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Joseph Vorst

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joseph Vorst
Self Portrait with Mule, ca. 1947
Born
Joseph Paul Vorst

(1897-06-19)June 19, 1897
Essen, Germany
DiedOctober 15, 1947(1947-10-15) (aged 50)
Overland, Missouri
Resting placeLake Charles Park Cemetery, Bel-Nor, St. Louis, MO
NationalityGerman, American
Known forMurals, Lithography
MovementRegionalism
SpouseLina Weller (1900-1992)
Websitejosephpaulvorst.com

Joseph Paul Vorst (June 19, 1897 – October 15, 1947) was a German-American visual artist.

Biography

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Vorst was born June 19, 1897, in Essen, Germany.[1] He studied at the Folkwang Schule in Hagen before serving in World War I, from which he received a permanent limp. He studied art at the National Academy of Berlin with Max Lieberman and Max Slevogt,[2] and was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1924. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1930,[3] settling in Missouri near his cousins in Ste. Genevieve. He married Lina Weller on June 15, 1935, in St. Louis, Missouri. In the 1930s Vorst was associated with the Ste. Genevieve Art Colony in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri.[4]

He taught art in St. Louis and did much public work for New Deal art projects during the Great Depression.[5] Among other locations Vorst was art director at Jefferson College.[6] According to an article on him in the LDS Improvement Era written by William Mulder he assisted full-time LDS missionaries in St. Louis extensively in sharing the gospel with more people.

He exhibited his work in both the Deseret Gym art room and the Springville Art Museum.[7] An exhibition featuring his life [8] and work was hosted by the LDS Church History Museum in 2017/2018 in Salt Lake City, UT.[9]

Vorst died in Overland, Missouri, on October 15, 1947.[1]

His work is in the collection of the National Gallery of Art,[10] the Saint Louis Art Museum,[11] and the Smithsonian American Art Museum,[12]

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Joseph Paul Vorst". Missouri Remembers. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Hebe on Rosenberg Fountain ( 1893) is by Franz Machtl who lived in Munich and cast the statue there". Archived from the original on 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  3. ^ New York NY Passenger List, July 15, 1930, S.S. "Europa" from Bremen, see document: [1]
  4. ^ Dick, R. H.; Kerr, Scott (2004). An American art colony : the art and artists of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, 1930-1940. St. Louis, Mo.: McCaughen & Burr Press. pp. 91–95. ISBN 978-0976242406.
  5. ^ "Joseph Paul Vorst: Regionalist Artist" by Ardis E. Parshall of Keepapitchinin
  6. ^ R. Scott Lloyd. "Church Acquires Works of Unsung Artist of Yesteryear". LDS Church News, March 29, 2015. p. 8-10.
  7. ^ Lloyd, "Unsung Artist", LDS Church News, p. 9
  8. ^ "Joseph Paul Vorst (1897–1947)". 26 October 2017.
  9. ^ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Temples
  10. ^ "For Thine Is the Kingdom". Saint Louis Art Museum. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Joseph Vorst". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
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