Carl Tolpo

Fine Oil Portraiture    Self Portrait	Carl Tolpo  (1901-1976)    Painter/Sculptor   Carl Tolpo, an American artist, established studios in Illinois and remained in the state for his entire career. As a painter, his works comprise fine oil portraiture including llinois State portraits and landscape oil paintings inspired by the western USA, mostly the Yellowstone (Park) region of Wyoming. As a sculptor, his Abraham Lincoln heroic head sculpture stands among the 5 best of Lincolniana. Numerous official and public pieces include those listed in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery Catalog of American Portraits.  Family members as art subjects were among his favorites as well.
Lincoln Art by Tolpo    Carl Tolpo	Admiration for Abraham Lincoln Carl Tolpo, a patriotic man, admired exemplary virtues of Abraham Lincoln and devoted much of his career to creating Lincoln likenesses. He was friend to Gutzan Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota - some of Borglum's tools were passed on to Carl Tolpo.  His research and studies of Lincoln for approximately twenty years resulted in several sculptures with a final heroic 42” head completed in the 1950’s carved in plaster. The Lincoln statues were created and completed in Illinois studios. He also enjoyed Lincoln’s humor and would refer to such quotes as often as fittingly possible in everyday life and in his essays and speeches. Speeches by, Carl Tolpo, were given at Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C., Illinois State Senate and Clubs.  He believed that art must have a morality to it, “a wholesome, constructive purpose." Some goals he stated were: “… To help preserve the best in art… With Lincoln’s integrity, courage, sense of humor and physical strength, Lincoln is a great subject and a great challenge for the artist... We both had the advantage of being born in poverty; he rose to the heights and I hope I can do the same...Great art and great substance are inseparable… We cannot all fly to the moon. But we can all strive to create and enjoy the beautiful." Carl Tolpo
Yellowstone Art by Tolpo       En Plein Air painting by Carl Tolpo	Inspiration from nature Carl Tolpo made trips west and by 1931 became interested in painting extensively on location in the Yellowstone (Park) region of Wyoming - particularly the Yellowstone Grand Canyon. In 1941, he married a dedicated artist, Lily Tolpo and soon their trips west became family painting/camping adventures. Their three children enjoyed over 20 summers in Wyoming, and all became professional artists. By 1953, his favorite vantage point of the canyon also became known in the park as "Tolpo Point." After painting sessions, he wiped clean his palette knife on a pine tree trunk. The paint marks climbed higher as the tree grew and greeted his return. His final trip to "Tolpo Point" was in 1971 to complete his colossal work of the Yellowstone Grand Canyon (8 ft x 15 ft), done in sections, oil on panels, entirely on location.
Tolpo Finnish Heritage	Modest beginnings, noteworthy heritage     Carl Tolpo was born in 1901 and grew tall and rugged. He was the eldest of a large Finnish/Swedish American family and was raised on a farm in Ludington, Michigan. While working in the fields at a young age, he unearthed a windswept matchbook cover depicting a Raphael painting. He claimed this chance find inexplicably caught his fancy and inspired him to draw. He never knew his distinguished Finnish heritage in the Arts.  The author of the Finland national epic poem, "Kalevala", and master builders of the world's largest wooden church (Kerimaki, Finland) hailed from the Tolpo clan.   More at AskArt