Mort Baranoff (1932-1978)

Mort Baranoff was born March 8, 1932 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the son of Sima and Jascha Baranoff. He attended the public schools in Montreal. He was a good skier and relatively active until, at the age of twenty-one, he was devastated by the crippling rheumatoid arthritis that pursued him to his death. In spite of much time spent in hospitals, he worked at advertising design and also he earned a diploma from the School of Art and Design of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (1952) finishing a three-year program in just two years. In 1952 he also studied graphic arts at Atelier 17 in New York.

Later in 1952, with only eight years of formal schooling and a disease which forced him to leave the cold of Canada, Mort moved with his family to San Bernardino, California. He had married Timy Genrich in London, Ontario, in 1944 and his first child, Stephen, was born in Canada. His second child, Eugenie, was born in 1953 in California. Mort attended college in San Bernardino and so impressed the college officials that he was soon teaching still life painting at night at the same college. He worked part-time for an advertising firm. Later he opened an art gallery in that city, The Highland Gallery, where original paintings and prints by California artists were exhibited. For several years he commuted to Los Angeles in order to study for his B.F.A., a degree he acquired from Los Angeles State College in 1958.

That same year the family moved to Los Angeles and Mort attended the University of Southern California to earn his M.F.A., which was awarded in 1959. Sometimes his illness made it necessary for his wife, Timy, to attend art history classes in his place to take notes and sketch the slides shown. Nonetheless, his was a perfect “A” record. He had a searching mind and broad interests and read extensively. This not only helped to offset his physical handicap when he was pursuing his studies, but also made him a stimulating, vista-opening teacher. He remained a learner throughout his life.

The year in Los Angeles was a good year, for he loved the ocean, the mountains, and desert, particularly the ocean with its movement and sound. Even though teaching positions were scarce in 1959, Mort was one of two in his class to obtain employment that year. A new position took him away from California. He taught all levels of design, drawing, and art history at the University of Missouri at Columbia. A group of young leaders there shared low salaries and other problems and developed great closeness. The congeniality was due largely to Mort, for he enjoyed students of every rank, teachers, and friends. He was sought out by them because of his warmth, understanding, balance, honesty, breadth, and sense of humor. He exuded both genuineness and enthusiasm. He was impatient with anything false, shallow, or tawdry, without suggestion superiority or loftiness. He was self-confident, sure of himself, but also modest and wise.

In 1960, Mort joined the faculty of The University of Texas at Austin. Although his chief interest was in studio art, particularly printmaking, he was able to teach and did teach upon occasion, art education and art history. One of his most appreciated courses was the history of modern prints. He was the first to make use of the collection of twentieth century prints given by Mr. Charles Clark to the Blanton Museum of Art (then the University Art Museum). The course was offered to seniors and graduate students. Mort was one of the faculty members to accompany art student on their first major field trip in 1961 to St. Louis, Chicago, and Kansas City. In spite of the rigors of bus travel, driving at night, and uncertain meals, his good humor and concern for the students persisted. It was he who persuaded the bus driver to stop at Columbia, Missouri, in the early morning hours to see the chapel designed by Saarinen, and also the quarters for the Art Department. Because of the fortunate encounter with a night watchman, the whole group emerged from the bus into the night chill to enter the chapel for a private viewing. The students on that trip and all those who studied with him were aware of the courage and strength of a man whom suffering and pain never forsook.

Mort did everything in his power, and endured much, in order to conquer or check the disease. Always he continued to work and to learn. He taught as long as he was able and hoped to return to teaching as long as hope was possible. When he could no longer make prints, he painted. The works he created were not those of an invalid. They were not weak or bitter or warped. They were subtle, joyous, sensitive, penetrating, and strong.

It is difficult to measure the contribution made by Mort in his teaching career. Fortunately for the department, he was active in the early years of the graduate program, and outspoken in both praise and criticism. His high standard of performance was a major contribution. There were those who often disagreed with Mort, but none who did not respect and applaud his motives, his integrity, and his intelligence. Disagreement was based on a different reading o evidence or a different point of view. Such opposition was healthy and constructive, much to be prized in an educational institution. Mort was the sort of person essential to the learning process in a democratic society.

His two children and wife are graduates of The University of Texas at Austin: Eugenie, B.F.A., M.S.W.; Stephen, B.S.; and Timy, B.S., M.A., and Ph.D.

Lived
1923 Montreal, Quebec, Canada - 1978 Austin, Texas, USA

Region
Texas, California

Known for
Abstract, Figural

Studied
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts 1952
Atelier 17 New York 1952
Los Angeles State College BFA 1958
University of Southern California MFA 1959

Professions
Printmaker, Painter, Illustrator

Books
David Dancing, Poems of Harold Moreland, artwork illustrations by Mort Baranoff
The University of Texas 25th Faculty Exibition Book, 1963
The Mid-Century Works of UT Professor Mort Baranoff

Exhibition Record (Museums, Institutions and Awards):
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas:
1962 12th Southwestern Exhibition of Prints & Drawings
1963 25th Annual Texas Painting & Sculpture Exibition
1963 Young Collections
1964 14th Southwestern Ex. of Prints & Drawing
1969 18th " " "
Los Angeles County Museum
Institute of Design, Chicago, Illinois
Witty Memorial Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas
Tower Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Fifth Avenue Gallery, Fort Worth, TX
Gallery of Contemporary Art, Dallas, TX
Free Library of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pratt Art Institute, New York, New York
Houston Art Museum, Texas
Beaumont Art Museum, Texas
Fort Worth Art Center, Texas
Corpus Christi Centennial Museum, TX
Madison Gallery, New York, NY
Pepsi-Cola Galleries, New York, NY
Perrain Gallery, New York, NY
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Quebec, Canada
San Francisco Art Museum, California
M. H. de Young Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
Portland Art Museum, Oregon
North Truro Art Center, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Burr Gallery, New York, NY
University of Oklahoma Art Gallery, Oklahoma City, OK
Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara, California
Gallery 77, Conroe, Texas
Gallery Pascal, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Denison University, Granville, Ohio
Gallery 1640, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Art Graphique, London, England
Berran-Medalie, Newtonville, Massachusetts
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin

Exhibition Record (Galleries and Art Shows):
Awards:
Purchase Award- 4th National Print Exhibition- Silvermine Guild of Artists, New Canaan, Connecticut
Print and Drawing Prize - 51st Annual Exhibition- Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, Hartford, Connecticut
Purchase Award - 14th Southwestern Exibition of Prints and Drawings, Dallas Museum of Fine Art, Texas
First Museum Award in Prints and Drawings - Southwestern Biennial of
Arts, New Mexico Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Purchase Award of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company - Tweed Gallery Invitational Exibition, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Grants:
March 1960 -- Research Grant from the University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri; for work in color printing.
1968-1969 University Research Institute Grant, University of Texas at Austin; Experimentation of Graphic Process -- Paris, France.

Austin Art Space

Museums
Dallas Museum of Art
Smithsonian American Arts Museum Archives

Other Sources
Exhibition booklets, catalogs, flyers, UT at Austin Faculty newsletters from 1963, On-line search, correspondence, a listing attached to a memorial from UT Austin Department of Art.

Mort Baranoff

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