Karl Dempwolf (17 December 1939 – 26 February 2026) was a Dutch-American contemporary California Plein-Air painter who was known for his California Landscapes. He was a Signature Member of the California Art Club (f. 1909), and served in its Advisory Board of Directors.Listed as such on California Art Club Web Site.
Early life and training Karl Dempwolf was born in Delmenhorst, Germany on 17 December 1939. As a child, he spent the war years in Bavaria, where he developed his love for nature.Ann Avery Andres, Catalog Editor, "Sights of Southern California," Curated by Peter Keller, Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2003 In 1954, at the age of fourteen, he and his family immigrated to the United States aboard the S.S. America, at the request of the Lockheed Corporation, where his father was to serve as an aerospace engineer.See California Art Club Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition Catalogs, 2000-2014 for basic biographical information Dempwolf attended Van Nuys High where he played basketball, then continued his education at California State University, Northridge where he studied art and photography, and became the school's very first All-American athlete.See California Art Club Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition Catalogs, 2000-2014 for basic biographical information His training includes the Art Center College of Design (1969) and studies with Hans Burkhardt. He also had a master's degree in Fine Arts from the University of Southern California (1974).Siple, Molly, California Art Club Newsletter, February 1996
Early career In the mid 1970s, with an interest and a background in art and photography, Dempwolf enjoyed a first career as an award-winning producer and director of documentaries.Merrell, Eric, "California Light, a Century of Landscapes," Skira Rizzoli, 2011 During this period he filmed a story that touched many viewers, recording the life of Dominic Calicchio, a craftsman who made prized trumpets by hand working out of his Hollywood home. During World War II, when brass was in short supply, he made his own metal alloy, and continued his trade in peacetime. Dempwolf filmed him every weekend for two years and the resulting film took many awards. The Council on International Non-Theatrical Events awarded him their Golden Eagle and he took Best in Show at the Bellevue International Film Festival in Washington.Siple, Molly, California Art Club Newsletter, February 1996
Painting career With time, however, painting emerged as Karl Dempwolf's true passion: Early California artists such as William Wendt (1865–1946), Guy Rose (1867–1925), Charles Reiffel (1862–1942), William Ritschel (1864–1949), Edgar Payne (1883–1947) and others, as well as American Impressionist Childe Hassam (1859–1935), became his artistic icons.See California Art Club Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition Catalogs, 2000-2014 for basic biographical information Additionally, the American Arts & Crafts Movement has been an inspiration for Dempwolf. The movement professed the idea that Art has the power to give the viewer a much needed spiritual lift. Jean Stern, Executive Director of the Irvine Museum in Irvine, California, writes: "…Karl’s paintings are richer with the lessons of Modernism. His forceful use of line gives his paintings great strength and intense formal qualities, and his luxurious use of color imparts a profound yet impassioned consciousness."Stern, Jean, Executive Director, the Irvine Museum, Irvine California, in an essay for "Karl Dempwolf: A Painter’s Journey," 2007
Death Dempwolf died on 26 February 2026, at the age of 86.
Exhibitions 2014 – 103rd Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, Autry National Center of the American West 2014 – "Empathy for Beauty in the 21st Century," Carnegie Art Museum 2014 – "Legendary Landmarks of California," CAC Gallery at The Old Mill, San Marino, California 2014 – "The Missions of California: celebrating Father Serra’s 300th Birthday," Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles 2013 – 102nd Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, USC Fisher Museum of Art 2013 – "Then and Now: One Hundred Years of California Impressionism," The Palos Verdes Art Center 2013 – "Along El Camino Real: Missions of California," CAC Gallery at The Old Mill, San Marino, California 2012 – 101st Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, Autry National Center 2012 – "Saving Paradise: The Symbiosis of Landscape Painting and Environmental Awareness," The Bennington Center for the Arts, Vermont 2012 – "Saving Paradise," Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery 2012 – "Catalina: The Wild Side," Catalina Island Conservancy 2012 – "On Location in Malibu," Frederick R. Weisman Museum, Pepperdine University, Malibu 2012 – "Monumental Miniatures III," CAC Gallery at The Old Mill, San Marino, California 2011 – 100th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, Pasadena Museum of California Art 2011 – "Splendor: Paintings of the Tejon Ranch," Bakersfield Museum of Art 2011 – "Gold Coast: Paintings of Southern California," Oceanside Art Museum 2011 – "A Luminous Land," Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, California 2011 – "Gems from the Central Coast," San Luis Obispo Museum of Art 2011 – "California Dreamin'," CAC Gallery at The Old Mill, San Marino, California 2011 – "Capturing California's Preserved Lands and Historic Districts," CAC Gallery at The Old Mill, San Marino, California 2010 - 99th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, Pasadena Museum of California Art 2010 – "Capturing California’s Preserved Lands: Gems from the Central Coast," CAC Gallery at The Old Mill, San Marino, California 2010 – "Historic Landmarks and Districts of Southern California," CAC Gallery at The Old Mill, San Marino, California 2010 – "Visions of the San Gabriels," CAC Gallery at The Old Mill, San Marino, California 2009 - 98th Annual California Art Club Juried Exhibition, Pasadena Museum of California Art 2009 – "California's Landscapes and Legacy," The Bennington Center for the Arts, Vermont 2009 – "On Location in Malibu," Frederick R. Weisman Museum, Pepperdine University, Malibu 2009 - "California Art Club: Artists Explore Los Angeles," Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce 2009 – "Paintings from the Southern Sierra Foothills," CAC Gallery at The Old Mill, San Marino, California 2008 - 97th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, Pasadena Museum of California Art 2007 - 96th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, Pasadena Museum of California Art 2007 – "Exhibition of California Landscape Paintings," Historic George H. Maxwell House, Pasadena 2006 - 95th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, Pasadena Museum of California Art 2006 – "On Location in Malibu," Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu 2005 – "Monumental Miniatures 2," CAC Gallery at The Old Mill, San Marino California 2004 – 94th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, Pasadena Museum of California Art 2004 – "Expressions of Winter," CAC Gallery at The Old Mill, San Marino, California 2003 - 93rd Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, Pasadena Museum of California Art 2003 – "Sights of Southern California," Bowers Museum of Cultural Art 2003 – "9th Annual California Art Club Plein Air Painting," Mission San Juan Capistrano 2002 – 92nd Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, Pasadena Museum of History 2002 – "Salon D’Automne: The Third Annual California Autumn Salon," Edenhurst Gallery and Morseburg Galleries 2002 – "8th Annual California Art Club Plein Air Painting," Mission San Juan Capistrano 2001 – 91st Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, Pasadena Historical Museum 2001 – "7th Annual California Art Club Plein Air Painting," Mission San Juan Capistrano 2001 – "Sights and Sounds of Santa Ana," Bowers Museum of Cultural Art 2001 – "Gardens of the Huntington, II," CAC Gallery at The Old Mill, San Marino, California 2001 – "Contemporary Views of L.A.'s Historic Chinatown," CAC Gallery at The Old Mill, San Marino, California 2000 – 90th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, Pasadena Historical Museum 2000 – "On Location in Malibu," Phippen Museum, Prescott, Arizona 1999 – "On Location in Malibu," Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu 1999 – "Sights of Santa Ana: Scenes of Orange County," Bowers Museum of Cultural Art 1998 – "Treasures of the Sierra Nevada," Natural History Museum of Los Angeles 1998 - "Treasures of the Sierra Nevada," Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton, California 1997 – "Sights and Sounds of Santa Ana," Bowers Museum of Cultural Art 1996 – "California Wetlands: Paintings of California’s Endangered and Protected Wetlands," Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 1996 – "Puertas del Santuario: Paintings of the Mission San Juan Capistrano," Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard 1995 – "Modern Masters of Landscape Paintings," California Heritage Art Gallery, San Francisco
Permanent Public Collections Collection of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, presented as a diplomatic gift by Barack Obama Arts for the Parks, Permanent Collection McGraw Hill Publishers, Permanent Collection
Awards Karl Dempwolf's work has received wide recognition including the Lifetime Achievement Award granted byEric Rhoads' Streamline Publishing, producers of Plein Air and Fine Arts Connosieur magazines, at the Plein Air Convention held in San Diego in 2017.
See also California Art Club California Plein-Air Painting En plein air Landscape art California Impressionism
References
Books and Magazine References Stern, Jean and Siple, Molly. "California Light, A Century of Landscapes," Skira Rizzoli, A Division of Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 2011 Sherman Pearl, Melissa, "Destination Art," California Homes Magazine, April 2006 American Art Collector Magazine, January 2006 Sherman Pearl, Melissa, "Karl Dempwolf Expresses His Passion for the Masters," California Homes Magazine, March 2003 Orange County Magazine, Annual Edition, Front Cover, 2003 Metzger, Phillip W., Author, Rubin Wolf, Rachel, Editor, "Art from the Parks," North Light Books, September 1, 2000
Catalogs California Art Club: 103rd Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2014 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration "Empathy for Beauty in the 21st Century," Carnegie Art Museum, 2014 California Art Club 102nd Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2013 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration "Then and Now: One Hundred Years if California Impressionism," Palos Verdes Art center, 2013 California Art Club 101st Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2012 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration "Saving Paradise: The Symbiosis of Landscape Painting and Environmental Awareness," The Bennington Center for the Arts, Vermont, 2012 California Art Club 100th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2011 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration "Splendor: Paintings of the Tejon Ranch," Bakersfield Museum of Art, 2011 California Art Club 99th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2010 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration California Art Club 98th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2009 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration "On Location in Malibu," Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, 2009 "California's Landscapes and Legacy," The Bennington Center for the Arts, Vermont, 2009 California Art Club 97th Annual Gold Medal juried exhibition, 2008 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration California Art Club 96th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2007 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration California Art Club 95th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, 2006 (CAC Exhibition Catalog), Artist Entry and illustration