ILLINOIS HISTORICAL ART PROJECT
Artists of Chicago Past and Present by Clarence J. Bulliet
Prominent Chicago Daily News art critic C. J. Bulliet began a series detailing the histories of local artists on February 23, 1935 during the depths of the Great Depression. While many of the artists he profiled had already deceased those who were still practicing art gained significant noteriety from being featured by so powerful a literary force as Bulliet. His papers were donated by the family and today reside in the Archives of American Art.
Due to the harsh economic period Bulliet's promotion was a significant benefit to artists, many of whom earned a living working in the Federal Art Project (FAP), which was a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The FAP was initiated in August 1935, only six months after Bulliet had begun his series. Interestingly, Bulliet ceased his series with No. 106 on September 30, 1939, the same month the FAP was discontinued.
There were some gaps in Bulliet's coverage. Up until October 17, 1936 the columns ran regularly, generally weekly, through No. 79. The series ceased for six months then began again on April 10, 1937 with No. 80 and ran mostly weekly until July 10, 1937. The final period began with No. 87 on May 20, 1939. Why there were gaps in the dates of concurrent articles is unknown. On September 30th 1939 he wrote under a headline "Interrupted Again!": Again with the opening of a new art season and the consequent pressing demand for space for current happenings, the series artists of Chicago is interrupted after today as a weekly feature. New studies of our artists will be added from time to time as lulls permit, and the series will be resumed weekly in the late spring and summer. Unfotunatley, the series was never to appear again as promised.
Click on an artist to see their feature from the column "Artists of Chicago Past and Present" by C. J. Bulliet
No. 2 Adam Emory Albright March 2, 1935
No. 49 Anita Venier Alexander January 25, 1936
No. 52 Joseph Allworthy February 15, 1936
No. 76 Tennesse Mitchell Anderson August 15, 1936
No. 78 Anthony Angarola September 26, 1936
No. 66 Rifka Angel May 23, 1936
No. 36 Emil Armin October 26, 1935
No. 88 Florence Arquin May 27, 1939
No. 101 Frances Badger August 26, 1939
No. 77 Martin Baer August 29, 1936
No. 15 Salcia Bahnc June 1, 1935
No. 12 Macena Barton May 11, 1935
No. 69 David Bekker June 20, 1936
No. 103 Roff Beman September 9, 1939
No. 20 Charles Biesel July 6, 1935
No. 97 Kathleen Blackshear July 29, 1939
No. 43 Marie Elsa Blanke February 14, 1935
No. 53 John David Brcin February 22, 1936
No. 74 Fritzi Brod August 1, 1936
No. 30 Edgar Cameron September 14, 1935
No. 102 Edithe Jane Cassady September 2, 1939
No. 50 Richard Chase February 1, 1936
No. 10 Ralph Clarkson April 27, 1935
No. 72 Timothy Cole July 18, 1936
No. 25 Charles Dahlgreen August 10, 1935
No. 22 Gus Dalstrom July 20, 1935
No. 8 Helga Haugan Dean April 13, 1935
No. 17 Katherine Dudley June 15, 1935
No. 58 Frank Dudley March 28, 1936
No. 79 J. Seaverns Erickson October 17, 1936
No. 37 Robert Lee Eskridge November 2, 1935
No. 27 Frances Foy August 24, 1935
No. 94 Gerald Frank July 8, 1939
No. 81 Todros Geller April 24, 1937
No. 33 Eugenie Glaman October 5, 1935
No. 46 J. Jeffery Grant January 4, 1936
No. 62 Frederick M. Grant April 25, 1936
No. 59 Oskar Gross April 4, 1936
No. 96 Oliver Dennett Grover July 22, 1939
No. 47 Carl Hallsthammar January 11, 1936
No. 98 Robert B. Harshe August 5, 1939
No. 73 Lucie Hartrath July 25, 1936
No. 1 G. P. A. Healy February 23, 1935
No. 16 Helen West Heller June 8, 1935
No. 86 Carl Hoeckner July 10, 1937
No. 91 Marguerite Hohenberg June 17, 1939
No. 48 Thorvald Hoyer January 18, 1936
No. 41 Maude Phelps Hutchins January 30, 1935
No. 23 Rudolph Ingerle July 27, 1935
No. 39 Bertha Jaques January 16, 1935
No. 14 Alexander R. Katz May 25, 1935
No. 90 Clay Kelly June 10, 1939
No. 21 Tud Kempf July 13, 1935
No. 38 Carl R. Krafft November 9, 1935
No. 24 Walter Krawiec August 3, 1935
No. 75 Beatrice Levy August 8, 1936
No. 106 Pauline Graff Little September 30, 1939
No. 84 Amy Irwin McCormick May 22, 1937
No. 26 Julius Moessel August 17, 1935
No. 9 Minne Harms Neebe April 20, 1935
No. 13 Lane Newberry May 18, 1935
No. 29 John Nolf September 7, 1935
No. 45 John Norton February 28, 1935
No. 51 Pauline Palmer February 8, 1936
No. 35 Leon Pescheret October 19, 1935
No. 5 Frank Peyraud March 23, 1935
No. 42 Allen Philbrick December 7, 1935
No. 6 Karl Plath March 30, 1935
No. 99 Winnifred Pleiming August 12, 1939
No. 93 Yvonne Pryor July 1, 1939
No. 19 Wellington Reynolds June 29, 1935
No. 95 Esther Ruble Richardson July 15, 1939
No. 31 Romolo Roberti September 21, 1935
No. 100 Frank J. Schmidt August 19, 1939
No. 89 Flora Schofield June 3, 1939
No. 87 Oscar Soellner May 20, 1939
No. 82 Ethel Spears May 1, 1937
No. 56 Sister Mary Stanisia March 14, 1936
No. 32 Antonin Sterba September 28, 1935
No. 4 John Storrs March 16, 1935
No. 57 Frances Strain March 21, 1936
No. 7 Stanislas Szukalski April 6, 1935
No. 3 Lorado Taft March 9, 1935
No. 40 Julia Thecla January 23, 1935
No. 28 Joseph Tomanek August 31, 1935
No. 70 Morris Topchevsky June 27, 1936
No. 54 Paul Trebilcock February 29, 1936
No. 64 Charles Turzak May 9, 1936
No. 60 Leonard Wells Volk April 11, 1936
No. 67 Dudley Crafts Watson June 6, 1936
No. 11 Rudolph Weisenborn May 4, 1935
No. 71 Carl Werntz July 11, 1936
No. 55 Charles Sneed Williams March 7, 1936