Charles Florian Cajori (March 9, 1921 – December 1, 2013) was an

abstract expressionist Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

painter who, through his drawing, painting and teaching, made a significant contribution to the New York School of artists that emerged in the 1950s.

Early life

Charles Cajori was born in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, to Florian Cajori and Marion Huntington Haynes. They moved to

Wayne, Pennsylvania Wayne is an unincorporated community centered in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, on the Main Line, a series of highly affluent Philadelphia suburbs located along the railroad tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad and one of the ...

, when Charles was one year old. Florian Cajori was a bio-chemist and taught in the medical school at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. Marion was a pianist and educator who gave piano lessons and started a school inspired by

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and Education reform, educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century. The overridi ...

’s philosophy of inclusion and social reform. Cajori went to school on the Main Line in the western suburbs of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

before enrolling in Colorado Springs Art Center in 1939 and the Cleveland Art School from 1940 to 1942. He was drafted in 1942, and spent four years in the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. Upon his discharge, he went to

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

on the

G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...

and studied there with Jack Heliker. He attended the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture of in the summers of 1947 and 1948. Early on Cajori discovered New York's downtown scene, and began attending the lively (and sometimes feisty) gatherings at the Cedar Tavern and the panels at the fabled Eighth Street Club. He became especially close to

Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning ( , ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. Born in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, he moved to the United States in 1926, becoming a US citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married pa ...

and

Franz Kline Franz Kline (May 23, 1910 – May 13, 1962) was an American painter. He is associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1940s and 1950s. Kline, along with other action painters like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Robert Mo ...

, and in 1952 he joined with

Lois Dodd Lois Dodd (born 1927), is an American painter and educator. Dodd was a key member of New York's postwar art scene. She played a large part and was involved in the wave of modern artists including Alex Katz and Yvonne Jacquette who explored the co ...

Angelo Ippolito Angelo Ippolito (7 November 1922 – 29 October 2001) was an American painter best known for color field oils on canvas that have been exhibited and collected internationally, as well as for his central role in inaugurating the downtown art sc ...

, William King and Fred Mitchell to found the Tanager Gallery on East 10th St. The gallery was to become central to the lives of many of the contemporary working artists. In 1950 he began his teaching career at

Notre Dame University The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Catholic religious order o ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, and by 1956 he was teaching at

The Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

. He was awarded a

Fulbright Grant The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

to Italy in 1959. After returning to the states, he resumed his life in New York. In 1959–60, he taught at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

, where he regularly joined

Richard Diebenkorn Richard Diebenkorn (April 22, 1922 – March 30, 1993) was an American painter and printmaker. His early work is associated with abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1960s he began ...

and

Elmer Bischoff Elmer Nelson Bischoff (July 9, 1916 – March 2, 1991), was an American visual artist, from the San Francisco Bay Area. Bischoff, along with Richard Diebenkorn and David Park (painter), David Park, was part of the post-World War II generation of ...

in figure drawing sessions. He met his wife, Barbara Grossman, at Cooper Union and they married in 1967. They had one child, Nicole Antonia born in 1969. In 1972 they moved to a rural farm house with land in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

where they could both have large studios.

Career

In the 1950s Cajori had solo exhibitions at the Tanager Gallery,

Bertha Schaefer Gallery Bertha Schaefer (1895–1971) was an American designer and gallery director, she was known for her furniture designs, and as an interior designer. Biography Schaefer was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi in 1895. Her father Emil Schaefer was a re ...

and the Oakland Art Museum. His work appeared in numerous group shows including annual and biennial shows at the

Stable Gallery The Stable Gallery, originally located on West 58th Street in New York City, was founded in 1953 by Eleanor Ward. The Stable Gallery hosted early solo New York exhibitions for artists including Marisol Escobar, Robert Indiana and Andy Warhol. His ...

, the

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

, the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

and the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...

. In 1964, joining with former students of

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

and several artists including

Mercedes Matter Mercedes Matter (née Carles; 1913 – December 4, 2001) was an American painter, draughtswoman, and writer. She was a founding member of the American Abstract Artists, and the Founder and Dean Emeritus of the New York Studio School ...

, Sidney Geist, Georgio Spaventa, and

Esteban Vicente Esteban Vicente Pérez (January 20, 1903 – January 10, 2001) was a Spanish American painter born in Turégano, Spain. He was one of the first generation of New York School abstract expressionists. He identified as an antifascist. Early life E ...

, he founded the

New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture The New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture at 8 West 8th Street, in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York State is an art school formed in 1963 by a group of students and their teacher, Mercedes Matter, all o ...

. He was to teach at the school for the remainder of his active years. For 20 years he taught also at

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

, and was a visiting artist at numerous other schools, including

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

and

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. He retired from full-time teaching in 1986 to devote his time to painting and drawing. Cajori exhibited in New York City at the Howard Wise Gallery, Ingber Gallery, Lohin-Geduld Gallery, and at the Gross-McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia as well as numerous colleges and universities, including Dartmouth College,

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

, Cornell University,

Wright State University Wright State University is a public research university in Fairborn, Ohio, United States. Originally opened in 1964 as a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, it became an independent institution in 1967 and was named in ...

, the New York Studio School,

Central Connecticut State University Central Connecticut State University (Central Connecticut, CCSU, Central Connecticut State, or informally Central) is a public university in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1849 as the State Normal School, CCSU is Connecticut's oldest publi ...

Cincinnati Art Academy The Art Academy of Cincinnati is a private college of art and design in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded as the McMicken School of Design in 1869, and was a department of the University of Cincinnati, and later in 1887, became the Art Academy ...

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932,

, and the

University of Washington at Seattle The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Unite ...

Legacy

Cajori was recognized as an important second-generation

Abstract Expressionist Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

. His work was reviewed in all the major art journals and newspapers of the day. The paintings of Cajori, with the exception of his early formative work, always revolved around the figure and the space. He keenly focused on the ideas about perception and the way we as humans are encompassed by the environment we found ourselves in. Thus the figure—always female, for Cajori—was activated by our vivid experience of occupying a section of life. All of his images were invented, using color and drawing to concretize this experience. Cajori drew from the model all his life. He drew about once a week in his studio, hiring people with whom he often developed friendships. He exhibited those drawings along with the paintings and sometimes mixed-media inventions. He relished working large and could work on paintings over a long period of time, sometimes going back in to them long after declaring them "finished." He lived his life as an artist, preferring the studio to any other place. In 2011, Cajori submitted a statement to E. Ashley Rooney for inclusion in his book on New England artists: "First is the acknowledgment of chaos: its contradictions and wayward forces. Then the struggle for coherence. Not a coherence of illusion but one of time and space—of form. The mode of attack is improvisational, multileveled, and non-rational. The resulting structures may seem complete, but they contain a hint of another stage. New attacks are called for. Structures evolve endlessly." Reviews of Cajori's work appeared in the ''New York Times, The New York Observer, Art News, Art in America, Arts Magazine, Art New England, Review,

SoHo Weekly News The ''SoHo Weekly News'' (SWN) was a weekly alternative newspaper founded by music publicist Michael Goldstein and published in New York City from 1973 to 1982. Positioned as a competitor to ''The Village Voice'', it struggled financially. T ...

, Art International, The New York Post, The Brooklyn Rail'' and ''artcritical.com,'' among many other publications. Cajori's work is represented in numerous public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Whitney Museum, the Denver Art Museum, the Walker Art Center, the Weatherspoon Art Museum, the Arkansas Art Center, the Honolulu Art Academy and the National Academy of Design. In addition to his Fulbright grant, Cajori was awarded a Distinction in the Arts by Yale University, a Longview Foundation Purchase Award, a Ford Foundation Purchase Award, several awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (the Jimmy Ernst Award, the Arts and Letters Award, and three Childe Hassam Purchase Awards), the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Grant, several awards from the National Academy of Design (the Henry Ward Ranger Fund Purchase Award, the Ralph Fabri Prize, and four Benjamin Altman Prizes) and a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1982 he was elected as an Academician of the National Academy of Design.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cajori, Charles 1921 births 2013 deaths Artists from California Abstract expressionist artists United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture faculty

Early life

Career

Legacy

Further reading

References