Robert Sudlow
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Memorial services for Robert N. Sudlow, 90, Lawrence, will be held 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 31, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lawrence. A private family inurnment will be held prior to the service. He died Thursday, March 25, 2010 at his home. He was born February 25, 1920, in Holton, Kan., the son of Fred and Adria (Newton) Sudlow.
Mr. Sudlow studied with Albert Bloch at Kansas University, receiving a bachelor of fine arts, and then with Richard Diebenkorn at the California College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland, where he earned his master’s in fine arts. He studied at the Acade’mie Andre’ Lhote and the Acade’mie de la Grande Chaumie’re, both in Paris, and at the University of California, Berkeley. He enlisted in the Navy, where he served as a Navy rescue pilot in WWII and was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross.
He returned to Kansas in 1945, married Lillian Gehb of Berkeley, Calif., and began teaching at KU in 1947. He was appointed professor of drawing and painting and taught for 41 years, retiring in 1987 as professor emeritus of art. He received many fellowships and awards, including the Kansas Governor’s Artist Award, 1974, and Kansan of the Year by Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas in 1997. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and is included in the collections of the St. Louis Art Museum; Cleveland Museum of Art; Joslyn Art Museum; Mulvane Art Museum; Albrecht-Kemper Museum; Brooklyn Museum; Nelson-Atkins Museum; Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery; Spencer Museum of Art, Beach Museum of Art and many more. In 1987, Landscapes in Kansas, a book of Robert Sudlow’s paintings, was published by the University of Kansas Press, and in 2002, the book Spiritual Journeys: the Art of Robert Sudlow was published. He traveled to Lawrence’s sister city, Eutin, Germany, in 2001 and displayed his paintings there as part of a cultural exchange between the two cities. His art career encompassed more than 60 years and continued into retirement, as he expressed his love of nature by portraying the landscapes of Kansas through oil paintings and lithographs. His art was more than the images on canvas; it was how he lived his life and shared it with others. That capacity to transform how we see the world around us is an enduring legacy, as much as the special landscapes he bequeathed to all of us.
Mr. Sudlow married Barbara Keeler Wolf in 1985, and she survives of the home. Other survivors include his daughters Mitzi Sudlow and Amy Sudlow, Lawrence, Gretchen Sudlow, Arcata, Calif.; his son Peter Sudlow, Lawrence; stepchildren Felicia Owens, Reno, Nev., Mindy Small, Denver, Colo., and Grant Wolf, Houston, Texas; grandchildren Rachael Sudlow and Quentin Sudlow; 10 step grandchildren; his sister Alice Ash, Holton, Kan.; niece Adria Herrmann of Cheney, Kan., and nephew Abe Ash of Holton, Kan.
The family will greet friends following the services at the church.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials in his name to the Nature Conservancy or Kansas Land Trust and may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain mortuary.
Gretchen and Dear Sudlows:
Mr. Sudlow was so instrumental at bringing such a profound awareneness to the beauty of nature for me in my youth, and to the rest of my family as well. The Kansas countryside has lost a part of itself, but the beauty of his world will live forever in his art.
There are many good things to remember about Robert Sudlow, but today I am most aware of his influence on my perception of nature’s subtleties and strenghths. Certainly I am not alone on this thought. My sincerest condolences are offered to his family and friends.
We loved your dad. Will never forget our trip with him. He was so real and honest. One of our all time favorite people. We are so glad to have some of his work.
Barbara, Mindy and family,
My sincerest sympathies. I was so sorry to hear about your loss. Robert was a Kansas treasure and his work will continue to touch and move people for generations to come.
Gentle man,
with warm soul,
uncomfortable among people.
Quiet man who shared his vision
painting scenes given by creator, God,
recreated through his own vision.
May his gentle vision add fullness
to the host of others who dwell above.
And, may his vision always dwell
with those left behind
who gaze upon his works
with awe and peace.
PEACE BE WITH YOU ROBERT
Love to Mitzi and all of the Sudlow family. What a prolific artist, what he has left is a legacy that will live on.
Love and prayers to you all during this sad time…
Barbara and Family:
My late husband, John Conard, loved to get to visit with Bob. John enjoyed telling about the first conversation he had with Bob. They got to talking about their both having lived in Paris, and Bob mentioned he had studied art there. John asked Bob what academy it was where he had studied. Bob said it was a small one and John probably wouldn’t know about it. John persisted in asking Bob to tell him the name of the art academy. It turned out that John and I had lived our first two years in Paris in an apartment ABOVE that art academy on Rue de la Grande Chaumiere. We often laughed about the “small world” connections in our lives.
John and I both admired Bob a great deal. I am thinking of you, Barbara dear. In the reality and love of Jesus Christ, Virginia Conard
I have a Sudlow in my livingroom in Centennial, CO. The landscape always brings me peace and reminds me of growing up in the Mid West. His legacy will live through his paintings.
Sad to hear the news of Bob’s death, my condolences to his family, he will always remain my favorite professor at KU and instilled a love of landscape painting I have carried on since the fond memories of snowy classes in winter and redfields in the spring..
Bob was the warm, calm center of the art dept on the third floor of Strong Hall. As a young man one of my primary goals in life was to won one of Bob’s paintings. At the first glimmer of financial success came my way I beat a path to Bob’s studio. That painting has traveled with me thru-out my life’s journey; it stil has pride of place in my living room.
To use a cliche, Bob was indeed a blessing in my life.
love to all the family,
“The Little Father”
Thinking of you at this time of loss.
Robert was an inspiration to me and my students. I often think of him and his work when I paint this land where we live.
His legacy will live on.
Best always,
Mark Flickinger
My condolences and sincere best wishes to you and your family, Mitzi (Mary. . . as I knew you). TomJ LHS Class of 1965
Gretchen and her family, my condolences on your loss, I only met your father once or twice but I always enjoyed and appreciated his work. He was a wonderful artist. My sincere condolances
My condolances to Amy, Peter, Rachael and Bob’s many friends. It seems like yesterday Bob (at 57) and I were sitting at the base of the KU Campanile talking about life and the future…how time is ’fixed’…(and we’d laugh!) and then we’d figure out where to go paint on Saturday. (We went to Buffalo Mound). 30 years on and now I’m 57. It is fixed! The hardest part about being a starving artist is not having the gas and travel money to visit your friends. I wish I’d stayed with Bob at KU. I’m still at it and Bob will always be a part of my work. Blessings/Peace, Jim Snow
My condolances to Amy, Peter, Rachael and Bob’s many friends. It seems like yesterday Bob (at 57) and I were sitting at the base of the KU Campanile talking about life and the future…how time is ’fixed’…(and we’d laugh!) and then we’d figure out where to go paint on Saturday. (We went to Buffalo Mound). 30 years on and now I’m 57. It is fixed! The hardest part about being a starving artist is not having the gas and travel money to visit your friends. I wish I’d stayed with Bob at KU. I’m still at it and Bob will always be a part of my work. Blessings/Peace, Jim Snow
I am sorry to hear of Mr Sudlow’s death. I went to school with his daughter, Gretchen, from first grade through high school. I always though that it was neat that he was making a living as an artist. His work really captured the beauty of the midwest landscape. I always wanted to own one of his paintings when I was in school, but they were too expensive. …art is immortal ….R.I.P.
I recall sitting on the back porch with Bob. We drand warm, green beer that was crafted by the man himself.
I cannot even begin the ways that Bob inspired and quietly nuanced my life.
I have so many great stories and memories of an authentic spirit that would share with anyone, anytime, anywhere.
Jamie
If you’re reading this, you’re all set, parnedr!
I would like to get in touch with peter sudlow about his father, Thankyou