40 Facts About Karl Knaths

Karl Knaths was an American artist whose personal approach to the Cubist aesthetic led him to create paintings that, while abstract, contained readily identifiable subjects.

Karl Knaths was born October 21,1891, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Karl Knaths's parents were Otto Julius Knaths and Maria Theresa Knaths.

Karl Knaths encouraged his interest and, upon his graduation in 1910, both convinced his uncle to release him from apprenticeship and introduced him to Dudley Crafts Watson of the Milwaukee Art Institute.

Karl Knaths obtained the job by which he supported himself when Gale introduced him to Laura Sherry, the director of the Wisconsin Players.

In 1911, on advice from Gale and Craft, Karl Knaths began studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 1917 Karl Knaths rejoined the Wisconsin Players as the group's scenery painter during a tour of East Coast theaters.

In 1922 Karl Knaths married Helen and moved into the house that the sisters had rented.

Karl Knaths later reported that he was particularly impressed by ideas presented by Gino Severini in Du cubisme au classicisme; esthetique du compas et du nombre.

Once he had established his mature style Karl Knaths allowed himself freedom to range widely from its core elements.

The winter months were cold and their house so drafty that, even though Karl Knaths disliked city life, they spent much of that season in New York.

In 1924 Helen and Agnes bought land on which Karl Knaths constructed a house and studio using materials from nearby derelict buildings.

Karl Knaths recognized that he needed to establish connections with dealers and exhibitors if he wished to find buyers for his art and, together with Agnes, he used his time in New York as well as trips to Boston and Washington, DC to do just that.

Karl Knaths showed two and Agnes Weinrich three paintings in this large non-juried show without prizes.

In 1926 Karl Knaths's work appeared in another show, the Societe Anonyme exhibition, held in Brooklyn, and, that same year, the collector, Duncan Phillips bought his Geranium in Night Window of 1922.

Karl Knaths, who liked the quiet life, did not travel extensively and never to Europe.

Karl Knaths did not seek celebrity and, while he appreciated the income that came with recognition of his talent, he was not extravagant in his expenses or style of living.

Karl Knaths was neither outgoing nor reclusive, enjoying company and establishing close relationships within the community where he lived, but relishing a quite daily routine.

Karl Knaths was a gifted instructor but taught for brief periods at a time.

Karl Knaths he lectured at Black Mountain College in 1944 at the Skowhegan School of Painting in 1948.

Karl Knaths's inaugural show in 1947 at the Paul Rosenberg Gallery was seen by one critic to be one of the ten best exhibitions of the year.

The transition cannot have been unexpected but there was an irony in the fact that when he was a young painter Karl Knaths too rebelled against what he saw as the biases of traditionalist juries.

Karl Knaths continued to work, to show, to sell, and to accrue honors.

Karl Knaths died on March 9,1971, in Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Massachusetts, after a brief illness.

Karl Knaths's father, Otto Julius, was born on October 10,1846, in Wettin, Germany.

Karl Knaths married a woman whose name is given as Maria Theresa Dietrich or Tressie Tredeck.

Karl Knaths came from Wisconsin, and, at about the time they were married, she and Otto Julius moved to that state from Cincinnati, Ohio.

Aged 17 at that time, Karl Knaths was living with his uncle as well as apprenticed to him.

Karl Knaths had a sister, Olga, who was born December 9,1893, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and who died January 18,1981, in Madison, Wisconsin.

Karl Knaths married a man named Frank Dunn and they had a son, Francis.

Karl Knaths changed it to Helen after 1905 when she and Agnes returned from travels in Europe.

Karl Knaths was born in 1876 on a farm in Des Moines County in southeast Iowa and died at age 102 in 1978 while living in Provincetown.

Karl Knaths took over this role when Agnes died in 1946.

When Karl Knaths died in 1971, Helen showed a vivacious personality that she had previously kept hidden.

Karl Knaths was raised in households where German was commonly spoken and himself spoke with a slight German accent.

Karl Knaths read philosophy and classical literature as well as writings on art, music, and color theory and he loved to listen to classical music, particularly the works his wife would play on the piano.

Karl Knaths gave that name while attending high school and when completing his World War II draft registration.

The name Otto K Knaths appears in records for the 1930 and 1940 Census of the United States.

Karl Knaths gave his name as Otto George Knaths when registering for military service in the First World War.

Karl Knaths was still part of the household of his uncle George Dietrich when he used the name Otto George, which might account for that outlying usage.