Ohio Artist Kinley Shogren

The condo where I live in Vermilion just off U. S. Route 6 overlooks a small lake, with railroad tracks running alongside it. It's a great setting that's especially beautiful in the fall. And during the winter, I have a ringside (or trackside) view of the trains going by.

That's why when I saw this charming old calendar page on Ebay (above), I knew it would be the perfect decoration for the wall overlooking the lake and tracks. What made it even more perfect was the discovery that the watercolor was the work of Ohio artist Kinley Shogren. My print was part of a series of paintings he did for a Chessie System calendar in the early 1960s.

The article below provides a nice profile of the talented Ohio artist. It was written by John Futty and appeared in the Mansfield News Journal on July 19, 1990. The article coincided with the opening of a special exhibition of ninety of Shogren's paintings that were on loan from collectors.

As it notes, “Shogren has become the best-known artist in north central Ohio through his vividly realistic renderings of landscapes ranging from Ohio villages to Great Lakes shipping. Shogren’s works are distinguished by an impeccable attention to detail and an eye-catching sense of place.

“Shogren grew up in Lakewood and decided to make art his career after injuries suffered in World War II during the Battle of the Bulge made him give up plans to coach and teach physical education.

“He studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art from 1946 to 1949, then took a job as a commercial artist with the Hal Malmquist art studio in Cleveland before striking out on his own.

“One year after leaving art school, Shogren was growing weary of painting green countrysides and began searching for some scenic variety.

“That’s when I discovered the Flats in Cleveland, with the steel mills and the old ore freighters,” Shogren said.”

Here’s one of Kinley Shogren’s paintings that featured Lorain. It is identified as B & O Ore Dock - Lorain Str. Robert Hobson Unloading (1951).

Shogren died in October 1991. The article below appeared in the Mansfield News Journal at the time of his passing.

From the Mansfield News Journal, Sunday, Oct. 20, 1991

As the article notes, “He first visited Mansfield in 1956, when a banking official asked him to paint Central Park before Park Avenue West was cut through it. Shogren painted many disappearing landmarks, and he said it was his sense of history that led to the details in his painting.

“He said once, pointing to a painting of a wooden trawler in Canada, “A boat like that is a historic vessel. There are very few in existence, and it’s important to have an accurate record. It’s the same with my painting of the old (First National) bank in Ashland. It was a good stone building, and now it’s gone.

“In 1990, he was honored with a month-long, one man show at the Mansfield Art Center. The exhibit titled “Mansfield Collectors Honor Kinley Shogren” featured 90 of his paintings loaned by 48 collectors and was the largest group of his work ever assembled under one roof."