Art Hupy (1924 – April 17, 2003) was an American

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance ...

commercial

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

noted for his images of architecture and artists from the Northwest School. Hupy also founded the

Museum of Northwest Art The Museum of Northwest Art (also referred to as MoNA) is an art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or pr ...

Personal life

Hupy was born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After returning home from the war, he married Rita Manning and they both moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

where he studied

photography Photography is the visual art, art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It i ...

Professional career

Hupy began his career in 1953. After relocating to Seattle, he worked as a freelance photographer for

Rainier Brewing Company The Rainier Brewing Company was an American brewery based in Seattle, Washington. It brewed Rainier Beer, a popular brand in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Although Rainier was founded in 1884, the Seattle site had been brewing be ...

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airline ...

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the ...

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

, and

Sunset Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spr ...

. By this time, he had developed a reputation for his portraiture of Northwest School artists such as

Morris Graves Morris Graves (August 28, 1910 – May 5, 2001) was an American painter. He was one of the earliest Modern artists from the Pacific Northwest to achieve national and international acclaim. His style, referred to by some reviewers as Mysticism, ...

Kenneth Callahan Kenneth Callahan (1905–1986) was an American painter and muralist who served as a catalyst for Northwest artists in the mid-20th century through his own painting, his work as assistant director and curator at the Seattle Art Museum, and his wr ...

and

Guy Anderson Guy Anderson (November 20, 1906 – April 30, 1998) was an American artist known primarily for his oil painting who lived most of his life in the Puget Sound region of the United States. His work is in the collections of numerous museums inc ...

. In the 1950s and early 1960s Hupy also photographed works by Northwest Modern architects. Discouraged by the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, Hupy and his wife relocated to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

in the 1960s. Hupy’s activities during this time are summarized by the University of Washington Libraries:

In 1963 he moved his family to an island in Blind Channel in
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...
to paint, sculpt, study and educate his children. From 1966 to 1968 he was a freelance designer and photographer in
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...
where he also conducted a part-time school of professional photography. He returned to
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
in 1968 and taught photography at
The Bush School The Bush School is the only independent private K–12 school in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1924 by Helen Taylor Bush, The Bush School today enrolls 580 students. As of 2020, school review website Niche ranks the Bush School as the best pr ...
and Seattle Community College. He was also a freelance Graphic Arts Consultant to
Seattle Public Schools Seattle Public Schools is the largest public school district in the state of Washington. The school district serves almost all of Seattle. Additionally it includes sections of Boulevard Park and Tukwila. As of 2018, 113 schools are operated b ...
in 1971.

In 1977, Hupy opened the first art gallery in

La Conner, Washington La Conner is a town in Skagit County, Washington, United States with a population of 965 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Mount Vernon– Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town hosts several events as part o ...

and moved there with his wife Rita. (Hupy had become acquainted with the area and its resident artists during the mid-1950s when working on Sunset magazine assignments.) In 1981, Hupy founded the

and served as its first director and curator. Hupy resigned his position as museum director in 1990. Hupy’s work was well regarded within his profession; some of his exhibitions are noted by the University of Washington Libraries:

He won 25 awards for advertising art including those given out by Seattle Advertising Art and the
American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to ...
. He participated in numerous exhibitions, including those at the Seattle World's Fair, San Francisco Museum of Art, New York Advertising Art, and
Henry Art Gallery The Henry Art Gallery ("The Henry") is a contemporary art museum located on the University of Washington campus in Seattle, Washington. Located on the west edge of the university's campus along 15th Avenue N.E. in the University District, it wa ...
.

Several years before his death, Hupy suffered a stroke and was no longer able to make photographic prints. Some time thereafter he donated his collection to the University of Washington. The majority of Hupy’s photographs are now archived in Modern Photographers Collection at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

Libraries Special Collections Division.

References

External links

University of Washington Digital Collections - Modern Photographers Collection
Includes a selection of 234 images by Art Hupy.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hupy, Art 1924 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American photographers Artists from Seattle People from La Conner, Washington