Julius Edwin Woeltz (1911–1956) was an American artist known for his

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

and

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

Biography

Woeltz was born in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, where he first began his art studies under Jose Arpa and alongside

Xavier Gonzales Xavier or Xabier may refer to: Place * Xavier, Spain People * Xavier (surname) * Xavier (given name) * Francis Xavier (1506–1552), Catholic saint ** St. Francis Xavier (disambiguation) * St. Xavier (disambiguation) * Xavier (footballer, born ...

. He went on to attend the

Academie Julian An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in France and later the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

. In addition to painting, he worked as an art professor for various colleges and universities, including the

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 ...

and Sul Ross State Teachers College where he served as the art director in 1932 and started the summer art colony program. Throughout his career, he painted several regional murals, notably a series of large murals in

Alpine, Texas Alpine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Brewster County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,035 at the 2020 census. The town has an elevation of , and the surrounding mountain peaks are over above sea level. A university, hospi ...

as well as six murals for the

U.S. Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County, though most of the southern half of the city extends into Randall County, Texas, Randall County ...

. These murals tended to depict landscapes and activities of the surrounding region depicted in the Regionalist style popularized by Thomas Hart Benton. He regularly spent time in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

studying the muralists there, and appears to have been influenced by

Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...

and Jose Clemente Orozco. Several of his works were commissioned and funded by the WPA and The Section. In his lifetime, his work was displayed in numerous exhibitions, including the Legion of Honor Museum, the

Dallas Museum of Fine Arts The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Art ...

, and M. Knoedler & Company. He died in San Antonio, Texas in 1956 and is buried in the

Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses , and as of 2014, had over 144,000 interments. The cemetery was list ...

Works

File:Elgin tx post office mural.jpg, ''Texas Farm'', 1940 File:Mural-Post-Office-Benton-Arkansas.jpg, ''The Bauxite Mines'', 1942 File:Lobby mural- "Cattle loading," by Julius Woeltz at the J. Marvin Jones Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse, Amarillo, Texas LCCN2016648278.tif, ''Cattle Loading'' File:Lobby mural- "Coronado's Exploration Party," by Julius Woeltz at the J. Marvin Jones Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse, Amarillo, Texas LCCN2016648279.tif, ''Coronado’s Exploration Party '' File:Lobby mural- "Oil," by Julius Woeltz at the J. Marvin Jones Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse, Amarillo, Texas LCCN2016648277.tif, ''Oil'' Coronado’s Exploration Party in the Palo Duro Canyon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woeltz, Julius American male painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists American muralists Burials at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery 1911 births 1956 deaths 20th-century American people