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Claremont Courier remembers CGU alumnus and former professor Karl Benjamin
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Claremont COURIER/Saturday, August 4, 2012 12
Karl Benjamin OBITUARIES
Local legend, wizard of color leaves lasting legacy
COURIER archive photo
Karl Benjamin in his studio in September 1990.
S
peaking to those who knew Karl Benjamin, a
longtime Claremonter and renowned abstract
painter who died July 26 at the age of 86, 3
themes emerge: his warmth and generosity to family,
friends and students; his prolific artistic output, fueled
by a strong work ethic and a genuine joy at being
among his paints and canvases; and an almost alchem-
ical mastery of color. COURIER archive photo
“In every bio of Karl, in every review, everyone al- Karl Benjamin at home in July 1977.
ways talks about these just sumptuous and impossibly tubes/Alizarin crimson/Cadmium yellow/Mars black
perfectly combined colors that seemed to dominate the and Thalo blue/charcoal lines sketched on stretched
emotional life of the paintings. He was some kind of linen/waiting for the man’s beautiful choices.”
magical genius about why salmon looks perfect next to Sometimes, after gathering a carefully selected
ochre or Tasmanian blue,” said Marie Chambers, di- palette of pigments, Mr. Benjamin would ask his chil-
rector of Louis Stern Fine Arts, a West Hollywood dren to pick the color he would start a painting with,
gallery that has represented Mr. Benjamin since 2004. adding a bit of chance to his choices.
It is Mr. Benjamin’s use of color that made him the Mr. Hueter marvels at Mr. Benjamin’s consistently
most prominent of the painters included in the ground- large output.
breaking 1959 Los Angeles County Museum of Art ex- “I asked him once, ‘How is it you can work with your
hibit, “Four Abstract Classicists: Karl Benjamin, Lorser teaching all day and then come home and start working
Feitelson, Frederick Hammersly and John McLaugh- on your paintings, and the next morning do more?
lin.” The highlighted artists were known for a southern Where does your energy come from?’ He said to me, ‘I
California-born oeuvre called Hard-edge painting, just want to see how they’ll come out.’”
which eschewed expressionism in favor of geometry. Later, Mr. Benjamin would shift his teaching focus to
The exhibit’s curator, art critic Jules Langsner, ex- post-secondary education, serving as professor and
plained the genre thusly: “Abstract Classicist painting is artist-in-residence from 1979 to 1994 at Pomona Col-
hard-edged painting. Forms are finite, flat, rimmed by a lege and the Claremont Graduate University. He was a
hard, clean edge. These forms are not to evoke in the wonderful teacher and friend, said Roland Reiss, an-
spectator any recollections of specific shapes he may other celebrated member of Claremont’s art commu-
have encountered in some other connection. They are au- nity and a professor emeritus at the Claremont Colleges.
tonomous shapes, sufficient unto themselves as shape.” “Karl was one of the warmest, kindest people you
While Mr. Benjamin did achieve the aforementioned will ever meet—I’m not exaggerating. Students and
clean edge, using masking tape, the effects of his color friends sought him out over the years, and not just be-
choices challenge the critic’s definition of forms that cause he was enormously successful,” Mr. Reiss said.
are flat. The way the same color would change with Steve Comba, assistant director and registrar at the
various juxtapositions made Mr. Benjamin’s canvases Pomona College Museum of Art, first learned of the
extremely fluid, said James Hueter, another member of Claremont Colleges as an undergraduate, when Mr.
the art community that sprung up around the Claremont Benjamin came to UC Santa Barbara as a guest lecturer.
Colleges in the ‘50s, born of GI Bill education funding He headed east to CGU, where Mr. Benjamin proved to
and a post-war creative boom. be a delightful mentor.
“You see one thing and then it’s, ‘Oh my goodness, “What’s interesting about Karl is that, even though I
look what’s happening here!’ and ‘Look what’s hap- studied with him for 2 years, he never taught me how
pening here!’” said Mr. Hueter. “A painting is never one to paint. But he taught me how to be a painter,” Mr.
thing. It’s an infinite number of things, and that’s cer- Comba recalled. “He wasn’t your typical didactic,
tainly the way it was with Karl.” headstrong professor type. He led by example and
Mr. Benjamin’s canvases may be ever-changing, but guided you with supportive urging.”
his formula was simple and unerring…hard work. He Mr. Benjamin’s students never forgot him. According
was an elementary school teacher in Chino from 1953 to Mr. Comba, the Benjamin home was the first stop
to 1976 and, in a poem called “The Artist At Home,” his colleagues and former students would make upon re-
daughter Beth recalled her father’s routine after getting turning to Claremont. But Mr. Benjamin’s art did fade
home at about 4 o’clock. After drinking a cup of coffee, into relative obscurity in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
leafing through the mail and visiting his children, he In recent years, there has been a renaissance of in-
would head out for the studio. Always.
“I loved the smell of turpentine/the blue ceramic vase KARL BENJAMIN
of brushes/the cubby stacked with smooth metal continues on the next page
Claremont COURIER/Saturday, August 4, 2012 13
COURIER archive photo
Karl Benjamin with one of his paintings at the Clare-
mont Museum of Art in 2007.
KARL BENJAMIN
continued from the previous page
Gerard Vuilleumier/Louis Stern Fine Art Gerard Vuilleumier/Louis Stern Fine Art
terest in Mr. Benjamin’s work, partially due to the Karl Benjaminʼs #7, oil on canvas, 1974. Karl Benjaminʼs #15, oil on canvas, 1984.
growing cachet of mid-century art and culture. In 2008,
his paintings were included in “Birth of the Cool: Cal- for the Los Angeles Times, agrees you can meet the man “Our relationship with Karl is ongoing. The work
ifornia Art, Design and Culture at Midcentury.” This through his paintings. goes on,” she said. “It was interesting. We sold a very
Orange County Museum of Art retrospective examined “They’re better in the flesh. It’s old-fashioned, well- beautiful and big Karl Benjamin painting, literally 2
the jazzy and often iconoclastic visual, architectural and made things,” he said. “He put paint down as if his life days before he died. We put a check in the mail because
musical works produced on the West Coast in the ‘50s depended on it. And that’s really gratifying to see.” he got paid. The appreciation and the demand for Karl’s
and early ‘60s. Mr. Benjamin will also live through the university’s work has gone through the roof.”
Mr. Reiss said it was a thrill to see his friend garner annual Karl Benjamin award, which each year gives Her own appreciation also continues to grow.
this kind of attention, well deserved considering Mr. money to a promising new graduate for art supplies or “That use of color, it’s just a home run. It was genius
Benjamin’s dazzling legacy. whatever else they need to keep going with their art. on every painting,” she said. “The thing that’s always
“Where you go after someone has passed is to their Ms. Chambers notes with pleasure that Louis Stern struck me most is those colors, and how open-hearted
work, and you will see them there. That is the way that Fine Art will continue to represent Mr. Benjamin’s size- they are. Karl Benjamin’s paintings not only made you
artists continue to live.” able artistic estate. She said the paintings are in won- happy to look at them, but they made him happy while
David Pagel, chair of the art department at the Clare- derful condition due to his care with their creation and he painted them. That’s a double whammy.”
mont Graduate University and an art critic who writes storage. The price they fetch continues to rise. —Sarah Torribio
