Cajori, Charles

Painter and teacher Charles Cajori (b. 1921) has worked in New York City and Connecticut.

Born in Palo Alto, California, Charles Cajori studied painting at Colorado College and the Cleveland Art School. Cajori served in the United States Air Force during World War II. Upon his return, he attended Columbia University and then spent two years at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where he became acquainted with Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, and other Abstract Expressionist artists.

Charles Cajori was one of the founding members of the Tanager Gallery, an early artists' cooperative gallery, originally located at 90 East Tenth Street in New York, which provided a venue for contemporary artists to exhibit their work. In 1956, Charles Cajori had his first solo exhibition at the Tanager Gallery and since then, has been continuously showing his work in numerous solo and group exhibitions in the United States and abroad including American University, Bertha Schaeffer Gallery, David Findlay Jr. Gallery, El Museo de Bellas Artes de Caracas, Ingber Gallery, Lohin Geduld Gallery, Mattatuck Museum, New Arts Gallery, Paesaggio Gallery, Sala di Esposizione della Biblioteca Americana, Stable Gallery, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Charles Cajori's work is represented in a number of public and private collections including the Ciba-Geigy Corporation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Academy of Design, Walker Art Center, and the Weatherspoon Museum.

In conjunction with his activities as an artist, Charles Cajori has taught painting and drawing at major academic institutions and art schools: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Cooper Union, Cornell University, and the University of California at Berkeley. Cajori was a co-founder of the New York Studio School, where he continues to serve on the faculty.

Charles Cajori has received many honors for his work including the 1959 Distinction in the Arts, Yale University; Benjamin Altman, Figure Prize at the National Academy, 1983, 1987; the Childe Hassam Purchase Award by the Institute of Art and Letters Award, 1975-1976, 1980; and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, 1979. Also, Cajori was awarded a Fulbright grant to Italy, 1952-1953 and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1981.

Charles Cajori is married to the painter Barbara Grossman and they live in Watertown, Connecticut.

From the guide to the Charles Cajori papers, 1942-2011, (Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution)