Charles Wysocki

 

Charles M. Wysocki, Jr. (1928-2002) was an American painter, whose works depict a stylized version of American life of yesteryear, mostly during the horse and buggy era. Born in Detroit, Michigan, in spent a two-year hitch in the US Army before entering the Art Center School in Los Angeles under the G.I. bill. There, he focused in the field of commercial art, spending four years in Detroit where his illustrations were used in Dodge trucks, Unocal, Carnation, and Dow Chemical Company advertisements. He returned to Los Angeles where he helped to form a freelance advertising agency. Because of his wife's heritage in the San Fernando Valley, Wysocki came to appreciate a simpler, more rural life. Together they made many trips to New England, which served to nurture his interest in early American folk art. He continued his lucrative commercial artwork for a time, but eventually devoted all of his attention to this new interest. In his Americana paintings, Wysocki usually included an American flag, something many admires enjoyed locating.