Charles William Bolsius (June 23, 1907 – March 23, 1983) was a Dutch-born American painter. He was born in 's-Hertogenbosch , the Netherlands, the youngest in an upper-middle-class bourgeoisie family. His father ran the regional Gas Works and Bolsius formally studied art in The Hague before emigrating to the United States and moving to New Mexico in the early 1930s. He quickly assimilated into the art communities of Albuquerque and Santa Fe showing with the significant artist of the period. Bolsius had artistically matured within Dutch - German Expressionism . His woodblock handprints, using subject matter from the American West, capitalized on flat, bold, stark patterns and rough-hewn effects that were hallmarks of the expressionist woodblock tradition. His heavy light-filled moody paintings with cloudy brooding skies combined expressionistic influences with expansive western landscapes and the optimism of American impressionism. His work was critically recognized and exhibited at major museums and galleries throughout New Mexico and Arizona.
26-632: Charles Bolsius House, also called "Casa Bienvenidos", is a significant example of the architectural work of artist and designer Charles Bolsius and an important example of Territorial Revival design in the American Southwest . It is located in the City of Tucson, Arizona within the Old Fort Lowell Historic District. The rambling burnt adobe house was constructed around an unstabilized mud adobe storehouse-workshop that dates from
52-556: A Spanish colonial revival wood carving skill that was rooted in the New Mexico WPA furniture movement. He began professionally producing doors and furniture in the 1940s which continued through the 1970s. His final building project was the burnt adobe, late Territorial Revival The LeaChar House in the Tanque Verde, Arizona area east of Tucson. The final project included classic hand carved woodwork and doors. The screened Arizona Room
78-456: Is a rambling plan with large rooms, white plaster walls, steel casement windows , concrete floors, and beamed ceilings. The large salon living room was added in 1961 and additional rooms including the dining room, main bedroom, and sitting room were added between 1961 and 1967. Surrounded by old-grown mesquite trees, the north façade of the Bolsius House, although not viewable from the street,
104-453: Is the principal elevation of the property. The façade is characterized by slow-slung horizontal missing with varying parapet roof heights. The exposed burnt adobe is treated with a sack mortar wash which was typical stylistic treatment in Tucson during the 1930s–1960s Bolsius used the house as an artist's studio and completed many of his noted and famous paintings while living in the home. In 1979,
130-506: The Fort Lowell period c. 1880 . The house was hand built by Bolsius in multiple phases over three decades. The project, built as Bolsius's own home, provided an opportunity for experimentation and design exploration. The house includes his iconic and hallmark hand-carved doors, exposed beams, carved corbels , adobe fireplaces, hand-hammered tin and copper, and a heightened sense of American western romanticism. The property typifies
156-488: The Sandia Mountains in the village of San Antonito, Bernalillo County, New Mexico . During the early 1930s, he exhibited across the state and began receiving critical attention. Charles Bolsius was part of, and significantly influenced by the art colony of Albuquerque, where he established connections with notable painters, including Carl Redin , Carl von Hassler , and Dorothea Fricke Whitcraft . Bolsius absorbed
182-583: The European theater he worked with Nan on the reconstruction of the Fort Lowell Commissary naming the project El Cuartel Viejo The Old Barracks . After the completion of that project, he designed and built his own home, the Charles Bolsius House over a three decade period. Bolsius was a member of many Tucson art organizations. The architectural projects had created a vehicle to develop and hone
208-596: The Fort Lowell Post Traders Store, (seven miles northeast of downtown Tucson) rebuilding it over the next decade into one of the great examples of Pueblo Revival architecture in Arizona. Together they established the Fort Lowell Arts Colony. Bolsius is known for his paintings, woodblock prints, architectural design, and hand-carved Spanish colonial revival furniture and doors. Charles Bolsius
234-638: The National Register of Historic Places as part of the Fort Lowell Multiple Resource Area in December 1978. The property is today included in the City of Tucson Fort Lowell Historic Preservation Zone, designated in 1981. Charles Bolsius Bolsius settled in Tucson in 1934. With his brother, Adrian "Pete" Bolsius, and sister-in-law Nan Bolsius the trio purchased the adobe ruins of
260-655: The United States to stay with his Brother Adrian “Pete” Bolsius and his wife Nan Bolsius in Albuquerque. The 23-year old Bolsius arrived at the port of San Pedro, Los Angeles California, on October 28, 1930. Arriving in the western United States, Bolsius's art began to embrace the scale and environmental tonality of the American West. He began painting the environment of New Mexico , and lived in Santa Fe , Albuquerque and in
286-450: The architectural sensibilities of the American west during the 20th century and straddles the pre-and post-WWII period. The use of exposed burnt adobe, a popular regional building material in the mid-20th century, gives the exterior of the home a modern sensibility while the interior is a classic Pueblo Revival approach typical of the early half of the 20th century. The Charles Bolsius House
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#1732869205596312-528: The distinct styles and perspectives of these artists, shaping his own artistic vision. Carl Redin's landscape mastery, Carl von Hassler's contributions to Southwest art, and Dorothea Frike Whitcraft's innovative use of color collectively enriched Bolsius' creative approach. In the mid-1930s the Bolsius family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area before settling in Tucson , Arizona . On a sketching trip to
338-764: The film Lilies of the Field ) and the dining room table at Rancho De La Osa in Sasabe, Arizona. Bolsius died in March 1983 in Tucson, Pima County, Arizona . Bolsius's major architectural work and examples of his carved doors are clustered in the Old Fort Lowell Historic District in Tucson, Arizona. The rebuilt Fort Lowell Commissary that he named El Cuartel Viejo was purchased by the City of Tucson with major restoration anticipated in 2024-2025. The buildings will be open to
364-489: The house was purchased from Charles and Leonora Bolsius by Los Angeles and New York couple Judy and Paul Clinco and was the childhood home of Demion Clinco . In the 1980s, they added a west wing to the house that drew on the Bolsius design tenets. The Charles Bolsius House was designated a contributing property to the Pima County Fort Lowell Historic District in 1976 and was individually listed in
390-465: The previous year. The 1887 inspection report noted that the ceilings needed to be plastered but that the building was in fair condition. The 1889 inspection noted that the building had four quartermaster storerooms, two rooms used by the ordinance officer, and two rooms and a cellar used for storage and issue by the Subsistence Department. A storage yard with 15-foot tall [4.6 m] adobe walls
416-463: The public as part of the cultural multi-million dollar redevelopment and historic imperative program for Fort Lowell Park. Although Bolsius showed widely in New Mexico and Arizona in the 1930 and 1940s he did not pressure rigorous promotion or sale of his art. As a result, his paintings are all privately owned and currently not part of any public permanent collection. Bolsius designed and built only
442-401: The rural outskirts of Tucson in the farming community of Old Fort Lowell , Bolsius discovered the melting adobe ruins of the 1873 Fort Post Traders Store. He brought his brother and sister-in-law back to the site and after a lengthy discussion, the tree decided to make an offer and embark on re-constructing the dilapidated rambling building. The project received local and national attention,
468-415: The storehouse are incorporated into apartments created by members of the Bolsius family in the 1940s. The building contained six rooms and 6,000 sq ft [560 m]. It was used to store provisions, ammunition, and other goods. The front of the building measured about 240 by 18 feet [73.2 by 5.5 m] with extensions running to the north measuring 100 by 18 feet [30.5 by 5.5 m]. In 1879, it
494-491: Was born in 's-Hertogenbosch , Holland, to Caroline Maria Wilhelmei Bijvoet (1864–1935) and Petrus Nieduas Josephus Mariannus Bolsius (1859–1934). His family moved to the village of Voorburg in 1922. In 1924, at the age of 17, Charles enrolled in art school. He spent five years at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten Den Haag ( Royal Academy of Art, The Hague ). Bolsius's sophisticated artistic sensibility
520-454: Was constructed of the dismantled gate that had original been created for Las Saetas . His woodwork can be seen throughout the old Fort Lowell Historic District, Arizona State University Louise Lincoln Kerr House and Studio , in homes in Tucson's Catalina Foothills (including the front door of 2540 East Camino La Zorrela), the Church Doors of Sasabe, Arizona (which were lent out to
546-459: Was influenced by German and Dutch expressionists including Leo Gestel , Jan Toorop , Kees van Dongen , and Emil Nolde . His known early work was primarily dramatic land- and cityscapes. His artistic ability and style developed within the school of Dutch and German Expressionism in the late 1920s and these stylistic threads would continue to permeate through and influence his entire artistic career. At 23 years old Bolsius left Holland and headed to
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#1732869205596572-452: Was noted that roofing of the building leaked “considerably during rainy weather" and that 80 "new vegas" were needed to repair this problem (1879 Inspection Report, MS 266, AMS). The commissary issue room, which measured 35 by 18 feet [10.7 by 5.5 m], had received a wooden floor in the previous year, and other rooms remained unfloored. One wing of the storehouse had a cellar that was 18 feet [5.5 m] wide by 63 feet [19 m] long. This
598-597: Was originally a small adobe storehouse-workshop located on the property of the Fort Lowell Quartermaster and Commissary Storehouse known as El Cuartel Viejo . As noted in the Cultural Resources Assessment for the Fort Lowell Park written by historian J. Homer Thiel in 2009: "The quartermaster and commissary storehouse stood at the northwestern side of the parade ground. Today, portions of
624-602: Was present behind the building. ... On December 18, 1942, the [Ambus Barnet Earheart] sold the Quartermaster and Commissary Storehouse Property to members of the Bolsius family for $ 10.00 (Pima County DRE 275:61–62)." After the reconstruction and restoration of the Commissary ruins into El Cuartel Viejo, Bolsius began construction on the Charles Bolsius House following his return to Tucson after World War II . The house
650-535: Was published in journals, and newspapers and became a cultural hub. The project, named Las Saetas was recognized as an important example of Pueblo Revival architectural design and was photographed by numerous noted architectural photographers. Bolsius continued to produce and show his art through the 1930s and 1940s, exhibiting in Arizona , New Mexico , Utah , and San Francisco . Bolsius served in WWII . Returning home from
676-444: Was used by the Subsistence Department to store food. Today, the cellar is visible as a partially filled depression with portions of its rock walls still visible. In 1882, the tin roof for this building was reported to be in bad repair. It was also recommended that a cloth manta ceiling be installed in the commissary rooms. In 1883, new window sashes were required in some of the storerooms and issue rooms. The storerooms had been floored in
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