Joseph A. Fleck (1892-1977)
Fleck was born in Austria-Hungary and studied at the Institute of Applied Arts in Vienna and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He was drafted into WWI and served in Italy, and completed his studies at the Royal Academy after the war. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1922 and settled in Kansas City, Missouri and worked as a stained glass designer in a factory owned by Louis C. Tiffany. In 1924, he viewed an exhibit of Taos School artists in Kansas City and was struck immediately. He moved to Taos in 1925 and remained there except for trips to Europe and a stint as Dean of Fine Arts at the University of Missouri.
Information courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions Inc., May 2005