WENDELL L. MOHR

Wendell Mohr, a prolific Iowa artist whose watercolors of cityscapes and seaports, locomotives and factories evoked a man-made world of color and action, died May 25, in Des Moines. He was 82. Mohr, who lived in Bentonsport, died of cancer.

A memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, May 31, at First Christian Church, 2500 University Ave. in Des Moines. The family will receive friends at 9:30 before the service. A second memorial will be held later in Van Buren County. The body has been donated to Des Moines University.

Mohr was a signature member of the American Watercolor Society and the National Watercolor Society and was a Master Watercolorist in the Transparent Watercolor Society of America . He was a charter member of the Iowa Watercolor Society. His work was exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the country and in hundreds of private and corporate collections. Moberg Gallery represents him.

Rather than bucolic landscapes, Mohr portrayed the drama of colorful street scenes packed with pedestrians and ports bustling with ships, cargo and longshoremen. His impressionistic paintings captured the smoky muscularity of locomotives from railroading's golden age and the massive machinery of mills and factories.

It all came from Mohr's imagination. Although his sketches and prints documented landmarks in the Midwest, few of his watercolors depicted actual settings. He couldn't draw on the area around his isolated studio for the crowded streets and tall buildings he loved to paint.

Instead, much of his work drew on his experience in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II, with voyages to South America, Europe, and East Asia. He also drew on his Army service during the Korean War, and on the train trips he took as an inquisitive tourist.

He was born near Eldridge, Ia., on Feb. 25, 1926 to John and Martha Mohr. John Mohr died in a farm accident two years later, and Mohr was raised by his mother and her brothers.

"I asked my mother for an art set or a drum set," Mohr told the Des Moines Register in 1989. "She very wisely chose the art set. Art was the only thing I was ever very good at. Of course my teachers encouraged me, and that helped a lot. They urged me to go on to art school."

Mohr earned an associate degree at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in 1948 and later studied at the Des Moines Art Center. He worked for 20 years as a graphic designer, mostly in Des Moines.

Mohr married Elizabeth Wilson of Stuart in 1959. In 1970, he bet his family's future on a full-time career as an artist, and the couple moved their children to Bentonsport. The family converted the Vernon schoolhouse into a home, studio, gallery and antiques shop. Mohr became active in the community, serving as an officer in the Keosauqua Lions Club and annually creating posters for the Van Buren County Players theater group.

With his gregarious personality and curious nature, Mohr had many friends. Over the years, he presented hundreds of workshops, classes and demonstrations. He encouraged budding artists and his words often had meaning beyond the art world. He once told the Register, "Looking back on my life, there's joy in the work, whether we get paid or not."

Mohr is survived by his wife, Julie Powell of Des Moines; daughter, Paula Mohr, and son, Thomas, both of Des Moines; stepchildren, Jody and Greg Valentine of Des Moines and Anne (Steve) Deaton of Ankeny; two step-grandchildren; two nephews; and a world of friends.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Iowa Watercolor Society or the Bentonsport Improvement Association.