Back to the Artist Page

Karl Schmidt Biography

Karl Schmidt was an American visual artist who was born in Worcester, MA on Jan. 11, 1890. Schmidt began drawing and painting when quite young; while his twin brother took a different course and eventually gained much success as an amateur golfer winning numerous championships.

After graduating from Polytechnic Institute in his native city, he traveled to England where he studied art and painted landscapes and seascapes of Cornwall and coast of Brittany. In England he likely came under the influence of the arts and crafts painter Frank Brangwyn and, in turn, Japanese art.

Schmidt returned to the US and was a resident of Boston and Worcester until 1915 when he moved to Santa Barbara, CA. There he joined a group of painters in the mission-style studio of California artist, Alexander Harmer whose adobe gallery and home on De La Guerra Plaza was a popular place for artists.

In California, Schmidt expanded a decorative painting style in which he abstracted landscape forms, rendering them as flat planes of color thoughtfully arranged within his compositions. His approach suggests the influence of the art of Arthur Wesley Dow, whose method was disseminated by the many Dow students who settled in the Los Angeles area in the early twentieth century.

In 1918 he joined the Navy and served in the Bureau of Aeronautics. He later pioneered construction of lighter-than-air craft and rose to the rank of commander. Schmidt was a resident on Roosevelt Island during the Pearl Harbor bombing on December 7, 1941. While in the Navy he exhibited in several cities throughout the US.

Schmidt was a member of the Salmagundi Club (NY). His extensive gallery and museum exhibitions included: Kunsthalle Düsseldorf; Worcester Museum, 1911(solo); PPIE, 1915; LACMA, 1917 (solo); AIC; Cincinnati Museum; NAD.

Karl Schmidt died in Los Gatos, near San Jose, California on Sept. 26, 1962.

NOTE: California Hillside hung temporarily in the home of a local private residence during an Architectural Digest shoot.