'Spring Rapids' by Paul Lauritz, Cascades, California Art Club, Artists Guild of America, Vose Galleries, Who Was Who

Details

Description

Signed lower left, 'Paul Lauritz' (American, 1889-1975) and painted circa 1960.
Framed dimensions: 29 H x 1.5 D x 38.5 … Read more Signed lower left, 'Paul Lauritz' (American, 1889-1975) and painted circa 1960.
Framed dimensions: 29 H x 1.5 D x 38.5 W inches

Born in Larvik, Norway, Paul Lauritz became a notable American painter of dramatic mountain and desert landscapes particularly in Alaska and, later, in California.

Lauritz was raised in the picturesque Norwegian village of Larvik and observed at close hand the famous painters who came from all over the world to paint there. One of them, an English watercolorist, gave the budding artist his first painting lessons in exchange for the room and board that his family provided. Lauritz also received lessons and encouragement from well-known local painters including Fritz Thaulow and Christian Krogh.

At 16, Lauritz headed West to Vancouver, Canada, and then to Portland, Oregon where he worked as commercial artist creating maps, posters and decorations. In 1912, he married Mary Potterton and began to focus on developing a career as a serious portrait artist.

The lure of gold in Alaska, however, took him and Mary to Sunrise Creek where they panned for gold. They lost their money there and Lauritz vowed he would never again be distracted from his central calling as an artist. In Alaska, he also became close to the distinguished artist, Sydney Lawrence who, impressed by the young man's talent and determination, encouraged his career in every way possible.

At the end of World War I, Paul and Mary moved down to Los Angeles as the city was beginning to boom. Here, he opened his first studio in the old Lyceum Theater on Spring Street. In 1920, they moved to the hills overlooking the city and built a home on Clayton Avenue. Lauritz was developing an increasing fascination with desert landscape and he and Mary did much remote exploring and camping in the deserts of the Mohave, Colorado, and Arizona.

At first, Lauritz painted en plein air but he came to prefer working with stronger light and began the practice of working up his plein air sketches in the studio. He developed a preference for particular pre-war French hog-bristle brushes, and became adept at using them to achieve delicate and nuanced brushwork. He also used a variety of palette knives, as well as his finger-tips, to achieve an unusual variety of textural effects, often using unmixed colors straight from the tube.

Lauritz was active in the California art scene as a member of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Commission and also served as President of the California Art Club. Over the course of a long and distinguished career, he exhibited widely and with success and was the recipient of numerous prizes, medals and juried awards. His work was sold by the Artists Guild of America and he was represented on the East Coast by Vose Galleries of Boston. During World War II, the King of Norway purchased a marine painting by Lauritz that was transported by back to Norway by submarine. Lauritz is listed in all relevant art biographical works including Who Was Who in American Art which also illustrates a facsimile of his signature.

Reference:
Artists in California 1786-1940, Third Edition, Edan Milton Hughes: Crocker Art Museum, Sheridan Books 2002, Vol. 2, page 664; Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Peter Hastings Falk, Sound View Press 1999, Vol. 2, page 1961; at al. See less