Tom Uttech | BIOGRAPHY
Over the last decade, Tom Uttech has emerged as one of the most widely admired landscape painters in America. His enigmatic views, based on the verdant northern woods of the Precambrian Shield, have few parallels in contemporary art.
After finishing a degree at the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, Uttech went to graduate school at the University of Cincinnati. He taught for a year at the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock, and then a teaching position at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee allowed him to return home. He was a professor of art at the University from 1968 until his resignation in 1998.
Since the 1960’s Uttech has made numerous camping and canoeing trips in the Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada, and northern Minnesota. One aspect that distinguishes Uttech’s paintings from most contemporary landscapes is that he does no drawings, studies, or photographs on these treks. They are studio inventions based entirely on memory and improvisation.
Over the years Uttech became increasingly dismayed with the inappropriate frames put on his canvases. Remembering the beautiful hand-painted molding of Gallen-Kallela’s Waterfall at Mantykoski, which he had seen in the Northern Light exhibition organized by the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1982, as well as colorful Scandinavian chests and furniture and his affection for the Pennsylvania Dutch art of Rosemaling, Uttech began making and painting his frames. These wide, flat pine moldings are finished with stains that range from clear to dark earth tones and are decorated with an assortment of wildlife, foliage, pictographs, and mythological creatures.
As Tom Uttech has stated, “The best response to my paintings would be for you to march right out of the gallery and go straight to the wildest piece of land you can find and sit down and let it wash over you and tell you secrets.”
Taken from a text by John Arthur. Published in, Tom Uttech: Mystical Landscapes, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2012-2013 New Paintings, Alexandre Gallery, New York, New York
2012 New Paintings, List Gallery, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
2009 New Paintings, Alexandre Gallery, New York, New York.
2006 Recent Paintings, Alexandre Gallery. New York, New York.
2004 Photographs from the 1970s, Alexandre Gallery, New York, New York.
Magnetic North: The Landscapes of Tom Uttech, Milwaukee Art, Museum. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Tom Uttech: New Paintings and Photographs, Tory Folliard Gallery,Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
2003 New Paintings, Alexandre Gallery. New York, New York.
Milwaukee Art Museum. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
2002 Tory Foilliard Gallery. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
2001 Schmidt Bingham Gallery. New York, New York.
2000 Tory Foilliard Gallery. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1999 Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum. Wausau, Wisconsin.
Schmidt Bingham Gallery. New York, New York.
1997 Schmidt Bingham Gallery. New York, New York.
1996 Wisconsin Academy Gallery. Madison, Wisconsin.
1995 Schmidt Bingham Gallery. New York, New York.
Tory Foilliard Gallery. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1994 Edgewood Orchard Gallery. Fish Creek, Wisconsin.
Schaefer Gallery. St. Peter, Minnesota.
Art Space. Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
1993 Schmidt Bingham Gallery. New York, New York.
1992 Tory Foilliard Gallery. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1991 Struve Gallery. Chicago, Illinois.
Stremmel Gallery. Reno, Nevada.
Riveredge Nature Center. Newberg, Wisconsin.
Woltjen/Udell Gallery. Edmonton, Canada.
M. Gutierrez Fine Arts. Key Biscayne, Florida.
1990 Arthur Roger Gallery. New Orleans, Louisiana.
1989 Bradley Gallery. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1988 Maxwell Davidson Gallery. New York, New York.
1987 Bradley Gallery. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Struve Gallery. Chicago, Illinois.
1986 Union League Club. Chicago, Illinois.
1985 Monique Knowlton Gallery. New York, New York.
1984 Bradley Gallery. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1981 University of Wisconsin. Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Minneapolis Art Institute. Minneapolis, Minnesota.
University of Kansas. Pittsburgh, Kansas.
1980 John Michael Kohler Art Center. Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
1970 Madison Art Center. Madison, Wisconsin.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2004-2011 Selected Works by Gallery Artists, Alexandre Gallery, New York, New York.
2010 Animal Instinct: Allegory, Allusion, and Anthropomorphism, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
2009 Trouble in Paradise: Examining Discord Between Nature and Society, Tucson Museum of Art, Tuscon, Arizona.
Something Wicked This Way Comes, Madison Museum of Contempoary Art, Madison, Wisconsin.
2006 Up North: Imaginig Northwoods Culture and Mythology, Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, Wisconsin.
2004 Images of Time and Place: Contemporary Views of Landscape, Lehman College Art Gallery. Bronx, New York. Traveled to Wayne State.
2002 Life: The Other Tradition, Polk Museum of Art. Lakeland, Florida.
2001 Re-Presenting Representation, Corning Incorporated Galleries. New York, New York.
2000 Singular Visions: Ten Wisconsin Painters at the Academy, Wisconsin
Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. Madison, Wisconsin.
New Art of the West 7, Eiteljorg Museum. Indianapolis, Indiana.
Of Darkness and Light: Recent American Landscape Painting, Art Museum of Western Virginia. Roanoke, Virginia.
Animal Artifice, The Hudson River Museum. Yonkers, New York.
Green Woods and Crystal Waters: The American Landscape Tradition Since 1960, The Philbrook Museum of Art. Tulsa, Oklahoma; traveled to: John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Sarasota, Florida; Davenport Museum of Art. Davenport, Iowa.
1999 New Religion, Tacoma Art Museum. Tacoma, Washington.
1998 Waking Dream: Psychological Realism in Contemporary Art, Castle Gallery, College of New Rochelle. New Rochelle, New York. Traveling exhibition.
Camouflage, Schmidt Bingham Gallery. New York, New York.
1997 Animal Tales: Contemporary Bestiary and Animal Painting, Whitney
Museum of American Art at Champion. Stamford, Connecticut.
Re-presenting Representation III, Arnot Art Museum. Elmira, New York.
Rediscovering the Landscape of the Americas, Memorial Art Gallery.
Rochester, New York.
Geography and Spirit: Nature’s Imprint on the Soul, Sun Valley Art
Center. Sun Valley, Idaho.
David Floria Gallery. Woody Creek, Colorado.
Building the Collection: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Contemporary Museum, The Contemporary Museum. Honolulu, Hawaii.
1996 Rediscovering the Landscapes of the Americas, Gerald Peters Gallery.
Santa Fe, New Mexico. Traveling to: Tucson Museum of Art. Tucson, Arizona; Art Museum of South Texas. Corpus Christi, Texas; Western Gallery: Western Washington University. Bellingham, Washington; Memorial Art Gallery: University of Rochester. Rochester, New York;Gibbes Museum of Art. Charleston, South Carolina.
Wisconsin Triennial, Madison Art Center. Madison, Wisconsin.
All Things Great but Small, Stremmel Gallery. Reno, Nevada.
1995 The Nature of Landscape, The Gallery at Hastings-on-Hudson. Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.
1994 American Realism and Figurative Painting, Cline Fine Art Gallery.
Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Dialogues: On and Off the Wall, Schmidt Bingham Gallery. New York, New York.
1993 The Collectors’ Show, The Arkansas Arts Center. Little Rock, Arkansas.
Wisconsin Triennial, Madison Art Center. Madison, Wisconsin.
Hartland Landscape Painters, McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, Illinois.
Recent Acquisitions and Dreams Hopes Fears: Works by Wisconsin Artists, Milwaukee Art Museum. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1992 Altered by the Moon, Schmidt Bingham Gallery. New York, New York.
Mind & Beast: Contemporary Artists and the Animal Kingdom,Leigh Yawkey Woo Museum. Wausau, Wisconsin.
Traveling to: Art Museum of South Texas. Corpus Christie, Texas; Knoxville Museum of Art. Knoxville, Tennessee; Tucson Museum of Art. Tucson, Arizona; Canton Art Institute. Canton, Ohio; Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
A View From the Heartland, McLean County Arts Center. Bloomington, Illinois.
Close to Nature, Neville Public Museum. Green Bay, Wisconsin.
1991 American Realism & Figurative Art: 1952-1991, The Miyagi Museum of Art. Sendai, Japan. Traveling to: The Tokushima Modern Art Museum. Tokushima, Japan; Sogu Museum of Modern Art. Yokohama, Japan; The Museum of Modern Art. Shiga, Japan; Kocki Prefectural Museum. Kocki, Japan.
Art Miami ’91, Miami Beach, Florida.
Landscape Visions, Edna Carlsten Gallery at the University of Wisconsin. Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
Tom Uttech and Gregory Conniff, University of Wisconsin. Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
Nature’s Territories, Tori Folliard Gallery. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Contemporary Midwestern Landscapes, University Club. Chicago, Illinois.
1990 Drawn from Nature: Seven Contemporary Landscape Painters, Sremmel Gallery. Reno, Nevada.
For the Preservation of Nature: the Artist’s Response, Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. Lake Charles, Louisiana. Traveling to: Alice Bingham Gallery. Memphis, Tennessee; Schmidt Bingham Gallery. New York, New York; Roanoke Museum of Fine Arts. Roanoke, Virginia; Dowd Fine Arts Gallery at the State University of New York. Cortland, New York; Roland Gibson Gallery: State University of New York at Potsdam. Potsdam, New York; The Noyes Museum. Oceanville, New Jersey.
Love and Charity: The Tradition of Caritas in Contemporary Painting, Sherry French Gallery, Incorporated. New York, New York; Maxwell Davidson Gallery. New York, New York. Alice Bingham Gallery. Memphis, Tennessee; Stremmel Gallery. Reno, Nevada.
Wisconsin Triennial, Madison Art Center. Madison, Wisconsin.
1989 American Art Today: Contemporary Landscape, Florida International University Art Museum. Miami, Florida.
Art for Art’s Sake, Arthur Roger Gallery. New Orleans, Louisiana.
Deep Woods: Concerning Nature in Contemporary Painting, Sculpture and Drawing: Chicago 78th Annual Exhibition, Maier Museum of Art at Randolph-Macon Women’s College, Lynchburg, Virginia. A traveling exhibition.
Landscape: A Travelogue Painted from Memory, Imagination, or Reality, Ruth Siegel Gallery, Ltd. New York, New York.
1988 One Hundred Years of Wisconsin Art, Milwaukee Art Museum; Fay Gould Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia; Tatischeff Gallery, Los Angeles, California; David Adler Cultural Center, Libertyville, Illinois.
Midwestern Landscape, Joy Emery Gallery. New Orleans, Louisiana.
Seasons of Light, Schmidt Bingham Gallery. New York, New York.
1987 Creatures Great and Small, Schmidt Bingham Gallery, New York, New York.
Fifteenth Union League Club Art Competition and Exhibition, Union League Club. Chicago, Illinois (AWARD).
Painted Light, DW Gallery. Dallas, Texas.
1986 Contemporary Romantic Landscape Painting, Loch Haven Art Center. Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, Florida.
1985 Personal Territory, Frumkin and Struve Gallery. Chicago, Illinois.
Chicago Union League Club Exhibition, Union League Club. Chicago, Illinois.
Wisconsin Directions I and II, Milwaukee Art Museum. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1984 A New Look at American Landscape, Rahr-West Museum. Manitowac, Wisconsin; Frumkin and Struve Gallery. Chicago, Illinois.
Chicago and Vicinity, Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois.
1983 Contemporary Images in Watercolor: 1983, University of Wisconsin. Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
1978 1st Biennial Exhibition of Wisconsin Art, Madison Art Center. Madison, Wisconsin.
1977 Visions from the North Woods, Milwaukee Art Center. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Beauty of the Beast, Kohler Art Center. Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Reingenhoggen für eine besseren Welt, Württembergschier Kunstverein. Stuttgart, Germany.
Midwest Fugitive Painting, Madison Art Center. Madison, Wisconsin.
Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, New York.
1975 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York.
Chicago and Vicinity, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
Wisconsin Directions, Milwaukee Art Museum. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
ARCO Corporation. Los Angeles, California.
The Columbus Museum of Art. Columbus, Georgia.
The Contemporary Museum. Honolulu, Hawaii.
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Bentonville, Arkansas.
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum. Wausau, Wisconsin.
Madison Art Center. Madison, Wisconsin.
Milwaukee Art Museum. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The New Orleans Museum of Art. New Orleans, Louisiana.
The Picker Art Gallery. Hamilton, New York.
The Philbrook Museum of Art. Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Rahr-West Art Museum. Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
The Milwaukee Athletic Club. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Union League Club of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois.
The University Club. Chicago, Illinois.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Andera, Margaret. Magnetic North: The Landscapes of Tom Uttech. Milwaukee: Milwaukee Art Museum, 2004.
Arthur, John. Green Woods and Crystal Waters: The American Landscape Tradition. Tulsa: The Philbrook Museum of Art, 1999.
Arthur, John. Spirit of Place: Contemporary Landscape Painting and the American Tradition. Boston: Bulfinch, 1989.
Driscoll, John. The Artist and the American Landscape. Northampton: Chameleon Books, 1998.
Garver, Tom. Mind and Beast: Contemporary Artists and the Animal Kingdom. Wausau, Wisconsin: Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum Art Museum, 1992.
Struve, William. An American Landscape Collection: Views from the Heartland. Chicago: Zurich Kemper Investments Collection, 1997
CATALOGS
Jerome C. Krause and Tom Uttech: Visions from the North Woods. Milwaukee: Milwaukee Art Center, 1977.
Tom Uttech. Chicago: Struve Gallery, 1987.
Tom Uttech: New Paintings. New York: Alexandre Gallery, 2004.
Wisconsin Directions. Milwaukee: Milwaukee Art Center, 1975.
Wisconsin Triennial. Madison, Wisconsin: Madison Art Center, 1996.
PERIODICALS
Amy, Michael, “Tom Uttech at Alexandre,” Art in America, November 2004.
Arthur, John, “Visionary Landscapes,” American Artist, July 1998.
Auer, James, “Turmoil Can’t Dull Uttech Show,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 10, 1999.
Auer, James, “It’s All Natural for This Artist,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 10, 2002.
Auer, James, “Wizard of the Wild,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 11, 2004.
Bergin, Mary, “Artist Recreates Natural World Using Memory, Imagination,” Central Wisconsin Sunday, July 19, 2004.
Bergin, Mary, “Artist Recreates Natural World Using Memory, Imagination,” Wausau Daily Herald. July 18, 2004.
Bergin, Mary, “Deep Woods Art: Uttech Finds Inspiration in Boundary Waters,” Waukesha Freeman. Waukesha, WI. July 17, 2004.
Bergin, Mary, “Magnetic North,” Reporter, July 22, 2004.
Bergin, Mary, “Magnetic North,” Capital Times, July 17, 2004
Berman, Avis, “Contemporary Country Landscapes: New Views of Pastoral American Life,” Architectural Digest, June 1996, pp. 136-141, 205.
Blocker, Susan, “Drawn by Nature: Uttech Combines Fondness for Outdoors with Love of Art,” Wisconsin State Journal, January 28, 1996, pp. 1F & 2F.
Brehmer, Debra, “Echoes of Longing,” Milwaukee Magazine, March 2000.
Connors, Thomas, “Spellbinder,” Milwaukee Home, July/August 2004, pp. 34-39.
Disch, Thomas, “Tom Uttech,” The New York Sun, March 11, 2004.
“Escape to the North Woods This Summer in Milwaukee,” Milwaukee Times. June 10, 2004.
“Esteemed Artist Depicts Enchanted Wilderness,” The Daily Press. Ashland, Wisconsin. December 31, 2004.
Frank, Nicolas, “Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” Art Papers. Atlanta, Georgia. November/ December 2004, p. 51.
Genocchio, Benjamin, “More Than Just a Pretty Scene,” The New York Times, March 14, 2004.
Hawkins, Margaret, “Uttech’s Outdoor Visions Make Road Trip a Must,” Chicago Sun-Times. July 23, 2004.
Hawkins, Margaret, “It All Comes Down to Personal Enjoyment,” Chicago Sun-Times. December 26, 2004.
Henry, Gerrit. “Tom Uttech at Schmidt Bingham Gallery,” Art in America, July 1993, p. 105.
Goodrich, John, “Tom Uttech,” Reviewny.com, March 1, 2001.
Hawkins, Margaret, “Spirituality Grows in the Forests of Uttech,” Chicago Sun Times, May 8, 1987.
Henry, Gerrit, “Tom Uttech at Monique Knowlton,” Art in America, March 1986, p. 153.
Hughes, Robert Jr., “Summer’s Second Season,” Wall Street Journal, August 6, 2004.
Ingells, “Prairie Woods Inspire Wisconsin Artist,” Lansing State Journal. July 18, 2004.
Joosse, Barbara, “Tom Uttech: Retreat to Reality,” Porcupine 5, no. 2, 2001, pp. 4-17. Also available on line at: http://members.aol.com/Ppine259/Uttech.html.
Kilian, Michael, “Great Outdoors as Art in Milwaukee,” Chicago Tribune, July 18, 2004.
Kilian, Michael, “Great Outdoors as Art in Milwaukee,” Journal News (Central Edition). White Plains, NY. July 23, 2004.
“Magnetic North: The Landscapes of Tom Uttech,” Des Moines Sunday Register. August 8, 2004.
“Magnetic North: The Landscapes of Tom Uttech,” Milwaukee Times. June 24, 2004.
McHale, Julie, “An Admired Local Talent,” Waukesha Freeman. July 29, 2004.
Moriarty, Judith Ann, “Mindscapes,” http://www.riverwestcurrents.org, August 2004.
Mumford, Steve, “Tom Uttech: Schmidt Bingham Gallery,” Review, February 15, 1997
Naves, Mario, “Currently Hanging,” New York Observer, November 2004.
The New Yorker, Feature on Uttech exhibition at Schmidt Bingham Gallery with commissioned self-portrait by the artist, March 1, 1993.
“Northern Landscapes,” Janesville Gazette. Janesville, WI. August 15, 2004.
“Northwoods Nirvana,” Milwaukee Magazine. July 2004, p. 19.
Patten, Charles, “Seek and Ye Shall Find,” City Pages, April 1999.
Pomeday, Carol, “North Woods Comes to Calatrava,” Ozaukee Press, July 1, 2004.
Schumacher, Mary Louise, “’Misfits’ Fit Right Intro Art’s Vision,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. July 30, 2004.
Schumacher, Mary Louise, “The Art of the Hunt,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. July 18, 2004.
Thorn, Willy, “Into the Woods,” Northshore Lifestyle, December 2003, pp. 82-83.
“Tom Uttech,” ARTS Magazine 60 (December 1985): p. 114.
Wolff, Theodore F. “Landscapes Live Again,” World Monitor, December 1988, pp. 82-84.
SELECTED AWARDS
2010 American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Art, New York, New York.
2009 Wisconsin Visual Art Lifetime Achievement Award
1998 National Endowment for the Arts
1995 E.D. Foundation Award, New York, New York.
1987 Fifteenth Union League Club Art Competition and Exhibition. Chicago, Illinois.