Daniel KOTZ
1848–1933, USA

Daniel Kotz (1848-1933) was born in a log cabin in South Bend, Indiana, near Notre Dame, on March 21, 1848. He spent much of his youth working on the family farm, where he enjoyed nature and the countryside around him. In his spare time, he discovered he had an interest in drawing and sketching his surroundings, including trees, open meadows, hayfields and more.

On the advice of Dr. Buchtel, the family physician, he began to devote himself to studying art. While he traveled around the area of the St Joseph River and the Lake Michigan area, his interest in landscapes grew, as did his ability to capture it on paper and canvas. Daniel went to Northwestern College in Napiersville, Illinois, where he wrote a column called "Kotz's Mite" for their monthly publication.

In 1870 he went to Chicago where he studied under Henry F. Spread, and in 1875 he worked with H. A. Elkins. Kotz was a charter member of the Chicago Art League. The first painting he ever exhibited was later hung in the National Academy of Art and Design in 1886. In the 1880s he was commissioned by then Vice-President Schuyler Colfax, to execute a painting for his wife. Around 1890 he went to New York City, where he opened a studio. He was the cover story of the American Art Journal, March 22, 1890.

In the 1890's he built a commodious studio and home on a New Jersey hillside at Park Ridge, overlooking the beautiful Pascack Valley with New York in the distance. He was one of the originators of the prestigious Salmagundi Club in New York around the turn of the century. He was a member of the Salmagundi Club, the Nanuet Painters, the American Artist Professional League, and the Beachcombers' Club in Provincetown.

He is known to have exhibited at the New York Etching Club, the National Academy of Design 1909, the Salmagundi Club, the Boston Art Club 1889, 1892, 1896, 1898, 1899, the Art Institute of Chicago 1889, 1894, 1896, 1897, 1904, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1917, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts 1895, 1898-1900, and the American Art Association. In May of 1948, Kotz's daughter, the Countess Eleanor Kotz Savorgnan Di Brazza, held an exhibition for two weeks of about 20 of her father's works. The exhibition was in Chicago and at the Progress Club, which is associated with the Art Institute of Chicago.

He found more and more of his favorite subject matter throughout the New England area, where he painted until his death in 1933. His contemporaries and friends included Thomas Eakins, J. Francis Murphy, Alexander Schilling, Max Bohm, John Noble, and George Inness.

Daniel Kotz died in Park Ridge, New Jersey in 1933.

Source: http://www.artisfungallery.com