Gisella Loeffler Explained

Gisella Loeffler Lacher
Birth Date:ca 1902
Birth Place:near Vienna, Austria
Death Date:12 September 1977
Death Place:Taos, New Mexico, US
Nationality:Austro-Hungarian, American
Field:painting, illustrator, children's literature, fabric arts, artist
Training:Washington University in St. Louis
Works:Franzi and Gizi (children's book), Carrie Tingley Hospital murals

Gisella Loeffler (1902–1977) was an Austro-Hungarian–American painter, illustrator and textile artist in a distinctive folk style.[1] She began her career in St Louis, Missouri, before moving to the Taos art colony, New Mexico. Although her style was very different from those of other Taos artists, she was popular with them as well as with the public. Among her best known works are murals she painted in an Albuquerque hospital as part of the 1930s Federal Art Project.

Early life

Gisella Loeffler was born near Vienna in Austria (then Austro-Hungary) ca 1902,[2] and as a young child travelled with family to the United States, where they lived in Missouri.[3] [4] Loeffler trained in traditional painting at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, but was inspired by her childhood memories to paint in a folk style.[3] In 1920, she won a prize at the annual exhibition by St. Louis artists, judged by Paul Dougherty, who bought one of her paintings.[5] The St Louis Friends of Local Artists Society purchased another of her paintings, for display in public schools,[5] and awarded her a scholarship.[6] During the years 1924–1928, Loeffler created black and white images for the cover of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Magazine.[7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Career

Loeffler was commissioned in 1930 to paint the walls and ceiling of a new operating theatre in the Barnes Hospital, to help children forget their fears.[3] This attracted attention around the world.[12] In 1933, Loeffler moved with her daughters to Taos, New Mexico, to live in the Taos art colony.[1] [3] There, she worked for the New Deal Federal Art Project, painting murals in schools and hospitals.[2] [3] She also produced her designs in large batiks, "rich in color and exotic in design", which were exhibited in Albuquerque and St Louis, and installed in hotels.[13] She protested against the abolishment of the Federal Art Project by sending an illustrated letter to Eleanor Roosevelt in 1939.[14] [15]

With the advent of WWII, Loeffler moved to California and painted camouflage on planes. While there, she illustrated a children's book called Franzi and Gizi (1941), by Margery Williams Bianco.[1] Life magazine considered it "one of the best juvenile [book]s of any year",[16] and Kirkus called it "[b]rilliant peasant art".[17] In 1942, The Spanish-American Song and Game Book (a New Deal project), was published, illustrated by Loeffler and her daughter Undine L. Gutierrez.[18] In this book, Loeffler blended her Austro-Hungarian folk art style with Native American and Hispanic subjects. The book was described as "charmingly illustrated",[19] and requests for it were received from around the world.[20] Another book, Little-Boy-Dance by Elizabeth Willis DeHuff, followed in 1946. Reviewers found the illustrations "amusing",[21] "delightful .. a perfect accompaniment to a good story".[22]

After the war ended, Loeffler moved back to Taos.[3] She designed greeting cards for many years,[23] for Associated American Artists, and other companies.[24] [25] Her prints and paintings were sold in frames she had designed and painted.[4] During the 1950s–1970s, Loeffler worked in tapestry, weaving the fabric and embroidering and appliquéing her designs to produce wallhangings.[23] [26] She won awards for her tapestries at the Santa Fe Museum of International Folk Art's 'Craftsmen of New Mexico' show in 1959[27] and 'Southwestern Craftsmen's Exhibition' in 1967.[28] [29] They were also exhibited around the US in states including Illinois (where a reviewer found them "a joyous feast for the eyes"),[30] California[31] and Texas.[32] In 1957, Metlox Pottery of California issued Loeffler's Happy Time design. It was not a commercial success, and was discontinued after only a few years, but has become highly collectable today.[1] [33] [34] [35] She illustrated three more children's books in the 1960s, the last of which, El Ekeko, she also wrote.[36] [37] Loeffler also carved and painted toys and Christmas decorations,[38] and her work was featured in the Better Homes and Gardens annual Christmas Ideas magazine several times during the 1960s.[39] [40] [41]

Legacy

Although her naive style does not fit within any of the movements or schools within the Taos art colony, she has been described as "a Taos legend", who provided "an uplifting presence" and whose work depicted "children or childlike adults inhabit[ing] a simple, brightly colored world filled with happiness."[1] Long-term Taos resident Mabel Dodge Luhan wrote, in her 1947 book Taos and Its Artists: "Gisella Loeffler! How people are attracted to your funny little painted children and the reassuring life you surround them with! ... Everyone is allured and amused by the life of these robust infants with roses and birds and hearts all about them. It makes people forget that sometimes their life is not so gay." A Taos gallery owner said in 1959, "Gisella is one of our most popular and colorful exhibitors. Popular acceptance of her work easily places her in the top echelon of Southwestern painters."[42] In 1998, an exhibition titled Loeffler and Kloss: Two Taos Legends, held at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Texas as part of the Taos Art Colony Centennial Celebration, described Loeffler as one of "the best known artists of Taos".[43]

Personal life

Loeffler married Edgar Lacher in the early 1920s, with whom she had two daughters. They divorced in 1933. She married her second husband, Frank P. Chase, in 1949, and they lived in the former Taos home of D.H. Lawrence. Loeffler was known for her colorful clothing, and her colorful home.[1] [4] She decorated her furniture, walls, and windows with her folk designs.[44] She lived in Taos for over 40 years, dying there on 12 September 1977.[1] [45]

Children's literature

Collections

Gisella Loeffler's works are in the collections of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, Texas;[1] [46] the Harwood Museum of Art, Taos; the New Mexico Museum of Art (New Deal collection);[2] [47] the Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe;[48] and also at the Carrie Tingley Hospital, Albuquerque.[2] [15] [49]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Grauer . Michael R. . Gisella Loeffler, A Taos Legend. . Southwest Art Magazine . November 1998 . 8 November 2018.
  2. Book: Flynn . Kathryn A. . Public Art and Architecture in New Mexico 1933–1943: A Guide to the New Deal Legacy . 2012 . Sunstone Press . 978-0-86534-881-3 . 23,277 . 8 November 2018.
  3. Web site: Skroska . Philip . Santa Claus in the Operating Room . Washington University in St. Louis: Bernard Becker Medical Library . 8 November 2018. 2016-12-19 .
  4. Book: Weber . Susan Topp . Nativities of the World . 2013 . Gibbs Smith . 978-1-4236-3247-4 . 133 . registration . Gisella Loeffler nativity. . 8 November 2018.
  5. News: News of the St. Louis Art World . 8 November 2018 . The St. Louis Star and Times . 28 December 1920 . 8.
  6. News: News of the St. Louis Art World . 8 November 2018 . The St. Louis Star and Times . 22 February 1921 . 12.
  7. News: Loeffler . Gisella . Little Shamrocks . 8 November 2018 . St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Magazine . 16 March 1924 . 1.
  8. News: Loeffler . Gisella . Thus and So is Spring . 8 November 2018 . St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Magazine . 29 March 1925 . St. Louis, Missouri . 1.
  9. News: Loeffler . Gisella . Songs for Easter . 8 November 2018 . St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Magazine . 12 April 1925 . 1.
  10. News: Loeffler . Gisela . Valentine Day . 8 November 2018 . St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Magazine . 12 February 1928 . 1.
  11. News: Loeffler . Gisella . Picking Wild Flowers . 8 November 2018 . St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Magazine . 8 July 1928 . 1.
  12. Universalist Sisters . The Sphere . 5 March 1932 . 340 . 7 November 2018 . London, UK.
  13. News: Gisella Loeffler, Taos artist, will winter here; hangs batiks at Placita . 9 November 2018 . Albuquerque Journal . 4 November 1936 . Albuquerque, New Mexico . 7.
  14. Web site: Question: What New Deal Policies did Eleanor Roosevelt influence? . The George Washington University Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project . 8 November 2018.
  15. Book: Loeffler . Jack . Survival Along the Continental Divide: An Anthology of Interviews . 2008 . UNM Press . Albuquerque, New Mexico . 978-0-8263-4439-7 . 139–141 . https://books.google.com/books?id=Qf9jf1b39EUC&q=%22Gisella+Loeffler%22+Roosevelt&pg=PA141 . 8 November 2018 . Kathryn Flynn.
  16. Christmas Boom in Children's Books . Life . 27 December 1943 . 87 . 8 November 2018.
  17. Chalmers . Audrey . Review: Franzi and Gizi . Kirkus Reviews . 8 November 2018.
  18. Web site: The WPA: An Exhibition . Broward County Library, Florida . 11 November 2018 . October 1998 . 17 November 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181117192755/http://www.broward.org/Library-OLD/Bienes/lii10222.htm . dead .
  19. Book: Robb . John Donald . Hispanic Folk Music of New Mexico and the Southwest: A Self-Portrait of a People . 2014 . UNM Press . 978-0-8263-4432-8 . 14 . 2nd . 8 November 2018.
  20. Book: Gough . Peter . Sounds of the New Deal: The Federal Music Project in the West . 2015 . University of Illinois Press . 978-0-252-09701-0 . 187 . registration . The Spanish-American Song and Game Book. . 8 November 2018.
  21. 41383454. Review and Criticism. Elementary English. 24. 4. 261–266. Stockwell. Latourette. Green. Ivah. Smith. Dorothy E.. Whitehead. Frances E.. Kier. Mary E.. 1947.
  22. News: Stein . Eugenia Gerlach . Entertaining Story of Lost Indian Boy . 8 November 2018 . Chicago Sunday Tribune . 1 December 1946 . Part 4:53.
  23. Book: Sperling . Joy . Robinson . Mike . Silverman . Helaine . Encounters with Popular Pasts: Cultural Heritage and Popular Culture . 2015 . Springer . 978-3-319-13183-2 . 87 . https://books.google.com/books?id=z9B9BwAAQBAJ&q=%22Gisella+Loeffler%22+greeting+cards&pg=PA87 . 5 November 2018 . 5: Women, Tourism, and the Visual Narrative of Interwar Tourism in the American Southwest.
  24. News: Art News . 6 November 2018 . The Taos News . 21 December 1961 . Taos, New Mexico . 10.
  25. News: The Arts . 6 November 2018 . The Taos News . 26 January 1961 . 8.
  26. Web site: Cypher . Pat . JANET M. NUZUM. Born 1936. TRANSCRIPT of OH 1603V . Boulder Library: Maria Rogers Oral History Program . 7 November 2018 . 15 . 2009.
  27. News: Society and Arts: Gisella Loeffler Tapestry Reproduced . 7 November 2018 . The Taos News . Taos, New Mexico . 5.
  28. News: Today at Folk Arts: Crafts Exhibition Opens . 7 November 2018 . The New Mexican . 9 July 1967 . Santa Fe, New Mexico . 34.
  29. News: Taos Arts: Gisella Loeffler Wins Award in Southwestern Craftsmen Exhibition . 7 November 2018 . The Taos News . 13 July 1967 . Taos, New Mexico . 9.
  30. News: Weigle . Edith . Be Sure to See Crafts of Southwest . 7 November 2018 . Chicago Tribune . 5 April 1959 . Chicago, Illinois . Part 7: 7.
  31. News: Gisella Loeffler featured in one man exhibits, California . 7 November 2018 . The Taos News . 2 April 1970 . Taos, New Mexico . 9.
  32. News: All Exhibit Space Taken for Museum's Kermezaar . 7 November 2018 . El Paso Times . 17 October 1971 . El Paso, Texas . 19.
  33. News: Cooke . Regina . Art Notes . 8 November 2018 . The Taos News . 24 August 1967 . Taos, New Mexico . 10.
  34. Web site: Metlox Dinnerware: Happy Time . Mary Lynn's Cyber Antiques . 8 November 2018.
  35. Web site: Metlox Poppytrail Happy Time large handled mug . Worthpoint . 8 November 2018.
  36. News: Gisella Loeffler Completes Designs for Children's Book, 1961 Card . 8 November 2018 . The Santa Fe New Mexican . 29 January 1961 . 24.
  37. News: Ater . Jean . Taos Writer-Artist Gets Double Honors . 8 November 2018 . The Amarillo Globe-Times . 20 April 1965 . Amarillo, Texas . 20.
  38. News: Gisella's Work in Museum Show . 8 November 2018 . The Taos News . 27 August 1964 . Taos, New Mexico . 8.
  39. News: As featured in Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ideas – Gisella Loeffler of Taos . 7 November 2018 . The Santa Fe New Mexican . 20 November 1960 . 26.
  40. News: Gisella's Gay Creations in Christmas Magazine . 8 November 2018 . The Taos News . 20 October 1960 . Taos, New Mexico . 7.
  41. News: Taos Arts . 8 November 2018 . The Taos News . 1 December 1966 . Taos, New Mexico . 9.
  42. News: March of Dimes . 7 November 2018 . Albuquerque Journal . 4 January 1959 . Albuquerque, New Mexico . 11.
  43. Southwestern Collection . The Southwestern Historical Quarterly . 1998 . 101 . 4 . 530 . 30239131 .
  44. . Mile Marker: Gisella Loeffler . Las Cruces Sun - News . Las Cruces . 15 March 2012 .
  45. News: Long-time resident artist dies . 9 November 2018 . The Taos News . 15 September 1977 . Taos, New Mexico . 3.
  46. Grauer . Michael . Enchanted: Taos Art from Texas Collections, Panhandle-Plains Museum . Southwest Art . September 1998 . 8 November 2018.
  47. Web site: Works by Gisella Loeffler . New Mexico Museum of Art . 8 November 2018.
  48. Web site: Gisella Loeffler Collections and Exhibitions . Museum of International Folk Arts . 8 November 2018 . 14 November 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181114010645/http://folkart.collectihost.com/MultiSearch/Index?search=Loeffler . dead .
  49. News: . Mahoney . Jane . Period pieces ; City's New Deal artwork a reflection of our cultural identity . Albuquerque Journal . 20 November 2005 . 6 .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gisella Loeffler".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.