Carl Werntz

Carl Newland Werntz (July 9, 1874 - October 7, 1944) was an American painter, fine arts photographer, illustrator, cartoonist and educator who founded the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Werntz was a world traveler who was a proponent of Asian art and Japonisme. Through his own sketching and photographic expeditions to the American Southwest and his influence, he played an important role in the development of painting in the Southwest region in the early 20th century.

Carl Werntz was born in Sterling, Illinois. He moved to Chicago about 1900. Werntz studied at the Chicago Art Institute with the legendary anatomist John Vanderpoel, Frederick Freer, Lawton S. Parker, Jeanette Pratt, Orson Lowell and the great Art Nouveau master Alphonse Mucha who was then in Chicago. He left for Paris where he studied with the American Impressionist painter Richard E. Miller and Onorato Carlandi in Rome. He also studied at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. In Paris, Werntz came under the influence of Japonisme and he became so interested in Japanese art that he traveled to Japan where he studied with Mizuno Toshikata and Kaho Kawakita.

After the conclusion of his studies, Werntz settled back in Chicago and opened a home and studio at 18 South Michigan Avenue. He was a cartoonist with the Chicago Record and did illustrations for Midwestern publications as well as National publications such as "Life", "Redbook", "Century", and "Art and Archeology. " He also was a newspaper illustrator who did work for the London News and the New York Times. Werntz exhibited his paintings at the Chicago Art Institute and was a member of the Palette and Chisel Club. His work was also exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Society of Western Artists. He was one of the main illustrators for the high-brow Chicago literary publication The Four O'Clock. Werntz also illustrated columns by the famous Chicago writer George Ade along with Charles Sarka and Clyde Newman. The artist was married to Millicent Mary Wetmore Werntz (born, November 4, 1886) who survived him and later lived in Reno, Nevada.

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