Will Vawter
{{short description|American painter}}{{Infobox person
| birth_date = April 13, 1871
| image= Will Vawter Portrait - Hohenberger.jpg
| caption= Portrait of Indiana Artist Will Vawter taken by Brown County photographer Frank M. Hohenberger.
| birth_place = Boone County, West Virginia, US
| death_date = February 11, 1941
| death_place = Nashville, Indiana, US
| burial_place = Greenfield, Indiana, US
| occupation = Painter
| known_for = Illustrating James Whitcomb Riley poems
}}
John William Vawter (13 Apr 1871–11 Feb 1941), from Greenfield, Indiana, was an American landscape artist and illustrator known for his broad strokes and loose Impressionist style.[http://www.askart.com/AskART/V/will_vawter/will_vawter.aspx Ask Art on line entry] accessed on December 18, 2007.
Early life and education
Named John William Vawter at birth, Vawter was known as Will Vawter both personally and professionally. Vawter was born in Boone County, West Virginia on April 13, 1871. He moved with his family to Greenfield, Indiana, at age six. While living in Greenfield, Vawter developed a close working relationship with poet James Whitcomb Riley, another resident of Greenfield.
Artistic career
Vawter began as an illustrator for a local paper in 1980.{{Cite web |last=Simins |first=Jill Weiss |date=2020-04-09 |title=Better with Age: The Late-Blooming of Artist Will Vawter |url=https://blog.history.in.gov/better-with-age-the-late-blooming-of-artist-will-vawter/ |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=The Indiana History Blog |language=en-US}} Vawter illustrated eleven volumes of James Whitcomb Riley poems. His illustrations often used local residents as models. His work was widely celebrated and he exhibited at the Hoosier Salon and the Brown County Art Gallery Association where he won prizes in 1925, 1926, 1928, 1930, 1932 and 1935.{{Cite news|url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/15581703/will_vawter_famous_painter_and_friend/|title=Will Vawter, Famous Painter and Friend of Riley, Will Be Buried Here Thursday|newspaper=The Daily Reporter|date=12 February 1941 |page=1 |language=en|access-date=2019-05-31}} He was married to Mary Vawter, an accomplished poet and landscape artist. The couple divorced in 1923. Vawter moved to Nashville, Indiana, to join the Brown County Art Colony permanently in 1908. He had two residences in the area, one a studio in town, the other a {{convert|57|acre|hectare}} estate about a half mile outside of Nashville. Vawter was a pioneer member of the Brown County Art Gallery Association.
He had exhibits at H. Lieber Co. in Indianapolis.{{Cite web |last=IHB |date=2020-12-16 |title=John William (Will) Vawter |url=https://www.in.gov/history/state-historical-markers/find-a-marker/find-historical-markers-by-county/indiana-historical-markers-by-county/john-william-will-vawter/ |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=IHB |language=en}}
Selected works
- A Defective Santa Claus (1904)
- Riley Songs O'Cheer (1905)
- Riley Songs of Summer (1908)
- Songs of Home (1910)
- Fortunes in Friendship (1926)
Later life and death
File:Will Vawter Gravesite.jpg
Vawter developed pneumonia and died.{{Cite news|url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/15581570/will_vawter_hoosier_artist_is_dead_of/|title=Will Vawter, Hoosier Artist, Is Dead of Pneumonia Here, Part 1|work=The Indianapolis News |date=11 February 1941 |page=1 |language=en|access-date=2019-05-31}} His death was quite a shock to the residents of Greenfield & Nashville, Indiana. He died in Nashville, Indiana, on February 11, 1941. He is buried in Greenfield, Indiana's Park Cemetery.
Legacy
Each year in the City of Greenfield the Hancock County Arts and Cultural Council holds the Will Vawter Art Exhibition. This juried art show attracts many arts from around Indiana each year. The event was held in early to coincide with Vawter's birth, but since 2021, the exhibit has grown and has been moved to June.
In 2020, the Indiana Historical Bureau erected a marker to honor Vawter.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Will Vawter}}
{{Wikisource|A Defective Santa Claus}}
- {{Gutenberg author | id=8947}}
- {{Internet Archive author |search=("John William Vawter" OR "Vawter, John" OR "Will Vawter" OR "Vawter, Will")}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vawter, Will}}
Category:Painters from Indiana
Category:American illustrators
Category:People from Greenfield, Indiana
Category:People from Brown County, Indiana
Category:Painters from West Virginia
Category:People from Boone County, West Virginia
Category:American male painters
Category:19th-century American painters
Category:20th-century American painters
Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Indiana