California Sycamores
William Wendt
William Wendt
1865-1946
- Birthplace
- Bentzen, Kingdom of Prussia
- Died
- Laguna Beach, CA
- Titles & Honors:
- Titles: President of the California Arts Club, 1911-1919. Awards: Second Yerkes Prize, Chicago Society of Artists; Bronze Medal, Buffalo Exposition; Cahn Prize, Chicago Art Institute; Kirchberger Prize, Chicago Art Institute; Silver Medal, San Francisco Exposition (1915); Black Prize, California Art Club (1916); Ranger Purchase Prize, National Academy of Design (1926).
- Occupation:
- Painter
Wendt was a German-born American landscape painter most associated with the Eucalyptus School and the Arts and Crafts Movement in California. Beginning his career with a cabinetmaking apprenticeship in Germany, he did not find the work enjoyable and emigrated to the United States by himself in 1880.
He then lived in Chicago for over 20 years, working as a commercial artist and briefly studying at the Art Institute of Chicago. Marrying sculptor Julia Bracken in 1906, the couple decided to move to California, where they built a studio in Laguna Beach.
The public found Wendt’s paintings of the California countryside appealing, allowing him to sustain himself on painting alone. He and Julia would become founding members of the California Art Club, earning Wendt the title of the “Dean of Southern California landscape painters.”