As a boy, Paul Lauritz observed many artists working in the beauty of his native Norway community of Larvik. A visiting English artist took young Lauritz under his wing in return for the boy’s family providing him with food and a place to stay. This taste of art lead young Paul to seek further art instruction at the Larvick Art School before moving to Vancouver, Canada at the age of 16. From this foothold in the new world, he soon made his way south to Portland, and after a brief trek in Alaska, he established himself in Los Angeles.

In LA, Lauritz opened a studio. His reputation for portraits, snow scenes and marine paintings grew, but his specialty became landscapes. He traveled and painted extensively throughout California, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the deserts of California, Mexico, and Nevada.

He taught at the Chouinard School of Art and the Otis Institute. He served as president of the California Art Club, and was a member of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Commission, the Laguna Beach Art Association, the Royal Society of Art in England, and the Salmagundi Club in New York.

He was for the most part a self taught artist who won numerous awards from museums and expositions throughout California. His work is exhibited at Sacramento’s Crocker Art Museum, the Irvine Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the San Diego Museum of Art, and the Carnegie Museum of Art in Oxnard, CA. Source: Askart, Artists of the Desert, Ed Ainsworth, 1960.