Art Legends of Orange County Collection

Dublin Core

Title

Alternative Title

Art Legends Collection

Subject

Art--Southern States

Artists--Florida

Description

Although visual art had been explored in Central Florida, Orange County’s visual arts community truly came alive during the years of 1932-1982, thanks to the vision of 20 distinguished artists and arts leaders. Their influence not only helped build a solid foundation for the local art community but some of Orange County’s local Art Legends significantly influenced modern American Art.

To recognize the leadership and celebrate the accomplishments of these arts visionaries, arts administrators from 11 Orange County museums and galleries joined forces and shared collections to create the Art Legends of Orange County initiative.

This community-wide collaboration runs throughout the 2015-2016 arts season and includes more than 15 exhibitions and events. Art Legends of Orange County celebrates 20 distinguished artists and patrons who helped build Orange County’s vibrant cultural landscape.

Art Legends of Orange County full exhibition schedule and link to virtual exhibition available at www.ArtLegendsOC.org.

Visit RICHES™ of Central Florida at https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/exhibits/show/artlegends for virtual exhibition.

Contributor

Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens

Orange County Commission Chambers

City of Orlando Gallery

CityArts Factory

Art & History Museums - Maitland

Cornell Fine Arts Museum

Crealdé School of Art

Orange County Regional History Center

Orlando Museum of Art

University of Central Florida Art Gallery

Is Part Of

RICHES of Central Florida.

Language

eng

Type

Collection

Coverage

Eldora, Florida

Gainesville, Florida

Lake Wales, Florida

Maitland, Florida

Orlando, Florida

Sanford, Florida

Winter Park, Florida

Contributing Project

Art Legends of Orange County

Curator

Cepero, Laura

Digital Collection

RICHES MI

External Reference

"Art Legends of Orange County." Art Legends of Orange County. http://www.artlegendsoc.org/.

Collection Items

Bill Orr and Maury Hurt

Artists Bill Orr and Maury Hurt. Both painters were instrumental in leading the movement to save the Maitland Art Center in Maitland, Florida, from developers in the 1960s.Bill Orr (1925-), photographed on the left, grew up in Michigan, where he…

European Village by Jules André Smith

European Village, an etching created by Jules André Smith. Born in 1880 to American parents in Hong Kong, raised in New York and Connecticut, and educated at Cornell University, J. André Smith worked for several years as an architect, never giving up…

Forest Idyl by Albin Polasek

Forest Idyl, a sculpture recreated by Albin Polasek (1879-1965) in 1964. The original sculpture was created with bronze in 1924. Polasek was inspired by Henry Wadsforth Longellow's epic poem "The Song of Hiawartha." Another casting of Forest Idyl was…

Man Carving His Own Destiny by Albin Polasek

Man Carving His Own Destiny, a sculpture chiseled from limestone by Albin Polasek in 1961. Polasek sculpted his first version of Man Carving His Own Destiny while studying under Charles Grafly at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia,…

Mother Crying Over the World by Albin Polasek

Mother Crying Over the World, a sculpture created by Albin Polasek in 1942. Polasek was born in 1879 in Frenštát pod Radhoštěm, Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic). He apprenticed as a woodcarver in Vienna, Austria, and immigrated to the United…

Ralph L. Bagley Next to Painting

Ralph L. Bagley (ca. 1914-2008) with his painting. Bagley was an artist and instructor who taught in Central Florida from the 1950s until his death in 2008, when he was 94 years old. He was born in Bertrand, Missouri, and attended the Flint Institute…

Old Mill by Ralph L. Bagley

Old Mill, a painting by Ralph L. Bagley (ca. 1914-2008). Old Mill features a mill in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.Bagley was an artist and instructor who taught in Central Florida from the 1950s until his death in 2008, when he was 94 years old. He was…

Painting by Jeannette Genius McKean

A painting by Jeannette Genius McKean (1909-1989). McKean was a painter, interior designer, and trustee, and benefactor of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. Born in Chicago, Illinois, she visited her grandfather, Charles Hosmer Morse, in…

Two Figures in Green Landscape by Hugh F. McKean

An untitled oil painting by Hugh F. McKean (1908-1995). Although the painting has no official title, it is commonly referred to as Two Figures in Green Landscape.McKean moved to Orlando, Florida, from College Hill in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, where…

Indian River Lagoon by Dr. Walter Gaudnek

Indian River Lagoon, an acrylic painting created by Dr. Walter Gaudnek in 1974. Indian River Lagoon depicts a spacecraft in outer space, with the Sun and Saturn in the background. Born in Fleyh, Czechoslovakia, in 1931, pop artist Dr. Gaudnek is…

Mapping the Florida Terrain by Dr. Walter Gaudnek

Mapping the Florida Terrain, a painting created by Dr. Walter Gaudnek in 1989. Born in Fleyh, Czechoslovakia, in 1931, pop artist Dr. Gaudnek is known for his blend of his bold colors, philosophy, religious symbolism, labyrinth installations, and…

Garden of Proteus by Steve Lotz

Garden of Proteus, an acrylic painting created by Steve Lotz in 2005. Lotz received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles and his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Lotz…

Genesis II by Steve Lotz

Genesis II, a painting created by Steve Lotz in 1998. Lotz received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles and his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Lotz became an instructor…

Texann Ivy Buck

Texann Ivy Buck is a graduate of Edgewater High School in Orlando, Florida, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Specializing in 20th Century American prints, sculpture, and in the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) prints, Buck established…

Louise Peterson

Louise Peterson (1920-2009) opened Galleries International in Winter Park, Florida, in 1969 with an impetus on exhibiting emerging artists and introducing the original print medium to the Central Florida market. These "educational practices" were…

Dr. Walter Gaudnek with Art

Born in Fleyh, Czechoslovakia, in 1931, pop artist Dr. Walter Gaudnek is known for his blend of his bold colors, philosophy, religious symbolism, labyrinth installations, and mixtures of performance and art. He also draws heavy inspiration from…

Remember Holbein by Walter Gaudnek

Remember Holbein, a painting created by Dr. Walter Gaudnek in 1994. Remember Holbein Born in Fleyh, Czechoslovakia, in 1931, pop artist Dr. Gaudnek is known for his blend of his bold colors, philosophy, religious symbolism, labyrinth installations,…

Go by Walter Gaudnek

Go, an acrylic painting created by Dr. Walter Gaudnek in 1974. Go depicts a spacecraft in outer space, with the Sun and Saturn in the background. Born in Fleyh, Czechoslovakia, in 1931, pop artist Dr. Gaudnek is known for his blend of his bold…

Roofs and Palms by Jules André Smith

Roofs and Palms by Jules André Smith. Born in 1880 to American parents in Hong Kong, raised in New York and Connecticut, and educated at Cornell University, J. André Smith worked for several years as an architect, never giving up on his first love of…

Albin Polasek Chiseling Man Carving His Own Destiny

Sculptor Albin Polasek chisteling Man Carving His Own Destiny from limestone, with his assistant, Robert A. Baille, around 1960. Polasek sculpted his first version of Man Carving His Own Destiny while studying under Charles Grafly at the Pennsylvania…

The Changing South by Bill Jenkins

The Changing South, an oil painting created by William "Bill" Sterling Jenkins in 1940. The painting depicts two African-American boys in Alabama.Jenkins received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1934 from the University of Florida and was awarded a…

Bell Towers by Bill Sterling Jenkins

Bell Towers, an oil painting created by William "Bill" Sterling Jenkins in 1941. The painting depicts the small town of Taxco de Alarcón in Mexico.Jenkins received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1934 from the University of Florida and was awarded a…

Seekers by Grady Kimsey

Seekers, an oil painting created by Grady Kimsey in 2014. Kimsey enjoys critical and popular success as a sculptor, potter, painter and instructor, with eight decades of life experiences to draw upon for inspiration. Kimsey was born in Knoxville,…

Untitled (Tondo) by Doris "Doc" Marie Leeper

Untitled (Tondo), an oil on masonite painting created by Doris Marie Leeper around 1960. Known to many as "Doc," Leeper was a trailblazing abstract painter and sculptor based in Eldora, Florida near New Smyrna Beach. Originally from North Carolina,…

Composition by Ralph L. Bagley

Composition, an oil painting by Ralph L. Bagley (ca. 1914-2008). Bagley was an artist and instructor who taught in Central Florida from the 1950s until his death in 2008, when he was 94 years old. He was born in Bertrand, Missouri, and attended the…

Abandoned by Ralph L. Bagley

Abandoned, an oil painting by Ralph L. Bagley (ca. 1914-2008). Bagley was an artist and instructor who taught in Central Florida from the 1950s until his death in 2008, when he was 94 years old. He was born in Bertrand, Missouri, and attended the…

Ralph L. Bagley

Ralph L. Bagley (ca. 1914-2008) with his paintings. Bagley was an artist and instructor who taught in Central Florida from the 1950s until his death in 2008, when he was 94 years old. He was born in Bertrand, Missouri, and attended the Flint…

World Champion Pine Chip by Bill Orr

World Champion Pine Chip by Bill Orr. Growing up in Michigan, Orr (1925-) worked breaking in mustang ponies. When World War II broke out, Orr joined the U.S. Army and was a member of the cavalry regiment. Later seeing action on Okinawa in the Pacific…

Untitled by Maury Hurt

Untitled, an oil painting by Orlando native Maury Hurt (1934-2013), who graduated from the University of Florida with a design degree in 1956. Hurt continued to work in the graphic arts fields for several years after serving a short tour in the U.S.…

Doris "Doc" Marie Leeper, 1956

Doris Marie Leeper in her studio in 1956. Known to many as "Doc," Leeper was a trailblazing abstract painter and sculptor based in Eldora, Florida, near New Smyrna Beach. Originally from North Carolina, Leeper found an artistic oasis in Central…

Doris "Doc" Marie Leeper, 1996

Doris Marie Leeper in 1996. Known to many as "Doc," Leeper was a trailblazing abstract painter and sculptor based in Eldora, Florida, near New Smyrna Beach. Originally from North Carolina, Leeper found an artistic oasis in Central Florida. The region…

Doris "Doc" Marie Leeper with Sculpture, 1996

Judy Albertson

Judy Albertson was active in the art community when she met gallery owner Louise Peterson. Fifteen years later, they established the Albertson-Peterson Gallery as a unique fine arts crafts gallery. Together, the pair developed a dialogue that led to…

Red Azalea by David Reese

Red Azalea by David Reese, one of Central Florida's best known watercolorists. Reese began his art studies at the High Museum School of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, and continued at the Art Students League and the Fashion Academy (both in New York), and…

Painting by Harri Klotz

Born in New York City, Harri Klotz has worked in New York, Florida, and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Settling in Orlando in 1946, she and husband, Solomon Klotz, collected jewelry from around the world along with pre-Columbian artifacts, which was…

Walter Gaudnek

Steve Lotz, 2005

A self portrait of Steve Lotz in 2005. Lotz received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles and his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Lotz became an instructor of art at the…

Jeannette Genius McKean

Jeannette Genius McKean (1909-1989) was a painter, interior designer, and trustee, and benefactor of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. Born in Chicago, Illinois, she visited her grandfather, Charles Hosmer Morse, in Winter Park. On one summer…

Hugh F. McKean

Hugh F. McKean (1908-1995) moved to Orlando, Florida, from College Hill in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, where he was raised. He earned his bachelor's degree from Rollins College in Winter Park in 1930 and joined its faculty in 1932, later heading its…

Grady Kimsey

The venerable Grady Kimsey enjoys critical and popular success as a sculptor, potter, painter and instructor, with eight decades of life experiences to draw upon for inspiration. Kimsey was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1928. He earned his…

William "Bill" Sterling Jenkins

William "Bill" Sterling Jenkins traveled the world, built and prospered in many different careers, recorded his travels and experiences in his paintings, and made a permanent impact on the Central Florida community. Jenkins received his Bachelor of…

Doris Leeper

Known to many as "Doc," Doris Marie Leeper was a trailblazing abstract painter and sculptor based in Eldora, Florida, near New Smyrna Beach. Originally from North Carolina, Leeper found an artistic oasis in Central Florida. The region provided her…

Jules André Smith

Jules André Smith sitting in the courtyard outside his art studio on the Research Studio campus (now the Maitland Art Center) around the 1940s or 1950s.Born in 1880 to American parents in Hong Kong, raised in New York and Connecticut, and educated at…

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