In the art world, Busenbark did it all: professional illustration, graphic design, watercolors, oil paintings, art instruction and was a published author. He is a listed artist with scant details, yet an article from the St. Petersburg Times stated that he had studied with Authur W. Best, a prominent San Francisco landscape artist. He also studied at the Chicago Art Institute, the Artist Student League and the Cooper Union Institute in New York City. He maintained a studio for many years in NYC before coming to Florida in 1955.
Upon his arrival in Florida, he jumped right into the Florida art scene, and quickly became the President of the Clearwater Art Group and was hired as an instructor at the Florida Gulf Coast Art Center. A newspaper announced that Busenbark would teach a silk screen class, not surprising as he had co-authored a book: The Silk Printing Process, published by McGraw-Hill. At the Art Center he worked with numerous noted Florida artists, such as: William Pachner and Syd Solomon.
Tampa took to recognizing Busenbark in 1957 for American Art Week, and the Tampa Municipal Museum provided an exhibition of his work. This one-man exhibit showcased his first Florida paintings and watercolors. As in the painting below: The Old Florida Oak (with Resurrection Fern), Busenbark painted the scene on masonite. Masonite was invented 1924, where wood fibers were pressed into thin dense hard sheets. A sheet had two sides, one that was smooth and the other textured, due to the use of the screen manufacturing process. Masonite was not meant for paintings, however artists found the product resilient and discovered it would not warp.
In this pastoral scene, Busenbark used the screened side of the masonite, the ruff and textured side added to his American Impressionist style. He incorporated the textured surface to make his brushwork look rapid and broken with separate dabs to render impressionism. Clearly, Busenbark was influenced by some of the great American landscape artists of the 1920s, and in this case his teacher: Authur W. Best.
Busenbark, used his artistic skills to create light and shadow in this painting, the sun-drenched yellow-chartreuse field provides luminosity to the composition and then he used shades of forest green for shadows. The tree limbs frame the farmhouse buildings in the distance and the red-brown barn serves as the central focus anchoring the painting. The old Florida oak is reflected in the stream, while the sun highlights the tree branches and the hanging resurrection ferns. This is an impressive example of Florida sublime, as these country scenes are diminishing with the state's expediential growth.
Busenbark was born in 1887 in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and clearly his skilled work demonstrated his art studies. His first documented exhibited work was at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1923. The work must have reflected New England inspiration as the watercolor painting was titled: “Bringing in the Lobster Pots”. This work hung on the museum wall amongst other noted artists at the time.
Upon his arrival in Florida, he jumped right into the Florida art scene, and quickly became the President of the Clearwater Art Group and was hired as an instructor at the Florida Gulf Coast Art Center. A newspaper announced that Busenbark would teach a silk screen class, not surprising as he had co-authored a book: The Silk Printing Process, published by McGraw-Hill. At the Art Center he worked with numerous noted Florida artists, such as: William Pachner and Syd Solomon.
Tampa took to recognizing Busenbark in 1957 for American Art Week, and the Tampa Municipal Museum provided an exhibition of his work. This one-man exhibit showcased his first Florida paintings and watercolors. As in the painting below: The Old Florida Oak (with Resurrection Fern), Busenbark painted the scene on masonite. Masonite was invented 1924, where wood fibers were pressed into thin dense hard sheets. A sheet had two sides, one that was smooth and the other textured, due to the use of the screen manufacturing process. Masonite was not meant for paintings, however artists found the product resilient and discovered it would not warp.
"The Old Florida Oak"
Oil on Masonite
Image Size: 20 X 16
Signed LLC: E. Busenbark
Busenbark, used his artistic skills to create light and shadow in this painting, the sun-drenched yellow-chartreuse field provides luminosity to the composition and then he used shades of forest green for shadows. The tree limbs frame the farmhouse buildings in the distance and the red-brown barn serves as the central focus anchoring the painting. The old Florida oak is reflected in the stream, while the sun highlights the tree branches and the hanging resurrection ferns. This is an impressive example of Florida sublime, as these country scenes are diminishing with the state's expediential growth.
Busenbark was born in 1887 in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and clearly his skilled work demonstrated his art studies. His first documented exhibited work was at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1923. The work must have reflected New England inspiration as the watercolor painting was titled: “Bringing in the Lobster Pots”. This work hung on the museum wall amongst other noted artists at the time.
During the 1930s and 40s, Busenbark worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The Federal Arts Project was created under the WPA and the Archives of American Art and the U.S. The General Services Administration still keeps records and shows that Busenbark was an active employee. Under this program artists accomplished artworks and worked to document American decorative objects from colonial times to 1900 in watercolor and colored pencil. The decorative collection was known as the Index of American Design, and Busenbark did numerous illustrations that are now housed in the National Gallery of Art collection in Washington, DC. He went on to serve as the head of WPA’s Poster Division. Many of these posters were used in pre-WWII America to communicate concerns with the public. After his WPA period he maintained a studio and continued to work in New York City. At age 68 he left NYC and moved to Clearwater, becoming a noted Florida artist.
Today, his paintings appear at auction or end up in antique shops with little information and his notoriety has faded due to the lack of internet information. Most of his paintings are signed in simple block letters: E. Busenbark, and on occasion, there might be others signed: E. J. BUSENBARK. His paintings fit into two categories; American Impressionism and Realism, he once wrote an art manifesto where he spoke out against American Abstraction.
Busenbark lived a long life and died in 1982 at the age 95. We hope that this blog provides a documented reference to Busenbark’s artistic life. Below are the detailed references.
Reference Materials:
1887, Born, Crawfordsville, Indiana, Ancestry.com.
1918, Army Enlistment Card WWI, (never served overseas).
1923, Exhibited, Art Institute of Chicago, Third Annual International W/C Exhibition, #70 - “Bringing in the Lobster Pots”.
1926, Married Eleanor, living in NYC, at: 117 East 27th St. NYC. .
1920s, Member/Officer of the Guild of Free Lance Artists that was established in 1920, NYC.
1930 Census, Address of Queens, NY, Occupation: Artist.
1930s, Listed on the Payroll of the Works Progress Administration, from the GSA Artist Employment History Records, Archives of American Art.
1930s, Did illustrations for the “Index of American Design” WPA work, now located at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
1938, Author/Publication: "The Silk Screen Printing Process", J.I. Biegeleisen & Busenbark
1930s-1940s, Listed as the Head, WPA Poster Division during WWII.
1942, Registration Card, Employer: Works Progress Administration (WPA), 110 King St. NYC
Lived at 12 East 37th St., NYC.
1949, Author/Publication: "Symbols, Sex and the Stars"; The Truth Seeker Company, Inc.
Today, his paintings appear at auction or end up in antique shops with little information and his notoriety has faded due to the lack of internet information. Most of his paintings are signed in simple block letters: E. Busenbark, and on occasion, there might be others signed: E. J. BUSENBARK. His paintings fit into two categories; American Impressionism and Realism, he once wrote an art manifesto where he spoke out against American Abstraction.
Busenbark lived a long life and died in 1982 at the age 95. We hope that this blog provides a documented reference to Busenbark’s artistic life. Below are the detailed references.
Mr. Busenbark is standing to the left of Mrs. Giles
Tribune Staff Writer: Bernadine Marks
The Tampa Tribune, Tampa, FL, April 30, 1959.
Reference Materials:
1887, Born, Crawfordsville, Indiana, Ancestry.com.
1918, Army Enlistment Card WWI, (never served overseas).
1923, Exhibited, Art Institute of Chicago, Third Annual International W/C Exhibition, #70 - “Bringing in the Lobster Pots”.
1926, Married Eleanor, living in NYC, at: 117 East 27th St. NYC. .
1920s, Member/Officer of the Guild of Free Lance Artists that was established in 1920, NYC.
1930 Census, Address of Queens, NY, Occupation: Artist.
1930s, Listed on the Payroll of the Works Progress Administration, from the GSA Artist Employment History Records, Archives of American Art.
1930s, Did illustrations for the “Index of American Design” WPA work, now located at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
1938, Author/Publication: "The Silk Screen Printing Process", J.I. Biegeleisen & Busenbark
1930s-1940s, Listed as the Head, WPA Poster Division during WWII.
1942, Registration Card, Employer: Works Progress Administration (WPA), 110 King St. NYC
Lived at 12 East 37th St., NYC.
1949, Author/Publication: "Symbols, Sex and the Stars"; The Truth Seeker Company, Inc.
1950s, Florida Gulf Coast Art Center Faculty Art Exhibits, What's What in Clearwater, The Visitors Guide, Clearwater, FL.
1955, Moved from New York to Florida - Lived in Clearwater, Tampa Bay Times.
1956, Listed as an instructor at the Florida Gulf Coast Art Center and in 1964, listed as a silk screen teacher.
1957, President of the Clearwater Art Group, Tampa Bay Times, Nov. 2nd.
1957, First Florida One-Man Show, Tampa Municipal Museum - American Art Week, Tampa Bay Times, Nov. 2nd.
1958, Watercolor Exhibit (Marine Scenes), Clearwater Library, Tampa Bay Times, Nov. 28th, and What's What in Clearwater, the Visitor's Guide, Clearwater, FL, Dec. Issue.
1955, Moved from New York to Florida - Lived in Clearwater, Tampa Bay Times.
1956, Listed as an instructor at the Florida Gulf Coast Art Center and in 1964, listed as a silk screen teacher.
1957, President of the Clearwater Art Group, Tampa Bay Times, Nov. 2nd.
1957, First Florida One-Man Show, Tampa Municipal Museum - American Art Week, Tampa Bay Times, Nov. 2nd.
1958, Watercolor Exhibit (Marine Scenes), Clearwater Library, Tampa Bay Times, Nov. 28th, and What's What in Clearwater, the Visitor's Guide, Clearwater, FL, Dec. Issue.
1960, Art Exhibit at the Art Club of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg Times, Feb. 27th.
1960, Noted Tampa Lecture: "Problems Confronting the Artist", Tampa Bay Times, Apr. 28th.
1964, Florida County Fair (Tampa); 1st Prize for Oil Traditional, Tampa Bay Times, Feb. 22nd.
1964, Florida County Fair (Tampa), Art Judge
1969, Exhibit, Sponsored by the Tampa Realistic Artists, Inc., YWCA, 625 Twiggs, St., Tampa Bay Times, April 27th.
1969, Opinion Article, Tampa Bay Times, Florida County Fair, expressed outrage of abstraction vs. realism, and his concerns about the radical side of new art expression.
1982, Died in Pinellas, FL. - Age 95, Ancestry.com.
Reference Newspaper, Books and Websites:
Tampa Bay Times.
Tampa Tribune.
1964, Florida County Fair (Tampa); 1st Prize for Oil Traditional, Tampa Bay Times, Feb. 22nd.
1964, Florida County Fair (Tampa), Art Judge
1969, Exhibit, Sponsored by the Tampa Realistic Artists, Inc., YWCA, 625 Twiggs, St., Tampa Bay Times, April 27th.
1969, Opinion Article, Tampa Bay Times, Florida County Fair, expressed outrage of abstraction vs. realism, and his concerns about the radical side of new art expression.
1982, Died in Pinellas, FL. - Age 95, Ancestry.com.
Reference Newspaper, Books and Websites:
Tampa Bay Times.
Tampa Tribune.
St. Petersburg Times.
Biographical Encyclopedia of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers of the U.S.
Mantle Fielding’s Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers.
Who was Who in American Art.
AskART, Listed (Name only).
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Furniture/Decorative Objects Illustrations.
©2022, All Rights Reserved. Waller-Yoblonsky Fine Art is a research collaborative, working to track artists that got lost and overlooked due to time, changing styles, race, gender and/or sexual orientation. Our frequent blogs highlight artists and art movements that need renewed attention with improved information for the researcher and art collectors. The photos and blog was created by Mr. Waller and all written materials were obtained by the Fair Use Section 107, of The Copyright Act. #waller-yoblonskyblogspot #walleryoblonskyblogspot #e.busenbark #busenbark #e.j.busenbark #ernestbusenbark
Biographical Encyclopedia of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers of the U.S.
Mantle Fielding’s Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers.
Who was Who in American Art.
AskART, Listed (Name only).
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Furniture/Decorative Objects Illustrations.
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©2022, All Rights Reserved. Waller-Yoblonsky Fine Art is a research collaborative, working to track artists that got lost and overlooked due to time, changing styles, race, gender and/or sexual orientation. Our frequent blogs highlight artists and art movements that need renewed attention with improved information for the researcher and art collectors. The photos and blog was created by Mr. Waller and all written materials were obtained by the Fair Use Section 107, of The Copyright Act. #waller-yoblonskyblogspot #walleryoblonskyblogspot #e.busenbark #busenbark #e.j.busenbark #ernestbusenbark
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