Claus Hoie

Claus Hoie(1911-)
"Black Raven"
Lithograph, ca. 1980
LFAC #305

Biography

Claus Hoie was born in Stavanger, Norway, November 3, 1911. He lived for a few years in Oslo before emigrating to the United States at the age of thirteen, when he settled in Brooklyn, NY. He studied art at the Pratt Institute and at the Art Students League in New York. He spent time at sea (two Years), a heritage from his grandfather and father who were both ship’s captains. During World War II, Hoie served four years in the Army as a sergeant in a special Norwegian-American battalion of the mountain infantry (99th Infantry Battalion), whose mission was to assist in the liberation of Norway. His Battalion also landed on Normandy Beach five days after D-Day. After the war, he studied art at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. His wife, Helen, is also an artist.

Hoie worked as an independent artist creating mostly watercolors and graphics but also was a commercial artist. He has exhibited his watercolors and graphics at the American Watercolor Society between 1960 and 1994; Brooklyn Museum Watercolor Biennial, 1963; Museum of Watercolor Painting, Mexico City, Mexico, 1968 and 1989; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Annual, 1969; and the Childe Hassam Award Exhibition, National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1973. He has had numerous one-man shows in places such as the Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, IA, 1976; Akershus Castle Museum in Oslo, Norway, 1982; South Street Seaport Museum, NY, 1992, Mystic Seaport Museum, 1994 and 1998; and, the Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle, 1998.

Hoie has also been the author of several articles about his work. He has written and illustrated a book, Whaler Helena of Sag Harbor in the South Pacific, 1843-1845 (1994). In addition, he provided some text and illustrations for a booklet entitled, "The Viking Battalion" by Audrey Wendland published in 1998.

He received numerous awards for his work including prizes awarded in 1985 and 1988 from the National Academy of Design, honors and medals from the American Watercolor Society spanning the years 1955 through 1988, an award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1975, and an award from the Audubon Artists Annual Exhibition in 1990. He also received the Marine Environmental Wildlife Award from the Mystic Seaport Museum in 1998.

Hoie’s paintings and graphics are in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, Oklahoma Museum of Art, National Academy of Design, Norwegian-American Museum, University of Minnesota, and Brigham Young University. The works he exhibited at the Norwegian-American Museum eventually were acquired by Akershus Museum in Oslo, Norway. These watercolors focused on the training of mountain troops for the U.S. Army Special Forces unit of which he was a member during World War II.

The lithograph by Hoie in the Fine Arts Collection is entitled, "Black Raven" (1980). It was among a group of works probably purchased from the TransworldArt Corporation, publisher of original graphics, whose representatives visited Luther College during the 1980s. Alex Rosenberg Fine Art continues to offer works by Hoie (TransworldArt is part of the Alex Rosenberg company).

Ref: Hoie, Claus. "Claus Hoie Writes of Spontaneity in Watercolor," American Artist. Vol. 19 (December 1955), 50-51; Leigh, Candace. "Honoring the Artists of the Hamptons: Claus Hoie," [title of periodical unknown, ca. 1986]; Résumé, ca. 1992.

Updated 04/22/2008