Tristan Meinecke
| Tristan Meinecke | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1916 Atchison, Kansas |
| Died | 2004 Chicago, Illinois |
| Education | University of Michigan |
| Known for | Painting, sculpture, architectural design, music |
| Movement | Abstract Expressionism, Surrealism |
Tristan Meinecke (1916-2004) was an American artist, architect and musician who spent most of his life and career in Chicago. He was married to television and radio actress Angel Casey. His widely varied body of work explored abstract expressionism, cubism and Surrealism, and included the invention of the split-level painting technique. In collaboration with architect Robert Bruce Tague, Meinecke built and rehabilitated many properties in and around Lincoln Park, Chicago.
Born in Atchison, Kansas in 1916, Meinecke's family moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan when he was seven years old. Both parents were classical musicians. His father, Bruno Meinecke, was an accomplished scholar and a classics professor at the University of Michigan, "'but not,' Meinecke says, 'a good parent'". In the midst of a tense home life, Tristan nonetheless showed talent in both visual art and music. After attending the University of Michigan for four years, when he was just a few credit hours short of earning a bachelor's degree, he relocated to Chicago in 1942. There, Tristan Meinecke met and wooed Lorraine Johnson, better known as television and radio actress Angel Casey. They were wed in 1947, had two sons, and remained married for the rest of their lives.
Meinecke's endeavors were numerous, and included poems and essays and at least one short story. However, the majority of his creative efforts fell into three categories: visual arts (including painting and sculpture), architecture and music.
As a toddler, Meinecke would patiently await the arrival of the weekly coal delivery cart in order to sketch it.
While still at the University of Michigan,several of Meinecke's watercolors caught the eye of then-Art Institute director Daniel Catton Rich, and one was included in the Art Institute of Chicago's Twenty-First International Exhibition of Watercolors in 1942. He was one of four University of Michigan students selected by Professor Jean Paul Slusser to complete a mural in what is now the Jean Paul Slusser art gallery, depicting the four seasons.
By 1955, Meinecke had already abandoned the watercolor medium and developed his own abstract style: a creative use of mixed media and intentional exploration beyond the boundaries of conventional composition, which Fred Sweet, then-curator of American painting at the Art Institute, praised as "very strong and powerful and dynamic". That year, one of his mixed-media compositions was included in the Art Institute's Chicago and Vicinity Show., which brought him further into the public eye. He returned to the Chicago and Vicinity show the following year.John Corbett (writer) would later describe the split-level form as follows:
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