George
Demont Otis was an American artist, whose inspiration rose from
the native tradition of American landscape painting. He is listed
in Whos Who in American Art.
He
was born in Tennessee in 1879, orphaned six years later, and
was sent to live with his grandmother in Chicago. He showed
early promise of his future talent by rendering meticulous architectural
drawings of metropolitan structures in Chicago. His fine arts
education was first made possible by a teacher so excited by
his obvious interest and talent that she brought him to the
attention of a United States Senator. When Otis was fifteen
years old, the Senator presented him with a full scholarship
to the Chicago Art Institute. Not many years later, Otis would
return to this school as an instructor.
His
art education continued at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts
under John Vanderpoel. The east coast art scene drew him to
New York where he studied at the Cooper Union, the National
Academy of Design, Art Students League, Brooklyn Academy of
Fine Arts, and Woodstock School of Painting. A man of tremendous
energy and stamina, he took private lessons with many prestigious
teachers of the American art world. He studied under John F.
Carlson for landscape, Izra Winters and Wellington J. Reynolds
for figures, Robert Henri for still life, and William Merritt
Chase.
Otis
helped pay for his education by playing professional baseball
for three seasons. He was an accomplished pitcher, playing at
different times for two teams in the Southern Association. He
was the first in the league to use an outcurve pitch. He generated
hundreds of grease pencil drawings of the south during those
years. His command of the grease pencil and gouache were evident
in numerous wash drawings, pen and ink illustrations, watercolors,
and pastels. Otis was a master of black and white as well as
color.
He
was a virile, robust man. He often journeyed to the backcountry
wilderness to paint. At his studio near Estes Park, Colorado,
he painted and hiked with early leaders of the National Parks
movement, sharing his sense of the human need for untamed nature.
While teaching at the Chicago Art Institute, he spent the summers
painting and backpacking through mountains, canyons and deserts
of many states.
Bryce
and Zion Canyons in Utah, and the great expanses of the Arizona-New
Mexico desert found expression on his canvases. He lived with
and painted the Native Americans of the southwest desert, and
studied the customs, arts, and religions of the Hopi, Navajo,
Yuma, Isleta, Acoma, Taos, and Pima tribes. His lectures on
Native American stewardship of the land aided Otis in his drive
for the conservation of the National Parks and respect for Indian
traditions.
By
1900 Otis had visited Southern California. He was entranced
by the quality of light and the clearness of the air. In 1919
he returned to stay, and for the next ten years, he painted
the desert, beaches, trees, valleys and mountains. The country
was virtually untouched, and he brought a new spirit and technique
to the west.
Otis
soon attracted the attention of Louis B. Mayer of MGM Studios
in Hollywood. He contracted with Otis to design sets for his
movies. Shortly after, Otis was directing crews of artists to
paint scenery under his tutelage. The professionalism taught
to his artists by Otis greatly improved the theater offerings
of the time.
During
these years, Otis served as Chairman, West of the Mississippi,
for the American Artists Professional League, Inc. He spent
many hours lecturing to artists foundations and societies, leading
to the acclaim for his work that has continued since his death
in 1962.
George
Demont Otis achieved fame as an artist and teacher who had exhibited
at many major museums in America. He credited John F. Carlson
for helping him refine his skills as a teacher. Through Otis
works and lectures, he became known in the art world of the
1920s as an innovator of a major movement in art.
Otis
moved to San Francisco in 1930, joining artist friends living
in an art conclave on Montgomery Street. He later moved to the
studio of Arthur Putnam, sculptor, near Golden Gate Park. Otis
married a San Francisco business woman and artist, Clara Van
Tine, in 1931.
Otis
moved to San Francisco in 1930, joining artist friends living
in an art conclave on Montgomery Street. He later moved to the
studio of Arthur Putnam, sculptor, near Golden Gate Park. Otis
married a San Francisco business woman and artist, Clara Van
Tine, in 1931.
Visitors
from around the world found their way to the studio during the
next thirty years. Otis was a social man and welcomed them all.
The studio-home was more than a workshop to Otis, it was a wellspring
of creativity, and he never failed to share his enthusiasm.
Over five hundred of Otis students became professional
artists. He encouraged them to develop diverse styles, forming
the school of Western Impressionism early in the twentieth century.
Otis
modeled his forms with strong light and dark contrasts, a play
of warm and cool colors. His brushwork was conspicuous, and
consisting of wide, bold strokes of high key colors varied in
length and size.
He
was represented in the Cheney Collection, New York; Kahn Collection,
Chicago; Municipal Collection, Chicago; Carnegie Collection,
Colorado and many others.
He
was a member of the Chicago Society of Art, Cliff Dwellers of
Chicago, Society of Western Artists, Marin Society of Artists,
Western Arts Academy Foundation, Laguna Beach Art Association,
and Los Angeles Painters Society. In addition he was a
founder and life member of the Palette and Chisel Club of Chicago
and was appointed Chairman, West of Mississippi, American Artists
Professional League.
Otis
became a leader in the conservation movement. Through his exhibits
and lectures, he fostered concern for preservation of natural
scenic beauty, leading to the establishment of Point Reyes National
Seashore in 1962, the year he died. His niece, Grace Hartley,
said that he would have been pleased by the legislation creating
the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. She believes that
the intense feelings Otis had for the natural beauty and history
of this country has been a factor in the growing movement to
conserve and protect what remains of our unspoiled landscapes.
His paintings of Muir Woods Creek and Grain
Time hung in the White House during the passage of this
bill.
George
Demont Otis became known as a modern day Renaissance man. He
was a painter, etcher, lithographer, stage designer, cinema
artist, woodcarver, illustrator, author, poet, teacher and a
worker in stained-glass. He influenced hundreds of artists who
were his companions and students. Otis, at age 82, left a heritage
of art that reflected his deep love and respect for this land.
Ada
Garfinkel, writing for the Marin Independent Journal in November,
1977, on the occasion of a posthumous exhibit of Otis
paintings at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area Visitors
Center in San Francisco, noted, his paintings of the open,
rugged terrain and natural beauty of Marin are rendered in impressionistic
blocks of color and light and are as compelling for their pictorial
realism as for their tonal nuances, airiness and wonderful spatial
depth...Otis would undoubtedly have been proud to know that
the Society of Western Artists which he founded, is the co-sponsor
of this exhibit.
George
Demont Otis had a firm belief that all noble art is the expression
of mans delight in Gods work. God has loaned
us the earth for our life; it belongs as much to those who come
after us and those whose names are already written in the book
of creation, as it does to us. We have no right to neglect any
obligations that are within our power to bequeath. Otis
encouraged his fellow artists always to strive for the feeling,
that something has been added toward the betterment of civilization.
He would advise them, If it is a painting you are working
upon, make it your best. This is the inspiration and message
George Demont Otis has left as his legacy to the world.
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