Charles Csuri
Born(1922-07-04)July 4, 1922
Grant Town, West Virginia, U.S.
DiedFebruary 27, 2022(2022-02-27) (aged 99)
Lakewood Ranch, Florida, U.S.
Known forComputer art pioneer
College football career
Ohio State Buckeyes
PositionTackle
Career history
CollegeOhio State (1942)
Career highlights and awards
  • All-America (1942)
  • National championship (1942)

Charles Csuri (July 4, 1922 – February 27, 2022), better known as Chuck Csuri, was an American artist and computer art creator, described by the Smithsonian magazine as the "father of digital art and computer animation."[1]

Biography

Digital art

Csuri created his first digital art pieces in 1964, and was quickly recognized by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group Graphics (ACM SIGGRAPH).[2][3] In particular, his 1967 short film Hummingbird, a collaboration with James Shaffer, is in MoMa's permanent collection as one of the earliest surviving examples of computer animation.[4] Csuri taught for over forty years at Ohio State University, and between 1971 and 1987 established a series of groundbreaking graphics research centers there: the Computer Graphics Research Group, the Ohio Supercomputer Graphics Project, and Cranston/Csuri Productions, which spun off from the university in 1981 to become one of the world's first computer animation production companies.[5] In 1987, these groups combined to form the Advanced Computing Center for Arts and Design (ACCAD), which remains in operation as of 2022. In 2000, Csuri received an Ohio Governor's Award for the Arts and Ohio State's Sullivant Medal, the institution's highest honor, in acknowledgement of his lifetime achievements. A retrospective exhibit of seventy of Csuri's artworks, titled Beyond Boundaries, traveled to museums throughout Europe and Asia in 2010. Other notable works by Csuri include Random War (1967), Sine Curve Man (1967), Wondrous Spring (1992), Spinning (1994), A Happy Time (1996), Random War Pics (2013), Despair (2016), Doddle (2016), Old Age (2016), and ribFIG (2016).[6]

College football career

Csuri attended Ohio State on a football scholarship. He became captain of their first national championship football team, and is in the College Football Hall of Fame as MVP in the 1942 Big Ten Conference. He was selected in the 1944 NFL Draft by the Chicago Cardinals (16th round, 154th overall pick), but declined the offer in order to serve in World War II.[7][8]

Military service

Csuri served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946, receiving the Bronze Star in 1945 for heroism in the Battle of the Bulge.[7]

Teaching career

Csuri returned to Ohio State and completed his MA in art in 1948. In 1949, he joined the faculty of the Department of Art at the university. He became a full Professor of Art Education in 1978, a Professor of Computer Information Science in 1986, and Professor Emeritus in 1990.[7][2]

Personal life

Csuri was born in Grant Town, West Virginia, on July 4, 1922, to parents from Hungary. He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio.[9] He died in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, on February 27, 2022, at the age of 99.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Charles A. Csuri". research.osu.edu. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Charles A. Csuri - Biography". The Ohio State University. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  3. ↑ Trachtman, Paul (February 1995). "Charles Csuri is an 'Old Master' in a new medium". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  4. ↑ "Charles Csuri's Hummingbird | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  5. ↑ "Charles Csuri - Biography". siggraph.org. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  6. ↑ "Charles A. Csuri: Beyond Boundaries, 1963 – present". Ohio State University. Archived from the original on 10 June 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 Csuri, Charles A. (2006). "Interview of Charles A. Csuri by Robert Butche". Kb.osu.edu. hdl:1811/5928. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  8. ↑ "99 Warriors: No. 60, All-American Tackle And National Championship Team MVP Charles Csuri". Eleven Warriors. 3 July 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  9. ↑ Clay, Jarrod (3 March 2022). "Former Ohio State captain, 'father of computer art' Charles Csuri dies at 99". ABC 6. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  10. ↑ "In Memoriam: Charles Csuri". The Ohio State University. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
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