With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Karl Lang
Education/Curation, Sculpture
1897 – 1952
Lang completed work for the WPA, including the WWI Memorial at West River Park in New Haven. Other commissions included garden sculpture at the Stamford Museum and a veterans’ monument in Spring Grove Cemetery, Darien.
- Biography/Description of Work
Karl Frederick Lang was born in 1897 in Biberach, Germany to a wealthy family. He studied art and English at the Upper Real School in Stuttgart and his instructor, Herr Gansmueller, encouraged him to pursue art. In 1918, Lang moved to the United States, and married Alma Arsenault in 1922 in Stamford. For five years, he apprenticed with Gutzon Borglum, the noted sculptor of Mount Rushmore. Lang may have helped on such projects as Mount Rushmore and Stone Mountain in Georgia. By 1926, Lang had established his own studio in New Haven. He worked with the Public Works of Art Project and the Works Project Administration Federal Arts Project during the 1930s. From 1936-1941, Lang produced 18 statues and plaques, three easel works, and a mural. Later in life, he taught art classes in Darien as well as at the Stamford High School. He died in 1952 at the age of 55.
- Sources view
- Rachel Carley, http://wpa.cslib.org/index.php/599/lang-karl/; Public Art Archive. Accessed 3/16/2016 http://www.publicartarchive.org/work/timothy-francis-ahearn-memorial; Connecticut State Library. Lang, Karl (1897-1952). Accessed 3/16/2016 http://ctstatelibrary.org/lang-karl/; Rajtar, Steve and Franks, Frances Elizabeth. War Monuments, Museums and Library Collections of 20th Century Conflicts: A Directory of United States Sites. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers: 2002; http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/Parks/ParksInformation/barnard.asp; “Karl Lang, Sculptor and Painter, was 55.” New York Times, September 24, 1952. Accessed 3/16/2016 http://search.proquest.com/docview/112381083?accountid=47114
- Associated Resource(s)