Charles Frederick Surendorf (1906-1979)
Charles Surendorf was born on November 9, 1906 in Richmond, Indiana. Following graduation from Ohio State University, Surendorf studied at the AIC and ASL in NYC. In 1935 he moved to the San Francisco Bay area and taught at Mills College. Active in the local art scene, he was director of the first San Francisco Art Festival. In 1946 he settled in the town of Columbia in the Sierra foothills. There he served as director of the short-lived Mother Lode Art School (1956) and produced works with an historic California theme. He died of cancer in Columbia on May 28, 1979.
His paintings and prints depict the rough-and-tumble life of the old mining country in a regionalist style akin to that of Thomas Hart Benton.
Member: Calif. Society of Etchers; SFAA; Mother Lode AA; Bay Region AA (Oakland). Exh: Foundation of Western Art (LA), 1936-41; LACMA, 1936; SFMA, 1936, 1946; Calif. Society of Etchers, 1938-54 (awards); GGIE, 1939; De Young Museum, 1946. In: SFMA; Mills College (Oakland); Monterey Peninsula Museum; Library of Congress; Wichita Art Museum.
Information courtesy of Charlton Hall Galleries