Museo dei Bozzetti "Pierluigi Gherardi" - Città di Pietrasanta

 
Sesto di otto figli, nasce da genitori immigrati in una fattoria vicino South Haven nel Michigan. Nel 1918 la sua famiglia si trasferisce a Chicago. Riconosciuto il suo talento artistico dal suo insegnante, gli viene data una borsa di studio per frequentare i corsi estivi all'Art Institute di Chicago, dove poi, finito il liceo, si diploma (1932), seguendo anche i corsi della Chicago School of Sculpture (1934-37).
Inizia ad insegnare come assistente al Viola Norman's Chicago School of Sculpture (1932-'34), eseguendo anche alcuni studi in creta e modelli in gesso, e poi nella Divisione Scultura del Progetto Artistico Federale sotto la direzione dello scultore francese Edoardo Chassaing (1939-'41).
Nel 1937 sposa Angeline Allen, sua compagna di studi all'Art Institute, con cui ha sei figli (Charles, 1939; i gemelli Carolyn e Madelon, 1941; Louis, Arthur e Thomas).
Nel 1941 si trasferiscono ad Austin, TX, dove Umlauf è invitato ad insegnare Disegno e Scultura nel nuovo Dipartimento di Arte all'Università del Texas, in cui rimane fino al 1981, ormai diventato 'Professore Emerito'.
Sterminata è la sua produzione artistica, soprattutto negli Stati Uniti.
Tra le sue personali: Shook-Carrington Gallery, San Antonio, Texas (1966); Dalzell Hatfield Gallery, Los Angeles (1966); Galleria d'Arte Santa Croce, Firenze (1966); Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas Art Museum, New York (1967; '80); Galeria de los Cruces, Corpus Christi, Texas (1971); "Scultura Figurativa", Galleria d'Arte Manzoni, Milano (1974). Altre personali in Canada, Sud America, Australia, Belgio, Germania, Austria, Spagna e Inghilterra.
Numerose anche le collettive, tra cui: "American" and "Chicago and Vicinity", Art Institute of Chicago (1936-'42); New York World's Fair, Fine Arts Gallery (1939-40);"Annual sculpture exhibition", Oakland Art Gallery (1941, '46, '49); "San Francisco Art Association", San Francisco Museum of Art (1941, '46, '57); "Sculpture of the Western Hemisphere" Cocorana Art Gallery and tour of South American Museum (1942, '43); "Artists for Victory" Metropolitan Museum of Art (1942); "Texas General", Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition (1942); Annual Art Faculty Exhibition, University of Texas (1942-'81); "International Watercolor Exhibition" Art Istitut of Chicago (1943); "Contemporary American Sculpture, Water Colours & Drawings", Whitney Museum of American Art (1946, '47, '48, '49, '50, '51, '53, '56); "Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture", Pennsylvania Academy of Art (1946, '47, '48, '50, '51, '54, '60, '62, '66); "Sculpture Today" Toledo Museum, Ohio and Toronto Museum of Art, Canada (1947, '48); "Artists West of the Mississippi" Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (dal 1947); "Juried Membership Exhibition", Texas Fine Art Association (1948); Denver Art Museum Annual (1948, '49, '50, '52, '55, '56); "Ceramic National", Syracuse Museum, New York (1948-'50); Exhibition of American Art" Galerie Giroux, Brussels, Belgio (1948); "New Orleans National" Isaac Delgado Museum, (1948); "Statue Project", Demotte Gallery, New York (1949); "Religious Sculpture" Colubus Gallery of Fine Art (1949), Dayton Art Institute (1950); "Third International" Philadelphia Museum, Fairmont Park (1949); "Brooklyn Watercolor International" Brooklyn Museum (1949); Candidates for Grants, National Institute for Arts and Letters (1950; '51; '54; '55; '64); Sculptor's Guild Annual, New York (1950-'55); "American Painting" Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1950); "American Sculpture" Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1951); "The Artists Vision" Des Moines Art Center (1952); "Texas Contemporary Artists" Knoedler Gallery New York (1952); " Contemporary American Drawings", Wisconsin Union Gallery (1953); "Integration" Contemporary Art Museum, Houston (1953); "University of Illinois" University of Illinois (1953, '57, '59, '63); "Contemporary Sculptors", Ohio State University (1954); "Contemporary Arts Exhibition" Art Istitute of Chicago (1955); "Liturgical and Religious Arts" Denver Art Museum (1955); "Religious Art" Newark Museum, New Jersey (1956); "Sculpture in Architecture" Sydney Australia (1956); "Contemporary Religious Art in Texas" Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio (1957); "Sculpture Exhibition" Fort Worth Art Center (1957); "God and Man in Art" American Federation of Art Exhibition (1957-58); "Christocentric Arts Festival", Newman Foundation Galleries, University of Illinois (1957-'64); "Sculpture Exhibition", Providence Rhode Island, Providence Art Club (1958); "Religious Art of the Western World", Dallas Museum of fine Art (1958); "From Rodin to Lipchitz", Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art (1958); "Fifth Regional Biennal", Kansans State Collage (1958); "Mid-American Annual", Nelson Memorial Museum, Kansans City (1959); "Made in Texas By Texans", Southland Center, Dallas (1959); "Religious Art Exhibition", Colorado Spring Fine Arts Center (1959); "Contemporary Religious Art", Terrace Room, Penn-Sheraton Hotel, Pittsburg (1960); "Annual Exhibition of Southwest American Art", Oklahoma Art Center (1960, '63); "Contemporary Christian Art", Firestone Library, Princeton University (1960); "Southwestern Art Exhibition", Dallas Museum of Fine art (1960); Dallss Art Festival, Southland Center (1960); "Young Collector's Exhibition" Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma (1961); "Religious Sculpture and Modern Church Architecture", Phillworth Art Center (1961); "American Business and the Arts", San Francisco Museum of Art (1961); "Adelaide Festival of Art", National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (1962); "Greensboro Collectors", Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, North Carolina (1963); "Painting and Sculpture Invitational", L.S.U Union Gallery, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge (1964); "Religious Art Exhibition", Mulvane Art Center, Topeka, Kansas (1964); "The Figure in Sculpture, 1865-1965", J.B Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky (1965); Onehundred and Sixty First Annual Exhibition of American Oil Painting and Sculpture, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (1966); "Exhibition of Ted Weiner Collection", University of Texas Art Museum, Austin (1967); "Our Patrons Collect", Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin (1967); "Creative Collaboration", Rice University Medical Center , Huston, Texas (1967); Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, Hemisfair, San Antonio, Texas 81968); "A particular Portion of Earth", Washington (1968); Gallery of Rapides ank & Trust Co, Alexandria, Los Angeles (1969); "Exhibition of Sculpture and Drawings on tour", Southwestern Louisiana University, Lafayette, Los Angeles (1969); Louisiana Arts and Science Center, Baton Rouge, Los Angeles (1969); Art Faculty Exhibition, Gallery of Men of Art Guild, San Antonio (1970); Fifteenth Annual Invitational Painting and Sculpture Exhibition", Longview Museum and Arts Center, Texas (1973); "Joy to the World", American Bicentennial Celebration in Galveston, Texas (1973); Sol del Rio Gallery, San Antonio (1977); Centennial Exhibition, Art Institute, Chicago (1979-'80); Retrospective Exhibition Exhibition, University of Texas (1980).
Sue opere sono presenti in collezioni pubbliche e private sparse in tutti gli Stati Uniti, inclusi: National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institutions, Washington, D.C.; Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts, New York; Oklahoma Art Center; Des Moines Art Center; Huntington. Tra sue le principali commissioni (come vincitore di concorsi) si ricordano: "Mother and Children", Cook County Hospital, Chicago; "Angel", entrata, Cimitero, Lubbock, TX; "Spirit of Flight", entrata, Love Field, Dallas; Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio; "George Huntington Hartford e Julius Rosenwald", Mechandise Mart Hall of Fame, Chicago; ed inoltre: "Pietà" (1961); "Icarus", bronzo, donato dalla Phillis Petroleum Company all'Università del Kansas, Space Technology Center (1964); "Prometheus", Plains National Bank, Lubbock, TX (1968); "Hope of Humanity", Museo di Scienze Naturali, Herman Park, Houston (1972); "Madonna and Child", Inner Park, Saint David's Community Hospital, Austin (1989); "Abstraction, Form VII", New Teacher's Retirement System Building, Austin (1990); "Prometheus", entrata, Northridge Austin Community College (1990).
Ha ricevuto numerosi riconoscimenti professionali, tra cui: "Guggenheim Fellowship" (1949); "Ford Foundation Award" (1959); "University of Texas Excellence Grant" (1966); "Member Honoris Causa", National Honorary Society, Omicron Delta Kappa (1975); "Ford Foundation Grant" (1979); "Leslie Waggener Professorship in Fine Arts" (1980-'81); "Texas Artist of the Year", Houston Art League (1985); "Alcalde", Città di San Antonio, TX (1993).