Notable people · Artist · Teacher
Vance Kirkland
Born in Convoy, Van Wert County, Kirkland moved to Denver in 1929 and founded the art school at the University of Denver. He painted about 1,200 works, from watercolors to his dot paintings, and saw sound as color.
At a glance
- Born
- 1904-11-03
- Died
- 1981-05-24
- Education
- Cleveland School of Art, Cleveland, OH, to 1928, Diploma in Painting (1927); Bachelor of Education in Art (1928)
- Known as
- Artist, Teacher
- Organizations
- University of Denver, Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art
Life story
Vance Hall Kirkland was born November 3, 1904, in Convoy, Ohio. He later dropped his middle name, his mother's maiden name, from his artist's signature.
He studied at the Cleveland School of Art, earning a painting diploma in 1927 and an art education degree in 1928. In 1929 he moved to Denver and stayed the rest of his life.
He was founding director of the University of Denver School of Art, and ran his own Kirkland School of Art from 1932 to 1946. Over five creative periods he painted around 1,200 works, from realist watercolors to abstract expressionism and his dot paintings.
Kirkland said he heard sound as color, and named composers such as Mahler, Bartok and Ives as inspiration. He died in Denver on May 24, 1981. The Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, which opened in 2003 and moved in 2018, keeps his work on view.
Timeline
- 1904-11-03: Born (Convoy, OH) source
- 1927: Earns painting diploma at Cleveland School of Art (Cleveland, OH) source
- 1928: Earns art education degree (Cleveland, OH) source
- 1929: Moves to Denver; becomes founding director of University of Denver School of Art (Denver, CO) source
- 1932: Opens his own Kirkland School of Art (to 1946) (Denver, CO) source
- 1941: Marries Anne Fox Oliphant source
- 1981-05-24: Dies at age 76 (Denver, CO) source
What Vance is known for
- Founding director of the University of Denver School of Art
- About 1,200 paintings in five periods, 1926-1981
- About 1,200 paintings
Honors and things named for them
- Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, Denver
Family
- wife: Anne Fox Oliphant (m. 1941, d. 1970)
Ohio places
Where Vance Kirkland was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.
- Born: Convoy, Van Wert County ZIP 45832 · Convoy · Van Wert County
- School: Cleveland, Cuyahoga County ZIP 44106 · Cleveland · Cuyahoga County
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.
- Wikipedia: Vance Kirkland birth in Convoy, education, Denver career, synesthesia, museum, death 1981