Edmund H. Wuerpel
Encyclopedia
Edmund H. Wuerpel was an American Tonalist painter and an important art educator who was head of the Washington University School of Fine Arts for many years. He was also a friend of James Allen McNeil Whistler who helped spread the influence of the "Tonal School" in the Midwest. Wuerpel also played an important role in the development of Orthodontics, collaborating with the "first great teacher of orthodontia" Edward H. Angle and lecturing in the Midwest and western United States on aesthetics and Orthodontics.
. He was struck down by illness in 1887 and traveled to Australia to recover.
. At that time Angle was struggling to develop aesthetic criteria for dental orthodontics. He sought out models to give his students when they were working on creating a better bite and smile for their patients. With his artistic ability, knowledge of anatomy and taste Wuerpel was instrumental in developing aesthetics for dentists and he lectured at the Angle School in St. Louis, New York as well as New London, Connecticut and Pasadena, California. With Angle he developed the Angle-Wuerpel orthodontic table. He was an Honorary Member of the Angle Society for dentists.
and Tony Robert Fleury. In Paris he became close friends wirth James Abbott McNeil Whistler, the expatriate American painter and eccentric raconteur. Whistler wrote to his sister Beatrice of him:
In old age he recalled that Whistler had requested that his painting - "Nocturne: The Solent" - hang next to Wuerpel's at the Paris Salon. Wuerpel had a reputation for being an interesting man and he also became acquainted with Rodman Wanamaker
, Sarah Bernhardt
and Whitelaw Reid
. John Wanamaker, Rodman's father and the founder of the famous Philadelphia store of that name was one of his first clients and he purchased a painting in 1894, the year that Wuerpel returned home. and soon began teaching at the Washington University School of Fine Arts. He initially taught the life class. The American Impressionist Richard E. Miller was one of his first students and began painting in a tonal style while working under Wuerpel. Wuerpel succeeded Ives as director of the School of Fine Arts and went on to teach for 58 years, the longest career of any member of the staff at Washington University. Wurpel remained director for more than thirty years and taught more than 10,000 young art students.
Early years
Edmund Wuerpel was born in St. Louis, to a German father and Austrian mother in comfortable circumstances, his family decided to move to Mexico when he was a child and the family moved south in a covered wagon He was a frail child and was plagued with eye problems as a child and these difficulties continued for the rest of his life. His father worked in mining and railroads and he did a "man's work" in these industries as a boy. Because the family moved and a conventional education was not possible, Wuerpel was home schooled by his mother. He learned to speak German and English and Spanish from people around him in Mexico. In 1879, when he was 13, his family sent him back to family members in St. Louis to further his education. He was an outstanding student and graduated from the Manual Training School and was awarded the Selew Medal for the highest four year average. He was unable to see for the last year of his career in high school. After his high school graduation, he entered the School of Engineering at Washington University in St. LouisWashington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
. He was struck down by illness in 1887 and traveled to Australia to recover.
Art & Orthodontics
About the turn of the twentieth century, Wuerpel became friends with the early Orthodontics pioneer Edward AngleEdward Angle
Edward Hartley Angle was an American dentist, widely regarded as the father of modern orthodontics.Edward Angle is frequently described as "the father of modern orthodontics." He was trained as a dentist, but made orthodontics his speciality and dedicated his life to standardizing the teaching...
. At that time Angle was struggling to develop aesthetic criteria for dental orthodontics. He sought out models to give his students when they were working on creating a better bite and smile for their patients. With his artistic ability, knowledge of anatomy and taste Wuerpel was instrumental in developing aesthetics for dentists and he lectured at the Angle School in St. Louis, New York as well as New London, Connecticut and Pasadena, California. With Angle he developed the Angle-Wuerpel orthodontic table. He was an Honorary Member of the Angle Society for dentists.
Artistic career
Because he had an interest in art, Wuerpel entered the Washington University School of Fine Arts upon his return to St. Louis in 1887. In order to further his training, he left for Paris, which was then the most popular training grounds for American art students. He studied at the private Académie Julian and the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the official state sponsored art school, where the tuition was free if you passed the "concours" for admission. Wuerpel studied with Jean Aman-Jean, Jean-Leon GeromeJean-Léon Gérôme
Jean-Léon Gérôme was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism. The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects, bringing the Academic painting tradition to an artistic climax.-Life:Jean-Léon Gérôme was born...
and Tony Robert Fleury. In Paris he became close friends wirth James Abbott McNeil Whistler, the expatriate American painter and eccentric raconteur. Whistler wrote to his sister Beatrice of him:
As I told you this morning Wink, poor Mortimer seems to have had rather a cold time of it with this spoil he meandered back from Wuerpel's country with! - don't you think so? Dear me! when are we going to write to the good kind Wuerpel! - Well when I am sitting by you in a day or two! we will get off a whole batch of letters! wont we Chinkie -
In old age he recalled that Whistler had requested that his painting - "Nocturne: The Solent" - hang next to Wuerpel's at the Paris Salon. Wuerpel had a reputation for being an interesting man and he also became acquainted with Rodman Wanamaker
Rodman Wanamaker
Lewis Rodman Wanamaker was a Republican and was a Presidential Elector for Pennsylvania in 1916. Wanamaker created aviation history by financing a two plane experimental seaplane class in response to a prize contest announcement by London's The Daily Mail newspaper in 1913 – the flying boat...
, Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage and early film actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress the world has ever known". Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of France in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas...
and Whitelaw Reid
Whitelaw Reid
Whitelaw Reid was a U.S. politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of a popular history of Ohio in the Civil War.-Early life:...
. John Wanamaker, Rodman's father and the founder of the famous Philadelphia store of that name was one of his first clients and he purchased a painting in 1894, the year that Wuerpel returned home. and soon began teaching at the Washington University School of Fine Arts. He initially taught the life class. The American Impressionist Richard E. Miller was one of his first students and began painting in a tonal style while working under Wuerpel. Wuerpel succeeded Ives as director of the School of Fine Arts and went on to teach for 58 years, the longest career of any member of the staff at Washington University. Wurpel remained director for more than thirty years and taught more than 10,000 young art students.
Personal life
Soon after returning from his studies in France, he wed Minnie Clay Johnson. The couple had three daughters: Althea (1896-1923?), Lois (1898-1992) and Margaret (1900-1942). Henry Wuerpel died at the age of 91 while he and his wife were living with his daughter Lois Bowles. His wife died only a few months later, on May 18, 1958.Analysis of Wuerpel's Art
Wurpel's work must be classified as Tonalism. He used a limited palette and painted intimate landscapes, usually of trees. Wurpel was also known for his unusual palette and thus was often referred to with the appellation "Purple Wuerpel." He was not a prolific painter and there is not a lot of paintings in gallery inventories or that have sold at auction. This is probably due to the fact that he taught for well over fifty years, served as the administrator for a large art school and was also involved with helping his friend Edward Angle develop the new field of orthodontics. In an interview late in his life, he estimated his artistic output at about 1,100 paintings and that he had sold about 400.See also
- TonalismTonalismTonalism was an artistic style that emerged in the 1880s when American artists began to paint landscape forms with an overall tone of colored atmosphere or mist. Between 1880 and 1915, dark, neutral hues such as gray, brown or blue, often dominated compositions by artists associated with the style...
- Tonal ImpressionismTonal ImpressionismTonal Impressionism is an art historical term that refers to works of art that are "mood" paintings with simplified compositions, done in a limited range of colors, as with Tonalist works, but using the brighter, more chromatic palette of Impressionism...
- Atelier MethodAtelier MethodAtelier is the French word for "workshop", and in English is used principally for the workshop of an artist in the fine or decorative arts, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students and apprentices worked together producing pieces that went out in the master's name...
- Theodore LukitsTheodore LukitsTheodore Nikolai Lukits was a California portrait and landscape painter. His initial fame came from his portraits of some of the most glamorous actresses of the Silent Film era, but since his death, his Asian-inspired works, figures drawn from Hispanic California and his pastel landscapes have all...
- Richard E. MillerRichard E. MillerRichard E. Miller was a major American Impressionist painter and a member of the famous Giverny Colony of American Impressionists. Miller was primarily a figurative painter, known for his paintings of women posing languidly in interiors or outdoor settings. He is best described as a Decorative...
- OrthodonticsOrthodonticsOrthodontics, orthodontia, or orthodonture is the first specialty of dentistry that is concerned with the study and treatment of malocclusions , which may be a result of tooth irregularity, disproportionate jaw relationships, or both...
- Edward AngleEdward AngleEdward Hartley Angle was an American dentist, widely regarded as the father of modern orthodontics.Edward Angle is frequently described as "the father of modern orthodontics." He was trained as a dentist, but made orthodontics his speciality and dedicated his life to standardizing the teaching...
- DentistryDentistryDentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
Reference
- Pinx, Edmund H. Wuerpel (Review of a solo exhibition at the Washington University School of Fine Arts, 1920
- W. R. Bernhardt, Edmund H. Wuerpel, Biography in Orthodontics publication
- Mallett's Index of Artists, Pg. 264, 1935 (Biographical Dictionary - Listing)
- Mary Louis Kane, A Bright Oasis: The Paintings of Richard E. Miller, Exhibition Catalog (1997), Jordan-Volpe Fine Art, p. 8-9
- Jeffrey Morseburg, Theodore Lukits: An American Orientalist, Exhibition Catalog, Pacific-Asia Museum (1998)
- Reed Hynde, Dr. Wuerpel, at 73, Turns to New Idea of Figure Painting, St. Louis Star Times, February 22, 1940 (From Theodore Lukits Archive)
External links
- http://www.stlouisartistsguild.org/new/ St. Louis Art Guild