Karl Benjamin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Karl Benjamin
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| Born | December 29, 1925 |
| Died | July 26, 2012 (aged 86) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Redlands; Claremont Graduate University |
| Known for | oil painting |
| Movement | Abstract Expressionism Hard-edge painting |
| Spouse(s) | Beverly Jean Paschke |
Karl Stanley Benjamin (born December 29, 1925 – died July 26, 2012) was an American painter. He was famous for his bright, colorful geometric artworks. In 1959, he became well-known as one of the "Four Abstract Classicists" from Los Angeles. His art explored many different ways colors can work together. Karl Benjamin was known for being a "colorist of great wit and inventiveness."
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Early Life of Karl Benjamin
Karl Benjamin was born in Chicago in 1925. In 1943, he started studying at Northwestern University. However, he left college to join the U.S. Navy during World War II. After three years in the military, he moved to California in 1946. He studied English, history, and philosophy at the University of Redlands. He finished his studies in 1949 and became a teacher.
Karl Benjamin had no plans to become an artist at first. He married Beverly Jean Paschke and began teaching elementary school in Bloomington, California. He started a family with three children: Beth Marie, Kris Ellen, and Bruce Lincoln. In 1952, he moved to Claremont and taught in Chino for the next 30 years.
How Karl Benjamin Became an Artist
Karl Benjamin's interest in art started by chance. He was asked to create art lessons for his students. While working with crayons, he became fascinated by how colors seemed to change when placed next to each other. To learn more, he took classes at the Claremont Graduate School (now Claremont Graduate University). He earned his master's degree in 1960. By then, he was a serious painter, and color became the main focus of his art.
In 1954, he had his first big solo art show. It was at the Pasadena Art Museum, which is now called the Norton Simon Museum of Art.
The "Four Abstract Classicists" Exhibition
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Karl Benjamin found early success in Southern California. He showed his art in museums and local galleries. But the event that made him famous across the country was the "Four Abstract Classicists" exhibition. This show, from 1959–60, also featured the art of Lorser Feitelson, John McLaughlin, and Frederick Hammersley. It was seen as Los Angeles' unique answer to the Abstract Expressionism art style popular in New York. The West Coast artists' clear, sharp art offered a calm and cool choice compared to New York's emotional and action-filled style.
The exhibition was put together by art critic Jules Langsner. It first opened at the San Francisco Museum of Art (now the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art). Then it traveled to the Los Angeles County Museum. Later, it was renamed "West Coast Hard-Edge" and traveled to London and Belfast, Northern Ireland.
In the exhibition's catalog, Langsner described "Hard-edge painting" as a style where "color and shape are one and the same." He wrote that form gets its look from color, and color gets its being from form. About Benjamin's work, he said: "The long shapes in Karl Benjamin's paintings fit together in a never-ending design."
Critic Peter Plagens wrote in 1974 that "Four Abstract Classicists" showed a special feeling in Los Angeles art. He believed the hard-edge style came from Los Angeles' "desert air, youthful cleanliness, wide-open spaces, and building traditions." It also showed an hopeful belief in art that could be refined and spiritual. This art could bring people visual and intellectual joy. The painting Multi Triangles (Untitled # 26) from 1969 shows Benjamin's hard-edge style. It uses strict geometric abstraction.
Later Life and Recognition
Karl Benjamin continued teaching in public elementary and middle schools until 1977. He balanced his time in the classroom with working in his art studio. From 1979 to 1994, he had a second teaching career. He was a professor and artist-in-residence at Pomona College in Claremont. He also taught classes at the Claremont Graduate School. He received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1983 and 1989.
Like many artists with long careers, Benjamin was sometimes overlooked in his later years. However, he later had many new exhibitions and received much praise. Louis Stern Fine Arts showed his paintings in 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2011. After his death, they continued to show his work in 2014, 2017, and 2019. The Claremont Museum of Art started its exhibition program in 2007 with a show covering 42 years of his art. Benjamin's work was also a big part of "Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design and Culture at Mid-Century." This was a traveling show from 2007-09, organized by the Orange County Museum of Art.
Artist David P. Flores planned a large mural portrait of Benjamin for the City of Pomona. Benjamin approved the idea before he passed away. The huge 140-foot by 40-foot mural was finished shortly after his death in 2012.
