Toledst - "Blue Table with Plate of Cherries" Photo realistic work of cherries on a plate

Lowell Tolstedt • American: 1939-

Blue Table with Plate of Cherries c: 2011 • Colored Pencil on Paper 29” x 39”

Lowell Tolstedt’s art owes a debt to the boredom of farm life in the 1940s. “There was nothing else to do.” This is how Lowell Tolstedt explains his early interest in art. The farm is also where he learned to see the beauty in the most common objects. “My tool is a real intense observation. Just looking really hard at the subject and dealing with every facet of it. Every color and every tonality. In my these mundane and anonymous things become extraordinary.” And there lies the secret to Lowell Tolstedt’s art. He is not interested in telling a story. “That’s the job of illustrators,” he told us. He wants people to see things the way he sees them, with an appreciation of the beauty around them everyday.

It appears that Lowell Tolstedt is a one-man art history lesson. His art has a clean, contemporary flair. Yet he shows the same commitment to realism as a Renaissance artist. Consider his ability to move beyond realism to a style reminiscent of the finest Photo-Realists. Chuck Close comes quickly to mind. Of course, there is also his focus on common, everyday objects in the best Pop Art tradition. There is even the study of the same objects under different lighting conditions, as is often seen among the Impressionists. If you saw his drawings that focus on objects and their reflections in foil, the subjects become almost abstract. Tolstedt is an enigma drawn in colored pencil.

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Yet, Lowell Tolstedt often felt he was swimming against the tide of the art world around him. He vividly remembers his earliest college painting classes, where other students used brooms and other objects to apply paint. They were working from the same subjects, but “I sometimes wondered what planet I was visiting.” He was moved by the work of Giorgio Morandi, an Italian painter and printmaker who was a master of composition, but painted common, everyday objects with an intriguing simplicity. This simplicity of style appealed to Tolstedt who was once told by a Japanese painter and fellow-teacher that “you should be Japanese.”

Tolstedt’s dedication to simplicity and strikingly realistic renderings of mundane objects is apparent in Cherries on a Blue Plate. He labored for a long time over this piece, gradually building it up layer upon layer. “I want people to see the beauty I’m seeing, so I stage these little events, moving lights around until the subject has the impact I want.” Most important was the surface, drawn to be true to the subject, but something entirely different when viewed up close.

Many critics view Tolstedt as a throwback artist, and “I suppose you could see me as hanging on a ledge with guys stomping on my fingertips,” he said. But Tolstedt is not an old fuddy-duddy artist warring against the tides of modernism. This is a man with an unquestionable dedication to craftsmanship. One whose simplicity of vision fits neatly with avant garde trends.

Today, the Columbus College of Art and Design, where he was Fine Arts Dean, awards an annual Tolstedt Prize to promote the strong drawing tradition at the school. A fitting recognition to an artist who reveres the skill it takes to be an artist.

Canton Museum of Art Permanent Collection • Purchased in Memory of Edward A. & Rosa J. Langenbach, 2011.20

4 Ways to Sound Smart When Viewing at The Canton Museum of Art

1.
“How very Pop Arty to elevate mundane, everyday objects to the level of art.”

2.
“Tolstedt was once told by a Japanese artist that he ‘should be Japanese’ due to the simplicity of his designs.”

3.
“His compositions look effortless, but are the result of a painstaking effort to stage things for the greatest impact.”

4.
“His work was heavily influenced by the Italian painter Giorgio Morandi, who was best known for his mastery of composition.”

Tolstedt Timeline. Scroll over images to see timeline.

1939

Born in Burke, South Dakota, where he grew up on a farm. He has said that he originally turned to art because there was nothing else to do on the farm.

1957-61

Earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from University of South Dakota (Vermillion).

1961

Married Janet, a fellow student at the University of South Dakota. He wondered why she was hanging out with an art guy and has not yet found the answer. The couple had two children, neither of whom inherited their fathers creative talents. Their son is a clinical psychologist at Hawaii Hospital and their daughter earned a PhD in chemical engineering from NC State.

1962-63

Was a part time student at Glassboro State College in New Jersey. He had previously worked as a high school and elementary school teacher long enough to realize he wanted to work with college students who were more dedicated to art.

1963-64

Attended Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he studied studio painting and drawing. He took night classes with Roger Anliker, a hyper-realistic artist whose very meticulous style had a profound effect on Tolstedt.

1965-67

Attended the University of Iowa (Iowa City) where he earned a Masters Degree in Painting and Drawing. This gave him the ability to earn a living while still having time to work on his art.

1967-2010

Taught at the Columbus College of Art and Design where he rose to the position of Dean of Fine Arts.

1983

Received a Fellowship Grant from the National Endowment of the Arts. Also received an Individual Artist Fellowship Grant from the Ohio Arts Council. He again was awarded Individual Artist Fellowship Grants from the OAC in 1988 and 1984.

2010

In his honor, the Columbus College of Art and Design established the Tolstedt Prize to promote the drawing tradition at CCAD.