Jon Serl

1894–1993, American

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The tragicomedy of Jon Serl’s paintings reflects the artist’s talent as a performer on stage and in life, as he fluidly changed his occupation, location, and identity. Serl, whose original name was Joe Searles, was born on an Indian reservation in Cattaraugus County, New York. When he was ten years old, Serl began performing in his family’s traveling vaudeville show. Traveling west through the mining camps in Colorado and eventually Hollywood, he waited tables; picked cherries; dubbed voices for silent films (signed by Fox Studios as Jerry Palmer, one of several names he used); and held jobs as an actor, dancer, and screenwriter. Although he did not attend school for very long, avid reading contributed to his extensive vocabulary and fine diction, earning him voiceover jobs for early talkies.

Portfolio of Work

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A Soldier Returns, 1982

Oil on canvas

American

Donated to the Milwaukee Art Museum

The Visitor, n.d.

Oil on board

American

Lady on Raft, n.d.

Oil on board

American

Donated to the Milwaukee Art Museum

No Towel, 1982

Oil on board

American

Donated to the Milwaukee Art Museum

Untitled, n.d.

Oil on board

American

Pier, n.d.

Oil on board

American

Untitled

Oil on board

American

Serl befriended stars and curators as readily as runaways. He married and divorced three times and had two children. After World War II, he moved to the California desert, where he collected objects from garage sales and flea markets. When he moved to San Juan Capistrano in 1949, he started painting with homemade pigments and oil paint he applied to found boards, Masonite, and canvas, as well as to discarded paintings. He created more than 1,200 works featuring wide-eyed, slim figures with bendy limbs reminiscent of the work of Edvard Munch. Incredibly self-sufficient, he took up gardening, grew his own crops, and raised chickens. He refused to exhibit his work until the 1970s and often did not cash checks for the sale of his work, mounting them instead on his kitchen wall. In 1970, the Municipal Arts Department of Los Angeles toured an exhibition of forty-one of his paintings. Calvin-Morris Gallery became his New York dealer. In 1971 Serl moved to Lake Elsinore, in Riverside County, California, where he lived until his death.