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Sculpture & Drawings of
Charles Umlauf
Charles Umlauf created an amazing body of work in a multitude of media
during his sixty years as artist. Ulrich Middledorf, art historian
in Florence, Italy, wrote of Charles Umlauf,
" His work reveals his many moods, from the humorous to the solemn
... to the deeply human. Above all it tells about his great ability, his
absolute command of technique, his profound understanding of nature, and
his ways of bending it to his purpose to express what meaning he wants
to convey."1
In speaking of the kind of man Charles Umlauf was, Margit Malmstrom, a noted art critic in New York, said that one answer lies in the sculptoršs straightforward statement of fact: " My work is my belief." In observing the artist at work Ms. Malmstrom remarked, "The feeling of strength, energy, and discipline embodied in the sculptoršs hands is a driving force within the man himself and is infused into his work. 2
Gibson Danes, former Dean of Art and Architechture at Yale University, in his essay says of his sculpture , "Umlaufšs works that are carved in highly polished stone (or) cast in bronze acquired an elegance and restraint which reflects a new concept of beauty." Later he speaks of Umlauf living and working with"total absorption in the demanding, obsessive metier of making sculpture." And concludes that, "Few have given so constantly, so variously, so firmly for so long to the rigor of their art." 3
The artist’s work is found in hundreds of private collections and is well represented in major museums throughout the nation including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institute, the Des Moines Fine Art Center, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Santa Barabara Museum of Art, and the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.
In 1985 Charles Umlauf and
his wife, Angeline Allen Umlauf, gave their home and studio with 168 sculptures
to the Umlauf
Sculpture Garden and Museum .
http://www.charlesumlaufsculpture.com / lumlauf@austin.rr.com
About the Artist
1 Solo Exhibition Brochure at Galleria Santa Croce, Florence, Italy: April, 1966
2 American Artist, September, 1970; Charles Umlauf Sculptor of the Living Form, p. 53
3
The Sculpture
and Drawing of Charles Umlauf, (Austin: The University of Texas
Press), 1990, p.18
(available from the estate for $50)