Milford Zornes
Encyclopedia
James Milford Zornes was an American
watercolor
artist
and teacher
.
, a few miles from the small town of Camargo
. His father found farming and stock raising in the area difficult, and when young Milford was seven moved the family to Boise, Idaho
. Though his mother, a former schoolteacher, taught him to draw as a child, it was not until his late teens, when the family moved to California
, that Zornes received any formal training in art when he attended his last year of secondary school at San Fernando High School
.
After graduating from high school he decided to attempt a career in journalism
, and began by selling photographs to various magazines, including Popular Science
, Scientific American
, and Popular Mechanics
, and then received a few assignments to write articles. Advised that a journalist needed formal study, he moved to Santa Maria, California
where he enrolled in what was then called Santa Maria Junior College
. During his year there he took a room in the home of two art teachers who recognized his talent and encouraged him to become a painter, but he was resistant. Instead, he decided to study architecture, and he moved to San Francisco.
In 1927, he attended Otis Art Institute (now Otis College of Art and Design
) where he studied with Millard Sheets
and F. Tolles Chamberlin. He later taught at Otis. For 12 years he was art director for the Padua Hills Theater in Claremont, California
. A longtime friend of Edith Hamlin
, he purchased her summer home
in 1953.
Zornes married Gloria Codd in 1935 and had one son, Franz. In 1942 he married Patricia Mary Palmer, and had one daughter, Maria Patricia. During World War II
(1943–1945), Zornes served in the United States Army
in China
.
James Milford Zornes died from congestive heart failure
on February 24, 2008 in his Claremont home. He was 100.
During World War II he was drafted into the U.S. Army and was assigned to be an official war artist. He travelled through China, India, Burma and continued painting along the way. Upon returning to California, he and his colleagues continued painting in the California Watercolorist style. Millard Sheets, Rex Brandt, Phil Dyke, George Post, and Hubert Buel were among the many painters in the school. Zornes developed a unique variation on the style, utilizing large, expansive brushstrokes and sections of unpainted white sections.
Zornes taught watercolor painting workshops in China, Alaska
, Mexico
, Ireland
, Italy
, Spain
, Hawaii
and many other locations. His subject matter is often drawn from his extensive world travels, although Western landscapes are a favorite topic. His paintings are represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
, Corcoran Gallery of Art
, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
, the White House
, and the Library of Congress
Collection. He also created New Deal murals for post offices in his hometown of Claremont, California
and in El Campo, Texas
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
watercolor
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
.
Biography
Milford Zornes was born in rural western OklahomaOklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, a few miles from the small town of Camargo
Camargo, Oklahoma
Camargo is a town in Dewey County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 178 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Camargo is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....
. His father found farming and stock raising in the area difficult, and when young Milford was seven moved the family to Boise, Idaho
Boise, Idaho
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
. Though his mother, a former schoolteacher, taught him to draw as a child, it was not until his late teens, when the family moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, that Zornes received any formal training in art when he attended his last year of secondary school at San Fernando High School
San Fernando High School
San Fernando High School, located in San Fernando, California, is a secondary school that is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District....
.
After graduating from high school he decided to attempt a career in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
, and began by selling photographs to various magazines, including Popular Science
Popular Science
Popular Science is an American monthly magazine founded in 1872 carrying articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the ASME awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 and 2004...
, Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
, and Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics is an American magazine first published January 11, 1902 by H. H. Windsor, and has been owned since 1958 by the Hearst Corporation...
, and then received a few assignments to write articles. Advised that a journalist needed formal study, he moved to Santa Maria, California
Santa Maria, California
Santa Maria is a city in Santa Barbara County, on the Central Coast of California. The 2010 census population was 100,062, putting it ahead of Santa Barbara for the first time and making it the largest city in the county...
where he enrolled in what was then called Santa Maria Junior College
Allan Hancock College
Allan Hancock College is a California public community college located in Santa Maria in northern Santa Barbara County. Approximately 11,000 credit and more than 5,500 noncredit and community services students enroll each semester.-History:...
. During his year there he took a room in the home of two art teachers who recognized his talent and encouraged him to become a painter, but he was resistant. Instead, he decided to study architecture, and he moved to San Francisco.
In 1927, he attended Otis Art Institute (now Otis College of Art and Design
Otis College of Art and Design
Otis College of Art and Design is an art and design college in Los Angeles, California.The school's programs, accredited by WASC and National Association of Schools of Art and Design, include four-year BFA degrees in illustration, fine arts, graphic design, architecture, landscape design, interior...
) where he studied with Millard Sheets
Millard Sheets
Millard Owen Sheets was an American painter and a representative of the California School of Painting, later a teacher and educational director, and architect of more than 50 branch banks in Southern California.-Early life:...
and F. Tolles Chamberlin. He later taught at Otis. For 12 years he was art director for the Padua Hills Theater in Claremont, California
Claremont, California
Claremont is a small affluent college town in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population as of the 2010 census is 34,926. Claremont is known for its seven higher-education institutions, its...
. A longtime friend of Edith Hamlin
Edith Hamlin
Edith Hamlin was an American artist. Born in Oakland, California, as a small child she was exposed to art by her father who took her on sketching trips...
, he purchased her summer home
Maynard and Edith Hamlin Dixon House and Studio
The Maynard and Edith Hamlin Dixon House and Studio is a residence and former painting studio in Mount Carmel, Utah. Maynard Dixon was a prominent artist in the 1920s through 1940s who is best known for his landscape paintings of the American West. He moved to Mount Carmel in 1939 shortly after...
in 1953.
Zornes married Gloria Codd in 1935 and had one son, Franz. In 1942 he married Patricia Mary Palmer, and had one daughter, Maria Patricia. During 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...
(1943–1945), Zornes served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
James Milford Zornes died from congestive heart failure
Congestive heart failure
Heart failure often called congestive heart failure is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition...
on February 24, 2008 in his Claremont home. He was 100.
Early career
While attending the Otis Art Institute and Scripps College in Los Angeles, Zornes became a leading proponent of the California Style movement. During the Great Depression he and his colleagues began painting in watercolor because of the medium’s versatility and inexpensive cost. Using watercolor and paper instead of oils and canvas made it easy for the impoverished artists to transport their materials easily and paint on site. The immediate drying qualities of the paint allowed for few mistakes, but artists like Zornes mastered the medium.During World War II he was drafted into the U.S. Army and was assigned to be an official war artist. He travelled through China, India, Burma and continued painting along the way. Upon returning to California, he and his colleagues continued painting in the California Watercolorist style. Millard Sheets, Rex Brandt, Phil Dyke, George Post, and Hubert Buel were among the many painters in the school. Zornes developed a unique variation on the style, utilizing large, expansive brushstrokes and sections of unpainted white sections.
Art
Zornes is recognized as a leader in the California Style watercolor movement. The "California Style" of watercolor painting began in the 1920s and is described in California Watercolors 1850-1970. Zornes' style differed from the traditional use of watercolors in which color was added to detailed pencil drawings. His work is characterized by the application of transparent washes of color to large sheets of paper, allowing the white to show through and define shapes.Zornes taught watercolor painting workshops in China, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and many other locations. His subject matter is often drawn from his extensive world travels, although Western landscapes are a favorite topic. His paintings are represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
, the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, and the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
Collection. He also created New Deal murals for post offices in his hometown of Claremont, California
Claremont, California
Claremont is a small affluent college town in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population as of the 2010 census is 34,926. Claremont is known for its seven higher-education institutions, its...
and in El Campo, Texas
El Campo, Texas
El Campo is a city in Wharton County, Texas, United States. The population was 10,945 at the 2000 census, making it the largest city in Wharton County.-Geography:...
.
Awards
- 1987 - Paul Prescott Barrow award Pomona College
- 1988 - "A Most Distinguished Citizen" award Southern Utah State College
- 1991 - David Prescott Burrows award
- 1994 - American Artist Achievement award American Artist Magazine
- 1994 - named National Academician by the National Academy of DesignNational Academy of DesignThe National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
, associate 1964
Further reading
- Otis L.A.: Nine Decades of Los Angeles Art, 2006. Exhibition catalog by Otis College of Art and Design.
- Everyday Life in California, Regional Watercolors, 1930-1960, 2004. Exhibition catalog by California Heritage Museum.
- California Watercolors 1850-1970, An Illustrated History & Biographical Dictionary, 2002 by Gordon McClelland and Jay Last.
- "Milford Zornes: California Style Painter," exhibition review by W.P. Jessup in American Art Review, March/April 2003, p. 132-5.
- "Keeping up with Milford Zornes: this watercolor legend is still mastering his craft" Watercolor September 22, 2003, No. 36, Vol. 9; p. 84
- "Milford Zornes" by D. Koppman in Artweek, July/August 2002, p. 6.
- "California Watercolors 1929-1945," by S.M. Anderson in American Artist, August 1988, p. 48-53
- "Zornes" Oral History from the Smithsonian Archives of American Art
- Milford Zornes obituary in the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
- Milford Zornes: Distinguished Alumnus And Otis Profile video interview with Zornes from Fall 2007.