Biography
Václav Kulhánek and Anna Kulhánek, née Veleba, the parents of James C. Kulhanek, were born in
Bohemia within
Austria-Hungary and settled in
Cleveland in the 1900s. James C. Kulhanek was born there on April 23, 1908. Kulhanek was a student of
Henry Keller at the
Cleveland School of Art. In 1938, Kulhanek was a witness to an incident at
Brookside Zoo where
Judy Zemnick, another WPA artist, was pulled into a polar bear enclosure and clawed. Kulhanek and another artist called for help and tried to drive the bear away from Ms. Zemnick. The incident received extensive press coverage at the time and for two years following. ==Portrait of Dennis John Kucinich==
Portrait of Dennis John Kucinich
In December of 1989, Kulhanek discovered that Dennis Kucinich, the 53rd mayor (Democrat) of the city of Cleveland, Ohio, was (idiosyncratically) not represented by a portrait at City Hall. Oil paintings of many of his peers, mayors long past as well as contemporary, could either be found within the ceremonial Red Room or one of the building's many offices, conference rooms, or corridors. No official policy had hitherto been established concerning the commissioning of a mayor's portrait on the part of the municipality. Historically, mayoral portraits had never been commissioned en masse by Cleveland residents nor paid for out of public funds. Generally, such undertakings were subsidized out of private resources. Kulhanek rose to rectify this intriguing phenomena, gratis. Dying of terminal stomach cancer, Kulhanek channeled the last vestiges of his failing strength into the project. Informed of the artist's undertaking, Kucinich visited the Kulhanek household and posed. Taking up his oils, the terminally ill old-world artist was buoyed by the assurance that he was painting the capstone of his career. He envisioned its warm reception, and a grateful citizenry hanging it with pride Kulhanek depicted an age-appropriate Kucinich seated at his desk in the mayor's office. Prominently featured upon the wall behind him was an image of Muny Light (known now as Cleveland Public Power). The artist applied his last brushstroke to the canvas in January of 1990 - what would be three months prior to his death. A week before Kulhanek was to die (at the age of 81 on April 1, 1990), he received another visit by Kucinich. Ken Wood, staff writer for The News Sun (a community newspaper that served five of Cleveland's suburbs), wrote about Kucinich's reaction to the finished canvas. He was "very humbled" by Kulhanek's having given "so unselfishly of his considerable talents." He judged that the artist had a "keen understanding of the values (he) stood for as mayor," and captured his likeness and communicated the nuances of his term in office, "particularly with respect to the issue of light and power." Additionally, Kucinich expressed his amenability to that portrait serving as his official one at City Hall (should he be granted that mark of recognition by the then sitting administration of Mayor Michael White). Contacting a spokesperson for the White administration, Kucinich related Kulhanek's epic undertaking, and requested that the dying artist's wish - that the portrait (which he was prepared to donate) serve his intended purpose - be fulfilled. Over the course of the ensuing months, Mayor White's Press Secretary, Alan Seifullah, made inquiries of Kulhanek's widow, Joyce, and their son, James Jr., about the portrait (which remained at the Kulhanek home). Although its formal acquisition by the Cleveland municipality, and its public unveiling at City Hall were never refused (outright), neither were they certified. The matter remained dormant until 2002 when Cleveland's 56th mayor, Jane Louise Campbell (the first female to have been elected as the city's mayor in its 206 year history), announced an initiative to raise $40,000 to commission a Kucinich portrait. Hoping to dissuade the municipality from a costly (and seemingly unnecessary) enterprise, James Kulhanek, Jr., wrote to Mayor Campbell about his late father's portrait of Mr. Kucinich. Its undertaking having received its subject's blessing, participation, and approval, the painting would satisfy that desire without any fiduciary expenditure. After due deliberation, labor leader John Ryan was authorized by the Campbell administration to communicate to the Kulhanek family its perspective concerning the painting: though deemed an admirable likeness skillfully rendered, the portrait was evaluated as being markedly varied in tone, style, and technique to the majority of those portraits throughout city hall of Kucinich's predecessors and successors. The perceived variances between them was deemed likely to inhibit an overall aesthetic harmony. When approached for his personal opinion regarding the portrait's dismissal, Kucinich (who was then a congressman), replied that the ". . . administration believed it was not in keeping with the style of other mayoral portraits . . . It was never my intention to have a portrait, and forgot about the matter." . Today, the portrait is among the oeuvre of paintings executed by James C. Kulhanek preserved by his son, James Jr. == Work ==