Summary of Dissertation

EDMUND DANIEL KINZINGER

was granted the degree of Dr. of Philosophy at the University of Ohio on Monday, July 27, 1942.

Fields of Graduate Study

Major Subject: Art
Oil painting (Mattison, Charlot, F. Martin, Guston)
Sculpture (Stinson)
Lithography (McCray)
Screen print (McConnell)
Etching (Okerbloom)

Minor Subject: History of Art
Art criticism, Renaissance art, Problems in art history,
Seminar in contemporary art (Longman)
Mediaeval art (Jansen)
Oriental art, Ancient art (Megrew)
Modern art (Stinson) 

Summary of Dissertation
Mexican People
(A series of three oil paintings)

The series of oil paintings depicts not only a slice of Mexican life at a particular moment, but is also an attempt to express the philosophy of the Mexican Indian. Mexico is still primitive and religious; the native is part of the earth which provide him with his daily needs. Genuinely humble and yet proud in bearing, he wears his simple clothes with the grace and dignity of a grand seigneur. An inexpressable [sic] happiness like a melancholy dream seems to possess the Mexican; and the haste, the restlessness, and the disillusion of our modern age are unknown to him.

The centre piece of MEXICAN PEOPLE represents a group of young men assembled around the Cantina where, in laconic conversation, they discuss their problems. The panel at the left represents women resting on their return from the public fountain or the market; while the right panel depicts a mother with her two children before the porch of their house, which, typical of villages of high altitude, represents a mixture of native and Spanish Colonial style.

For the painter the subject matter of a picture is only the elementary inspiration of his work. The solution of the design problems and the interpretation of his subject through creative form are his real aims. I have tried to express the idea of Mexican people through means which are derived from cubism: plastic organization in three dimensions, freedom of color and form from descriptive naturalism, and restriction of literary connotation. The design values are moderated and balanced, however, by an attempt to stay as near to representational form as possible without disturbing the strict sense, but it was the intention to bind them together by certain construction lines which would lead the eye from one painting to the other. Moreover, a similarity of gestures and the repetition of forms and objects provide an encompassing unity, when the paintings are hung next to one another and in proper order.

In all epochs previous to the late 19th century, the understanding of other periods was restricted by a lack of historical knowledge and easy communication. Therefore the isolated artist had to rely largely on his local tradition. Today, we have a thorough knowledge not only of the contemporary art of all countries, but also of nearly all the past of the human race. The resulting influences on intelligent and informed artists is manifold, and change of style, as long as it is consistent with the artist’s personality, is rather a sign of spiritual flexibility than lack of conviction, as it is sometimes interpreted by unimatinative [sic] observers. Only through doubt and experiment are invention and progress pissible [sic]. My graduate studies in the history and criticism of art and my effort to reach a new level of esthetic expression in the painting of my thesis thus represent evidences of the searching and genuinely creative attitude engendered by the Ph. D. program I have followed.

Biographical Items

Born: December 31, 1888, Pforzheim, Baden, Germany
Undergraduate Study: Knirr Schule, Munchen, 1908-1909; Staatliche Akademie, Munchen, 1909-1910; Universitat, Munchen, 1909-1910; Staatliche Akademie, Stuttgart, 1910-1912
Graduate Study: Academie Moderne, Paris, 1912-1913; Staatliche Akademie, Stuttgart, 1913-1914, 1919-1921; State University of Iowa, summer sessions, 1939-1942
Scholastic and Professional Experience: Teacher, Art Institute and Art League of Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1928-1930; Director, Schule fur Bildende Kunst, Hans Hofmann, Munchen, 1930-1933; Director, Ecole de l’Epoque, Paris, 1933-1934; Head of Art Department, Baylor University, 1935-