Frederick H. Heidel

Frederick H. Heidel

Heidel, Frederick H.

Corvallis 1915

California

Oregon

Portland 2000

painter

glass artist

Northwest artist

Oregon artist

Frederick Heidel began teaching art at Biarritz American University, Biarritz, France in 1945. Later he taught at Long Beach City College in California and became professor of art at University of Oregon in 1949. In 1951 Heidel began his long association with Portland State University where he was both professor and chairman of the department of art and architecture until 1980.

Heidel's subjects were mostly landscapes, painted with a warm palette. His paintings were interpretive of, and inspired by, the visual world; subject matter was secondary to patterning. His later works were characterized by intense color and expressive form. Heidel has stated that he felt most akin to the Expressionists; he painted to express ideas and feelings relating to people and things, in time and place. By 1968 Heidel had made a marked departure from painting and turned to laminated constructions in glass.

Heidel exhibited nationally and internationally and was featured in numerous one-person shows. His work can be found in Oregon in the collections of the Portland Art Museum, Portland State University, the Coos Art Museum, and the University of Oregon. There is a mural by Frederick Heidel at the Lane County Courthouse in Eugene.

Artist biography reproduced with permission from the authors, Oregon Painters: the First Hundred Years (1859-1959), Ginny Allen and Jody Klevit.

Male