Charles Turzak (1899 - 1986) Oil on canvas painting Signed lower right TURZAK. Sight measurements 16 inches wide by 40 inches long. The frame measurements are 17 7/8 inches wide by 41 3/4 inches long. This lot will include a 1993 exhibition catalog from the Maitland Art center of Florida along with other magazine articles about the artist. Charles Turzak was an American artist, known primarily for his modernist woodblock prints, particularly works depicting American historical subjects, including his best-known work Abraham Lincoln: Biography in Woodcuts (1933).Turzak's parents were immigrants from a mountainous region of what later became Czechoslovakia, an area notable for its skilled woodworkers. After the couple immigrated, Charles' father worked as a coal miner, first in Streator and later in Nokomis, Illinois, where Charles grew up. Charles was the youngest of the couple's three children and the only son. He showed an interest in and aptitude for art from an early age, drawing cartoons as well as carving small figures from peach pits and selling them.Turzak learned woodworking skills as a young apprentice to an English cabinetmaker, who was a neighbor of the family, work that included making violins.In 1920, the year he graduated from high school, Turzak won a $100 prize in a cartoon contest sponsored by the Purina company, and he parlayed the prize into an admission into the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, much to the disappointment of his father, who had harbored hopes of his son becoming a lawyer or doctor.His excellence in school earned him admission to the art honorary fraternity Delta Phi Delta

Good Used condition, a few small minor paint loss spots on the lower part of the canvas near the corner, Thick impasto brush strokes.Ready to display. All lots are sold As Is and we always ask all to attend the preview in our showroom to examine all lots in person. If bidding on line , please examine all posted images and if you have any questions please emails before the auction begins.