Tunis Ponsen

Ponsen arrived in Michigan from the Netherlands in 1913, after studying under Louis Raemaekers & August Falise. He received further training from Muskegon artist Wilbur C. Kensler and had his first solo exhibition in Muskegon at the age of 30. He graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1925, after studying under Karl Buehr & George Oberteuffer. Ponsen divided his time between Chicago and Muskegon, with periods of study in Paris and Providence, Massachusetts, with Charles Hawthorne. His commissions were highly sought after by local Muskegon area art collectors, with particular interest in his landscapes and portraits. In 1929 he became the first artist to have an oil painting in the Flint Institute of Arts. After 1931, he resided in Chicago and at the time of his death he was on the faculty at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Critics regularly praised his work which found strong followings at the Detroit Institute of Art, Toledo Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Flint Institute of Arts, Muskegon Museum of Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, among others. More recently the rediscovered work of Tunis Ponsen has been the focus of considerable interest among collectors and scholars. A traveling exhibition of 52 Ponsen paintings between 1994 and 1996 set attendance records at seven Midwest museums."