George Bobholz

THE GALLERY WOULD WELCOME A PHOTO OF GEORGE BOBHOLZ. PLEASE CONTACT US IF YOU CAN HELP: info@galleryofwisconsinart.com

BORN: April 13, 1904

DIED: August 16, 1957

George Frank was one of seven children born to Herman Ferdinand and Amelia (Ehlert) Bobholz. His father, immigrated to the United States and settled near Fountain Prairie, Wisconsin where George was born on April 13, 1904. As a result of the farming family  he was unable to finish even grade school. His education was gained by use of his intelligence, experiences, imagination, drive and determination.

In 1924 Bobholz married Viola Neitzel and by the following year they had moved to Milwaukee. It was late in the 1920's when he took up the art of painting. Whether as a hobby or a means of adding to the family income is not known. Neither is he known nor believed to have ever received any instruction in the craft, but by the mid 1930's, he was to be found listed in the city directory under the heading of "artist."

Literally going door to door in the 1930's, especially along affluent Lake Drive on the Milwaukee lakefront of Lake Michigan, the artist took orders and sold his work. Also during the 1930's, family lore has the artist teaching at the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, but no records could be found to verify the fact. 

During the 1930's the artist worked on several artistic projects that included Altar decoration for St. Boniface Catholic Church and diorama painting for the Milwaukee Public Museum. During the height of the Depression the United States government initiated the Federal Art Project, a division of the Works Progress Administration. Bobholz had a number of his submissions accepted and included in that project.

By the late 1930's he began working with home design and building construction, becoming known as a general contractor, and appears to have ceased endeavors in the area of painting. Bobholz almost literally built homes by himself. His signature motif in designing homes became the use of red brick with stone corners.

In 1949 he moved his family to Brookfield, Wisconsin where he soon listed his construction business as "Bobholz and Sons, Inc." as his three sons were then old enough to help with the family business.

While his career as an artist was quite short in the number of years involved - from the late 1920's through the 1930's - Bobholz was also quite prolific and his works come up for auction a few times every year throughout the country. Known as an artist who "painted to order," he had the ability to excel in numerous areas, including floral pieces, landscapes and figure studies.

His very early death in Brookfield, Wisconsin at the age of 54 on August 16, 1957 came as a result of cancer.

SOURCES AND BIOGRAPHICAL EXCERPTS:

Edward Bentley, Art Collector and Researcher from Lansing, Michigan.

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