Jack Wemp
Encyclopedia
Jack Richard Wemp was an American artist who's painting styles spanned depression era, expressionism
, 60’s contemporary art
styles and for the last 30 years of his life, realism (art) reminiscent of the Hudson River school
.
in 1925. At the beginning of the Great Depression
, his father moved the family to Vancouver
, Canada. Encouraged by his artistically talented parents, Jack began to draw and paint at an early age and art was always his favorite school subject. In high school, he had the benefit of having a very talented and professional artist for an instructor. However, as much as an art career appealed to Jack, it seemed at the time, that a more stable career should be pursued.
During his high school summer vacations, he worked as a cowhand on the vast Half-Diamond-One cattle ranch west of Calgary
. This experience led him to the agricultural college of the University of Alberta
, but after six months he volunteered for service in the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery
and went overseas to England
. When World War II
ended, Jack was appointed as a staff artist by his commanding officer and this experience reinforced his desire to pursue art as a career. Jack is a graduate of Olds School of Agriculture
in Olds, Alberta, Canada. He studied art and advertising at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Arts
in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the California School of Art in Los Angeles and the Art Center School (Art Center College of Design
) in Los Angeles where he studied under Ed Reep .
, Canada
, he moved to New York City
where he began work as an illustrator for Sales Graphics
, a large Mid-town studio and later became the studio's art director. After three years, he opened his own studio Wemp & Williamson and later, Jack Wemp Inc. During this time he produced illustrations, graphics, film and full scale national sales shows for such notable clients as Breck Shampoo
, Johnson & Johnson
and American Cyanamid
. Wemp employed the services of such notables as artist Sam Kweskin
and writer John Bishop
. With the recession of the '70's and cutbacks in large sales shows, Wemp moved from his Westchester
home to Northern Dutchess County
, where he could further phase out from the Madison Avenue scene. Here Jack opened his Artists Studio in Rhinebeck, New York where he briefly dabbled in ceramics. He soon took on the postion as art director and production manager for Taconic Press Newspapers from 1975 - 1977.
Although Jack produced dozens of paintings throughout his early days and commercial career, in 1977, he all but gave up his commercial art business to begin painting full-time. A keen interest in 19th century sailing ships and farming helped to shape the subject and style of his paintings. Earlier work exhibited his expressionist style in his landscape art
and seascape
s. Into the 80’s as his representational style developed, his vibrancy was evident in his tumultuous seas and magnificent skies. Always a stickler for detail, his attention to perspective and shadow were second to none. Often Wemp built models for his work to capture subtle shadings. His work always had a place in the seasons and a story behind it. Much of his work exhibited a heart and arrow with JW loves PW inscribed within. This symbol would be discreetly illustrated as a carving in a tree, building or furniture and was a testimony of his love for his wife of nearly 60 years, Peggy.
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
, 60’s contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
styles and for the last 30 years of his life, realism (art) reminiscent of the Hudson River school
Hudson River school
The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by romanticism...
.
Early days
Born in Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
in 1925. At the beginning of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, his father moved the family to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada. Encouraged by his artistically talented parents, Jack began to draw and paint at an early age and art was always his favorite school subject. In high school, he had the benefit of having a very talented and professional artist for an instructor. However, as much as an art career appealed to Jack, it seemed at the time, that a more stable career should be pursued.
During his high school summer vacations, he worked as a cowhand on the vast Half-Diamond-One cattle ranch west of Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
. This experience led him to the agricultural college of the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
, but after six months he volunteered for service in the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery
Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery is the artillery personnel branch of the Canadian Forces .-History:...
and went overseas to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
ended, Jack was appointed as a staff artist by his commanding officer and this experience reinforced his desire to pursue art as a career. Jack is a graduate of Olds School of Agriculture
Olds College
Olds College is an Alberta public post-secondary institution located in Olds, Alberta, established in 1913 as Olds Agricultural College. The College opened its first satellite campus in Calgary in 2006 in partnership with the Calgary Stampede Board....
in Olds, Alberta, Canada. He studied art and advertising at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Arts
Alberta College of Art and Design
-History:The Alberta College of Art & Design is a Canadian degree-granting, publicly-funded art and design college located in Calgary . It was known as the Provincial Institute of Technology and Arts, which was part of SAIT until 1985...
in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the California School of Art in Los Angeles and the Art Center School (Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design is a private college located in Pasadena, California, and was cited by BusinessWeek as one of the 60 best design schools in the world. The college’s industrial design program is consistently ranked number one by both DesignIntelligence and U.S...
) in Los Angeles where he studied under Ed Reep .
Commercial Art
After working for Keystone press and Cockfield, Brown & Co in VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, he moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where he began work as an illustrator for Sales Graphics
Sales Graphics
Sales Graphics is a presentation agency based in New York City. Its offerings include slide design, video production, and enterprise presentation software called CustomShow, which is offered as SaaS. Sales Graphics works with many Fortune 1000 companies. The company has focused on business...
, a large Mid-town studio and later became the studio's art director. After three years, he opened his own studio Wemp & Williamson and later, Jack Wemp Inc. During this time he produced illustrations, graphics, film and full scale national sales shows for such notable clients as Breck Shampoo
Breck Shampoo
Breck Shampoo is an American brand of shampoo that is also known for its Breck Girls advertising campaign.In 1930 Dr. John H. Breck, Sr. of Springfield, Massachusetts, founded Breck Shampoo. In 1936, son Edward J...
, Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....
and American Cyanamid
American Cyanamid
American Cyanamid was a large, diversified, American chemical manufacturer, founded by Frank Washburn in 1907. It was the only United States firm manufacturing the polio vaccine of the Sabin type....
. Wemp employed the services of such notables as artist Sam Kweskin
Sam Kweskin
Irving Sam Kweskin , who sometimes worked under the name Irv Wesley, was an American advertising and comic book artist.-Early life and career:...
and writer John Bishop
John Bishop (screenwriter)
John Bishop , was an American playwright and screenwriter who achieved limited success on both Broadway and in Hollywood....
. With the recession of the '70's and cutbacks in large sales shows, Wemp moved from his Westchester
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
home to Northern Dutchess County
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
, where he could further phase out from the Madison Avenue scene. Here Jack opened his Artists Studio in Rhinebeck, New York where he briefly dabbled in ceramics. He soon took on the postion as art director and production manager for Taconic Press Newspapers from 1975 - 1977.
Fine Artist
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
and seascape
Seascape
A seascape is a photograph, painting, or other work of art which depicts the sea, in other words an example of marine art. By a backwards development, the word has also come to mean the view of the sea itself, and be applied in planning contexts to geographical locations possessing a good view of...
s. Into the 80’s as his representational style developed, his vibrancy was evident in his tumultuous seas and magnificent skies. Always a stickler for detail, his attention to perspective and shadow were second to none. Often Wemp built models for his work to capture subtle shadings. His work always had a place in the seasons and a story behind it. Much of his work exhibited a heart and arrow with JW loves PW inscribed within. This symbol would be discreetly illustrated as a carving in a tree, building or furniture and was a testimony of his love for his wife of nearly 60 years, Peggy.
Of Note
- His work graces the cover of John Devoy's Catalpa Expedition (Catalpa rescueCatalpa rescueThe Catalpa rescue was the escape, in 1876, of six Irish Fenian prisoners from what was then the British penal colony of Western Australia.-Fenians and plans to escape:...
) (ISBN 0-8147-2748-4) - Received The American Artists Professional League http://www.americanartistsprofessionalleague.org Award for Representational Art in 2004 and 2005
- Was a member and received an award from the Salmagundi Art Club http://www.salmagundi.org in NYC.
- Member of The Hudson Valley Art Association http://www.hvaa.us under which he sold pieces and received awards.
- Work exhibited extensively at Mystic SeaportMystic SeaportMystic Seaport, the Museum of America and the Sea, in Mystic, Connecticut, is notable both for its collection of sailing ships and boats, and for the re-creation of crafts and fabric of an entire 19th century seafaring village...
Gallery and The Annapolis Marine Art Gallery http://www.annapolismarineart.com/. - Wemp was chosen out of dozens of artists to paint the mural for The Northern Dutchess Hospital http://www.health-quest.org/home_nd.cfm?id=9&fr=true in RhinebeckRhinebeck (village), New YorkRhinebeck is a village located in the Town of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, New York, USA. The population was 2,657 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport,...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. - Numerous consignment pieces grace many homes and businesses across the country and one found a suitable home on a cruise ship.
- Rendition of Wemp's ancestor's barn The Greater Wemp Barn (built by Jan Wemp in the 18th century and recently purchased, moved and restored by Carl Touhey in Fuera Bush NY ) is available through the non-profit organization, The Dutch Barn Preservation Society http://www.dutchbarns.org/dbpsnewsfall00pt2.htm as a print.
- Wemp's estate continues an exclusive publishing deal with Applejack Art Partners in Vermont