisel. (c. 1990)

I haven't seen him for a long time,
but it turns out he has a studio
in Forest Park less than a mile from where I live.

And, as you can see above,
he can sometimes be seen
on the streets of Chicago.










Looks like Chicago to me.






He reminded me of another young artist
from those days,
Ralf Feyl
who moved to Maine

Wow.

He's good, isn't he?

And here's a little snippet from Ralf's bio:


In Chicago he was a student at the renowned American Academy of Art, and he also trained at that city’s Palette and Chisel Academy

Nicola Veronica

In 1943,
Nicola Veronica (1915-1979)
(that's MR. Nicola Veronica)
won the Palette and Chisel Gold Medal award
for his above painting of
"The Showboat Goldenrod"

The painting is now in the collection of William Mills
(who kindly sent us the image)
and the Goldenrod
is currently moored off Gratiot St.
in St. Louis
awaiting its fate.







And here's the only other
Veronica painting
that we could find.

Exhibit: Jane Ellen Murray

Somewhere
in all these faces,
I think a self portrait
is lurking

Emil Bjorn (1864-1935)

King Haakon VII Arrives in Kristiana



Emil Bjorn
appears to have been more active
in the Chicago Norske Klub
than he was at the Palette and Chisel.

He was the conductor
of the Klub's chorus
and orchestra for many years


But that organization no longer exists
so only his art club
is left to pay him homage.






Biorn came to Chicago in 1887,
and worked as a sculptor, painter,
illustrator, and caricaturist.


And back when the Art Institute
showed local artists,
he was exhbited there
in 1900 and 1912.

















Apparently the Jefferson Park fieldhouse
at 4822 N. Long has his painting
of a Viking ship,
but it may no longer
be on display.

Board Minutes 2011

The Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Arts
Board of Directors’ Meeting Minutes (Via Email)
Thursday, December 29, 2011

Attendance: Lenin Delsol, Pam Gibson, Lenore Murphy, John Dolan, Jack Beckstrom, Stuart Fullerton, Mary Qian, Jim Hajicek, Val Yachik and Bill Ewers.

1. The 2012 Budget was reviewed and approved unanimously.

..................................................




The Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Arts
Board of Directors’ Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Attendance: Lenin Delsol, Clayton Beck, Pam Gibson, Lenore Murphy, John Dolan, Jack Beckstrom, Stuart Fullerton, Mary Qian, Jim Hajicek, Val Yachik and Bill Ewers.

1. Minutes approved by John. Jack seconds. Motion carried.

2. Emphasis on a non-for-profit aspect of the P&C ideas are welcome, offering our walls for shows from outside parties, etc

3. Misha demo/lecture is discussed

4. Fall Clearance Sale was a success! More work sold than expected. Idea of raising the top price to $350.00 and Palette & Chisel’s portion to 35% is discussed.

5. Building: Roof work and tuckpointing have been completed.

6. Studios
–Model stand repair, new lighting arrangement for both studios, repairs to benches and easels discussed.
–Chat with monitors and members about cleanliness and general studio conduct as regards the state the studios are often left in after open workshops and classes finished.

7. Gold Medal Show discussed with dedication to Diane Rath, Phil Renaud, Mike Wilkins

8. Scholarship fund is becoming depleted. Solicitation letter is discussed.
Adding a box on the newsletter for extra donations. Obtaining endowments was discussed.

9. Condition of the front doors discussed.

10. New Members: Nicholas Moscalink, Grace Jeoung, Claudia Finn, Baktybek Asanbekov, Michelle Soncini, Rozsa Szerenyi, Lucas Bianchi, Lorri Kehl, Donald Valentin, Evelyn Brody.

11. John moves to accept. Pam seconds. Passed.

12. Plein Air Painters of Chicago (PAPC) partnership to the P&C discussed.

13. John motions for adjournment. Clayton seconds. Motion carried.






...................................................

The Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Arts
Board of Directors’ Meeting Minutes
Wednesday September 7, 2011

Attendance: Lenore Murphy, John Dolan, Jack Beckstrom, Stuart Fullerton, Mary Qian, Jim Hajicek, Val Yachik and Bill Ewers.

1. Previous meetings minutes are reviewed. John motions for approval, Jack seconds, motion is passed.

2. Financial statement is reviewed.

3. Completed building projects since 1999 were discussed.

4. The roof needs to be repaired. We received a $5,500 bid from Kennedy Roofing, a trusted company that has done great work for us in the past. Lenore moves to approve up to $6,000 for the project. The motion is approved provided that at least one other bid is obtained.

5. New Members: Leon Borkowski, Julie Whitehead Holdsworth, Drev Sine, Nancy Littman, Michael Benson. John motions for approval, Lenore seconds. Motion approved.

6. The motion to repair the front and back doors is tabled to consider other options.

7. John moves to approve a new benefits package for staff. Motion approved.

8. John motions to adjourn, Stuart seconnds, motion carried, meeting adjourned.







-------------------------------------------------------------
The Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Arts
Board of Directors’ Meeting Minutes
Wednesday June 29, 2011

Attendance: Lenore Murphy, Jack Beckstrom, Stuart Fullerton, Mary Qian, Jim Hajicek, Pam Gibson, Val Yachik, Lenin Delsol and Bill Ewers.

1. Previous meetings minutes are reviewed. Lenore motions for approval, Jack seconds, motion is passed.

2. New board members are brought up to speed with the current state of Palette business.

3. Financial statements are reviewed. Leffel workshop a success all around, Demos for Diane fundraiser likewise. Both David Leffel and Scott Burdick donated their pieces without even being asked. A student of Leffel’s, Nadine Warner, also sold a painting and donated the proceeds to the event.

4. Plein Air Painters to be taken under the Palette and Chisel’s wing, meetings are still ongoing.

5. East Meets West Redux show to be held in the Palette’s gallery, to be composed of paintings from the former Murphy Hill gallery and members of the Palette and Chisel.

6. Anne Burke in concert with Misericordia will hold a charity event in the Palette and Chisel Galleries in October.

7. Tuck-pointing estimate is in and reasonable. Clayton motions to approve, Lenore seconds, motion passed.

8. Phil Renaud memorial to be held at the Palette is discussed.

9. New Members: Judy Brody, Christie Stewart, Alexandra Levanthal, Michael Rubenstein, Monica J. Klein, Ting-Itoras Chung, Nelson Ghorbanian, Kimberly Beck. Clayton moves for approval, Pam 2nds, motion is carried.

10. Jack motions to have an amendment written into the bylaws formalizing what we already do, I.E: board meetings being called when the executive board members see a need to hold a meeting. If at least 3 members want a meeting, they can get one. Val suggests we discuss it further.

11. Lenore motions to adjourn, Pam 2nds, motion carried, meeting adjourned.







.............................................................
The Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Arts
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, March 22, 2011


Attendance: Val Yachik, Jack Beckstrom, Mary Qian, John Dolan, Lenore Murphy, Lenin Delsol, Clayton Beck, Mike Wilkins, Bill Ewers

1. Minutes are reviewed and approved.

2. The need for new office computers is discussed. Prospective models to be researched by Clayton and Lenore.

3. New members - Laura Patterson, Tamera Beeker, Michael Valente, James Johnsen, Alexandra Kowerko, Diane Sepielli. John motions for approval, Lenore seconds. Motion approved.

4. New Business is discussed - Demo Weekend for Diane Rath. $200.00 for full weekend of painting demonstrations, $75.00 per individual demo. Plein Air Painters of Chicago to be folded in with the Palette & Chisel.

5. Standard Operating Procedures - Language to be further refined,

6. Val asks to have the S.O.P approved as discussed. Lenore motions to accept, John seconds. Motion approved.

7. John moves to adjourn, Lenore seconds. Motion approved.

Exhibit: Summer Suite

Joan Stachnik

Bodo Stolczenberger

Mary Klug




Mary Klug





Peggy Sanders




Peggy Sanders





Peggy Sanders









**************







Note:


Running the same week as the above show,
was an exhibit of life drawings
done at Tom Robinson's studio
at the corner of North and Western.

Including those done by the P&C member,
Richard Bloomfield:



Richard Bloomfield

In Regard to Narcisscism

Peggy Sanders









I'm not quite as bad as Hauptmann ,
but yes,
I am fascinated by portraits of myself,
even if I'm not willing to pose for them.


But last night
the model didn't show up
for my workshop,
and feeling somewhat guilty as monitor,
I volunteered to do a bit of posing.

Regrettfully,
the assembled artists
insisted that I remain clothed,
so I donned a bedsheet
hoping to resemble a Roman Senator.

(though I think it was more just like
Chris Miller in a bedsheet)


Many thanks to Peggy
for portraying me above
as the dauntless idealist
I would like to be.







Here's Stephan Giannini's version
of me
as a character out of Breughel.


And, once again,
I am flattered.

(note: the portrait to my right
is that of Tor Muehl,
resembling one of those officials
portrayed by the ancient Egyptians)










But most flattering of all
is this image drawn by Chloe,
one of the few, brave
high school students
who is wise enough
to take advantage of the P&C's
incredible opportunities to
draw from models.

In this portrait,
saturated with gravitas,
I can almost imagine myself
to be a serious adult.


Thanks to you all!

Around the World with Carl Werntz

Just as Stephan Giannini would do 80 years later,
Carl Werntz packed up his brushes and paints
and traveled around the world.


The following images
come from a tribute
that the Chicago Academy of the Arts
published soon after his death.
(Werntz founded the academy in 1902
and sold it in 1937)


And they were accompanied by
the following poem
written on December 6, 1941
by Emily Winthrop Miles
(a rather wild, blue-blood aesthete):

ON SEEING AN EXHIBITION OF DRAWINGS AND
WATER COLOURS BY CARL NEWLAND WERNTZ

O to have had the eyes to see
Such treasures in far distant lands!
And then, so to translate such clarity of vision
Into unfaltering lines, that duplicate sweet fragments
Of that shy beauty which speaks its poetry
Only to those whose ear is so attuned...


(though I fear Mrs. Miles' ear was not quite
so well attuned to English poesy)










"Joseph Conrad could have made an enthralling tale of Carl Werntz who has been wandering in strange islands and mainlands along the equator, visiting peoples to whom his pale skin is a curiosity even in the 1930's, hobnobbing with their chiefs, persuading cannibals there is something better in human relations than the stew pot, intent, all the time, in studying the arts and fine crafts of strangers to civilization. There is a flavor of Gauguin in it all, except that Werntz didn't run away from his wife, Millicent"



"When modern art began chasing its own tail", Mr. Werntz picturesqely expresses the decadence of the movement, and "long dead artists, unheralded schools and movements
were called upon to aid in furnishing new ideas", the Werntzes started their six-year jaunt along the equator,mostly to the south of the line"


..... C.J. Bulliet, Chicago Daily News






























































































































And here's some information
relevant to his career:

David Leffel Demo

David Leffel
did a demo
of P&C President
Val Yachik,
and
Susan Hong-Sammons
has documented
the event

on her website.






Very Cool.



And very fleshy.








And is it just my imagination,
or do these eyes
look especially devious?

Carl Werntz

Wikipedia
has just published
an article
on Carl Newland Werntz
(1874-1944)
who was included in the
1916 Palette and Chisel Exhibition
at the Art Institute of Chicago



A rather lively painter,
isn't he?

Who better to found the
Chicago Academy of Fine Arts
which promised its students:

"Sunshine Painting and Illustrating Classes
- wonderful effects, day and night"














Might we say that the Chicago Academy,
founded and often taught by P&C members,
was the fore-runner
of the school program
now at the Palette and Chisel?