Cleo Hartwig

Cleo Hartwig (20 October 1907 – 18 June 1988) was an American sculptor who worked in stone, wood, terra cotta, plaster, paper, woodcut, and ceramic.

She won a number of awards, including national awards, and her work is exhibited across the northeast U.S. She is regarded as a member of The New York School.

Cleo Hartwig was born in Webberville, Michigan, on October 20, 1907.

Her rural upbringing had a lasting influence on the development of her art.

She was passionately interested in every detail of plant and animal life—from form to function—and observed nature with a mix of scientific attention and artistic observation.

Hartwig attended Portland High School between 1921 and 1925, and entered Western State Teachers College (now Western Michigan University) in 1926.

She interrupted her studies to teach art at Holland Junior High School (1926 to 1929), and take summer art classes at Chicago Art Institute (1930, 1931).

"Her carvings from the 1930s and early 1940s,” noted Ilene Fort, of the LA County Museum of Art, “are characterized by compact, massive forms, crisp outlines, and minimal details. In their blockiness, extreme simplification of shape, and coarse surfaces they especially echo Mesoamerican sculpture."

She returned to WSTC to graduate with an A.B. in 1932.

After graduation, she settled in New York City, finding employment as a teacher at The Town School (1934 to 1936).

During the summer of 1935 she studied art in Poland, Hungary, Rumania, and Germany.

Hartwig then taught at the Ecole Francaise (1936 to 1939) in New York, and exhibited for the first time in New York at The National Academy of Design (113th Annual, 1938).

In 1939 she made a summer trip to France to study art, but returned home hastily because of the growing hostilities.

Hartwig took up residence at Patchin Place, the historic Greenwich Village cul-de-sac, home to many famous artists of the early 20th century.

(She remained at that address until her death).

She joined the faculty of the Lenox School (1939-42), and exhibited her work in group shows at the Clay Club, National Academy of Design, Syracuse University, and Mt. Holyoke College.

After summer art study in Mexico (1941), Hartwig began to incorporate gestures from that country’s culture into her work.

She was also part of the 1942 “Artists for Victory” exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

During World War II Hartwig did drafting at Bell Telephone Laboratories (1942 to 1943), and technical illustrating at the Jordanoff Aviation Corp in NY (1943–45).

During this time, she held her first solo New York exhibition (Clay Club, 1943), and became active in many arts organizations.

She was an early member of the National Association of Women Artists (eventually becoming Vice President), and the New York Society of Women Artists (Recording Secretary).

At that time she also began her long association with the Sculptors Guild (Exec. Dir., Exec. Bd., Exec. VP), Audubon Artists (VP for Sculpture, Exhibition Committee), and New York Society of Ceramic Artists (Sculpture Jury).

The National Association of Women Artists (NAWA) awarded Hartwig the Anna Hyatt Huntington Prize for her Mandolin Player in 1945.

That same year she exhibited with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, National Academy of Design, National Association of Women Artists, Audubon Artists, and New York Society of Ceramic Artists.

She also became a sculpture instructor at Cooper Union in New York and the Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey.

In addition, she completed an important work for the architect Kenneth B. Norton: a "Family Group" for the Continental Companies Building on Williams St. in downtown Manhattan.

For that commission Hartwig created an 8-foot-high bas-relief of a mother, father, and child, which was cast in aluminum and installed on the front of the building.

Throughout the 1950s she continued to teach, complete commissions (S.S. United States), and win prizes (including several from NAWA; Artists Equity; Audubon Artists; Munson Proctor Institute).

In 1951, Hartwig married fellow sculptor, Vincent Glinsky (1895–1975).

Their son, Albert Glinsky, was born the following year.

In addition, Western Michigan University awarded her an Honorary master's degree (1951).

During the 1960s, Hartwig participated in the annual shows of the Sculptors Guild, exhibited her alabaster “Sea Foam” at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and took part in the Bryant Park outdoor exhibits in midtown Manhattan.

She worked with reproduction houses (Alva Museum Replicas, Sculpture Collectors, Collectors Guild) and executed a commission for the All-Faiths Memorial Tower in NJ (now George Washington Memorial Park).

Her sculptural methods were examined in a feature article in American Artist magazine.

In the 1970s, Hartwig continued to collect honors: she was elected to the National Academy of Design as an Academician (1971) and received an Honorary Doctorate from Western Michigan University (1973).

That same decade her work won awards from the National Sculpture Society, Sculptors Guild, National Association of Women Artists, Audubon Artists, and National Academy of Design.

She had a solo show at the Montclair Art Museum (1971) and two joint shows with her husband, Vincent Glinsky (Sculpture Center, NY, 1972; Fairfield University, CT, 1974).

During the last decade of her life (1980s), Hartwig exhibited in more shows than in any previous decade—58 in all.

Her "Owlet," shown at the New York Botanical Garden's Conservatory, was also featured in The New York Times.

She was invited to serve on juries around the country, including the 4th North American Sculpture Exhibition, for which she was co-juror with Francisco Zúñiga.