THE ARTWORKS OF TUNIS PONSEN

Written by Patrick Coffey for "The Lost Paintings of Tunis Ponsen" exhibition catalog.  Used by permission of Mr. Coffey's family.

Compiled from the artist's personal memorabilia, original exhibition catalogs and countless hours of pleasant conversation with the artist's niece, Angenita Morris.

                    THE NETHERLANDS YEARS: 1891-1913 (Artist's Age - birth to 22)

     Tunis Ponsen's niece, Angenita Schogt Morris, remembers well her mother Arnolda's stories about the Ponsen family in Wageningen, the Netherlands.  Angenita Van Brakel was a young widow with two small children when she met and married a local house painter, Johannes Ponsen. Arnolda is the first born of this second marriage in 1889, followed by Tunis in 1891 and another daughter, Ger, in 1893. In later life, Arnolda and Tunis look back on their childhood years as a time of great happiness. One can picture young Tunis helping his father with his house painting trade. Later, it will put him in good stead upon his emigration to America.

     A surviving small painting (fig. 1) indicates that the adolescent Tunis is already exhibiting considerable natural talent. The painting is inscribed on the reverse, “Painted by Tunis Ponsen, age 14 Copied from a painting in the Ryjks Museum.”

     Life for the Ponsen children is forever changed by the unexpected deaths of their father in 1907 and mother in 1909. The older children are working and keep the family together in the family home for as long as they can. In 1911, Tunis receives his first formal training in the arts when he begins a period of study in drawing with the sculptor, August Falise, and landscape artist, Louis
Raemaekers. (Raemaekers acquires a worldwide prominence later when he becomes the leading political cartoonist of World War I) This study culminates in 1912 when Tunis is awarded a certificate of his ability to teach drawing at the elementary school level.

     During this same period, Tunis and his childhood sweetheart, Cato Van Boekering, fall in love and engage to marry. With the European economy in shambles and war looming on the horizon, the young couple agrees that Tunis will go to America. When he has earned enough money, he will send for Cato. On April 13, 1913, twenty-two year old Tunis Ponsen arrives at Ellis Island, New York, aboard the steamship Potsdam.

    By 1914, Tunis has settled in Muskegon, Michigan, where he earns a living as a housepainter and decorator. Later that same year, his sister, Arnolda, also emigrates from the Netherlands with her new husband, Herman J.Schogt (pronounced "Scott"). Herman had emigrated from the Netherlands two years earlier, first to Chicago and then to Benton Harbor, Michigan, where he purchased a small fruit orchard on Pipestone Road. Through sheer coincidence, Tunis and his sister find themselves in close proximity to each other as part of a large number of Dutch immigrants who choose to settle in Southwestern Michigan. When Tunis has saved enough money, he arranges passage to America for his fiancée, Cato. However, during the long, hazardous voyage to America, Cato meets and falls in love with another young man in a whirlwind shipboard romance. When Tunis meets the ship in New York, he is devastated by the news that Cato is marrying someone else! As Tunis never marries, one can speculate that there is a connection between this one great failed romance and the love he will develop in his painting for the melancholy and the grey, sunless day. Tunis' sister, Arnolda, and her husband, Herman Schogt, are the artist's only family in America during his lifetime. The bond between them is constantly nourished by frequent visits. Until Arnolda's death a half- century later, Tunis is a regular live-in guest in the Schogt family home for major holidays and Summer vacation periods. As Tunis never learns to drive an automobile, he relies on bus and train for the trip to Benton Harbor from Muskegon and, later, from Chicago.
 

                                                                             1917    

     Tunis has not forgotten his interest in the arts. With the money he has saved, he travels to Chicago where he spends six months studying drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. On his return to Muskegon, he decides to apply for U.S. Citizenship. In a preliminary application, he describes himself as "...color white, complexion fair, height 6 feet 1inch, weight 155, color of hair light, eyes blue, other visible distinctive marks none." He speaks with a definite Dutch accent, but not one which is difficult to understand. He lists his address as 628 Sanford Street, Muskegon.

                                                                             1918    

      Tunis enlists in the American army and serves for the duration of the war. (fig. 2) That same year, Arnolda Ponsen Schogt gives birth to her first and only child, a daughter whom she names Angenita in memory of her own deceased mother. Tunis is completely captivated by little Angenita who becomes the joy of his life. (She fondly remembers Tunis as her "third parent.") His affection for his little niece is evident in a charming photo showing the beaming artist hoisting Angenita on his shoulders (fig. 3).

                                                                              1919     

        While his interest in fine arts has persisted, Tunis is faced with the problem of supporting himself. A surviving business card (fig. 4) announces the firm of Teuling & Ponsen, painters, decorators and paperhangers who "...also have a Fine Selection of Wall Paper." The address of the firm is Muskegon Heights, Michigan.
 

                                                                             1921

       For the first time, Tunis exhibits two oil studies in a show for local amateur artists held at the Hackley Art Gallery (now known as the Muskegon Museum of Art). That September he enrolls in the gallery's evening study classes under the instruction of local artist, Wilbur C. Kensler. Gallery director, Lulu F. Miller, is taken with Tunis' talent and promises him that when he has developed his skills to the point where it is merited, she will arrange an exhibition of his works at the Hackley Art Gallery.  

                                                                             1922    

      In December, Tunis' work has developed to the point that Lulu Miller delivers on her earlier promise and arranges a one-person exhibition of his work at the Hackley Art Gallery. In reviewing the exhibition for the Muskegon Chronicle, she writes, 

            There has been placed on view this week in the north gallery a collection of small sketches  in oil which on three counts should claim the attention of Muskegon people. First from the artistic point of view they have merit. Technical faults there are in plenty, but these are more than compensated for by a sincerity and a genuine feeling and an artist's grasp of his subject. Second, these sketches are all bits of familiar scenes about Muskegon the sand dunes at Lake Michigan park, with glimpses of the lake- groups of boat houses, a dock, the bridge at Ruddiman's creek, the paper mills seen from North Muskegon, a bit of the colony at the base of Pigeon Hill along Muskegon Lake, all seen with an artist's eye keen for the picturesque in the most common place subject. Last, and by no means least, the artist himself is of Muskegon, a young man, Tunis Ponsen by name, who has made his home here since coming to this country eight years ago. There are about thirty sketches in the collection and the are for sale at prices that seem absurd considering their quality. It would seem that there must be many people in Muskegon who will gladly make the exchange of a few dollars for a picture that in the years to come, if the present promise of the artist reaches fulfillment, may be worth much more than was paid for it, and in any case such encouragement can only be a source of satisfaction to those who give it.
 

                                                                            1923 

       A year of studying and painting passes. In December, Lulu Miller arranges the second one-person exhibition of Tunis Ponsen paintings at the Hackley Art Gallery. She writes again in her review for the Muskegon Chronicle,

            ...This week there were placed on view in the west gallery, twenty-four of Mr. Ponsen's paintings representing work done in the past year and the strides he has made in these twelve months are apparent to those who have watched with interest his efforts...The technical faults in the pictures are due to inexperience, and time and study will remedy them. Their genuine artistic qualities will be recognized by any artist.
             

                                                                               1924

       In January, Tunis enters the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in a full- time degree program. Because of his age, prior training and experience, he is given advanced standing. His instructors include Karl Buehr, George Oberteuffer and Leon Kroll.

                                                                               1925

       Tunis completes the usual three-year study program in just 18 months. In June, he graduates from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His graduation photo (fig. 5) will be the only studio portrait of his lifetime. Later in the year, the Hackley Art Gallery holds its third one-person exhibition of Tunis Ponsen's work.

                                                                               1926

       With his basic studies completed, Tunis continues in the graduate program at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC). He spends the summer studying with Charles Hawthorne and Richard Miller at the Provincetown Art Colony (Massachusetts). Tunis later gives one of his personal favorites to his sister, Arnolda (cat. #TP225, A Gray Day At Provincetown). Upon his return to Chicago with a large number of canvases, Tunis establishes an apartment studio at 4422 Oakenwald in Chicago and becomes an active member of the South Side Art Association. He paints one of the Oakenwald buildings many times (cat. #TP250, House on Oakenwald).

       A pivotal and breakthrough year in Tunis' career to date. In May, the Hackley Art Gallery holds another one-person exhibition of 33 Tunis Ponsen paintings including 16 from the Provincetown group. The Muskegon Chronicle review of the exhibition begins.

            Muskegon is having a rare experience, an exhibition of paintings of a product of its own gallery. For the balance of May there is hung in Hackley Art Gallery the works of a young native of the Netherlands who came to Muskegon a few years ago, and less than six years ago was a student in the gallery evening classes here. Since that time, the advancement of Tunis Ponsen has been rapid, and today he is winning recognition. Muskegon will have the right to take pride in his career in the future only in the measure that it gives him recognition now. Too many communities are known to history only for their failure to recognize the genius in their midst.
Tunis spends the summer of 1927 painting with friends at Gloucester, Massachusetts (cat. #TP231,

Wharfs At Gloucester). Upon his return to Chicago, George Oberteuffer arranges for him to receive a tuition scholarship in the Graduate Atelier of the School of the AIC. In addition to his own study, he serves as an instructor in the undergraduate program. In October, Tunis is honored when one of his Gloucester paintings, Near the Harbor, is selected for the juried 40th annual Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. For the first time, at the age of 36, Tunis Ponsen is awarded a place alongside America's finest living artists. The Muskegon Chronicle reports the event as follows,

            Friends of Mr. Tunis Ponsen in Muskegon will be interested to know that his painting, 'Near the Harbor', done at Gloucester during the past season, has a place in the 40th exhibition by American painters which opened at the Chicago Art Institute Thursday of this week. This distinction lifts the artist from the amateur class. as the exhibition is second only to the International Show at the Carnegie Institute.

       This year also marks the first of eight appearances of one or more Ponsen works in the juried Michigan Artisť's Exhibition held annually at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA).

       Finally, 1927 marks his first use of the watercolor medium. Tunis discovers during the summer of 1926 at Provincetown what a difficulty it is to transport large numbers of painted canvases back to Chicago. For the trip to Gloucester, Tunis solves his logistical problem by using watercolor as the medium for his preliminary sketches and studies. Later, back in Chicago, some are used as the basis for studio paintings. Often a 20" x 24" painting first, followed by a 24" x 30" or larger version of his favorites. This use of watercolor becomes a consistent pattern for the balance of the artist's c

                                                                                    1928

       In May, Tunis is awarded the Bryant Lathrop Traveling Scholarship as the outstanding artist in the Graduate Atelier of the School of the AIC.The Muskegon Chronicle reports the event,

            Mr. Tunis Ponsen whose rapid advancement in the field of painting has been watched with interest by many persons in this city, has just been awarded the Bryant Lathrop Scholarship prize, carrying with it the sum of $800.00 which according to the terms of the award, is to be used in foreign travel. With three other recent prize winners, Mr. Ponsen expects to leave early in June for Paris. The honor conferred upon Mr. Ponsen enables him to realize a dream long cherished.

       Tunis departs in June and returns to his native Netherlands where he spends the summer painting scenes of his childhood. After a stay in Paris, he returns to Chicago with 40 canvases, four Parisian scenes and the rest Dutch.

       Upon his return, he is honored by the selection of five of the prior summer's Gloucester paintings for inclusion in the juried 32nd Anniversary Exhibition of Artists of Chicago at the AlC.

       In addition to this success in Chicago, Tunis has two works (Waterfront, Provincetown and Low Tide, Gloucester) accepted for the annual Michigan Artisť's Exhibition at the DIA. The Illinois Academy of Fine Arts December exhibition held at the Illinois Women's Athletic Club includes The Twins, Gloucester. Finally, the Hackley Art Gallery once again includes Ponsen in its annual exhibition.

                                                                                  1929

       In May, the Southside Art Association holds its annual Spring exhibition at the Stevens Hotel near downtown Chicago. The Chicago Herald & Examiner carries a photo of a Ponsen painting with the caption,

            PRIZE WINNER-This painting, 'Fishing on the Seine', by Tunis Ponsen, is one of the
prize winners at the exhibition of the Southside Art Association, now in progress at the Stevens Hotel. Miss Berdie Colbert is inspecting the canvas.
The painting is a larger studio version of one of the Parisian compositions from the previous summer.        On October 23, Chicago Herald & Examiner art critic, Francis Farmer, selects Tunas' works to serve

as the focal point for his review of the year's major exhibition. He writes,

            Aglow with color and replete with daring adventures in the realm of composition, the forty- second annual exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture is formally to be opened at the Art Institute tomorrow afternoon. Tunis Ponsen entitles an especially alluring canvas 'Fishing on the Seine'. A strong Ponsen portrait of a great American actress, Catherine (sic] Cornell, exhibits both the strength and the self-centered intensity of its subject, and, in her gown of glowing red, some luscious color and very remarkable fabric painting (cat. #TP224),
    Tunis Ponsen is awarded the Martin B. Cahn Prize

by the exhibition jury for Fishing on the Seine, the best painting by a Chicago artist.

                                                                                  1930

       The year begins with an exhibit of Tunis' work at the Bryn Mawr Woman's Club in Chicago.

       During the spring, Tunis travels to Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where he completes his third series of New England coastal and harbor scenes. At the AIC, one of these paintings, Yacht Club Pier (cat. #TP226) is included in the 34th annual exhibit of Artists of Chicago. (This painting will later be acquired by the Hackley Art Gallery.) An Old Wharf and Little White Cottage are selected for the juried Chicago Society of Artists annual exhibition.

       Tunis is one of three artists selected for a major exhibition held in October at the Chicago Galleries Association, 220 North Michigan Avenue. The exhibition is a smashing success for him and is covered by the major Chicago newspapers.

       Writing in the October 5 Sunday edition of the Chicago Herald & Examiner, art critic Irwin St. John Tucker says,

            Another artist exhibiting at the Chicago Galleries this month, Tunis Ponsen, has the architectural conception; but he takes for his subjects trees, barns and windmills. Perhaps the
best - certainly the most appealing to me - of the powerful canvases here is that of the old trees surrounding a red roofed barn. They convey a sense of guardianship; there is a comradely feeling in the way their leafy roofs protect the top and their running interlaced shadows frame the bottom of the flimsy old structure. Mr. Ponsen is a Hollander by birth and painted many of these scenes in Holland. He brings to his art the serious solidity of a Dutch conception. He builds his foundations deep and true, and on them erects his painting - eventhough it be of a subject as transitory as a cloud or a sail flapping in the wind- with careful methodical structure, until the passing moment he has seized upon stands fixed for all time.This man takes what we used to call modernism, gets the good out of it, and makes
it glorious.

       The Chicago Tribune of Sunday, October 12, uses a large photo of a Ponsen painting captioned,

'Fishing on the Seine',by Tunis Ponsen, who is one of three artists in the current
exhibit at the Chicago Galleries Association, Mr. Ponsen was born in Holland and among his paintings are many of Dutch subject. Others are of French origin,but the majority are American, with Boothbay Harbor, Maine, of first importance. The painting reproduced won the Martin B. Cahn prize last winter at the Chicago Art Institute.
      The Chicago Evening Post prints an even larger photo of a Ponsen painting captioned, "A Shipyard,

Boothbay Harbor, Maine - Tunis Ponsen. In an exhibition of Ponsen's paintings at the Chicago Galleries Association October l to 22."

       The Chicago Herald & Examiner uses a photo of a third Ponsen painting bearing the caption, "Village Mill" -Tunis Ponsen. In Ponsen's one-man show at the Chicago Galleries Association.
This three-person exhibition belongs to Tunis Ponsen!
      The jury for the 43rd annual national Exhibition of American Painters and Sculptors at the Art

Institute selects two Ponsen paintings, The Repair Gang (cat. #TP140) and Derricks on the Chicago River. This is the third time Tunis is selected for this national juried exhibition. A neighborhood South Side newspaper reports the event,

            Of particular interest to Oaklanders at the current American show at the Art Institute is a painting of a local scene by Tunis Ponsen of 4422 Oakenwald Avenue. This picture is called 'Repair Gang' and was painted by Mr. Ponsen from his upstairs window at 44th and Oakenwald.
      (Two paintings hanging in this same exhibition are of special interest. They are #43, The Tornado by John Steuart Curry which will later be acquired by the Hackley Gallery in Muskegon and #207, American Gothic by Tunis contemporary, Grant Wood.)

       In December, the Chicago Galleries Association holds a general exhibition of the artist members. The two Ponsen paintings included are Yacht Club Pier and Reflections. During 1930, Tunis also exhibits at the DIA and the Hackley Art Gallery, Muskegon. At the age of 39, Tunis Ponsen seems to be on his way to national recognition.

                                                                                      1931

       Tunis selects An Old Pier (Cat. #TP313), another of the Boothbay Harbor paintings, as his entry in the annual juried Michigan Artists Exhibition organized by the DIA. When the same exhibit travels to the Flint Institute of Arts (Flint, Michigan), the general public is invited to cast their votes for their favorite painting. The winning painting will be purchased by the Flint Institute of Arts as the first painting for the permanent collection. An Old Pier is the public choice.

       The Flint Journal reports the event,

            Purchase of one of the paintings showing at the Flint Institute of Arts in the Michigan Artists show was authorized at a meeting of the board of trustees yesterday. The picture is 'An Old Pier by Tunis Ponsen, a young Michigan artist who is living in Chicago at present.

The painting, which will be added to the permanent collection of the Flint Institute of Arts, is done in a strong, rich technique, and while definitely in the modern style, is worthy of
appreciation based on academic standards. It represents old shacks and a pier along the shore of a bay. There is a bright blue sky and clouds – all of which are in glowing colors. This will be the first painting to take a place in the institute's permanent collection.

       The March one-person exhibit held at the Hackley Art Gallery in Muskegon is reviewed in the Muskegon Chronicle.

            Tunis Ponsen depicts scenes of peaceful repose, lovely bits along the Massachusetts and Maine shores, sincerely interpreted and pleasing to the eye. Gloucester Harbor, Mass.,and Boothbay Harbor on the Maine coast have furnished material for a group of Ponsen paintings in the present exhibition. Wharves and shipping seem to have a special fascination for the artist whose fishing boats riding at anchor look easily capable of sailing away to the fishing grounds and the days haul...Two strong portrait studies appear in the Ponsen collection and there are three still life studies, notably a Japanese vase in harmonious settings and a group of realistic vegetables.
      At the AIC, three Ponsen canvases are selected for the 35th annual Artists of Chicago exhibit,

A Filipino, City's Edge and Castles of Today. The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts includes Canal Bridge in Delft in its annual American artists exhibition. Rounding out the year, Tunis also exhibits in two Chicago Galleries Association exhibitions, an Illinois Academy of FineArts exhibition held at the Art Gallery of the Illinois State Museum in Springfield and in an exhibition of
flower painting at the Studio Gallery, Chicago.

                                                                                  1932

       In March, Tunis is one of nine artists featured in an exhibition at the Chicago Galleries Association. Chicago Tribune art critic, Eleanor Jewett, writes,

            From Jessie Arms Botke, we turn to Tunis Ponsen who has made strides recently in his painting. He offers a very fine portrait, a few still life arrangements and various out of door scenes. His painting is rich in feeling and atmosphere and in quality.
In his review of the same show, Tom Vickerman writes in the Chicago Evening Post,

            Of all the contributors to the painting shows of the Chicago Galleries Association, probably no deserving artist has been more taken for granted than Irma Rene Koen....There is probably no one on the Galleries' membership list, always excepting Tunis Ponsen, who can surpass her
      On Thursday, May 26, Tunis receives what will be the only national recognition of his entire

career. The prominent national newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor, publishes a large photo of a Ponsen painting. The caption reads, Barges on the Seine: (cat. #TP236) From a Painting by Tunis Ponsen (Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago to the Christian Science Monitor)." The accompanying article reads,

            When Mr. Ponsen was asked what he had to say about his picture - whether he had any definite theories to expound or any special message which he wished his interviewer to pass on to the public -he smiled a little shyly and said: 'None. You know, I just paint the thing I see the way I feel it. I have no particular theories. I just try to paint well.

           There seems, indeed, to be no explanation beyond the simple fact that Mr. Ponsen with two artist friends, went down the reaches of the Seine from the center of Paris, in search of interesting subject matter. Presently he found himself engrossed in these barges which lay idle in a half-sunny, half-gray light. But Mr. Ponsen admits that perhaps the prevailing grayness of his native Holland creeps unawares into some of his paintings of other countries.

             Mr. Ponsen is one of the younger, but eminently successful of Chicago artists, having completed his art training in the graduate atelier of the Art Institute of Chicago and then, in the

company of several other artists who had won traveling scholarships, gone to Europe for further inspiration and study. Among his contemporaries, his approach to painting stands out as conservative; yet he is up-to-date thoroughly in his ideas. This painting, for example, embodies his interest in portraying the third dimensional quality in nature. Notice how definitely the line movement leads directly into the canvas, so that one seems to be

looking far below the surface of the Seine.
           Mr. Ponsen's work has carried away important prizes and been shown in many

exhibitions, where he is often classed most pleasingly as an 'artist's artist'.

       In Benton Harbor, Arnolda and Herman Schogt purchase a 30-acre fruit farm with a small 19th century farmhouse, a chicken coup and three small producing orchards

(apples, peaches and cherries). The farm is located on Napier Road some 10 miles outside of Benton Harbor. Angenita is now age 14. For the next 33 years, until Arnolda's death in 1966, Tunis will travel from Chicago by train and bus to spend holidays and a summer vacation with his only American family.
The farm buildings and the rolling hills and orchards around the Michigan home become a favorite theme that he paints over and over again in each of the seasons. All of this work is done in watercolor which he finds much easier to transport to and from Chicago. Tunis works very sure and very quickly in the watercolor medium (fig. 8). Angenita remembers how she would leave the house in the morning and find on her return later in the day as many as a dozen watercolors spread out for her to see. Tunis always wanted to know which ones she liked best.

       In Chicago, two paintings, Boathouses and Stone Quarry (cat. #TP238) are selected for the 36th annual Artists Chicago exhibition at the AlC. Tunis also exhibits at the DIA and in an exhibition of self-portraits held at the Increase Robinson Galleries. Eleanor Jewett comments about Tunis'
portrait when she writes in her Chicago Tribune review,

            ...Tunis Ponsen's self-portrait is not only an excellent likeness but also the story of the man inside, plodding, determined, forever earnest and honest
      During this period, Tunis forms a close lifetime friendship with fellow Chicago artist,

Ethel Crouch Brown. She had been one of his pupils at the School of the AIC when he served
as a graduate instructor. Ethel and her husband and son also travel from Chicago to Michigan each year for a summer vacation in the greater Benton Harbor area. Tunis and Ethel paint together regularly.

                                                                              1933

       Early in the year, the AIC selects Tunis' new work, The River, for inclusion in the 37th annual Artists of Chicago exhibition. In May, the South Side Art Association holds its annual exhibition at the Hotel Sherman. Tunis is represented by three paintings, Castles of Today, View from the Hill and Boothbay Harbor.

       But the exciting event of 1933 for all of Chicago is the Great Chicago World's Fair. After five years of planning, the Century of Progress Exhibition celebrating 100th anniversary of Chicago's incorporation as a city is scheduled to open in June. A large new complex of buildings has been constructed to showcase Chicago to the world. The AIC is planning a major exhibition which will highlight the significant art movements of the past century along with the works of important contemporary artists worldwide. Artist's participation will be by invitation only.

       The AIC has planned two separate exhibitions for the Chicago World's Fair which will run concurrently in two different wings of the museum from June 1 through November 1. Tunis is honored when his painting, Rock Quarry,(cat. #TP402) is included in "A Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture." More surprising is the inclusion in "A Century of Progress Exhibition of Prints" of a Ponsen lithograph. Daniel Catton Rich of the museum staff has learned that Tunis is doing some experimenting with lithography. He is taken enough with the results to include The Village Church in the cataloged portion of the exhibition. (Three others, Canal Bridge in Delft, Dutch Farmhouse and Old Farmhouse, are included in an uncatalogued selection of prints which are available to the public for purchase.) As the exhibition catalog lists the participating artists in alphabetical order, Tunis finds himself listed between Pablo Picasso and George Rouault.

       During the year, Tunis is represented in a Chicago artists exhibition at the Increase Robinson Galleries by two works, The Fair and Gray Day. In December, the DIA includes Village Windmill and Chicago Towers in the annual Michigan Artists Exhibition.

                                                                           1934

       Like many others, Tunis is feeling the effects of the Great Depression. Artistic recognition
has not brought with it the financial rewards needed for him to continue to devote full time to his own work. After seven years at the house on Oakenwald, Tunis needs more studio space so that he can supplement his income from the sale of his own works. A South Side newspaper reports,

            Tunis Ponsen sends word that he has opened a studio at 1031 East 45th Street where he will conduct classes in drawing and painting on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Tunis will work in this studio for the next 16 years.

       No less than eight exhibitions include works by Tunis Ponsen during 1934. At the AIC's 38th annual Artists of Chicago exhibit, he is represented by After the Storm and Hill Village & Harbor. The Toledo Museum of Art includes Rock Quarry in its 21st Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by Contemporary American Artists.

       Hills in Michigan, Still Life and Dutch Farmyard are shown at the Chicago Society of Artists annual exhibition. The John P. Harding Galleries assembles a follow-up 2nd International Exhibition of Prints at the Century of Progress Graphic Arts Building which includes Tunis' lithograph, House By the Bridge. At the Orrington Hotel in Evanston, the University Guild of Evanston organizes an Exhibition of Paintings by Artists of Chicago. Tunis is represented by Boat Houses.
      At the Chicago Galleries Association, Tunis is one of four featured artists. Eleanor Jewett

covers the event for the Chicago Tribune,

            The Chicago Galleries, 220 North Michigan Avenue, opened an exhibit of recent work by artist members yesterday. The artists concerned are Tunis Ponsen, Richard Chase,
Curry Bohm and Arthur G. Rider. The little center gallery is hung with the paintings by Tunis Ponsen. These give a cheerful and colorful effect, although nothing of great importance emerges from the first impetuous glow the room arouses. However, the paintings fall into order after a second look and one comes out with a distinct recollection of the large interior,"The Japanese Vase', a striking arrangement, the grays in 'South Chicago', the warm creams of Fishing on the Bridge', and the simple excellence of 'Portrait Sketch'.

       During 1934, Tunis paints what he will later come to regard as one of his finest works, Chicago Silhouettes (cat. #TP239). The year ends with the inclusion of Hill Village & Harbor in the annual Michigan Artists Exhibition at the DIA.

                                                                             1935

        This is a quiet year for Tunis. There are no museum exhibitions of his work. To help struggling
artists financially during the Great Depression, the Public Works of Art Project purchases artworks which are then donated to various public institutions. In May, the Liberty Township High School holds an art exhibition. Group B consists of paintings and drawings acquired by the school from this project. #5 in Group B is
titled Winter Scene, an oil painting by Tunis Ponsen.

       At the Chicago Society of Artists November exhibition, Tunis is represented by Wrecking the old Mansion and The Approaching Storm.

                                                                             1936

      In February, Tunis shows Wrecking the Old Mansion at the Chicago Galleries Association. The AlC includes December Snow in its annual Artists of Chicago exhibition. Tunis is once again represented in the DIA's Michigan Artists Exhibition.

                                                                             1937

       Winter Morning is selected for the 41st annual Artists of Chicago show at the AlC. The Chicago Galleries Association includes Michigan Landscape and the Chicago Society of Artists Approaching Storm in their annual exhibits. At the 12th annual fall exhibit of the All Illinois Society of the Fine Arts at the Stevens Hotel, Tunis is represented by A Grain Elevator and The Abandoned Stone Quarry. In December, Tunis exhibits in the annual Michigan Artists Exhibition at the DIA for the eighth and final time.

                                                                             1938

       In March, the All Illinois Society of the Fine Arts holds its third annual exhibit of watercolors. Tunis has been working more and more in the watercolor medium and submits An Old Farm House (the Benton Harbor farm) and A Small Dutch Shipyard. Grant Park Harbor is included in the 42nd annual Artists of Chicago exhibition at the AIC.

       In May at the Drake Hotel, the All Illinois Society of the Fine Arts holds what will be the only major retrospective exhibition of Tunis Ponsen's lifetime. Tunis selects 40 paintings which span his career to date. Chicago Silhouettes is illustrated on the exhibition program cover.

Chicago Tribune art critic, Eleanor Jewett, covers the exhibition. The headline reads,

             "Warm Colors Make News in Ponsen Exhibit," by Eleanor Jewett. The All-Illinois

Society of Fine Arts is sponsoring a show of paintings by Tunis Ponsen at the Drake Hotel.
           Mr. Ponsen has long been one of our more intelligent and diligent painters. He has shown

in many exhibitions and has received various honors. For a time one associated his name with canvases which were rather melancholy in character - rainy days seemed to have a fascination
for him - and when he got a rainy day in conjunction with a nice wet expanse of tranquil
lake, Mr. Ponsen was right in his element. There was nothing he could do about it but paint it and then we had another moment of tranquil pathos to live through, even though our enthusiasm for his picture was real.

            In the present exhibition this passion for grays is enlarged to a sincere liking of clear, warm colors and from a narrow stroke Mr. Ponsen has loosened his technique into a rolling, nonchalant freedom that lends itself admirably to the painting of landscape. The 'Rolling Hills' is probably the best illustration of this departure of the painter's talent.

            Mr. Ponsen has a delightful sense of composition and of contrast. One of his most
brilliant canvases is, 'A Rainy Day', where, from inside a warm, dry room replete with comfort (a state symbolized by an open book on the window- seat and a still smoking cigarette on an ashtray), one looks out upon a brisk April morning with young leaves on the trees and a fresh spring rain slanting down the street to the dismay of two young persons who are caught in it.
      (Note: In her review, Ms. Jewett has confused A Rainy Day (cat. #TP248) with The Burning Cigarette (cat #TP249).

            Another fascinating picture is the 'Still Life Arrangement', for which the artist's studio was plundered of many treasures. The detail in this is superb and the whole effect stunning.
      Other than his regular trips to Michigan, Tunis has not traveled outside of the greater Chicago area

since the 1929 trip to Boothbay Harbor, Maine. This summer a return visit to Gloucester. Gloucester Harbor (cat.#TP232) results from this trip. In Gloucester, Tunis meets a young woman, Frances Cordes, with whom

he will exchange letters for several years.
      While Tunis is not aware of it his years of regular exhibitions in major art museums are at an end.

Works by Tunis Ponsen have been included in important m exhibitions 34 times in the prior 17 years. There will be just two more during his lifetime. Those will occur 11 and 29 years into the future.

                                                                                  1939

      The year begins with a special January three-person exhibition at the Chicago Galleries Association. Paul T. Gilbert covers the event for the Chicago Herald and Examiner. 

            A triple show in one of Chicago's headquarters of conservatism is drawing much favorable comment.Ruth Van Sickle Ford, Charles W. Dahlgren and Tunis Ponsen are having three one-man shows this month at the Chicago Galleries Association, 215 N. Michigan av.

            ...Tunis Ponsen is showing both landscapes and still lifes, and his views of the Gloucester area are particularly charming. In 'Harbor Scene' the boats rock quietly at the wharf, the water blue and serene. His work makes a refreshingly clean and harmonious impression.
      At the spring exhibition of the South Side Art Association held at the Sibelius Club in April, Tunis is

represented by An Old Harbor. That same month the Chicago Society of Artists celebrates its 50th anniversary with a major exhibition. Tunis' Old Blacksmith Shop and The Abandoned Stone Quarry are included. Eleanor Jewett writes in the Chicago Tribune under a headline which reads, "HITS WPA ART PROJECT FOR AID TO BAD PAINTING." She writes,

            ..If you can overlook the WPA pseudo-art, there are several adequate paintings in the exhibit, paintings which would count as good art in any company. There are 'Old Blacksmith Shop' by
Tunis Ponsen..
      In June, Tunis receives a letter from one of his new friends from the Gloucester trip the year before, Frances Cordes. She writes, "I was sorry to hear that you are so discouraged with the financial results of of your painting. I do hope the summer's work will mean success for you..."

       The Great Depression has made life so difficult for Tunis that he resorts to removing finished paintings from their stretchers so that he can reuse them for new paintings. (Later, his estate will include dozens of these flat canvases, all of them the same size, 20" x 24")

        That summer, Tunis makes his fifth extended trip seeking new and fresh locations for his painting. This time he travels to the tip of the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec Province, Canada. He returns with a large number of watercolors and small oil sketches on artist's board. These sketches and the larger versions which are painted back in Chicago are noticeably brighter than the New England paintings of the 1926 trip to Provincetown, the 1927 visit to Gloucester, the 1929 Boothbay Harbor paintings and, to a lesser extent, the prior summer's Gloucester paintings.

      In Europe, World War II has begun.

                                                                            1940

       In February, Tunis hears again from Frances Cordes, who writes, "It certainly was a welcomed letter indeed, and I am very glad to hear from you. However, I am very sorry to know by it that you have not been faring well from your painting. I really can't blame you for not caring to write if things make you feel so low. I enjoyed watching you paint in Gloucester - on the hill that warm Sunday morning and by the docks at dusk. You did paint it so expressively that I know that it is not your painting that lacks personality, it is that things are not going well no matter what the trade."

       Early in the year, the South Side Art Association opens its season. The Chicago Tribune's Eleanor Jewett reports,

            The South Side Art Association is entering its sixteenth year of exhibits and its first exhibit

this season is in the club woman's bureau, Mandle Brothers. Five paintings are outstanding. The association is composed of artists and patrons.

            'The Harbor' by Tunis Ponsen bears his familiar print. Mr. Ponsen has painted another of those gray days of which he is so fond and gives us boats and dock and the general air of placidity that his harbor scenes generally wear. It is an artist's picture and well handled
      During the summer, the Chicago Navy Pier Art Exhibit hosts the Fourth Annual Exhibition of Works

by Chicago Artists. Tunis is represented by Gaspe Shoreline and An Old House.
      The busy fall schedule finds Tunis participating in two important exhibits. At the Chicago Galleries

Association, he is once again one of three artists selected for a special showing. Eleanor Jewett writes,

             Tunis Ponsen has an attractive group of landscapes to his credit in this same exhibition. He has one especially fine portrait of a young man, presented simply and naturally, but very well painted.

           A landscape in grays is most intriguing. There are a few little summer landscapes that
have feeling and atmosphere and on the whole one can write this group of pictures down to the credit side of a painter who has given us in earlier days many and many a worthwhile composition.

 Various one-man exhibits of interest are scattered about town. In the Tudor gallery, Chicago Woman's Club, are paintings by Tunis Ponsen. Mr. Ponsen is well known for his delightful landscapes and more than delightful water scenes.avail.
        Late in the year, Eleanor Jewett again writes about Tunis under a column headline which reads,

"TUNIS PONSEN IS MASTER OF WATER SCENES." She continues,

              Various one-man exhibits of interest are scattered about town. In the Tudor gallery, Chicago Woman's Club, are paintings by Tunis Ponsen. Mr. Ponsen is well known for his delightful landscapes and more than delightful water scenes.

             He paints a dock on a rainy day with a verisimilitude that sets you worrying about your lack of an umbrella. Just to hold one would give you greater courage to face that rhythmic drip.

       The following week, Eleanor Jewett reviews the same exhibit in more detail under the column heading, "LIKES PONSEN'S EXHIBIT OF HARBOR SCENES". She writes,

            One of the most distinguished of the month's exhibitions is that of landscapes and harbor scenes by Tunis Ponsen at the Tudor gallery, Chicago Woman's Club. Mr. Ponsen is one of our well-known painters and his work is always a delight. These recent paintings were done on the Gaspe, that tongue of Canada which is still rich in primitive living, and at Gloucester .

            'In Port' is a colorful little canvas showing a fishing boat drawn up beside the wharf. The shadows in the water are beautifully handled and the color and theme remind one of a Japanese print.

            'Lifting Fog' is another striking picture, the grays as smooth and wet as fog itself. A group of tiny pictures is most intriguing and the larger paintings well repay a visit.

During the year, the 22-year-old Angenita marries H. Kenneth Morris. Ken becomes fast friends with Tunis who is a guest at their wedding.

                                                                                 1941

        In February, Tunis celebrates his fiftieth birthday.
     In June, Edith Weigle reports in a Chicago newspaper,

            The pleasant June days of the last week have seen the opening of several new exhibitions. At the Windermere Hotel the members of the South Side Art Association are holding their summer show. More than 80 paintings are on view.

            A number of prizes have been awarded..It was doubtless difficult for the judges to give the prizes in the still life compositions for there were so many submitted and a number were of almost equal excellence. Tunis Ponsen's first prize winner, called simply 'Still Life', proves again that the

humblest objects may hold great beauty, for here are assembled onion sprouts, a few eggs in an overturned bowl, and a pitcher, all painted finely, delicately in subdued silvery tones. Ethel Crouch Brown's lively, vivid green 'Plants' was awarded second prize...

       In October, Tunis is again one of three artists featured at the Chicago Galleries Association. Ernest Heitkamp reviews the show in a Chicago newspaper as follows,

            Paintings by Marcena Barton, Tunis Ponsen and William Hollingsworth, Jr. are being shown by the Chicago Galleries Association for the next three weeks.

            Here we have a diversified and balanced show-something for almost every taste. Marcena Barton shows cityscapes, landscapes and still lifes; Ponsen shows landscapes around Chicagoland, and Hollingsworth offers his sympathetic interpretations of the Southland.

            The show also offers three different ways of painting. Take the two ways represented by Marcena Barton and Ponsen. They both paint things around Chicago, yet how different are
their individual interpretations. You may prefer the tight manner of Marcena Barton; or, on the other hand, you may prefer the looser brushing of Tunis Ponsen. But stand away from these pictures and try to forget how they were done and judge only by the results. It's the picture that counts... Another Chicago paper reports,

            The Chicago Galleries Association opened an attractive exhibition yesterday which will continue to Oct. 27... Tunis Ponsen shares the gallery with Marcena Barton with a fine array of landscapes and scenes painted around Chicago. Mr. Ponsen came from Holland many years ago, but there is still more than a little of the Dutch in his psychology and where Miss Barton is apt to give
us keen edges and a practical approach, Mr. Ponsen wraps every idea in his pictures with a wisp of mellow sentiment. One feels his heart behind his paintings while perhaps one is more cognizant of the brain behind Miss Barton's work.
      Also in October, the Chicago Society of Artists

holds an exhibition of the works of selected members at the Riverside Museum in New York City. The exhibition catalog forward reads (in part), "...An exhibition of representative Chicago artists could never speak for any one school. Here now, as always, are the products of every culture, climate and background. Here again will proof be borne that the American scene is no more apposite to the Middle West than abstractionism is the clew to Paris. Five Ponsen works are included; three oils, Boat Houses, An Old Blacksmith Shop and Old House, Lemont, Illinois, and two watercolors, Chicago River Scene and Still Life.

         December 7 - Pearl Harbor - the United States enters WWII.

                                                                                 1942

         With all attention focused on the war effort, art exhibitions seem out of place and are few and far between. Tunis' only exhibition of the year is a one-person showing of 20 paintings at the Elm Place School in suburban Highland Park.

                                                                                 1943

      In the Chicago Tribune edition of December 29, 1943, Rita Fitzpatrick writes about the wartime Chicago art scene,

            Chicago is the cultural center of America and the future art center of the world, Dr. Dudley Crafts Watson, painter, author and lecturer at the Art Institute, told members of the Rotary Club of Chicago yesterday. Dr. Watson, along with twenty other well-known Chicago artists, was a special guest at the club's holiday luncheon at the Hotel Sherman.

            Dr. Watson introduced the guest artists, each of whom brought a prize painting to exhibit. Among them were Joseph Allworthy, Frances Badger, Charles Biesel, Marie Blanke, Ray Breinan, Ethel Crouch Brown, Edith Cassady, Richard A. Chase, Frank V. Dudley, Rowena
Fry, Elmer Forsberg. Adolph Heinz, Rudolph Ingerle, Raymond Katz, Winifred Pleinling,

Albin Polasek, Tunis Ponsen, Flora Scolfield and Ethel Spears.

                                                                                 1945

       Tunis joins the faculty of the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts where he will teach for more than twenty years. The Academy is second only to the School of the AIC as a source of professional instruction for serious students.

       A Joliet (Illinois) Herald News story in April gives us the only surviving first-hand account of Tunis painting technique. It reads,

            With bold swift strokes, Tunis Ponsen made a vigorous and unusual still life come into being in a little more than an hour's work Sunday afternoon, when the Joliet Artist's League observed
its April hospitality day.

            Herbert Lemcke, program chairman introduced Mr. Ponsen who, though he is not accustomed to demonstrating in public, belied his spoken timidity by painting just as though he
were alone. He opened his demonstration with this remark, 'In a still life painting, you have to feel movement in the whole composition,' and he illustrated this with his basic charcoal sketch and again in the use of color.

            In painting, Mr. Ponsen used long, straight strokes, much as he did in drawing. 'Straight lines are stronger than curved ones,' said the speaker. 'Even an apple must be drawn in straight structural lines first. This gives strength and depth.' He worked from the basic color to the lighter reflections and objected to too much superimposing because the clarity of color is then lost and a muddy effect results.

            The active members of the Art League who were fortunate to see Mr. Ponsen's demonstration were amazed at the speed of his performance and looseness of his style: the bold long brush strokes, and the vigor and interest of the completed composition. Mr. Ponsen then did an abstraction of the same still life set up in pastels to illustrate interest in masses.

       Eleanor Jewett mentions one of Tunis' newer works in the July 1, 1945, Chicago Tribune when she writes,

            The artists of Chicago are well represented in two exhibitions that have been attracting attention. The Chicago No-Jury Society of Artists has a representative show in the Club Woman's bureau while the South Side Art Association has a large and varied group of pictures by professional members.

            ... We found the watercolors in the large room the most attractive things on view, though an oil by Tunis Ponsen, 'LowTide', won us completely in another room. Tunis Ponsen has struck a new high in this Gaspe beachscape and its sparkle and vigor are sufficiently outstanding to make it a noteworthy contribution to any exhibition. It has character, subtlety and beauty. It is a remarkable record of one of the most picturesque spots on the Canadian coast.

                                                                             1947

       Chicago Society of Artists again holds an exhibition at the Riverside Museum in New York City. The catalog forward reads (in part), "Chicago is a vast and cosmopolitan city; its artists are just as varied and as rich. They paint according to their tastes and interests, and they shall be judged solely by the quality of their work.

            “The Chicago Society of Artists, again, as at our previous exhibitions at the Riverside Museum in 1939, 1941 and 1944, presents to New York what is, we feel, typical of the best art trends in present-day Chicago. Tunis is represented by two watercolors, Heavy Snow and The Back Door.

                                                                              1949

       Eleven years have elapsed since a painting by Tunis Ponsen has been exhibited at the AIC. As an honored alumnus of the School of the AIC, Tunis is invited to exhibit in a special showing of work by older alumni that will open one week after the 53rd Annual Exhibition of Artists of Chicago. Tunis accepts and is included in both shows. The 53rd annual exhibit includes Storm Clouds in Spring and the alumni show Snow in an Alley (sic] (cat. #TP253).

                                                                                    1950

       In January, Tunis is one of two artists featured in a two-person exhibit at The Chicago Galleries Tribune art critic. Eleanor Jewett writes,

            The Chicago Galleries Association has a Superb January show of landscapes by John Bacus and landscapes and other subjects in oil by Tunis Snow Fences' and 'Tree Against Clouds' are two outstanding canvases by Mr. Ponsen. Among the loveliest of the countrysides by John Bacus are 'Misty Morning' and 'Deep in the Ozarks'. This is a MUST exhibition.Another Chicago paper reviews the same exhibition

            ....Tunis Ponsen paints with a stronger brush than Bacus. His "Tree Against Clouds' is wonderfully effective. The 'Snow Fence',a smaller canvas, is handled with skill and imagination. The whites are fascinating, pointed by the thread of color in the fences. 'My Old Coffee Pot is outstanding among the several sturdy still lifes and 'Overpass is a beautiful incident of bridge and boats. The exhibit by Mr. Ponsen is one of the finest that we remember in some time.Writing in the Chicago Daily News of March 13, C. J. Bulliet comments about a Ponsen painting in an exhibition held at Mandle's by the Artists League of the Midwest. Bulliet writes,

            Tunis Ponsen's winter scene is glamorous with snow, which, however, fails to destroy the ruggedness of the rural spot it covers. Ponsen, Hollander by birth, has something of the vitality of Van Gogh and Israels in his makeup.

                                                                              1951

       In February, Tunis is the subject of a one-person exhibition of recent watercolors. The Chicago Tribune headlines the event "STUNNING SHOW ON EXHIBITION IN WOMAN'S CLUB." Eleanor Jewett writes,

            February has been remarkable for the number of attractive exhibitions in the galleries. A great many one-man shows added distinctly to the pleasure. The beautiful new gallery of the Chicago Woman's Club, 318 S. Michigan Ave., gave us an interesting group of water colors by Tunis Ponsen, a show which will run over into March. 

            Mr. Ponsen has outdone himself in a number of the paintings, especially in the beautiful 'Old Tree'. It is one of the loveliest pictures of the year.Mr. Ponsen also has been successful in a well handled winter landscape of snowy fields and with a charming fruit tree in full blossom. A row of willows bowing in the wind is a little suggestive of Van Gogh.

                                                                             1952

       Tunis has been enjoying a period of financial success. His own works have been selling steadily and he has been successful as a teacher, both in his own private studio and at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts where he is now a regular instructor. With the money he has saved since the end of the war, he realizes along held dream and purchases his own home, the first he has ever owned. The house at 5809 Harper Avenue in Hyde Park (adjacent to Chicago) is a large, sprawling frame structure built in the 19th century. The house is located just a few blocks from the University of Chicago. It is so large that Tunis not only has plenty of room for his own living quarters and studio, but also several rooms which he is able to rent out to university students. Tunis now has enough extra room so that his Michigan relatives stay with him during their Chicago visits. 

       The Harper Avenue house has a regular flow of visitors. Some are pupils who come for private andgroup art lessons. Others are collectors who are interested in Tunis' work and want to own one of his paintings or watercolors. Neighbors report that it is a common sight to see someone leaving Tunis' home and walking down the street with a painting tucked under their arm. The remaining years are ones of peace and prosperity for the Dutch immigrant who almost forty years earlier came to America so that he and his childhood sweetheart, Cato Van Boekering, could live their lives together in the new land.

                                                                        1953-1960

       Tunis continues to participate regularly in the wide range of exhibitions that have become "standard" for successful artists of Chicago. These include the Chicago Galleries Association, the AIl-Illinois Society of the Fine Arts, the Renaissance Society, the Chicago Society of Artists and the Association of Chicago Painters and Sculptors. However, unlike past years when Tunis was more often than not the "star of so many exhibitions, he is now one of many included in the alphabetical lists of participating artists. He has become one of the generation of Chicago artists, still highly respected but relegated to the past.Some indication that Tunis still retains the same consistent high skill levels that have always distinguished his work is found in a Chicago Tribune review in April, 1955. Eleanor Jewett writes,

              One of the finest events to occur in the current exhibitions about town is the awarding to Adam Emory Albright, veteran Chicago painter, of the All-Illinois Society of Fine Artsfirst prize for oils...Other excellent awards were made in this exhibit... The Margaret Dingle Memorial Award went to Tunis Ponsen for his fine stretch of shoreland, 'Fishermen's Homes'.

       In 1956, the Illinois State Fair holds its tenth juried art exhibit of the work of professional artists in Springfield. This year, professional artists from seven midwestern states are invited to submit entries. Tunis is represented by an oil which he titles My Studio Window. While still a regular instructor at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, Tunis has also become the teaching director of the Blue Island Art Club and the instructor of the Flossmoor Art Group, two local groups of amateur painters.

       With the death of Adam Emory Albright in 1957, the 66-year-old Tunis Ponsen becomes the Grand Old Man of the Chicago art scene.

       In May, 1958, Tunis is represented by an oil still life in the annual exhibition of works by artist members of The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago.

                                                                                     1961

       Two important exhibitions remain. In 1961, Tunis, now age 70 (fig. 6), is invited to assemble a group of paintings for a two-person exhibition at the downtown Chicago Public Library. The Hyde Park Herald of July 19 reports,

            A critic once said, "There is a kind of blunt Dutch honesty in a painting by Tunis Ponsen. He is never guilty of adding sugar and spice that might make a rich and popular pastry for rapid
and eager consumption. Rather, his work is as substantial and wholesome as bread - and no more

difficult to digest.' Just how well he spoke can be determined by visiting the Art Department of the Chicago Public Library. Ponsen is showing 13 paintings, beginning August 3 and continuing through

the month. A resident of Hyde Park, 5809 Harper Avenue, Tunis Ponsen's paintings reflect his community and his interests. Included in the library show are 'Demolition in Hyde Park' (cat. #TP363), 'Illinois Central Track', 'An Old Barn in the Dunes', 'Heavy Snow' (cat. #TP255), 'In Front of My Fireplace', 'Approaching Storm', 'Old Apple Tree' [sic] (cat. #TP252) and others.

            The Chicago Tribune publishes its final review of a Tunis Ponsen exhibition on July 30. The review, which also includes a photo of Heavy Snow, reads,

            One of Chicago's older artists, and a young innovator will share the walls of the Art Room in the Public Library during August.

            Tunis Ponsen, for many years a member of the Chicago Society of Artists and the Renaissance Society, was born in the Netherlands and studied under the Dutch sculptor, August Falise and the famous war cartoonist, Louis Raemaekers. In Chicago, he continued his art studies under Karl Buehr, George Oberteuffer and Leon Kroll at the Art Institute and took part in many group shows
in the 1920s and '30s. He has shown in other cities winning prizes and awards.

            Mr. Ponsen is a traditional painter of the impressionist school. His subjects are urban scenes and country landscapes. His palette is usually quiet and subdued; his work simple, solid, full of integrity. His followers feel an affection for his paintings, just as they do for those of his contemporary, the late Jeffrey Grant.

            Mr. Ponsen, who is now in his 70th year, says frankly that his work is of the conservative school. He has no prejudice against nonobjective painting, but feels that it should be judged on its own merits, and that traditional art should not
be looked at from the nonobjective point ofview. Both types
of art have their place in our era, he feels.

                                                                                 1962

       In May, the community of Hyde Park celebrates the centennial of its founding. Among other planned events is an exhibition of the work of the major artists who lived and painted in Hyde Park between 1890 and the present. The 45 artists selected include Carducius Plantagenet Ream, Karl Albert Buehr, Loredo Taft,

Oliver Dennett Grover, Charles Frances Browne, Aaron Bohrod, Jessie Arms Botke and Tunis Ponsen.                 Tunis is represented by an oil, Cherry Orchard, Benton Harbor.

     Illinois Central Hospital. Mr. Ponsen was a landscape artist and taught at the Ch    icago Academy of             Fine Arts since 1945. He leaves a niece.

       There is one last hurrah for 76-year-old Tunis Ponsen. In June, he receives a letter from Mrs. Russell M. Damm inviting him to exhibit once more at the Hackley Art Gallery in Muskegon. It has been 36 years since his last exhibition there. Tunis responds,

            Dear Mrs. Damm:
          Your letter of June 5 certainly brought back many memories. I recall the pleasant times and

the friendships of so many people connected with the Hackley Gallery, which goes way back (I hate to admit it) to World War I days and it is hard to believe that so many years have passed. It was during the time I painted the children of Mr. & Mrs. Harold Thurston, when I had an exhibit at
the Hackley Gallery and "The Friends of Art" purchased my painting 'Yacht Club Pier, Boothbay

Harbor, Maine.' I recall vividly the pleasant association with the Thurstons, the Almys who was the director at that time. I still remember meeting the first director, Mr. Raymond Wyer, and, of course, the friendship and encouragement of Miss Lulu Miller, who became the gallery's second director,

I always will cherish deeply.
           Mr. Rinle Oldenburg, the custodian for many years, Mr. Wilbur Kensler, teacher and artist

were wonderful friends to me
           But I better stop reminiscing. Now, in regard to giving a program and holding an exhibit.

I have to admit that this will be a little difficult for me. I have given a few painting demonstrations for art groups but that was a few years ago. Giving a lecture will also be difficult for me.

            Also I haven't a car which makes it perhaps a little more difficult. Now, would it be possible for you and some other members of "The Friends of Art" to come to Chicago and visit my studio and to see my latest paintings.

             I have kept up painting all these years, besides teaching at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. I am still considered a conservative artist with a modern trend. I have tried some abstract painting,

which, as you know, is very popular. So I would like to show my work to you before we would decide on a one-man exhibit.

            Or perhaps the present director of the Hackley Gallery could also visit my studio to see my paintings. It is very easy to reach my studio by car as it is close to the University of Chicago.

            I surely appreciate to have the opportunity, through your letter, to renew my connection with the "Friends of Art" and the Hackley Gallery. Hope to hear from you again. Thank you very

much.
Most sincerely, Tunis Ponsen
      While awaiting a response from Muskegon, Tunis gets what must have been a sad letter for him

ending his 22-year association with the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Dated July 7, 1967, the l letter reads,

            Dear Mr. Ponsen:

            It is with the utmost regret that I find we will be unable to renew your classes for the coming school year.

I am personally grateful to you for your devoted teaching of previous years, and hope, that in the future we may have you instruct at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts again.
Sincerely, James Paulus, Dean

       In Muskegon, the Friends of the Art at the Hackley Gallery persist and Tunis selects 12 paintings for what will be his final exhibition. They include Chicago Silhouettes (cat. #24), Midwest Backyards
(cat. #TP244), Gloucester Harbor (cat. #TP232), Morning On The River Seine (cat. #TP237), and
A Rainy Day (cat. #TP248). He travels to Muskegon for the November opening where he expresses his gratitude for his American beginnings a half-century earlier. (Four months later, the artist will be dead. How fitting it seems that the final exhibition of Tunis Ponsen's long career takes place at the Hackley Gallery, the same site of his very first exhibition 46 years earlier.)

                                                                           1968

       In January, Tunis slips on a patch of ice while walking to a nearby store and fractures his collarbone. He calls Angenita from the hospital to tell her what has happened. Angenita and her husband, Ken, travel to Chicago every weekend. While recuperating in the hospital, Tunis suffers a gallbladder attack which requires surgery. Peritonitis sets in and Tunis dies on March 9.

       It is ironic that after so many lengthy reviews during his long, illustrious career as an important Chicago artist, The Chicago Tribune of March 11, 1968, requires just four sentences to report the death of

this now obscure painter.

            Services for Tunis Ponsen, 77, of 5809 Harper
Avenue, will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow in the chapel at 2121 W. 95th St. He died Saturday in Illinois Central Hospital. Mr. Ponsen was a landscape artist and taught at the Chicago Academy of  Fine Arts since 1945. He leaves a niece.