Peter Rotier

(1888, Baldwin, WI – 1963, Milwaukee, WI)

Born in Baldwin, Wisconsin in 1888, Peter Rotier would move to Milwaukee at the age of fifteen to attend the Wisconsin School of Art. He did so until 1906 and then became a member of the Art Students League of Milwaukee where he studied under Alexander Mueller, George Raab, and Richard Lorenze. In 1918, Rotier studied at the Milwaukee State Teachers College under George Oberteuffer. A year later, he attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and after another year, he attended the Art Students League in New York, where he studied under Robert Henri.

Rotier spent the earlier part of his career painting for theatre companies coming to Milwaukee and Chicago. In 1920, he moved out West where he would work odd jobs and marry his wife, Mildred Langland, in 1924. By the early 1930s, Rotier moved back to Milwaukee to attend the Milwaukee Art Institute. At that time, he worked as a commercial artist for the Milwaukee Journal Art Department and painted two Post Office murals, one at the Rural Mail Carrier in West Bend and another in Mayville. By 1935, during the Depression, Rotier was invited to work in Key West, Florida under the Federal Art Project.

After the US entered WWII, Rotier enlisted and served on the 120^th Field Artillery Division with the American Expeditionary Force. He would later draw cartoons, now part of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s permanent collection, depicting his time in the war. Rotier taught art at the Milwaukee Art Institute, Chicago Art Institute, the Layton School of art and the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.

Rotier is known for his work as a commercial artist and for his watercolor and oil paintings. He often painted wildlife and Wisconsin landscapes including Kettle Moraine and Holy Hill, where he owned a cabin and studio.

Select works created by Rotier can be seen in the permanent collections of the Milwaukee Art Museum, Museum of Wisconsin Art, the City of Milwaukee, and the State Historical Society.

SOURCE:

Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) Archives: http://www.wisconsinart.org/archives/artist/peter-c-rotier/profile-139.aspx