James Watrous

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JAMES WATROUS

Born 1908

Died 1998

James Watrous Gallery is named after artist and art historian James Watrous (1908-1999), one of the most influential and beloved figures in Wisconsin visual art. Watrous taught art history and art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1934 to 1976 where he helped shape the departments of art history and art and mentored many students who went on to great accomplishments. He is known as "the father of the Elvehjem" for his pivotal role in establishing the Elvehjem Museum of Art (now the Chazen Museum of Art). Watrous also created many works of art in public spaces, including the Paul Bunyan Murals in the UW-Madison Memorial Union.

James Watrous was associated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison for nearly seventy years. After receiving his BA, MA, and PhD at the university, he became a professor of art and art history. He was a vigorous advocate for the arts and collections stewardship. Considered the “father of the Elvehjem,” Watrous was the driving force behind the fund-raising, planning, and construction of the university’s Elvehjem Art Center, now the Chazen Museum of Art. He is also the namesake of the James Watrous Gallery at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison. As an artist, he is best known for his large-scale murals and mosaics, notably the Paul Bunyan mural in the Memorial Union. Watrous posthumously received a Wisconsin Visual Lifetime Achievement Award and continues to be remembered through the several art installations on UW-Madison’s campus.

Obituary

Watrous, who was associated with UW–Madison for nearly seven decades, died Tuesday at the age of 90.

James Watrous

Watrous may be best known for his murals of scenes featuring mythical logger Paul Bunyan that adorn the walls of the UW–Madison Memorial Union. Watrous painted the murals in 1933-36.

He also led a campaign to create a campus art museum to preserve and display the UW’s art collection, not only advocating for the museum but calling on alumni and others to help pay for it. “It was irresponsible for the university to accept gifts of art and not build a professional setting for them,” Watrous said in explaining his advocacy in a 1991 retrospective interview with Wisconsin Week, a university newspaper.

The resulting Elvehjem Museum of Art was dedicated in 1970. “He really led the charge for the Elvehjem,” recalled Raymond Gloeckler, an emeritus professor of art who studied under Watrous as a graduate student. “I can’t think of anyone more responsible for the Elvehjem than Jim was.”

Watrous earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from UW–Madison and joined the faculty in 1935. He remained active in university arts issues and activities after his retirement in 1976.

Among other books, he wrote “The Craft of Old-Masters Drawings,” published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 1957, and “A Century of American Printmaking” (UW Press, 1980).

As a UW instructor, Watrous taught popular courses that specialized in the “how” of art history. Gloeckler recalled that in Watrous’ courses, students duplicated the tools and materials used by artists through history.

Emeritus art professor John Wilde shared a Bascom Hall studio with Watrous in the late 1940s when Wilde was a graduate student. Wilde took his first art class with Watrous, a drawing course, as a freshman. He recalled Watrous as a high-spirited artist who profoundly influenced Wilde’s career.

“It changed my life. He was a mentor in the best sense of the word,” said Wilde,

James Watrous joined the faculty in 1935 and remained active in university arts issues and activities after his retirement in 1976. He died in 1999