Stark, Otto, 1859-1926

Engravings, lithographs, manuscripts, music covers, books and other printed materials primarily relating to 18th and 19th century English and American theatre.

Otto Stark (b. January 29, 1859, Indianapolis, Indiana; d. April 14, 1926, Indianapolis, Indiana);

Otto Stark (1859-1926) was an Indianapolis-born artist who gained national prominence as a member of the "Hoosier Group," a loose association of Indiana artists that included T. C. Steele, J. Ottis Adams, and William Forsyth. Stark's work most clearly showed the influence of Impressionism, and he often featured children in his work.</p>

</p>Stark's artistic career began at the age of 16 when he was apprenticed to a lithographer in Cincinnati. Stark also enrolled in the School of Design at the University of Cincinnati. He moved to New York in 1879, where he studied at the Art Students' League while supporting himself as an illustrator. Stark studied in Paris from 1885 to 1888, and he exhibited paintings in the Paris Salons of 1886 and 1887. He also married while living in France.

</p>Stark and his family returned to the United States in 1888, living first in New York and later in Philadelphia. After his wife's death in 1891, Stark moved back to Cincinnati. He returned to Indianapolis in 1893 and began offering art classes in his studio. He became the Supervisor of Art at Manual High School in 1899 and an instructor in composition and illustration at the John Herron Art Institute in 1905. He retired from both positions in 1919. As a teacher, Stark influenced such artists as William Edouard Scott, Elmer Taflinger, and John Wesley Hardrick.</p>

</p>Stark remained an active artist until his death. He exhibited paintings at shows in Chicago (1894), Omaha (1898), St. Louis (1904), Buenos Aires (1910), and San Francisco (1915) as well as in local and regional exhibits.</p>

</p>Otto Stark was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1859 to a family of cabinet makers. Following a minor injury that kept him from following in his father’s footsteps, Stark was apprenticed to a lithographer, and later studied art at the School of Design at the University of Cincinnati. Finishing School, Stark moved to New York for work as a designer and illustrator and to continue his art studies. After six years Stark had saved enough to travel to Paris to study at the Academie Julian. In 1886 Stark married a Parisian girl Marie Nitschelm. In that same year and the following, Stark’s works were selected to hang in the prestigious Paris Salon.</p>

</p>In 1888 the Starks moved to New York where Otto worked as a commercial artist while exhibiting at the National Academy of Design. Soon after moving to Philadelphia, Marie fell ill after delivering their fourth child and died soon afterward. Faced with raising four children on his own, Stark moved back to Indianapolis to enlist the help of his family in caring for his own. Following a brief period in Cincinnati, Stark returned to Indianapolis for good in 1893, opening a studio and teaching art lessons to support his extended family.</p>

</p>In 1899 Stark was selected Supervisor of Art at the Manual Training High School, and in 1902 began teaching at the new Herron Art School. Stark continued to teach and profoundly influence his students until 1919, when he devoted himself exclusively to easel painting. In 1926 Otto Stark suffered a stroke while visiting his daughter, and passed away several days later.</p>

Progressive educator, student of Thomas Dewey at the University of Chicago, served as head of the state Normal School at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, superintendent of the Felix Adler School of Ethical Culture in New York City and as head of teacher education in the city of Baltimore. The papers include extensive personal correspondence, scrapbooks, journals, writings and other materials concerning his professional interests. Correspondence includes letters from distinguished authors and educators.