Artist

Rude Osolnik

born Dawson, NM 1915-died Berea, KY 2001
Media - osolnik_rude.jpg - 90105
Copyright unknown
Born
Dawson, New Mexico, United States
Died
Berea, Kentucky, United States
Biography

Considered to be one of the fathers of contemporary wood turning in America, Rude Osolnik is something of a folk hero. Working in Kentucky, he creates robust forms from a variety of woods. Osolnik is noted for his ability to use figures in the wood he laminates, creating a signature look that emerges only as the work is turned.

Kenneth Trapp The Renwick at Twenty-Five (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art, 1997)

Works by this artist (162 items)

Chiura Obata, El Capitán, 1931, color woodcut on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Obata Family, 2000.76.24, © 1989, Lillian Yuri Kodani
El Capitán
Date1931
color woodcut on paper
Not on view
Chiura Obata, Untitled (Magnolia in a Blue Round Vase), ca.1930s, ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Estate of Chiura Obata, 2020.74
Untitled (Magnolia in a Blue Round Vase)
Dateca.1930s
ink on paper
Not on view
Chiura Obata, Landslide, 1941, watercolor on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Estate of Chiura Obata, 2020.72.2
Landslide
Date1941
watercolor on paper
Not on view
Chiura Obata, Topaz, ca. 1942, pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Estate of Chiura Obata, 2020.72.5
Topaz
Dateca. 1942
pencil on paper
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2003.60.2 - SAAM-2003.60.2_3 - 128176
A Revolution in Wood: The Bresler Collection
September 23, 2010January 30, 2011
A Revolution in Wood: The Bresler Collection celebrates the magnificent gift of sixty-six pieces of turned and carved wood to the Smithsonian American Art Museum by the noted collectors, Fleur and Charles Bresler.