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Public Art on Campus - Charles Umlauf

CHARLES
UMLAUF

Artist Charles Umlauf
Image Source: umlaufsculpture.org

(b. 1911-1944) Charles Umlauf was an American sculptor known primarily for figurative works. His subjects included nudes, religious figures, mythological figures and animals. His style ranged from realism to expressionism, and even somewhat to abstraction. Umlauf worked in a variety of materials including bronze, marble, cast stone wood and terra cotta.

Umlauf began taking sculpting classes at the Art Institute of Chicago in his early years. He and his wife moved to Austin in 1941. Umlauf taught at the Art Department of the University of Texas for 40 years.

One of his favorite students was the actress Farrah Fawcett. Umlauf's work may be found in many public sites around the country, as well as in the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY.


ART ON CAMPUS

Icarus by Charles Umlauf

Icarus

Year: 1965
Medium: Bronze
Location: Outside/Front Dishman Art Museum

Interesting Tidbit:
In Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. Daedalus was imprisoned by King Minos of Crete within his own creation. To escape, he created two giant pairs of wings from a wooden frame covered with wax and feathers. When Daedalus presented a set of wings to Icarus, he cautioned him not to fly near the sun. Icarus, in his exhilaration with the ability to fly, forgot his father's warning and flew too high causing the wax on the wings to melt and sending him plummeting to his death in the ocean.

Mirabeau Statue on campus of Lamar University