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The Thomas Kempf Gallery
Biographical Information
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| American artist, Thomas Kempf, was born in Jasper, Indiana to Dr. Edward and Marie Kempf on December 29, 1895. He at first intended to be a doctor, but decided to devote his professional life to art instead. He attended Indiana University and Syracuse University before serving in France in World War I. On his return to the States, he married Ethel Barts and settled in Chicago. | ||
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During the 1920’s and 1930’s, while working as an illustrator for Rosefield Commercial Art Studios in Chicago,
the young Thomas Kempf continued to develop his artistic vision. Painting in a variety of media including
watercolors, pen & ink, chalk, oils, and acrylics, his art could be seen
in local galleries throughout the Chicago area. He exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago on eight separate
occasions during those years. In 1931 he exhibited at the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery in the
University of Nebraska. He contributed an article on the philosophy of art to
Art of Today
(L.M. Stein, 1933), exhibited at the Chicago Century of Progress World’s Fair, and was mentioned in the
New Yorker
magazine.
In 1942, after travelling extensively in Colorado and Arizona, he and his family moved to a small farm in Beecher, Illinois, where he painted many works featuring scenes of Mexican village life, as well as a series of watercolors of Spanish churches. Thomas Kempf continued to paint until his death on June 8, 1988, even though his eyesight began to fail him in the last two years of his life. |
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| TIMELINE | ||
| 1895 | - Thomas Kempf is born | |
| 1918 | - Serves in France in WWI | |
| 1920 thru 1940 | - Exhibits at Art Institute of Chicago | |
| 1931 | - Exhibits at Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery | |
| 1933 | - Contributes article to Art of Today | |
| 1934 | - Exhibits at Chicago World’s Fair | |
| 1942 | - Moves to farm in Beecher, IL | |
| 1988 | - Thomas Kempf dies | |