Highlights from the Wisconsin Union Art Collection Catalog
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Santos Zingale (1908-1999)
Scrub Woman, 1937
Lithograph

Still Life, 1957
oil

Santos Zingale was born in Milwaukee on April 17, 1908. He attended Lincoln High School and went on to the Milwaukee State Teachers' College (now the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) where he played football and received his art training, graduating in 1930 with a degree in art education. Zingale attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated with his masters in education in 1943. As part of the degree, he painted a mural for the library in the School of Education. While attending school he was the graduate assistant to American Regionalist painter and Artist-in-Residence John Steuart Curry. Professor Zingale joined the Art Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1946 where he taught painting and drawing until his retirement in 1978. He was awarded the title of professor emeritus upon retirement.

In a discussion about his development as an artist of his generation, he recounted, "With my early work I used thematic ideas as form and content. Eventually, the form became more important. Back in the '30s the issue of form versus content was liberally discussed, more so than now, because it started in the art schools and carried on through our professional careers. To me form always takes priority. I'm not abstract at all. I would never knock abstract art, you understand, but I like to relate to something in pictorial form. Something I can grasp and play with in terms of color and form. Something to which I can lend my own interpretation, my own reactions.”
Zingale's career spanned seventy years, showing his dedication to the painter's task and a consistency of effort. This devotion to his craft earned him a reputation as a "painter's painter." His paintings, drawings and prints are included in museums and private collections throughout the United States. A devoted teacher, Professor Zingale was an inspiration to several generations of students. His passion for painting was a way of life and a part of his everyday existence like breathing and eating.

S.B.

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