Austin Ketcham

Austin Ketcham was a painter who captured the lives of those around him. Many of his paintings documented influential local figures. Others revealed Ketcham's friends and family, offering a more intimate view into the artist's life. 

Austin Ketcham was born on Long Island, New York, in 1898. After his parents' divorce, Ketcham moved west with his mother and attended The Art Institute of Chicago. There he studied with the painter Randall Davey, who introduced him to portraiture. Ketcham went on to attend the Lewis Institute, where he learned wood carving and stage design. After graduating, he opened a production studio that made props for plays, ornate frames, and other artisanal objects. 

Austin Ketcham moved to Kansas City in 1921 to teach at the Pembroke Country Day School and the Kansas City Art Institute. Initially, he taught classes in antiques and woodcarving. However, his talent as a painter was quickly realized when he won the J. B. Irving Portraiture Prize in 1923. Within a few years, Ketcham became head of the Foundations Program at the Kansas City Art Institute and taught courses in drawing and painting. In 1925, Ketcham designed the interior of the Kansas City Plaza Royal Ballroom.

Austin Ketcham married Florence Virginia Olson in 1924. Olson was a sculptor who studied at the Kansas City Art Institute and with the Borglum brothers, sculptors in New York. There is little documentation of Olson's career despite the fact that she also taught at the Kansas City Art Institute and maintained an active studio practice. Ketcham and Olson had two children who frequently appeared in the work of both artists. One of their grandchildren, Charles Ketcham, became an artist and illustrator. 

Austin Ketcham mounted two major solo exhibitions. The first was in 1923 after he spent a year in Honolulu, Hawaii, with his mother. He painted portraits of Hawaiian, Korean, Filipino, Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese children as well as island landscapes. Ketcham's second solo exhibition took place nearly twenty-seven years later, featuring portraits of his friends and family.

He taught at the Kansas City Art Institute for over thirty years, instructing thousands of students in portraiture, craftsmanship, mural painting and drawing. His documentary portraits of notable Kansas Citians remain a valuable asset to the city's history. While his work is relatively scarce online, his paintings exist in private collections throughout the region. Austin Ketcham died in 1963.