Julian Ritter (September 19, 1909 – March 4, 2000) was an American painter of Polish-German descent who painted primarily nudes, clowns and portraits.
Ritter's paintings were typically rich in color. His nudes celebrated the glamor and beauty of the female form. All of his figurative paintings expressed the humanness in his subjects. He also painted landscapes at different points during his career and complex compositions dealing with mystical and spiritual subjects during his later years.
Early life Ritter was born Julian Stawski on September 19, 1909,Julian Ritter Enlistment Record. Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 − 1946. The National Archives. Retrieved 4/1/2011 in Hamburg, Germany, the only child of an aspiring Polish actress.
Ritter settled in Los Angeles as a young adult. He held many menial jobs during this time - dishwasher, errand boy, order clerk. He also painted lamp shades and did freelance art.
Ritter moved to Chicago and began to take a serious interest in art. He audited the night classes of Dr. Schroeder at the Chicago Art Institute. Ritter returned to Los Angeles where he later won a scholarship to the Art Center School (now, Art Center College of Design). He was introduced to figure painting under the tutelage of Stanley Reckless who had studied at the Philadelphia Academy of Art and taught in the tradition of Frank Duveneck and the Munich School. This tradition involved the classical study of anatomy and used live models for subjects. The Munich School is characterized by a naturalistic style and dark chiaroscuro.
While still a student at Art Center School, Ritter received the following positive review for a showing of his work at the Brice-Lowe Galleries:"Briefly Told Art Reviews: Review of Julian Ritter". Los Angeles Times. October 4, 1931, pg B13.
Ritter graduated Art Center School in 1932 and found work at Los Angeles's film studios painting portraits for movie sets and doing other set design for Warner Brothers, MGM, Paramount and Universal. Ritter met the tall actress Francesca Chesley (1913–2004) in 1933. They were married on December 16, 1934. She frequently modeled for his nude paintings. They divorced in 1943. Library of Congress, Copyright collection. Washington, D.C. 1989
Ritter headed to San Francisco looking for work at the Golden Gate International Exhibition of 1939. He was hired by architect Mark Daniels to paint murals for the Mines, Minerals and Machinery Building. These 90-foot murals were a great success. With money from the fair, Ritter returned to Los Angeles where he rented a small studio and began painting.
Ritter exhibited at both the Gallery of Modern Art and the Newhouse Galleries in New York City during 1941. Both exhibitions were critically acclaimed. The Art News (March 15, 1941) wrote: "His style shows fluency and ease" and Arts Digest (November 15, 1941) wrote: "Ritter is more than versatile, he is complex, exceptionally talented." Edward Alden Jewell of the New York Times noted that Ritter's work was shown in the small entrance room of the Gallery of Modern Art, devoted to small oils, watercolors and gouaches in addition to the main exhibit.By Edward Alden Jewell. "FOUR ARTISTS SEEN AT NEW GALLERY : At the Modern Gallery". New York Times. November 4, 1941, pg 30. New York Times art critic, H.D., wrote of the Newhouse Galleries exhibition:By H.D. "AMONG THE OTHER SHOWS". New York Times. Mar 16, 1941, pg X10
The one-man show at the Newhouse Galleries was a particular success and led to portrait commissions. While attending a party thrown by a patron who commissioned a portrait of his daughter, Ritter got drunk and stripped off his clothes, calling the other attendees "phony baloneys". He returned to Los Angeles.
Ritter met Hildegarde "Hilde" Sabena Meyer-Radon in 1942 when he saw her walking past his studio to take violin lessons from an instructor next door. Hilde had been born in Hamburg, Germany, on October 5, 1919; she immigrated to the US with her family in 1923.New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 Hilde's appreciation for the arts led to a very warm friendship between the two and they saw each other often.
World War II
At the US entrance into the war, Ritter wanted to enlist in the US Navy due to his love of the sea, his sense of adventure and his loyalty to his adopted country. However, since he was not a US citizen, the Navy would not let him enlist. However, he was drafted into the US Army in November 1942. He was assigned to the 40th Engineer RegimentWorld War II 40th Combat Engineers . Retrieved 4/1/2011. which was organized in Camp Pickett, Virginia, attached to the 45th Infantry Division which was part of General George Patton's 7th Army. Ritter was initially a member of the 3rd Battalion which trained at Fort Lewis, Washington.
While at Camp Pickett, Ritter was selected to paint a portrait of Lt. General Ben "Yoo-Hoo" Lear who was the commanding officer of the 2nd Army based in Tennessee. Ritter asked Hilde to come join him at Memphis, and he asked her to marry him. Because there was no waiting period for a marriage license in Mississippi, Hilde and Ritter traveled the next morning to Hernando, Mississippi, where they got a license and were married in a small chapel on April 9, 1943. The two had a six-week honeymoon in a Memphis hotel room while he completed the painting of General Lear. After the portrait was complete, Ritter returned to Camp Pickett but was reassigned to the 1st Battalion which was later re-designated as the 2829th Battalion.
The 40th Engineers received additional training at Fort Pierce, Florida, and then deployed to the Gulf of Oran, Algeria, for further training. He took part in the invasion of Sicily.
Based on his military service, Ritter became a US citizen on October 30, 1943.U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992 He attained the rank of Technician Fourth Grade (T4) and served at both Regimental headquarters and the headquarters of the 1st/2829th Battalion.
In October 1945 Ritter returned to Los Angeles to paint and to raise a family.
Post-war Southern California
1945 to 1966 When Ritter first returned from the war, he found himself unable to paint anything but morbid, gruesome paintings of death, darkness and despair for about a year. After this he began his most prolific period. He would regularly work long hours and he became known for his fine nude studies and clowns.
Ritter and Hilde had two children while living in Hollywood: Christine was born in 1947 and Michael in 1948.
Art critic Arthur Miller of the Los Angeles Times wrote in a 1947 review of Ritter's one-man show at the James Vigeveno Galleries in Westwood, California:By Arthur Miller. "Ritter Work Has Merit". Los Angeles Times. May 25, 1947, pg. C4.
In a 1948 "Brush Strokes" column in the Los Angeles Times commented:"BRUSH STROKES". Los Angeles Times. Jun 13, 1948, pg C4
Ritter moved the family to Don Pio Drive in Woodland Hills, California, in the early 1950s. The home included a studio building on a hilltop which, like all his studios, featured a pot-belly stove. In addition to his painting, Ritter was a talented landscaper and he terraced the front and rear hills with steps, paths and pools all made from slabs of broken concrete.
At the urging of his brother-in-law, Stewart Potter, Ritter began selling his paintings in Las Vegas in February, 1950. The two made the trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in Ritter's 1949 Dodge Wayfarer, a yellow convertible with no rear seat and an extended trunk which would be packed with paintings. The two went from casino to casino without any success until they met Bill Moore, the owner of the Hotel Last Frontier. Ritter sold Moore 13 framed nudes for $1000 which would become the basis of the Silver Slipper Collection of paintings. Ritter and Potter would make additional trips to Las Vegas and sold additional paintings to the Hotel Last Frontier and its adjoining Silver Slipper Casino. They also sold paintings to other hotels, casinos and their employees.
Shortly after this, Otto Eitel, owner of the Bismarck Hotel which was at the center of Chicago's Loop entertainment district, invited Ritter to do a one-man show at the Swiss Chalet Galleries and to paint a mural for the Bismarck Inn. This show was successful and led to numerous commissions including the "Mr Whimsey" clowns for the U.O. Colson Company. Ritter's wife and children stayed in Chicago with him for several months while he completed his commissions.
Ritter was enjoying success with his clown and nude paintings but, at the same time, he felt trapped by this success. He was not painting the great works he imagined. For inspiration, in 1956 he moved his family to Mexico, primarily living in San Blas, Nayarit, a small town on the Pacific Coast of Mexico located between Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. Ritter wrote in a note published in the Los Angeles Times "the place is a paradise for landscape painters and living is cheap.""NEWS AND VIEWS OF ART". Los Angeles Times. Feb 17, 1957, pg. E5 Ritter said later, "My time in San Blas was important to me. I developed a new conception of color and a self-assurance which made me a better painter."
After nearly a year in San Blas, Ritter returned to California in 1957 and purchased the house at 2321 Edgewater Way in the Santa Barbara Mesa neighborhood. Ritter again turned the yard into a garden.
Hilde worked at the noted Brooks Institute of Photography while Ritter continued to paint steadily as his paintings commanded higher values. Most importantly, Ritter was, at last, free to paint the works he wanted to. Ritter's work was represented in continuing exhibitions at the Poulsen GalleriesDisplay Ad 91 -- "Poulsen Galleries". Los Angeles Times. December 1, 1963, pg B34 in Pasadena and at frequent showings at the James Vigeveno Gallery in Westwood.Display Ad 27 -- "James Vigeveno Gallery". Los Angeles Times. May 18, 1947, pg B4 He was also represented in San Francisco by the Maxwell Galleries and the Kotzbeck Gallery, and by galleries in Palm Springs and Scottsdale. Ritter was at the height of his commercial success but he disliked that the galleries were making money that he felt should be going to him. He had always had a somewhat stormy relationship with his dealers and preferred to deal directly with collectors. About this time, Ritter successfully set out to build a group of patrons who could provide financial security and independence, however, many of these collectors were demanding the familiar nudes and clowns that Ritter had tired of.
In 1958, the Circus company in Los Angeles published and distributed five reproductions of mounted 8x10 inch paintings. The paintings included the clowns Dilly, Flim, Flam, Helter and Skelter.. 5 reproductions of paintings; mounted 8 x 10 in. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington D.C. 1958
In 1963, Ritter had a show at the Poulsen Galleries in Pasadena, California. It was generally well-received with Scott McClean, the gallery director, stating "This is probably the first exhibit to show the whole range and variety of the work of a man who has been known for two specialties – nudes and clowns. I think this broader view of Julian Ritter's work is long overdue."
But not all reviews of Ritter's work were glowing. A 1964 Los Angeles Times review of the same exhibit by Constance Perkins stated:By Constance Perkins. "WIDE SCOPE OF ART ON VIEW IN POULSEN GALLERIES SHOW". Los Angeles Times. Jan 3, 1964, pg. C5
In 1964, Hilde had been sick for a year but refused to see a doctor. When she collapsed, Ritter insisted and doctors discovered she had cancer. She had a mastectomy and struggled for two years before succumbing to the disease. Hilde died January 22, 1966.California Death Index, 1940-1997