Exclusive
representation of the estate of Carl W. Illig
Artist Carl W. Illig was born in 1910 and raised in East
Aurora, NY. Like fellow Western New York regionalists such
as Charles Burchfield, Robert N. Blair and Carl Peters,
Illig shared a tradition of creating loving and lovely
renditions of familiar landscapes and scenic works.
Illig started seriously painting when he was 40 years old.
His interest in art always existed, but a life of hard
work, helping his mother and brother when his father died
in 1926, deterred him early on. When he was forced to set
aside education and artistic ambition by the depression and
then World War II, he became a carpenter. Criss-crossing
the country in a lifestyle common at the time, he parlayed
his carpentry skills into building houses, which he was
able to rent and/or sell. He was also a factory worker,
constructing military boats in Niagara Falls. He and his
family survived, and in 1950, Illig married, built himself
a house and settled in East Aurora, NY.
Illig never gave up hope of becoming an artist. A 1930
correspondence course in commercial art laid solid
groundwork in composition and perspective. In 1951, he
began to study with Buffalo artist Arthur Kowalski.
Kowalski also revered outdoor scenes and helped guide Illig
in expressing his vision of Western New York landscapes. By
1953, Illig began exhibiting and competing, placing first
three years in a row at the Erie County Fair. He traveled
to Toronto and New York to study further, committing to his
career by building a studio for himself in East Aurora.
Illig was able to become a full-time artist by 1956. His
wife Virginia retired from her teaching job to raise their
two children, Carl and Peter, and assist him with his
career. His working method was to explore fields, streams
and wooded areas in all seasons, looking for subjects. His
focus was on capturing the characteristics of light and
color year-round. Because of his skill in these areas, he
was invited to participate in the prestigious job of
restoring Alexis Fournier's murals at the Roycroft Center
in East Aurora.
By 1960, he began to travel farther afield to seek
subjects. Annual trips to Vermont, New Hampshire and
Massachusetts brought him into contact with the painter
Emile Gruppe, well-known for his coastal landscapes, harbor
scenes and focus on the seafaring life of Gloucester and
Cape Ann. Gruppe became a teacher, colleague and important
influence on Illig. This is evident in Illig's work from
the time and moving forward.
As Illig matured further in his career and his painting
style, he took on students of his own. Collectors began
purchasing his works, and in the 1960s, he joined the
Buffalo Society of Artists. A series of paintings that he
completed in the 1970s, after visiting West Virginia and
Pennsylvania, offer different settings for his oil painting
techniques. He continued painting and traveling, winning
prizes in many exhibitions including the George Inness
Award from the Fine Arts League of Buffalo. In his later
years, he wintered in Florida, painting and exhibiting
there.
Carleton Wakefield Illig died in 1987, after a prolific and
satisfying career. His surviving body of work is both
historically worthy and an intimate testament to his love
of artistic expression, nature and life itself.