Notes on the Artists

John E. Anderson (1923-1971)
With the exception of working and exhibiting extensively for a few years in Paris and New York City, John E. Anderson spent most of his career in Minnesota.  Born in Mankato, Minnesota, Anderson was in the US Army stationed in England from 1943 to 1945.  Once out of the service, Anderson moved to Minneapolis and began his training at the Walker Art School, graduating in 1948.  He taught at the Walker Art School under the direction of Mac Le Sueur and worked as an exhibition assistant from 1954 to 1957.  Anderson's work was part of an exhibition titled "16 Younger Minnesota Artists" at the Walker Art Center in 1960.  Between 1953 and 1968, Anderson had eight shows at the Kilbride-Bradley Gallery in Minneapolis.  He also spent several months painting in Greenwich Village in New York City.  He exhibited as part of the new modern art movement at the Guggenheim and Whitney museums in the 1950s.  Anderson was commissioned to create a mural for the then new Southdale Shopping Center in Edina, Minnesota in 1956.  Anderson's work is part of the collections of St. John's University in Minnesota and the Walker Art Center.

Reggie Anderson aka Reginald Sanders (d.2001)
Jazz music, and its affinity to the contemporary movement of the mid 20th Century art world were a major influence on the work of Reggie Anderson.  Anderson grew up in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul and attended the Walker Art School in the 1940s.  For a period of time, around 30 years, Anderson was not active as an artist, but he returned to making art later in his life and exhibited his work at the Circa Art Gallery in Minneapolis in the 1990s.  Anderson was also familiar to many people as the front desk guard at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for 25 years.

Bernard Arnest (1917-1986)
In 1940 Bernard Arnest was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for painting and had his first solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art.  During WWII Arnest served as Chief War Artist for the Historical Department in Europe.  Following the service, Arnest exhibited in major shows, including the Whitney Annual of American Painting in NYC.  Arnest was an instructor at the Minneapolis School of Art and Associate Professor of Art at the University of Minnesota. During his time in Minnesota, Arnest completed murals for the Veterans Service building in St. Paul and the First National Bank in Edina. 

Henriette Diebold (1894 or 1895-1973)
Paris born Henriette Marcelle Diebold attended the Sorbonne before immigrating to the US and enrolling at Hamline University, where she became the first foreign born student to graduate in 1920.  Noted for her work as a watercolorist, Diebold exhibited at the Minnesota State Fair, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, St. Paul School of Art and Hamline Galleries.  Upon retirement as head of the French Department at the Summit School in St. Paul, Diebold devoted her full attention to painting.  The landscape of the St. Croix river valley, where she lived alone in a cabin during the summer, often served as inspiration for her work.
Information courtesty of Hamline Unviersity, Bush Memorial Library

Sydney (Syd) Fossum (1909-1978)
Sydney Fossum earned his BFA at the Minneapolis School of Art and also studied in Mexico.  Fossum took part in several artist's organizations and was Director of the Duluth Art Center from 1960 to 1962.  Fossum exhibited in several shows from the 1930s until the 1960s.  In addition, he taught at the Minneapolis School of Art in the 1950s.  Later in his career he relocated to California.  Fossum's work is part of the collections of the University of Minnesota, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Walker Art Center, the Des Moines Art Center and the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

Clement Haupers (1900-1982)
Life long St. Paul resident Clement Haupers was Director of the Fine Art Department  for the Minnesota State Fair from 1930 to 1941. He studied at the Minneapolis School of Art and traveled to Paris to study at the academies. From 1931 to 1936, he taught at the St. Paul School of Art.  Haupers produced a large body of work at his home studio that he shared with his long time companion, the artist Clara Mairs. 

Robert Kilbride (1924-1998)
With the assistance of an Ethel Morrrsion Van der Lipp Scholarship, Minneapolis born Robert Kilbride attended the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris in 1949.  Following his studies in Europe, he began teaching art, first at the Minneapolis School of Art, followed by the Walker Art School, the University of Minnesota and Macalester College in St. Paul.  Simultaneously to his teaching, Kilbride was partner in the Kilbride-Bradley Art Gallery in Minneapolis from 1951 to 1980.  Kilbride produced a newsletter titled, "The Potboiler" to publicize the gallery and authored a book, "The Potboiler Quiz," published in 1969.  Kilbride participated in several group and solo exhibitions in Europe and the US.  His work is included in the collections of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Walker Art Center, University of Minnesota, and the Minnesota Historical Society.

Joyce Lair (1926-2004)
Joyce Lair was born in rural Minnesota.  At the age of 18, Lair won an Ingersoll Prize to study art and trained in Europe and the Walker Art School in Minneapolis.  The first time she showed her work was at the Women's International Exhibition in NYC.   In addition to her own painting, Lair created an art education program she called, "Young Artists Studio."  Lair moved to California later in her career and showed at galleries in Carmel.  Her last major solo exhibition was a restrospective at the Duluth Art Institute in 1991.  

Eugene Larkin (b.1921)
Like many of his contemporaries, Eugene Larkin balanced creating his own work with a career in teaching art.  Larkin headed the Printmaking Department at the Minneapolis School of Art from 1954 to 1969, which later became the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.  He became Professor of Design at the University of Minnesota in 1969.  Primarily known for his work as a print maker, Larkin's art was part of exhibits at the Walker Art Center in 1960, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 1968, and a US Information Agency traveling exhibition.  Larkin's work is part of collections at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the National Gallery fo Art in DC, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.

Mac Le Sueur (1908-1992)
Born in Texas, painter and printmaker Mac Le Sueur attended the Minneapolis School of Fine art from 1929 until 1932.  Upon graduation, Le Sueur made a trip to Mexico, where he viewed the Pre-Columbian art that would later influence his own work.  Le Sueur became a prominant artist and teacher of the Depression and WWII era, instructing at both the Walker Art School and the St. Paul School of Art.  "Le Sueur So Far" was the title of his 1955 show at the Walker Art Center.  Le Sueur and his wife, Lorraine Goff Le Sueur, exhibited jointly throughout the 50s and 60s.  After many years in Minnesota, Le Sueur relocated to Arizona.  He died in Tucson in 1992.

Malcolm Myers (1917-2003)
Painter, printmaker, and teacher Malcolm Myers was born in Lucerne, Missouri.  He attended Wichita State University and earned his MFA at Iowa State University.  Myer's work was part of  several exhibits in the US and Paris.  He joined the art faculty at the University of Minnesota in 1948 and continued to teach there for over 50 years.  As head of Fine Art, he expanded the department to include graduate programs.  Myers was instrumental in bringing new attention to the print medium in the 1950s.  The recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships, Myer's work is part of the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian, the Walker Art Center, and the St. Louis Art Museum to name just a few. 

Raymond Parker (1922-1990)
Raymond Parker was born in Beresford, South Dakota.  After receiving his MFA from the University of Iowa in 1948, Parker taught in Iowa, Tennessee, and Minnesota.  In the early 1950s, he exhibited in a show titled, "New Talent" at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and locally exhibited at the Walker Art Center.  Parker moved to New York in 1955, and became well known as part of the New York School of Abstract Expressionists.

Michael B. Price (1940-2001)
Michael B. Price is best known locally for creating the bronze sculpture of  F. Scott Fitzgerald that stands in Rice Park in St. Paul.  Educated at the University of Illinois and Tulane University, Price exhibited his work nationally from the late 1960s.  In addition to the Fitzgerald scultpture, Price created several other commissioned pieces for churches and universities in the Twin Cities area and throughout the US.  Teaching was also part of Price's artistic career.  He was most recently Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at Hamline University in St. Paul from 1980 until 1995.

Walter Quirt (1902-1968)
Walter Quirt was born in Iron Town, Michigan.  He studied at the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee from 1921 until 1923 and returned to teach there in 1924.  Quirt worked as a WPA artist in the 30s in NYC, where he belonged to a small group of surrealist painters.  Quirt was an instructor at the University of Minnesota from 1945 until 1966.  He died in Minneapolis two years later.  Quirt's paintings are in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the University of Minnesota.

William Saltzman (1916-2006)
Painter, sculptor, muralist, designer and teacher William Saltzman's work can be found in numerous area public buildings and places of worship.  Using several types of materials, including stained glass, metal, wood, and paint, Saltzman designed and produced artwork for buildings such as The Temple of Aaron, St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Mount Zion Temple, Vinje Lutheran Church in Willmar, United Hopital, Mayo Clinic, and the University of Minnesota.
Born in Minneapolis, Saltzman is first noted for entering his work into Minnesota State Fair exhibitions beginning in 1936.  During WWII, Saltzman was a camouflage advisor for the US Government.  From 1948 to 1964, Saltzman was the Director of the Rochester Art Center, which served a small but growing arts community in southeastern Minnesota.  During this time he continued to be involved in several local and national exhibitions of his work.  During the 1970s his work was shown at the Suzanne Kohn Gallery.  Additionally, Saltzman continued a teaching career that started with a position in the Fairmont, Minnesota Public Schools and concluded with his retirement from the art faculty at Macalester College in 1985.
Along with the many commissions he completed for large spaces, Saltzman's work is part of the collections of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Walker Art Center, and the Joslyn Museum in Omaha, Nebraska.

Phyllis Wiener (b.1921)
For most of her life Phyllis Wiener has been involved in creating art. The daughter of a milliner, she had an early awareness of the process of combining elements and colors-the art of making something.
Beginning her formal art studies at the Unviersity of Iowa in 1940, Wiener later attended the University of Minnesota.  She studied with the artist Cameron Booth, whom she considered her most influential teacher.  Booth encouraged an atmosphere of artistic freedom outside of the confines of painting in one particular style.  Wiener's work over the years has incorporated many interests, ranging from landscape and figure elements to multicultural textile patterns.
Wiener became one of the first woman artists to garner serious attention in the male-dominated art world of the 1950s and 60s.  From 1951 onward, Wiener has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows, including the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Tweed Museum in Duluth, the Pindar Gallery in NYC, and the Groveland Gallery and Suzanne Kohn Gallery in the Twin Cities.  Wiener was a founding member of the Women's Art Registry of Minnesota (WARM).
Phyllis Wiener's work is included in the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, the Weisman Art Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Walker Art Center, as well as several corporate and private collections.

Elof Wedin (1901-1983)
Elof Wedin was born on the coast of east central Sweden.  In 1919 he immigrated to the US and settled in Minneapolis.  Showing an early talent and interest in art, Wedin took night courses at the Minneapolis School of Art in the 1920s.
In 1926 he attended the Art Institute of Chicago. Wedin began a continuous period of exhibitions and shows that lasted until the 1970s, in which he earned several awards.  A selection of the sites he exhibited his work include the Swedish-American Clubs of Minneapolis and Chicago, the Hudson Walker Gallery of NYC, Rockefeller Center, the San Francisco Worlds Fair, Minnesota State Fairs, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Walker Art Center, and the Kilbride-Bradley Gallery in Minneapolis.
Wedin produced a large body of expressive and influential work despite the fact that he worked as a pipe insulator during the day and had to paint during his off hours.  Exposure to asbestos insulation led to his declining health in the 1970s. 
Wedin's work is included in collections of the Walker Art Center, the University of Minnesota, the Swedish Institute, The Smithsonian Institute and the Mayo Clinic.