The Artist - George M. Ottinger
George M. Ottinger was born in Pennsylvania but was raised in New York City by his uncle. When he was 16, he ran away to become a sailor on a whaling ship, and by the age of 20, he had traveled around the world. Ottinger began his formal training in art by studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts under Robert W. Weir.
In 1861, after having been converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ottinger and his mother immigrated by wagon train from Florence, Nebraska, to Salt Lake City, a distance of 1079 miles. While in Utah, he engaged in a number of occupations. Among these occupations were photo tinter, theatrical scene painter, "chief engineer" of the fire department, lumber clerk, and first art instructor at the University of Deseret, later renamed the University of Utah. Later, he was influential in forming the Utah Art Association.
As an artist, Ottinger can be classified as a Romantic Realist. He painted a variety of subject matter including genre scenes, seascapes, landscapes, portraits, and historical events. The current value of his paintings is attributed, in part, to their accuracy and historic detail. Among his major works are western scenes and a series of allegorical and historical interpretations of the history of Mexico. These paintings provide the viewer with glimpses of the scenery, lifestyle, clothing, and other articles of the past.
Ottinger's art is important both for historical reasons and also because it provided a base for Utah art. One of early Utah's most important artists, he taught hundreds of students at Utah's first institution of higher learning, the University of Deseret, as well as in private lessons.
In his early years, Ottinger's work was valued by the public. He had many commissions and earned numerous medals and awards at art fairs. However, in his later years, Ottinger was challenged by a shift in stylistic tastes, as the art market preferred more impressionistic work. This shift in taste caused him to struggle and to search for new subject matter that would interest his patrons. However, he never lost his zeal to persevere and to keep painting. At the age of 67 he wrote, "Individually I feel as young and ambitious and desirous to push ahead as ever."
The Art
GEORGE M. OTTINGER (1833-1917) Salt Lake City
Immigrant Train
Away, Away to the Mountain Dell: The Valley of the Free, 1897
oil on canvas, 20" x 40" (51.0 x 101.7 cm)
Gift from A. Merlin and Alice Steed Trust 1982.001
Ottinger, who immigrated with the pioneers in the Milo Andrus Company, arrived in Salt Lake City in the fall of 1861. This painting depicts the pioneers traveling across the plains, a famous moment of Utah history which Ottinger experienced personally.
In Immigrant Train - Away, Away to the Mountain Dell: The Valley of the Free, Ottinger has chosen to portray a Mormon pioneer train disappearing into the distance as it passes Chimney Rock in eastern Wyoming, on the way to Utah Territory. With flute and accordion the pioneers sing the stirring ballad, "Away Away to the Mountain Dell: The Valley of the Free," as they steadily walk westward. To the left can be seen a buffalo skull raised on a stick marking a grave, as parents mourn the death of a loved one.
Concepts
Visual Art Core Curriculum - Utah State Office of Education
Under the Standard of Making, this print can help the student:
- learn how to portray cast shadows as having different shapes than the objects that cast them.
- explore the medium of crayon by practicing the following techniques: apply thickly, lightly, on top of other colors, and on top of other media like watercolor or tempera.
- create a crayon resist by applying crayon lines thickly onto the paper and then applying a coat of paint over the entire surface.
Under the Standard of Perceiving, this print can help the student:
- identify an overall value key.
- learn how to alter the intensity of any color by adding its complement or black or white to it.
- discuss how placement of subject matter higher or lower on the picture plane creates an illusion of depth.
- learn how to portray a consistent light side closest to the light source and dark side opposite the source of light.
- discuss the use of an element (for example, line) to create movement.
Under the Standard of Expressing, this print can help the student:
- examine the overall value key of this work and discuss how it relates to the mood of this painting.
- interpret the symbols the artist used to express moods, feelings, and ideas.
- determine the artist's source of inspiration for the point of view or perspective he used to portray his subject.
- classify artworks according to the following subject matter:
- Still life: contains small inanimate objects
- Fantasy: contains objects/people in unreal situations
- Non-objective: contains no recognizable object
- Figurative or portraiture: contains representations of a person
- Genre: contains scenes of objects and people in everyday life
- Nature: contains close-up views of natural objects and/or animals
- Landscape: contains natural scenery as the principle subject
- Seascape: scenes of the sea are the central subject
- Cityscape: urban scenes are the central subject
- identify the theme of this piece.
- hypothesize why this painting may be valuable.
Under the Standard of Contextualizing, this print can help the student:
- explain how much of Utah's history is revealed by the visual arts.
- learn how to create works of art that connect to the early art and cultures of the state using similar designs or motifs.
- create art that expresses his or her connections to early Utah art.
- explain how scientific information can be communicated by the visual arts.
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