Cornelius Van Fulpen– Winter Landscape – Oil on Canvas – Silence

Artist: Cornelius van Fulpen– American (1905 – 1987)
Title: Silence
Year: 1984
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Size: 19.5 x 23.75 inches
Framed size: 25.5 x 29.75 inches
Signature: Signed, dated lower left, C V Fulpen Dec 84
Condition: Excellent
Frame: Frame in very good condition

This oil on canvas painting of a quiet winter evening by Cornelius van Fulpen is signed and dated in the lower left. It bears a label on the reverse with the title, “Silence” and the date 84-12-1. The painting and frame are in excellent condition.

Cornelius Van Fulpen. (1905-1987)
Born in The Netherlands in 1905, Cornelius Van Fulpen immigrated to Kalamazoo with his family in 1921. Following a few months of classes at Vine Street School, the sixteen year old boy took a job with the Kalasign Company where he worked from 1921 to 1928.
He also worked briefly for the Thompson Sign company before joining the old Bryant Company in 1929. He was to remain with Bryant, later the Allied Paper Company, for 41 years until his retirement in 1970.

Van Fulpen said that he was raised in a time when young people were expected to begin work and contribute to the support of the family at an early age. But his interest in art, as well as his talent, was always evident. He still had a sketch book filled with very convincing drawings he made at age twelve. Primarily self-taught, he credits his father with being very supportive of his efforts to improve his drawing and painting. “Even though he was a working man, he appreciated art and was proud of the work I did.”

As an adult, Van Fulpen continued to paint in spare time. Describing himself as a “Sunday painter,” he painted primarily alone or with one or two friends.
In the early 1930’s he joined the Palette and Chisel Club, as a means of working more closely with a group of fellow artists. Two paintings in this exhibition show members of the club at these painting sessions. When the Art Center began to offer classes for adults, Van
Fulpen joined, taking classes from Ulfert Wilke and Karl Priebe among many others.
Van Fulpen began exhibiting in the 1920’s and by the 1930’s he was regularly featured in area art shows, including the Kalamazoo Area Show. “Kokomo,” a portrait of his brother, was a first place winner in the 1935 Kalamazoo Area Show. Another painting, “Cold Snap,” was selected to be included in the 1985 Kalamazoo Area Show, a clear indication of the continuing high quality of Van Fulpen’s work.

Over the years he participated in many juried competitions and had one-person exhibitions at the Civic Theater and in the Cornerstone Gallery.