PAUL LINGENBRINK WHITMAN(1897-1950) American painter, etcher, illustrator, lithographer and muralist Paul Whitman was born in Denver, Colorado on April 23, 1897. He was known for his versatility and mastery of many artistic mediums. He was an original member of the celebrated Carmel-by-the-Sea Artist Colony which included other such notables as Armin Hansen William Ritschel, Gottardo Piazzoni, and Charles Rollo Peters as well as photographers Edward Weston and Ansel Adams and writers such as the poet Robinson Jeffers. Whitman spent his boyhood on his father's ranch in the Texas Panhandle. He later moved with his family to St. Louis, Missouri where he took art classes at the University of Washington. After preparatory school in the East, he enrolled at Yale University. However, his academic plans were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. He was assigned to the U.S. Army where he served as a lieutenant in the Field Artillery in the European theatre. When Whitman returned to St. Louis in 1921, he married Anita Moll and became a successful insurance salesman. Desiring to pursue his interest in fine art, he abandoned this business in 1925 and moved with his wife and the first two of his three children to California. After settling in the budding art community of Carmel-by-the-Sea, he began studying under artist Armin Hansen and embarked upon a long and successful art career. He taught locally at Robert Louis Stevenson School and was a consultant to the State Department of Education. Whitman soon gained notoriety for his oils, watercolors, lithographs, landscapes, and waterfront life. The family built a home on the fifteenth fairway of the famous golf course at Pebble Beach with its inspiring seascape views from his studio. At the height of his career in 1950, Whiteman died of a heart attack at the age of 53. He was lauded at his funeral not only for his gifts as an artist of rare talents but also for his immense contributions to the Carmel community and his faithful commitment to his family. His obituary in the Monterey Peninsula Herald reads, in part:With the sudden death of Paul Whitman early Monday morning, Carmel suffered the loss of a true friend and a great leader. His work...has won wide recognition throughout the country. He was a member of the Carmel Art Association and served at one time as vice-president of that organization. He also served as [area] chief of civilian defense [during World War II]...[and]...head of the Peninsula Red Cross Blood Bank program. An excerpt from a December 1950 “Letter of Tribute” from the Carmel Art Association:In the death of the painter Paul Whitman, this community mourns the loss of a friend. He was a man of many parts but his chief talent was of the heart. With no ostentation, wholly unconscious of his endearing qualities, he went about among us, giving cheer, assurance and inspiration. Whitman’s landscapes and waterfront depictions, along with other pieces, are widely held in private collections and can be found in permanent collections at Stanford University, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Monterey Museum of Art, and the California State Library. There have been major exhibitions of his works at the Smithsonian, the Maxwell Galleries, and the Courvoisier Gallery, and, in 2002, at the Monterey Museum of Art. His versatility as an artist is evident in the things he made. He was a master of all the techniques. Nothing, furthermore, was for him of little consequence. The globe of the world, a tired dilapidated barn, ducks coming to rest by the rushes, the design hidden in the cubes of plastic, the polished decoy, the walls of ancient wood given a new patina, stationery for acquaintances, illustrations for textbooks, stamps for the government, carvings in stone—whatever might be the material of the purpose, to all he gave the same patient, careful and competent consideration. But his artistry reached far beyond his chosen profession. In wartime he applied himself, courageously, on the field of battle and later, in the protection of civilians and industries. In peace he has labored indefatigably to the awakening of our Peninsula for the donation of blood for the health of us all. This service of peace has become a preparation for the need of the agony of war.Here among his professional colleagues and in this Association, which he helped to found and foster, he will always be remembered with affection and esteem and with all the increase he will be recalled with warmth and gratitude. It is the resolution of the Directors of the Carmel Art Association that these words of encomium shall be read to the members of the Association, inscribed in the minutes of the Board and given to the family. In that family circle is the center of bereavement, the pride of accomplishment, and the power of the continuing inspiration of this beloved artist and friend.