Cappy Amundsen Art

"Casper Hjalmar Amundsen (F.H. McKay) 1911-2001" by Ralph Slatton, updated 7/4/2017, published in ARThoughts, publication in conjunction with Professor Ralph Slatton's printmaking classes taught at East Tennessee State University. Each of us holds a special memory from childhood. Sometimes it's an image from a movie, or perhaps a special children's book; for me, it is a picture on a zigsaw puzzle. I speak of an image of a painting on a popular puzze from the early 50's. I believe the puzzle company was called Tuco. My Mom, sister, and I spent many hours piecing that puzzle. I was also intrigued by the peaceful coastal scene, painted in the impressionist style. It was a mysterious peek into a bygone era, taking us down a shaded street which led to a misty seacoast. Many years later, I became an artist and I had to revisit this scene of my childhood. I soon discovered that there was very little written about the artist, F. H. Mckay and for good reason. I was chasing an alias. At the time of this article, I was not able to find much about F. H. McKay. I was only able to accumulate a few descriptive lines regarding this painter from several online auction sites, art and genealogy forums. Luckily, this mystery has since been lifted in the book, Cappy: The Life and Art of C. Hjalmar Amundsen, published in 2011 by Terry Wallace. I would like to officially credit this author for all the information posted here. The mysterious painter was identified as Casper Hjalmar Amundsen III, who was also known as "Cappy." Cappy used several aliases, one of which was F.H. McKay. His other pseudonyms included, J. J. Enwright, W. Hughes, Wm Ward, Jr., Sven Sagg, J.C. Bennett, J. C Bonac, John Dune, and others. The reason cited for creating these aliases is that Cappy didn't want to flood the market with too many paintings from one artist, thinking this would be a good marketing strategy. Cappy would go to lengths creating fictitious biographies for each of his identities, always inspired by actual people he admired. Cappy's father, Casper Emerson, Jr. (1878-1948) was a renowned artist, famously known for creating "The Emerson Girl" for the Broadway Magazine in the New York Herald-Tribune. Born in 1911, Cappy learned much of his basic drawing and painting skills in his father's studio. After graduating from Blair Academy, Cappy attended the Grand Central School of Art studying illustration and painting. In 1932, he founded the Washington Square Outdoor Art Show, along with Jackson Pollock, William de Kooning, Beaufort & Joseph Delaney...

"Casper Hjalmar Amundsen (F.H. McKay) 1911-2001" by Ralph Slatton, updated 7/4/2017, published in ARThoughts, publication in conjunction with Professor Ralph Slatton's printmaking classes taught at East Tennessee State University. Each of us holds a special memory from childhood. Sometimes it's an image from a movie, or perhaps a special children's book; for me, it is a picture on a zigsaw puzzle. I speak of an image of a painting on a popular puzze from the early 50's. I believe the puzzle company was called Tuco. My Mom, sister, and I spent many hours piecing that puzzle. I was also intrigued by the peaceful coastal scene, painted in the impressionist style. It was a mysterious peek into a bygone era, taking us down a shaded street which led to a misty seacoast. Many years later, I became an artist and I had to revisit this scene of my childhood. I soon discovered that there was very little written about the artist, F. H. Mckay and for good reason. I was chasing an alias. At the time of this article, I was not able to find much about F. H. McKay. I was only able to accumulate a few descriptive lines regarding this painter from several online auction sites, art and genealogy forums. Luckily, this mystery has since been lifted in the book, Cappy: The Life and Art of C. Hjalmar Amundsen, published in 2011 by Terry Wallace. I would like to officially credit this author for all the information posted here. The mysterious painter was identified as Casper Hjalmar Amundsen III, who was also known as "Cappy." Cappy used several aliases, one of which was F.H. McKay. His other pseudonyms included, J. J. Enwright, W. Hughes, Wm Ward, Jr., Sven Sagg, J.C. Bennett, J. C Bonac, John Dune, and others. The reason cited for creating these aliases is that Cappy didn't want to flood the market with too many paintings from one artist, thinking this would be a good marketing strategy. Cappy would go to lengths creating fictitious biographies for each of his identities, always inspired by actual people he admired. Cappy's father, Casper Emerson, Jr. (1878-1948) was a renowned artist, famously known for creating "The Emerson Girl" for the Broadway Magazine in the New York Herald-Tribune. Born in 1911, Cappy learned much of his basic drawing and painting skills in his father's studio. After graduating from Blair Academy, Cappy attended the Grand Central School of Art studying illustration and painting. In 1932, he founded the Washington Square Outdoor Art Show, along with Jackson Pollock, William de Kooning, Beaufort & Joseph Delaney...