Draft:George J. Seideneck

George J. Seideneck (February 4, 1885 – March 7, 1972), was an American painter and photographer best known for his portraits and landscapes, as well as his role in the early development of the art colony in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Both he and his wife, Catherine Comstock, were accomplished painters. Seideneck's artwork has been exhibited nationally and is part of the permanent collections at the Trotter Museum-Gallery, Monterey Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Art.

Early life and education
Seideneck was born on February 4, 1885, in Chicago, Illinois of Czechoslovakian descent. He went to the local high school and upon graduation he became an apprentice wood engraver, carving woodblocks. As a youth he excelled in drawing boats on the Illinois lakes.

In 1903, Seideneck went to the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He attended classes at Chicago's Smith's Art Academy and worked as a fashion illustrator for boys’ and men’s wear for several years. During this time, he shared a studio-apartment for six years alongside muralist Eugene Savage. His first marriage was to Lola E. Stouder on April 14 1909, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She died on July 13, 1910 at Lake Wawasee in Indiana due to appendicitis.



In 1911, Seideneck left for art training in Europe with painter and teacher William Victor Higgins. The first year was spent with studies in St Ives, a seaport town at Cornwall, England. There, he received instruction from the Canadian painter Harry Britton, and developed skills in portraiture. He also delved into landscape painting and utilized his camera to capture scenes for future reference in his artwork. He exhibited with the St Ives painters at their Show Day in March, 1912. He traveled to Paris, where he was one of the founders of the American Art Club with a small group of Chicago artists. He went to Venice and Austria, and by the autumn of 1912, he was enrolled in studies at the Royal Academy in Munich, under Walter Thor and Carl von Marr. He exhibited more than thirty paintings at the Kunstverein München, one of the oldest German art associations. In late 1913, he visited Chicago before returning to Europe the subsequent spring as the ambassador for Meyer-Roth.

Seideneck came back to Chicago and taught composition, life classes, and portrait painting at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts for three years. He became a member of several Chicago clubs, including the Chicago Society of Artists and the Palette and Chisel Club. His initial trip to the West Coast was in 1915 to attend the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.

Career


In March of 1918, Seideneck moved to the art colony at Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. By June of that year, he exhibited several paintings in the office of the Carmel Pine Cone.

In May 1919, Seideneck was elected as a director of the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club. He was also involved in the administration of the Arts and Crafts Theatre. That March he was chosen as the secretary of the Forest Theatre Society and helped with the construction of the sets for the amphitheater.

Seideneck married Catherine Comstock (1885-1967) in Santa Rosa, California on January 25, 1921. She was a landscape painter and worked with leather crafts. Her brother was designer and master builder Hugh W. Comstock (1893-1950) who lived in Carmel-by-the-Sea. In 1922, the couple established a Carmel home situated at the intersection of Monte Verde and 8th Avenue. They had a studio on Ocean Avenue. Seideneck served as a resident artist for the coastal botanical laboratories of the Carnegie Institution in Carmel, creating botanical drawings under the direction of William Cannon.

Between 1919 and 1922, Seideneck participated in the yearly displays of the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club. In the spring of 1921, he showcased portrait sketches and numerous landscapes alongside his wife in a combined exhibition at the Arts & Crafts Hall. Later that June, he displayed seven canvases, featuring portraits, at the Carmel Artists exhibition held in the Stanford University Art Gallery.

In the early 1920s, the Seidenecks undertook the restoration of several historic homes in Carmel. With the earnings from this endeavor, they embarked on a two-and-a-half-year journey to Europe in 1924, where they spent their time painting and traveling in Germany and Italy. They came back to Carmel in January 1927.

George and Catherine helped in the formation of the Carmel Art Association. The Association held its formal opening on October 15, 1927. Seideneck showed two oils On the Giudecca, and Italian Hillside. As a charter member, Seideneck was elected as the second president of August 13, 1928. He participated on the executive board in 1927, and from 1930-1932, and once more from 1942 to 1950. He helped start the Carmel Music Society and was a director of that organization. In October 1927, the Seidenecks exhibited at the Carmel Art Association's first exhibition at the Seven Arts Building at Ocean Avenue in downtown Carmel.

In March 1927 Seideneck was interviewed by Alice de Nair for the Pine Cone, where Seideneck talked about his start in Chicago, his travels, and about the portrait of the fisherman, and portrait of Judge William Henry Seaman of the United States Court of Appeals in Chicago, which now is in the United States courts of appeals in the Federal Building in Chicago.



In December 1927, for the “Thumb Box Sketches” exhibition at the Carmel Art Association he submitted a portrait entitled Cornish Fisherman. His painting of the Cornish fishermen alongside various sketches of boats appeared at the Fifteenth Carmel Art Association Exhibition. During the autumn of 1949, at the Tenth Annual Exhibition of Art, with 58 paintings and held at San Francisco's De Young Museum by the Society of Western Artists, Seideneck was granted the Anna Elizabeth Klumpke Award, valued at 250 dollars. This award was bestowed for the best figure or portrait painting, recognizing his canvas titled Cornish Fisherman.



Outside the Monterey Peninsula, Seideneck exhibited his work at different locations. In 1927, he displayed his work at the East-West Gallery in San Francisco and participated in the California State Fair in 1929 and 1933. By 1935, he joined the Monterey History and Art Association, where he was appointed to its board of directors.

The painting, The Old Philosopher, completed in 1913, was first exhibited at the Carmel Art Association member's exhibition held at the Stanford Gallery in 1929. Selected as one of the top thirty-five paintings, it was featured in a touring exhibition, making stops at the Oakland Art Gallery and the East-West Gallery. Seideneck also exhibited "The Old Philopsoher" in 1932 at the Carmel Art Association's Sixteenth Exhibition.

By 1939, the Seidenecks had purchased 12 acre property in Carmel Valley and constructed a home with a view of Pinyon Peak and having a hillside orchard.

As part of the federally sponsored SERA project, the Seidenecks created murals at Presidio of Monterey and also at Carmel’s Sunset School. Their initial commission at the Sunset School was titled Fishing Boats at St. Ives.



Sponsored by the WPA Federal Art Project, Seideneck made watercolor sketches of early-American artifacts for the Index of American Design exhibit, showcased in June 1937 at the Federal Art Gallery in Carmel. Thelma Miller, a critic for the Pine Cone, made postive comments about his artworks.

In 1945, Seideneck captured images of Cannery Row and Monterey Fishing, featuring the California Packing Corporation plant 101. Additionally, he photographed Carmel, the Hatton and Berta Ranches in Carmel Valley, and the Big Sur Coast.

In January of 1959, Seideneck was granted a lifetime membership to the Carmel Art Association. In July 1966, the Seidenecks were recognized with a joint retrospective exhibition, supported by the Monterey Peninsula chapter of the American Federation of Arts at the Monterey Museum of Art.

Death and legacy
Seideneck died on March 7, 1972, at a Monterey convalescent hospital after a long illness. His artwork can be found in the permanent collections of the Trotter Museum-Gallery, Monterey Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Art. The Harrison Memorial Library has the Barbara Meyer Collection of the George and Catherine Comstock Seideneck Papers. This collection includes 9 boxes and 1 oversized folder of photographs, color slides, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and woodcuts of various sizes.