Karl Yens

Karl Yens (American, 1868–1945)

A fine early 20th century watercolor landscape showing the luminous sunset serenely reflected in a still lake with elegant, calligraphic grasses.

Painter, illustrator, etcher and muralist, Karl Yens was born in Germany and first studied with Max Koch in Berlin and, subsequently, with Benjamin-Constant and Jean-Paul Laurens in Paris. He was a successful active muralist in both Germany and Scotland before immigrating to the United States in 1901. After arriving in America, Yens continued to paint murals in New York City and Washington, D.C. before settling in Southern California where he lived and painted until his death in 1945.

Karl Yens exhibited widely and with success, including at the 1915 Panama-California International Exposition in San Diego, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, the Duquesne Club of Pittsburgh, San Diego Museum, the Orange County, California Museum, Astor Theatre in NYC and the Society of California Pioneers. He was the recipient of numerous medals and prizes and juried awards, including at the 1919 California Art Club, Laguna Beach Art Association (1921, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1935), California Watercolor Society (1922), Riverside, Orange County and Los Angeles Fairs of California (1922, 1923 and 1924/28) and the Arizona State Fair (1923, 1927, 1928) among others.

A co-founder of the Modern Art Society and the Laguna Beach Art Association, Yens was also a member of: The California Art Club, California Teachers Association, FA, American League of Teacher Artists, American Federation of the Arts, California Society of Miniature Painters, Academy of Western Painters (LA), California Watercolor Society, Painters and Sculptors of LA, Long Beach Arts Association, San Diego Fine Arts Society, AAPL, Scandinavian-American Artists Association and the LA Arts Association.

The artist's work is held in public and private collections throughout Europe and America including at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Altona, Germany City Hall, Bowers Museum, Duquesne Club, John H. Vanderpoel Art Association, Chicago, UCLA and Fine Art Gallery of San Diego.

Signed lower left recto

Artists in California 1786-1940, Hughes, Vol. 2, pg. 1229.

Who Was Who in American Art, Falk, Vol.3, pg. 3662-3663.

Thieme-Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Kunstler, Vol. 35/36, p. 354.

Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Vol 14 p. 802; Mallett’s Index of Artists, Daniel Trowbridge Mallett, New York, 1948.