Catharine Phillips Rembert (April 22, 1905 – October 26, 1990) was an artist, designer and art educator best known as an important teacher and mentor of Jasper Johns, among others.
Early life and education Catharine Phillips Rembert was born in Columbia, SC, the daughter of John Franklin and Myrtis Smart Phillips.“Mrs. Catharine Rembert, longtime artist, teacher,” Obituary.The State. October 30, 1990. She grew up in Greenwood, South Carolina, where she attended art classes at Lander College, then a women’s school, while still in high school and briefly enrolled there before transferring to the University of South Carolina, where she became the first graduate of the fledgling art department in 1927.Oxner, Jane. “Mrs. Rembert: Love for Children and Arts Gives Her Satisfying Career,” The Columbia Record, October 18, 1958
Career Following her graduation, Catharine Phillips was hired as an instructor of design by the University Art Department, its third faculty member.“The University Department of Art,” Garnet and Black (University of South Carolina Student Yearbook), 1928, pp. 442-44. In 1930, she married Allen Jones Rembert (1904–1951).Oxner, Jane. “Mrs. Rembert: Love for Children and Arts Gives Her Satisfying Career,” The Columbia Record, October 18, 1958 Catharine Rembert remained on the Art Department faculty for the next 40 years, retiring in 1967 as assistant professor emeritus.Rabon, Bonnie Williams. “Even in Retirement, Rembert inspires many artistic careers.” University of South Carolina Alumni News, October 1990. During her years at the University, Rembert availed herself of opportunities to advance her study of art, including with André Lhote in Paris, Amédée Ozenfant in New York, Hans Hoffman in Provincetown, and at Parsons School of Design and the San Francisco Art Institute.Oxner, Jane. “Mrs. Rembert: Love for Children and Arts Gives Her Satisfying Career,” The Columbia Record, October 18, 1958. She incorporated modernist methods of teaching into her own.Catharine Rembert, Augusta Wittkowsky: Concentric Circles (Columbia: McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina, 1989) Among Rembert’s students were numerous who went on to significant careers in art and design, including Sigmund Abeles, J. Bardin, Blue Sky, Aldwyth,Catharine Rembert, Augusta Wittkowsky: Concentric Circles (Columbia: McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina, 1989) and most notably, Jasper Johns, whom Rembert mentored for three semesters, from the time he started at the University in 1947, until he left for New York at her urging in 1948; the two remained close until Rembert’s death.Craft, Catherine. Jasper Johns. Parkstone International, 2012. After retirement, she continued teaching children’s classes at the Richland Art School and the Columbia Museum of Art School, with both of which institutions she had longstanding affiliations.Brown, Adger. “Columbia Profile: Bundle of Happy Contradictions,” The State and the Columbia Record, Sunday, April 11, 1965
Work Catharine Rembert, although she considered herself more a designer than a painter, was an active member of and regularly exhibited paintings with the Columbia Artists’ Guild.Rabon, Bonnie Williams. “Even in Retirement, Rembert inspires many artistic careers.” University of South Carolina Alumni News, October 1990. She was a versatile designer of textiles for commercial firms, costumes and stage sets for theater and opera, graphic design, and large-scale decoration in conjunction with architect Phelps Bultman,Leblanc, Clif. “Downtown Columbia church buys SCE&G building for college ministry,” The State, May 22, 2015. http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article21679671.html as well as an occasional illustrator, including of the Swampy series of children’s books by Zan Heyward.Heyward, Zan. The Adventures of Swampy. Columbia, SC: A.C. Heyward, 1958-1959. OCLC # 12802837
Selected exhibitions “Morse-Wittkowsky-Rembert,” Columbia Museum of Art, 1953 “Catharine Rembert/Augusta Wittkowsky: Concentric Circles.” McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina, 1989 “Abstract Art in South Carolina, 1949-2012.” South Carolina State Museum, 2012
Selected corporate and public commissions Mosaic Mural interior and exterior of the former SCE&G building, Columbia SC, Phelps Bultman, architect, ca. 1973 Relief of copper tubing and wire, Columbia Metropolitan Airport, Phelps Bultman, architect Carved and glazed brick panels on J. Drake Edens Library, Columbia College, Phelps Bultman, architect Mural, Vorhees College, Denmark, SC
Awards and recognition Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award for lifetime achievement in the arts, SC Arts Commission, 1989–90
Public collections Columbia Museum of Art McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina
References