Carlos Lopez, U-M Art Professor And Noted Painter, Dies At 44

Carlos Lopez, U-M Art Professor And Noted Painter, Dies At 44

Ill For Two Years, Artist Succumbs At Local Hospital

Carlos Lopez, associate professor of drawing and painting at the University and a nationally recognized artist, died last night at St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital. He was 44.

Lopez, who entered the hospital on Dec. 19, had been ill for about two years. Death was attributed to pulmonary embolism.

During the past years, he exhibited in New York, Detroit and Ann Arbor, and his works are in the permanent collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Whitney Museum in New York and the Naval Hospital in Washington, D. C.

Born In Cuba

Born in Havana, Cuba, on May 24,1908, Lopez spent his early years in Spain, coming to this country when he was 11. He received his training at the Art Institute in Chicago and the Detroit Academy of Art, where he served as director from 1933 to 1937.

He taught at the Meinzinger Art School in Detroit from 1937 to 1942. During the late 1930’s he was commissioned by the government to execute murals, an outstanding example of which is in the Deeds Building in Washington, D. C. In 1939, at government request, he did a pictorial record of Detroit factories, then being converted to war work.

During World War II, he did battlefront paintings for Life Magazine. In 1945 he joined the faculty of the U-M School of Architecture and Design.

Held One-Man Shows

He received national recognition for his work, exhibiting all over the country and holding one-man shows in New York (1945), Detroit, Ann Arbor and at the University of Wisconsin.

Reportedly a winner of more prizes in Detroit art shows during the past several years than any other artist, he was awarded the Friends of Modern Art Prize in 1936, the Han Prize in 1937, the Scarab Club Award in 1938, the Kamperman Prize in 1939, the Skelton Prize in 1940, the Hars Prize in 1941, the Whitcorn Prize in 1941, 1943 and 1944, and the Art Founders Society Prize in 1946.

In 1948 he was one of 15 prizewinning artists in the annual PepsiCola “Paintings of the Year” competition. The same year one of his paintings was reproduced in Life Magazine. In 1950, his work was included in an "American Paintings Today — 1950” exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Was Expressionist

His work was characterized by an "unusual feeling for color” and described as "primarily expressionistic and possibly romantic in some ways.”

Of him, U-M President Harlan H. Hatcher today said:

“The University has suffered a heavy loss in the untimely death of Carlos Lopez. He was a great creative artist and teacher. The effects of his work and spirit will long remain a legacy to the ongoing strength of Michigan."

He is survived by his wife, Rhoda, of 2998 Geddes Ave., a son, Jon, 12; and a daughter, Carol, 16.

His body will be cremated. Memorial services are to be held at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. Friends have been requested to omit flowers, and make contributions to the American Heart Association.

Friends may call at the Muehlig Chapel Thursday afternoon and evening.

NOTED UNIVERSITY ARTIST DIES: Prof. Carlos Lopez of the U-M School of Architecture and Design died last night. Lopez had received national recognition for his paintings and drawings.