Otto Stark
1859-1926

Your Subtitle text
Otto Stark
Biography

Otto Stark was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1859. Apprenticed to a lithographer, Stark studied at the University of Cincinnati School of Design before moving to New York to work as an illustrator. Further study followed in Paris at the Academie Julian. Stark met with success in Paris, exhibiting twice at the prestigious Salon. Returning to the U.S. with his French wife and daughter, the Starks settled in first in New York and later Philadelphia, where Otto painted and sold illustrations to eastern Publications. When his wife died following the birth of their fourth child, Stark returned to Indiana, where he exhibited with T.C. Steele, Richard Gruelle, and William Forsyth during the 1890’s. Needing a steady income for his family, Stark took a number of teaching positions in Indianapolis until he could finally devote himself to painting full-time in 1919. With his children grown, Stark spent a good deal of his time painting with his friend, J. Ottis Adams, until he suffered a stroke in 1926 from which he would not recover.

Brown County Art Colony

 

The Brown County Art Colony was formed in the early 1900s by artists who were attracted by the undisturbed picturesque landscape known as Peaceful Valley.  T.C. Steele was the first to become a resident of the county when he purchased 200 acres near Belmont. Adolph Shulz is considered to be the founder of the Brown County Art Colony.  He began visiting Brown County in 1908 and in 1917 became a permanent resident. Both Adolph Shulz and T.C. Steele influenced other artists and many began building cabins and moving to the area.  Will Vawter and Gustave Baumann were among the first to make Brown County their home.  Other artists such as Charles Dahlgreen, Lucie Hartrath, and L.O. Griffith came from Chicago and by the early 1930s there were at least eighteen artists with permanent homes in Brown County.  Artists such as C. Curry Bohm, Edward K. Williams, Ada Walter Shulz, Carl Graf, V.J. Cariani, Gustav Baumann, Will Vawter, Dale Bessire, Georges LaChance, Marie Goth, Leota Loop, Adam Emory Albright, Olive Rush, and Alexis Fournier flourished and created the Brown County Art Colony nearly 100 years ago.

 

Sources:

 

Letsinger-Miller, Lyn. The Artists of Brown County . Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1994.

 

Nesbit, M. Joanne, ed., Barbara Judd, comp. Those Brown County Artists: The Ones Who Came the Ones Who Stayed the Ones Who Moved On . Nashville: Nana’s Book, 1993.

 

WE BUY AND SELL PAINTINGS BY

Otto Stark

We are very interested in purchasing Otto Stark paintings.
Please give us a call or send an e-mail.

 

812.327.0401

info@indianaartcollector.com

 

We also buy paintings from the following Brown County artists:

 

Copyright 2021. Indiana Art Collector. All rights reserved.
Website Builder