Frederick K. Mizen (1888-1964), Los Angeles
A Gentleman from Calcutta, India from life, 30x26 Oil on Canvas
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Born
in Chicago, Frederic Mizen became a noted western genre and landscape
painter as well as illustrator, portraitist, and art teacher. From childhood,
he had heard stories of the West from his father who was secretary to
three generals active on the frontier. In Chicago, he attended the J.
Francis Smith Academy of Art, studied there with Walter Ufer, and then
enrolled in the Art Institute of Chicago. He also studied at the Academy
Julian in Paris. At age 20, he began an illustration assignment with
Joseph P. Berren Studios for a Sears catalogue and continued commercial
art, doing the first billboard ad for Coca Cola as well as numerous
magazine covers including "Saturday Evening Post," the "American," and
"Collier's." He also was successful financially with his advertising
work for automobile manufacturers to promote travel, and created illustrations
for Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Packard and others. During the summers, he
painted in the West, joining Walter Ufer in Taos, New Mexico, which
was becoming an established art colony. After Mizen established his
own art school in Chicago, he regularly took students to Taos in the
summers. In 1931, on illustration assignment from Coca Cola, he depicted
a Coca-Cola drinking group of people in a painting titled "Old Faithful
Inn at Old Faithful Geiser" in Yellowstone National Park. In 1936, he
founded the Frederic Mizen Academy of Art in Chicago and did Indian
studies and Southwest landscapes for the Santa Fe Railroad. He also
received numerous portrait commissions. For eight years, 1952 to 1960,
he Chaired the Department of Art of Baylor University, and he was a
member of the Art Institute of Chicago.
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