Paul Lauritz was born in picturesque Larvik, Norway. The region's beauty attracted many artists and Lauritz seized the opportunity to observe them as they worked. One of the artists, an English watercolorist, gave Lauritz private lessons in exchange for his family providing room and board. Lauritz also studied at the Larvik Art School before he left for Vancouver, Canada, at the age of sixteen.
Lauritz later moved to Portland, Oregon, where he worked as a commercial artist. In 1912, he married Mary Potterton and the couple soon moved to Alaska in search of gold. Although Lauritz did not find his fortune during the years spent in Alaska, he found inspiration for several paintings, and met Alaskan artist Sydney Lawrence with whom he exhibited.
In 1919, the Lauritzs' abandoned their quest for gold and relocated to Los Angeles, California where Lauritz opened a studio. He gained early recognition with his portraits, snow scenes and marines, one of which was commissioned by the king of Norway. However, Lauritz's specialty became landscapes. In addition to painting along the coast of Southern California, he traveled and painted extensively in the Sierra Nevada region as well as the deserts of California, Mexico, and Nevada.
Lauritz taught at the Chouinard School of Art and the Otis Art Institute. He served as president of the California Art Club for two years and was a member of the Painters and Sculptors Club, the Los Angeles Municipal Art Commission, the Laguna Beach Art Association, the Royal Society of Art in England, and the Salmagundi Club in New York. Throughout his career, the primarily self-taught artist was bestowed with numerous awards for his work from museums, expositions, and clubs throughout California.
Paul Lauritz died in Glendale, California in 1975.
Works held: Hollywood Athletic Club; Laguna Museum; Pasadena Art Institution; Santa Cruz Art Gallery; Springville Utah Museum of Art; Vanderpoel Collection; University of Chicago; San Diego Fine Arts Gallery; Joslyn Museum of Art, Omaha; Los Angeles City Collection; Ebell Club, Los Angeles; Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce Private Collections.
Exhibitions: Carnegie Institute, Art Institute of Chicago; Brooklyn Museum; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Corcoran Gallery of Art; San Francisco Museum of Art; California State Expo, (prizes 1920-24, 1925, 1934, 1939, 1940); San Diego Fine Art Society, (prize 1928); Longbeach, California, (prize 1928); Pasadena Art Institute, (prize 1928); Santa Cruz, (prize 1929); Pomona State Expo., (prize 1930); Palos Verdes, (prize 1931); Springville, Utah, 1932, (prize 1933); Clearwater, California, (prize 1935); Los Angeles Ebell Club, (prizes 1936 & 1940), 1960; Academy of Western Painters (prize 1936); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1920, 1930, (prizes 1940 & 1943); California Art Club (prizes 1940 & 1946); Santa Paula (prize 1942); California Pal. Leg. Honor (prizes 1942 & 1945); Oakland Art Gallery, 1932, 1943-44; Golden Gate Exposition, San Francisco (prize 1939); Cedar City, Utah (purchase award 1962); Sacramento Expos., 1962 & 1964.
Further Reading: Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Vol. 1. Peter Hastings Falk, Georgia Kuchen and Veronica Roessler, eds., Sound View Press, Madison, Connecticut, 1999. 3 Vols. (Original Listing 1940).; Artists in California (1786-1940), Edan Milton Hughs, Hughs Publishing Company, San Francisco, 1986, 1st edition.
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