Encyclopedia Dubuque
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KAEP, Louis J.
KAEP, Louis J. (Dubuque, IA, Mar. 19, 1903--Greenwich, CT, Oct. 5, 1991). A graduate of LORAS COLLEGE in 1921, Kaep studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Academie Julian in Paris. (1) After moving to New York, he was an art director at Montgomery Ward, the Vogue Wright Studios and the Electrographic Corporation, where he became president and later vice chairman. (2)
Although he painted with oils, Kaep chose watercolors which proved easier to carry and provided him more of a challenge. One of his watercolors, a snowy scene entitled "This is Peru, Vermont," won so many awards for him, Kaep once remarked, "It's been very good to me." (3) In 1932 he was credited with a "new chapter" in the art of using water colors. In the twelfth International Water Color Exhibition at the Art Institute in Chicago, he displayed three paintings[["Rush Street," "Election Day," and "Burlesque." In each picture he "caught" people as they were which led the three pictures to be "distinguished by their striking huan interest, start realism, and general effect of life, movement, and human association." (4)
Kaep gained special recognition from his work with the United States Navy and the Seabees. (5) He was nicknamed "The Admiral" after a completing a commission from the United States Navy in 1960 to produce a series of paintings while accompanying the Sixth Fleet on maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1961 he received a similar commission with the Seabees in the South Pacific and Far East. His paintings were displayed in Washington, D.C. at the Naval Combat Art Collection.
His paintings of scenes and people in Europe, South America, the Pacific Islands, North Africa, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Thailand, Singapore, Hawaii, Formosa and the Caribbean countries were exhibited in more than 200 one-man shows here and abroad. He once estimated he had turned out from 400 to 500 paintings which he considered acceptable. (6)
Kaep was the recipient of more than fifty awards including the Gold Medal for Watercolor, Hudson Valley Art Association and Bainbridge Award. (7) For his work, he received the Navy Meritorious Public Service Citation, among the highest honors conferred on a civilian. (8) He was an instructor at the Art Institute, Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago, Illinois; a member of the National Academy of Design and the American Watercolor Society; and among those listed in both Who's Who in American Art and Who's Who in America.
In 1954 Kaep held the presidency and later vice-chairmanship of Electrographic Corporation, a New York-based firm involved with graphic arts including advertising and photography. In 1963 Kaep was vice president of Vogue Wright, one of the largest commercial art studios in New York city which employed a staff of 125 artists and photographers.(9)
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Source:
1. Cadow, Gail, "Kaep Returns to Dubuque After 50 Years," Telegraph Herald, September 28, 1978, p. 8
2. "Louis J. Kaep, Watercolorist, 88," New York Times, October 10, 1991, Online: http://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/10/obituaries/louis-j-kaep-watercolorist-88.html
3. Ibid.
4. "Kaep Pictures Win Praise of Art Critics," Telegraph-Herald and Times-Journal, April 5, 1932, p. 12
5. "Louis J. Kaep..."
6. Hickok, Andree. "Greenwich Artist Travels Far and Wide to Record Navy History," The Bridgepost Post, May 26, 1953, p. 26. Online: http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/60200405/
7. "Louis J. Kaep," Online: http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/52667804/louis-j-kaep
8. Hickok, Andree.
9. "This Old Palette: Louis J. Kaep." Online: http://thisoldpalette.blogspot.com/2010/08/louis-j-kaep.html