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Charles Wysocki at Benjamin Art Gallery

Charles Wysocki was born in 1928 in Detroit Michigan. From the time he was a little tot, he always wanted to be an artist. His father, Charles Sr., was an immigrant from Poland who worked on the assembly line at Ford Motor Company for over 35 years. His father was not thrilled about his artist aspirations. Most of his encouragement came from his mother, Mary, who fully supported his artistic tendencies.

After his duties as an American soldier, Charles attended Art Center in Los Angeles (it is now in Pasadena) on the G.I. Bill. After completing his studies, and majoring in design and advertising illustration, Charles joined the staff of freelance artists at McNamera Brothers in Detroit in 1955. In 1959 he moved to Los Angeles where he formed an advertising agency with three other artists called “Group West” and was very successful doing freelance commercial artwork. Some of his clients included General Tire, Unocal, Carnation, Chrysler, United California Bank, Otis Elevator Company, and Dow Chemical Company to name a few. During this time he won numerous awards for his illustrative talents.

In the early 1960’s Charles was highly successful as a commercial artist, but his heart was in the primitive style. At night and on the weekends, he worked on his Americana/primitive paintings. After Charles completed a one-man show at which he sold every painting in this style, he decided to leave commercial art for good and just focus on his Americana art. For most of the 1960’s he made a good living off of the original paintings he sold.

Charles painted his whole life, and up to his death at the age of 73. He died July 29, 2002 surrounded by family.