Joseph Paul Vorst
- BORN
-
June 19, 1897
Essen, Germany
- DIED
-
October 15, 1947
Overland, Missouri
- EDUCATION
-
Academy of Arts, Berlin
Berlin, Germany
Joseph Paul Vorst was born in Germany on June 19, 1897. He served in World War I, suffering an injury that caused him to limp for the rest of his life. In 1929, Vorst attended the Academy of Arts in Berlin. There he studied under the artists Max Slevogt and Max Libermann.
In 1930, Vorst immigrated to the United States. He first lived in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, then settled in St. Louis. While living in Missouri, Vorst became a friend and student of Thomas Hart Benton, who influenced his work. He was known for his images of Missouri, especially images of the Missouri mule. Additionally, he was a portraitist who received several commissions, including a portrait of August A. Busch. Vorst was also a printmaker who made lithographs.
During his career, Vorst created artwork as a part of the Works Projects Administration. He created a mural for the Vandalia, Missouri, post office, Corn Harvest, in 1939. This was the first mural he was commissioned to paint by the U.S. Treasury Department. Vorst was a winner of the 1939 48 States Competition and was chosen to create a mural for Paris, Arkansas. His first sketch for the mural, of an African American tenant farmer, was rejected. He then created a new image, Rural Arkansas, which was accepted and then completed in 1940. In 1941, he painted a mural, Time Out, for the post office at Bethany, Missouri.
Vorst was the art director at Thomas Jefferson School in St. Louis and a teacher at the Adult Educational Center at Washington University. He also worked as an illustrator for Esquire magazine.
Joseph Paul Vorst died on October 15, 1947, in Overland, Missouri.
W&J Sloan Gallery Exhibition
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Ste. Genevieve Art Colony Exhibition
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Awards & Exhibitions 49
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St. Louis Artists' Exhibition
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Charles Morgan Galleries Exhibition
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Midwestern Artists' Exhibition
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St. Louis Art Center Exhibition
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Charles Morgan Galleries Exhibition
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American Artists' Congress Exhibition
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48 States Competition
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St. Louis Artists' Exhibition
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Golden Gate International Exposition
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Organized by San Francisco Bay Exposition Inc.
Corcoran Gallery Biennial Exhibition
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Midwestern Artists' Exhibition
Organized by Kansas City Art Institute
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Eleanor Smith Gallery Exhibition
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Eleanor Smith Gallery Exhibition
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Organized by Eleanor Smith Gallery
Midwestern Artists' Exhibition
Organized by Kansas City Art Institute
Organized by Kansas City Art Institute
Group 15 Annual Exhibition
Organized by City Art Museum of St. Louis
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Corcoran Gallery Biennial Exhibition
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Annual American Art Exhibition
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Noonan-Kocian Gallery Exhibition
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St. Louis Artists' Guild Heritage Exhibition
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W&J Sloan Gallery Exhibition
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Award, St. Louis Artists' Guild Exhibition
Award, Annual Exhibition of American Artists
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Award, Midwestern Artists' Exhibition
Award, 48 States Competition
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References
Artist clippings file is available at:
Bibliography
Select Sources
“Joseph Paul Vorst, Find a Grave, accessed May 2, 2022, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116603831/joseph-paul-vorst.
“Artist: Joseph Vorst,” The Living New Deal, accessed May 2, 2022, https://livingnewdeal.org/artists/joseph-vorst/.
Julie Dunn-Morton, 160 Years of Art at the St. Louis Mercantile Library: A Handbook to the Collections (Columbia: St. Louis Mercantile Library, distributed by The University of Missouri Press, 2007): 92-93; 164-165.
Richard H. Love and Michael Preston Worley, Reflections of Reality: American Paintings from the Collection of John and Susan Hainsworth (Chicago: Haase-Mumm Publishing Company, 2005): 136-137, 148-149.
Karal Ann Marling, Wall to Wall America: Post Office Murals in the Great Depression (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1982), 104-114.
“Joseph Paul Vorst,” Missouri Digital Heritage, Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1971, Certificate No: 36362, https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1947/1947_00036367.PDF.
“Vorst From Missouri," Art Digest, 16, no. 5 (December 1, 1941): 23.
“Vorst of Missouri," Art Digest, 15, no. 6 (December 15, 1940): 20.
“Oils by J.P. Vorst on Exhibition,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 31, 1939, 21.
“Vorst Completes Vandalia P.O. Mural,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 4, 1939, 9.
“Some New Works by Joseph Vorst,” ArtNews, 37, no. 10 (December 3, 1938): 16.
Core Reference Sources
Scott Kerr and R. H. Dick, An American Art Colony: The Art and Artists of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri 1930-1940 (St. Louis: McCaughen & Burr Press, 2004).
Marianne Berardi and Henry Adams, Under the Influence: The Students of Thomas Hart Benton (St. Joseph, Mo: Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, 1993).
Anita Jacobsen, Jacobsen's Biographical Index of American Artists (Carrollton: A.J. Publications, 2002).
Peter H. Falk, et. al, Who was Who in American Art, 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America (Madison: Sound View Press, 1999).
askART (database), askART, https://www.askart.com/.
Image Credits
Artwork
Joseph Paul Vorst, Rural Arkansas, circa 1939-1940.
Oil/Fiberboard, 25 7/8 x 44 in.
Smithsonian American Art Museums, Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1965.18.14.
Contributors
Roberta Wagener, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Artist Record Published
Published on May 9, 2022
Learn more
References
Artist clippings file is available at:
Bibliography
Select Sources
“Joseph Paul Vorst, Find a Grave, accessed May 2, 2022, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116603831/joseph-paul-vorst.
“Artist: Joseph Vorst,” The Living New Deal, accessed May 2, 2022, https://livingnewdeal.org/artists/joseph-vorst/.
Julie Dunn-Morton, 160 Years of Art at the St. Louis Mercantile Library: A Handbook to the Collections (Columbia: St. Louis Mercantile Library, distributed by The University of Missouri Press, 2007): 92-93; 164-165.
Richard H. Love and Michael Preston Worley, Reflections of Reality: American Paintings from the Collection of John and Susan Hainsworth (Chicago: Haase-Mumm Publishing Company, 2005): 136-137, 148-149.
Karal Ann Marling, Wall to Wall America: Post Office Murals in the Great Depression (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1982), 104-114.
“Joseph Paul Vorst,” Missouri Digital Heritage, Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1971, Certificate No: 36362, https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1947/1947_00036367.PDF.
“Vorst From Missouri," Art Digest, 16, no. 5 (December 1, 1941): 23.
“Vorst of Missouri," Art Digest, 15, no. 6 (December 15, 1940): 20.
“Oils by J.P. Vorst on Exhibition,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 31, 1939, 21.
“Vorst Completes Vandalia P.O. Mural,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 4, 1939, 9.
“Some New Works by Joseph Vorst,” ArtNews, 37, no. 10 (December 3, 1938): 16.
Core Reference Sources
Scott Kerr and R. H. Dick, An American Art Colony: The Art and Artists of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri 1930-1940 (St. Louis: McCaughen & Burr Press, 2004).
Marianne Berardi and Henry Adams, Under the Influence: The Students of Thomas Hart Benton (St. Joseph, Mo: Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, 1993).
Anita Jacobsen, Jacobsen's Biographical Index of American Artists (Carrollton: A.J. Publications, 2002).
Peter H. Falk, et. al, Who was Who in American Art, 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America (Madison: Sound View Press, 1999).
askART (database), askART, https://www.askart.com/.
Contributors
Roberta Wagener, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Artist Record Published
Published on May 9, 2022
Updated on None
