William Cumming (artist)

William Lee Cumming (March 24, 1917 – November 22, 2010) is a noted 20th-century American artist, often united with the Northwest School. A controversial figure - he was a hardcore Stalinist for a long period, was married seven times, and was generally outspoken and opinionated - he eventually came to be acclaimed as an important innovator and very distinctive stylist in futuristic art, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.

Cumming was born March 24, 1917 in Kalispell, Montana, to James Rutherford and Helen Dorcas (Edmiston) Cumming. His father was a salesman. The relatives moved to Portland, Oregon, and then, when Cumming was seven, to Tukwila, Washington, a farming community south of Seattle.

Fascinated taking into account art, young Bill took drawing courses by correspondence and travelled upon weekends to the Seattle Public Library, where he taught himself art history. From an at the forefront age he was aware of the proceed of the local artists - such as Morris Graves, Mark Tobey, and Kenneth Callahan - who would complex become known as the 'Northwest School'. After graduating from Foster High School in 1934, he briefly attended a small, short-lived private art scholarly in Seattle. With the Great Depression in full swing, he lived at the family home in Tukwila even though taking occasional art lessons and attempting to accomplish his ham it up to prospective employers. He futile to find work, but his quickness and fabulous drawing faculty led to meeting many of the members of Seattle's small art community, and a job (unpaid) writing for local arts journal The Town Crier. He was eventually hired by Robert Bruce Inverarity, sketching, photographing, and doing peculiar jobs subsequent to the WPA's Federal Art Project, through which he met Morris Graves and his circle of friends. He became particularly near to artist/writer Margaret Callahan, who encouraged him greatly in developing an original painting style. The Seattle Art Museum bought three of his paintings, and in 1940 he won summit prize for watercolor in SAM's 26th Northwest Annual Exhibition. In 1941 the museum gave him his first solo exhibition.

Cumming's career was interrupted on occasion by both his diplomatic leanings, and by bouts of tuberculosis. He spent most of World War II in Firland Sanatorium. In 1945 he became a enthusiast of the Communist party. He was blacklisted by employers and alienated the arts community once his shrill Stalinism; he created little fine art in this period. In 1957, after three marriages and further uncompromising pulmonary problems, he quit the Communist party and began taking greater care of himself. His health greater than before considerably, and he began the most productive allocation of his career. He as well as began teaching at Burnley School of Professional Art (which became the Art Institute of Seattle), and superior at Cornish College of the Arts Despite his resignation of protester politics, issues of social justice and workers' rights remained important to him throughout his life.

Although Cumming was close friends afterward most of the artists identified as members of the 'Northwest School', his mature bill had Tiny to do with the earth-toned, nature-inspired taking away of the genre. His art was usually figurative, capturing moments of daily vivaciousness using fresh and shadow to Make form in broad strokes, and utilizing contrasting, vibrant colors to upset the viewer through the painting and accentuate the main elements. His scenes usually included people or animals, either in interest or in slice-of-life portrayals. Facial details are minimal. As a simulation drawing instructor, Cumming would note that you could consent a buddy down the road just by their gait and posture, without ever seeing their face. Body language is a key element in his work. Because of this, he advocated that students paint figures from memory of observation otherwise of dispatch figure drawing.

In the late 1950s and into the future 60s Cumming's exploit won prizes in several northwest competitions, and in 1961 the Seattle Art Museum presented a very rich solo exhibition. During his marriage to Sue Kruger (at seventeen years, the longest of his seven marriages) he moved to Upper Preston, Washington, where the two raised horses, which became a frequent subject of Cumming's art. He continued teaching for the on fire of his life, becoming with ease known for his outspoken opinions. He derided the pretensions of Good art, declaring that his favorite painter was Eustace Ziegler, a popular painter of tender Alaskan landscapes.

Cumming authored Sketchbook, A Memoir of the 30s & the Northwest School, which was published in 1984. Another book, William Cumming: The Image of Consequence, by Cumming and Matthew Kangas, was along with published in 2005, in conjunction past an exhibition of Cumming's put on an act at the Frye Art Museum.

Cumming died of congestive heart failure on November 22, 2010 at age 93 in Seattle, Washington. William Cumming is buried in Seattle's Lakeview Cemetery, the same cemetery that the founders of Seattle and Bruce Lee are laid to rest.