by
Erin Doane, Senior Curator
Two
different donors recently gave us paintings by Lars Hoftrup. One donated three
watercolors and the other a single oil on board. It felt like an odd
coincidence that these four paintings came to us in just two months’ time, so I
decided I should write something about them for this blog.
![]() |
| The Haunted House, by Lars Hoftrup, 1947, oil on board,
new donation |
Upon
doing some research online, I discovered that while the Swedish-born painter,
who lived out most of his life in Pine City, was nationally-known in his time,
there is very little about him on the internet outside of local sources. Elmira
city historian Diane Janowski has a page about him and his longtime companionArmand Carmen Wargny
on her website. There is also an active Lars
Hoftrup and Armand Wargny Facebook group administered by Jan Kevin
Liberatore. Otherwise, there are only a few very brief biographies on general
art websites. Fortunately, the archive here at CCHS has a thick folder of
information and a subscription to Newspapers.com.
![]() |
Lars Hoftrup (standing) and Armond Wargny (seated) at
Artstorp
taken by Star-Gazette
photographer Wells Crandall in the mid-1940s
and reprinted in the June 1961 Chemung Historical Journal. |
Julius
Lars Hoftrup was born in Kjevlinge, Sweden in 1874 to parents Anders and Anna.
He came to the United States with his family in 1881 when he was just six years
old. At first, they lived on the top of Mt. Zoar before purchasing a farmhouse
and barns on Curren Road near Pine City. The young Lars always wanted to be an
artist. He got his primary education in Elmira schools then studied art in fits
and starts when money was available. He attended Cooper Union in New York City
briefly, worked to save more money, studied at the Art Student’s League for a
time, then took a position as photographer with a small motion picture company.
The company sent him to work in the Midwest and it was in Davenport, Iowa that his
art career really took off.
![]() |
| Watercolor by Lars Hoftrup, new donation |
While
in Davenport, Lars became acquainted with the wealthy Mrs. Baker who bought a
number of his paintings and became his first patron. With the money he made
from the sales, he was able to take his first trip abroad. He traveled and
painted throughout the Mediterranean, finding the South of France and Northern
Africa particularly inspiring. After his journey, he moved back to New York
City where he eventually became one of fifteen artists who established their
own gallery called “The Fifteen Gallery.”
![]() |
| Play boat, Auray, France, by Lars Hoftrup, watercolor, new
donation |
During
the summers, Lars spent his time painting at his family home in Pine City. When
the Great Depression hit and the Fifteen Gallery closed, he returned to Pine
City and settled there permanently. He established a studio there where he
hosted artist friends and taught students. Sculptor Ernfred Anderson,
another Swedish-born artist who moved to the Elmira in the 1930s, dubbed Lars’s
residence “Artstorp,” meaning “art farm” in Swedish. Artstorp became a sort of
mecca for established artists, watercolor enthusiasts, and students alike and
Lars welcomed them all. The Elmira Art Club’s annual picnic was held there for
many years.
![]() |
| Watercolor of Artstorp by Talitha Botsford, 1960 |
Many artists visited Artstorp but only one, other
than Lars himself, lived there long-term. Armand Wargny was born in France in
1870. He came to the United States and studied art at the Chicago Institute.
That was where he met Lars Hoftrup. The pair became close companions and in
1932, Armand moved in with Lars at his Pine City farm. According to Lars’s
obituary in the Star-Gazette, “The
men were such good friends that neither intruded upon the work or the mood of
the other. Work over, they prepared their own meals and whiled away their
evenings in artists’ talk.” Toward the end of his life, Armand became quite
ill. Lars took care of him “with the loving care of a mother for her babe,”
according to Rosamond C. Gaydash who spent some time at Artstorp. Armand’s
death in 1947 was a severe blow to Lars.Film of J. Lars Hoftrup and Armand Wargny
at Artstorp Studio, c.
1941
Lars continued to paint and travel. In the 1952,
while in France, he underwent emergency surgery at the American Hospital in
Paris. He never really regained his health after that. He returned to Pine City
and died at home early in the morning on April 11, 1954. He was 80 years old.
He was laid to rest in Woodlawn Cemetery. His beloved Artstorp was left mostly
empty for years, only visited occasionally by the heirs of the estate. In the
1960s, vandals damaged the buildings and scrap metal scavengers looted the home
and barns. In January 1972, the home was destroyed by fire. It was thought that
vandals had set it ablaze.
![]() |
| Harbor
Concarneau by Lars Hoftrup, watercolor, new donation |
Long-time friend Ernfred Anderson described Lars
Hoftrup as “an artist’s artist.” He was a modern impressionist working chiefly
in watercolors but also in oils. The subject of many of his works was the
beauty that he saw all around him on his travels throughout the United States
and the world, and at home in the Chemung Valley. He once said, “real art is
spiritual, not physical. It is the painter’s method of expressing emotion and
is not made to sell.” His works have found permanent homes in major galleries
such as the Brooklyn Museum, Cleveland Museum, Duncan Phillips Memorial
Gallery, and the Arnot Art Museum, as well as right here at the Chemung County
Historical Society and in countless private homes.
