Karl Wolfe


Karl Wolfe was an American portrait painter and stained glass, mosaic and terracotta artist from the state of Mississippi. He did over 1,000 paintings, including 800 portraits.

Life

Wolfe was born on January 25, 1903 in Brookhaven, Mississippi. He grew up in Columbia, Mississippi, and he graduated from the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.
Wolfe was a portrait painter, stained glass, mosaic and terracotta artist in Jackson, Mississippi for five decades. He did over 1,000 paintings, including 800 portraits. His portraits depicted Mississippi governors, justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court, and even presidents; for example, his portrait President Andrew Jackson was installed in the Jackson City Hall. Wolfe co-designed a bronze sculpture for the Mitchell Memorial Library at Mississippi State University. Wolfe co-founded the Mississippi Art Colony in Way, Mississippi in 1948, and he taught art at Millsaps College.
Wolfe married Mildred Nungester, also a painter, and they had a son, Michael, and a daughter, Elizabeth. He died on November 19, 1984 in Jackson, Mississippi, at age 80, and he was buried in the Lakewood Memorial Park.

Works