| Being sons and grandsons of ministers, the five brothers
were inclined to follow the tradition. Fred and Emil were ordained
as ministers. Fred moved to St. Louis and Emil to Cleveland.
Emanuel, Adolf and Carl questioned the teachings, but were willing to try
the ministry as a profession. Carl entered Elmhurst College which
was at that time an Evangelical Lutheran seminary.
"While he didn't become a practicing preacher his paintings are not in variance with his training. Most of the critics have felt has attitude toward nature to be 'religious,' the quiet, sentimental reverence of a working preacher in average american surroundings," wrote C.J. Bulliet in the Chicago Daily News. My father discovered that the ministry, with the many debatable aspects of religious doctrine, was not for him. His skill at playing the organ made him hesitate between music and art as a career. He chose art and entered the commercial art field. Later, Rudolph Ingerle and he opened their own commercial art studio. He received his first formal art training in night classes at the Chicago Art Institute. Dad was strongly influenced by teachers and fellow students; among them were Eugene Savage, Martin Hennings, and Leon Kroll. In 1907, my father and mother, Charlotte (Lottie) Lau were married. Lottie's parents objected to the marriage as Carl's job as an artist was not considered a worthwhile occupation. Lottie's father worked for a large packing house at the stockyards. Lottie's and Carl's honeymoon was a trip to Yellowstone Park by train. Dad's income was not large enough to afford such a long trip so Mother depleted her savings account. The journey from the train station to Old Faithful Inn and throughout the park was by horse and buggy. Automobiles were not allowed until eight years later in 1915. Carl was very impressed with the immense three-story stone fireplace in the lobby of Old Faithful Inn and the rustic interiors of the building. The rooms did not have private bathrooms. On their first night at the inn, Lottie visited the ladies' room on the second floor while Carl waited downstairs in the lobby. After an hour, he became worried at her absence and sent someone into the ladies' room. Lottie had locked the door on the stall and was not able to unlock it. Carl teased her for years over this, saying it was an excuse not to spend their first night together. Sixty years later, I stayed at Old Faithful Inn. Sitting around the stone fireplace in the evenings reminded me of mom's and dad's honeymoon. I believe the same stubborn locks are still there. Throughout the marriage, Lottie's parents influenced their lives. Mother was never able to untie the apron strings completely. The mother Lottie knew was actually a stepmother. Her real mother had died during childbirth when Lottie was about a year old. The baby was reared by grandparents in Wisconsin and Lottie never knew she had a sister until later in life. The stepmother was very domineering. She had been born in Germany and came to the United States when she was about eighteen. The first cottage Lottie and Carl lived in was two houses away from Lottie's parents. The next move was to a three-flat building where her parents lived on the floor above. Carl's activities were closely watched. If he was late coming home from work by streetcar, it was reported. If he stopped in a nearby saloon for a beer, it was reported. A talk with a neighbor did not go unobserved. Lottie was very shy and self-conscious. Her lack of education, which only went up to the eighth grade, seemed to give her an inferiority complex. she had a beautiful and ready smile, with a large dimple in the middle of her right cheek. She claimed that she had fallen downstairs while holding a knife and the blade had penetrated her cheek. I never did know if this was true or a story to cover her shyness and embarrassment on hearing a compliment. Two daughters were born while Lottie and Carl lived in the flat; Hazel, in 1910, and I, Gladys, in 1914. For the next few years, dad enjoyed his successful work in the commercial art field doing ads from soup to auto for newspapers and magazines. In 1912, while visiting relatives in Missouri, dad was told of the beautiful mountains close by. He hired a horse and buggy and follow the dirt roads into the Ozark Mountains. He became fascinated by the colors in the scenery, the changing of them by the mists, clouds, sun, or time of day. He returned to the Ozarks every fall for years, sometimes alone, sometimes with his family. He stayed for a month or more to record nature's transition from fall to the first snows of winter. He painted many canvasses in the Ozarks and many other artists were influenced by them. He organized the Society of Ozark Painters. An art critic wrote, "The American novelist, Harold Bell Wright, wrote of life in the Ozarks in his books Shepherd of the Hills and The Winning of Barbara Worth. What Mr. Wright did in words in his novels of life in the Ozark Mountains, Carl Krafft did with his visual portrayal of life and scenery through his paintings." Dad joined the Palette and Chisel Club in Chicago and found new ideals and companionship that furthered his artistic talents. His first exhibition was held at the Palette and Chisel Club in 1914. He then entered a canvas in the Chicago Artists Exhibition at the Chicago Art Institute and it was accepted. It was always a thrill to know that a painting judged by your peers was considered good enough to hand on the walls of a museum. My father was represented at the Chicago Art Institute almost every year from 1914 until the late 1920's. In 1915 he won the Englewood Prize for Ozark Zephyrs, in 1916 the Municipal Art League Prize for Charms of the Ozarks. Also during 1915, he exhibited at the Panama Fair in the Illinois State Building, and later at the All American Exhibition held at the Coliseum. "Starting his career as a commercial designer, Krafft pressed steadily upward to an honored place in his field, which he held for a number of years until he could give all his time to painting. No art-school training was given him when he started as a designer of labels, but it was not long before he began to show himself the most rapid and efficient among his fellows," wrote V. E. Carr in the American Magazine of Art. |