Paul H. Winchell

Before Day Light

c. 1940

Paul H. Winchell (1903 – 1971) was a printmaker, illustrator, teacher, and gilder according to Crump, 2009 (Minnesota Prints and Printmakers, 1900- 1945, Minnesota Historical Society Press). He was the son of Mrs. Looman Winchell of Shepherd Rd as noted in a 1937 newspaper article (Painsville, O. Telegraph). Winchell grew up in North Perry, Ohio and then studied and worked as an instructor at the Art Institute of Chicago. He studied with Leon Kroll (1884 – 1974), Boris Anisfeld (1878-1973), Daniel Garber (1880 – 1958), Charles Woodbury (1864 – 1940), George Oberteuffer, (1878 – 1940) and Elmer A. Forsberg (1883 – 1950), although it was not stated whether each of these teachers was in Chicago or elsewhere. According to the Minneapolis School of Art Faculty Summer 1930 brochure he was an instructor at the Art Institute of Chicago for three years. According to the 1940 – 1941 catalogue, which provided a short biography and a photograph of the artist, he traveled and studied in Spain, Africa, Italy, England, Germany, and France. According to Crump, Winchell did not receive support from either the Public Works of Art Project or the Minnesota WPA Federal Art Project. In Minneapolis, where he was an instructor at the Minneapolis School of Art, he first appeared in 1930 in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts’ Sixteenth Annual Exhibition of the Work of Minneapolis and St. Paul Artists, where he exhibited three oil paintings. He received second honorable mention in oil painting for #69 Old Family. In 1931 he received third honorable mention in oil painting for #64, his Portrait of Miss C. Winchell exhibited his work subsequently in other Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) exhibitions in 1933 and 1935 – 1938. According to Crump he also received first prize in the prints category at the Minnesota State Fair in 1940. Other exhibitions included the St. Paul Gallery and School of Art, the Midwestern Artists Association, and the Kansas City Art Institute. His bio at the Minneapolis School of Art also noted he exhibited at the Chicago Art Institute. According to Crump’s summary, based on information from Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975 (by Peter Falk), Winchell’s knowledge of gilding as a craft for framing may have provided income supplemental to his teaching. At the Minneapolis School of Art Winchell taught figure sketching, figure study, elementary illustration, and drawing. His Figure Sketching class in the summer of 1930 is described as follows: