Biografie von Leonard THIESSEN (1902-1989)

Birth place: Omaha, NE

Addresses: Omaha, NE

Profession: Critic, sculptor, printmaker, painter, art administrator, writer

Studied: Univ. Nebraska, Lincoln; Royal Acad. Art Sch., Stockholm, Sweden; Acad. Grande Chaumière, Paris, France; Heatherley Sch. Art, London, England; Creighton Univ. (hon. D.F.A., 1972)

Exhibited: Young Contemp., London, 1949; Royal Soc. British Artists, London, 1949; Nat. Soc., London, 1949; Midwest Biennial, Joslyn, 1952; Mid-America, Kansas City, 1953.

Work: NebraskaAA; AG, Lincoln, NE; Alfred East Mem. Gal., Kettering, Northants, England; Joslyn Art Mus., Omaha, NE; Sheldon Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE; Univ. Nebraska, Omaha; Kansas Wesleyan Univ., Salina; Herbert Inst. Art, Augusta, GA. Commissions: mural in cocktail room, Paxton Hotel, Omaha, 1938; baptistry triptych, St. Paul's PE Church, Omaha, 1941; hist. dioramas (with Bill J. Hammon), Nebraska Hist. Soc., Lincoln, 1952-53; mural dec. for power house, Lewis & Clark Reservoir, Corps of Engineers, Yankton, SD, 1955; exterior mosaic (with Bill J. Hammon), Pershing Mem. Auditorium, City of Lincoln, 1955-56.

Comments: Positions: state dir., FAP, WPA, Des Moines, 1940-42; exec. secy., Nebraska Arts Council, 1966-. Publications: art ed., Omaha World-Herald, 1939-71.

Sources: WW73; WW47, which puts birth at 1901.