Visual Artist: Otto Stark

For our visual artist, we highlight Otto Stark, a member of the Hoosier Group. Born in Indianapolis (29 Jan 1859 – 14 Apr 1926), Stark received formal art training at age 16 as an apprentice to a lithographer in Cincinnati. He also enrolled at the School of Design of the University of Cincinnati.

In 1879, he moved to New York City and worked as an illustrator while continuing his studies at the Art Students’ League. In 1885, he traveled to Paris and enrolled in the Académie Julian. In 1888, he took a job in commercial art in New York City; he supplemented his earnings with illustration work for Scribner’s Monthly and Harper’s Weekly. After his wife’s death in 1891, he returned to Cincinnati to continue his work in lithography, a printmaking technique that involves drawing on a smooth surface and then using a chemical reaction to affix the image.

Two years later, Stark returned to Indianapolis where he taught classes in oil and watercolor, became the supervisor of art at Manual High School, and joined the faculty of the John Herron Art Institute.

Despite Stark’s busy teaching schedule, he continued to produce exhibition pieces, where outdoor scenes dominated his work. He showed his work in exhibitions like the 1894 “Five Hoosier Painters” in Chicago, the 1898 Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition in Omaha, the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, the 1910 International Exhibition in Buenos Aires and Santiago, and the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.

Today, his work is represented in collections of museums like Newfields and the Indiana State Museum.