Biography

Born in 1916 in San Francisco and now living in Berkeley, Kasten enrolled at the California School of Fine Arts (now San Francisco Art Institute) at age twelve. He studied at the College of Marin before earning his B.A. and M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1939. During his time as a student, Kasten was mentored by the artists of the “Berkeley School” – John Haley, Erle Loran, Margaret Peterson, and Worth Ryder – and he followed their lead, painting landscapes marked by flat planes of heightened color. Kasten was also the editorial cartoonist and Arts Editor for The Daily Californian newspaper. In 1942 he enlisted in the Army later served as a captain during the Invasion of Normandy. Kasten joined the faculty at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1946. After studying printmaking at the University of Iowa with Mauricio Lasansky, Kasten returned to California and started the printmaking program at San Francisco State University. In 1950, he joined the faculty of U.C. Berkeley and remained there for over thirty years, also establishing their printmaking program. By the 1950s Kasten began to produce the Abstract Expressionist canvases for which he is best known. [Bio from Juicy Paint Exhibition, input by R. Faust, 8/1//2010]

Information below from Obituary printed in the San Francisco Chronicle on June 3, 2010.
Karl Kasten died at age 94 at his home in Berkeley, California on May 12, 2010.

Born in 1916 in San Francisco and now living in Berkeley, Kasten enrolled at the California School of Fine Arts (now San Francisco Art Institute) at age twelve. He studied at University of California, Berkeley, graduating with a B.A. in fine art in the spring of 1938. In the fall, he enrolled in the U.C. Berkeley graduate program, where he received an M.A. in fine arts in the spring on 1939.  Three years later, he was drafted into the Army medical corps and later became an intelligence officer in the engineering corps. He served as a captain during the Normandy Invasion. In 1946, he was released from service and joined the faculty of University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In 1950, he joined the faculty of U.C. Berkeley and remained there for almost thirty years. His work has been exhibited widely at the Berkeley Art Center; the Chicago Art Institute; the Whitney Museum of American Art; the San Francisco Center for the Book; the Oakland Museum of California; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Modern Art, New York and others. He is included in the collections of the Crocker Art Museum; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Musee de Beaux Arts, Rennes, France; the University of California, Berkeley; and the San Jose Museum of Art. SJMA currently owns 20 prints by Kasten. This will be the first painting by Kasten to enter the collection. (SJMA Collections Committee, 2002)

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