Book Launch Event for "Marley Kaul - Paintings" at North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks

A master painter, a devoted artist, a teacher and a philosopher. These are just some of the words used to describe long time Bemidji State University Art Professor Marley Kaul in the foreword to his fourth and final book, which is set for release in September, 2025.

“Marley Kaul Paintings” features more than 300 full-color paintings hand-selected by Marley Kaul and his family.

In early 2021 Kaul and his wife, Sandy, decided to do a comprehensive book of his work. “It was a massive undertaking,” said Sandy Kaul. "Marley was near the end of his career and wanted to look back on his lifetime of painting.

“Part of the job was going through binders filled with slides. He would get on the phone with our designer, Lynn Phelps, once a week and they would go over 15 to 20 slides. Lynn would say, ‘I can fix that, or I can’t fix that,’ recalled Sandy, who added that just going through all the slides dating back from the early ‘60’s took about four months. Midway through the book in August 2021, Marley unexpectedly passed away, and Sandy, Allison and Steve decided to pick up the mantle and complete the book in honor of Marley.

Fortunately, Kaul had already been able to work with his designer to select many of the images he wanted to include in the book. “That was a blessing,” said Sandy Kaul. So was the fact that Marley Kaul had written the book’s introduction. “We’re very glad he did that because he laid out what his concept was.”

"He had this idea to break the book into decades,” said Marley’s son, Steve Kaul, who added that because some of the slides his dad had selected were deteriorating, the original paintings had to be tracked down and re-photographed.

While the original plan was to break the collection down by decade, Sandy and her children ultimately decided it made more sense to group the paintings by series. “Each series had a theme to it, something Marley was trying to accomplish, remember and capture in his paintings,” said Sandy Kaul.

“Sometimes the chapters relate to where he was living at the time, so there’s the Oregon series. Then he travelled to Norway so there’s the Norway series,” said Steve Kaul.

“We also noticed as we were looking at the works in chronological order and series order you can start to see where his style shifted, and he was trying something new. Sometimes that was the chapter break. It was a pretty distinctive style of work,” said DeLeone.

“Marley Kaul Paintings” is a work of art in itself: a 9-and-a-half inch by 12-inch hardcover coffee table book divided into ten chapters that each showcase Kaul’s development as an artist, beginning in 1961 and continuing until 2021.

Chapter One, which includes paintings created between 1961 and 1967 is titled “Early Work.” Chapter Two (1968 – 1970) features Pop Art. Chapter Three (1971 – 1976) includes work created while the Kaul family lived in Oregon.

There are also chapters that feature work centered around a particular theme, like landmarks, energy systems, meeting places, gardens and icons. The final chapter in the book, “The Unfinished Series,” painted in 2021, was his last series, a collection of works that showed his continuing discipline and drive to create. “He was painting right up until the end,” said Kaul’s daughter Allison DeLeone.

“We wanted people to be able to virtually tour through this book as if it were a gigantic exhibit. I think Kathy Weflen, our editor, referred to it as his final exhibition. You know, just a tour of his whole career,” said Steve Kaul. “When someone devotes their whole life to art, you have to do it justice somehow, and this is the way to do it. If dad were here, I think he would have completed the book similarly to how it turned out.”

Professor Kaul’s family said their goal for the book is to see it become a reference for artists for years to come. “We want it to be an educational piece for students. If a student picked it up, they could learn how an artist develops and thinks about their work throughout their career. You don’t often find that, but I think this book accomplishes that quite well,” said Allison DeLeone.

“Marley Kaul - Paintings” officially debuts in September with a series of public events in Kaul's home state of Minnesota, and one that will take place the evening of Thursday, September 25, 2025, between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. at North Dakota Museum of Art, which is located at 261 Centennial Drive Stop 7305, Grand Forks, N.D. 58202.

For those unable to make it to the event, “Marley Kaul Paintings” may be purchased online from the distributor: ItascaBooks.com. Books will begin shipping October 1, 2025.

About the Artist

Marley Kaul was born in Good Thunder, Minnesota, in 1939. Growing up on a family farm, Kaul experienced the rhythms of agrarian life, which deeply influenced his artistic vision. His early interests and talents included drawing, singing in church choir, and playing basketball and baseball.

In 1962, Kaul earned a Bachelor of Science in secondary art education at Mankato State University. While there, he met art student Sandra Staehle, and they married in fall 1962. That same year, Kaul began teaching high-school art in nearby Le Sueur.

In 1964, Kaul completed a Master of Science in secondary art education at Mankato State University. He accepted a one-year teaching position at Bemidji State University, which turned into a 30-year tenure track role. He took a year's leave of absence to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in painting at the University of Oregon, Eugene. Returning to BSU in northern Minnesota, Professor Kaul inspired generations of students in painting and drawing. Continuing to create his own artworks in oil, watercolor, casein, gouache, and egg tempera, Professor Kaul was also a working artist and a role model for students.

Kaul retired at age 57 to focus entirely on painting. In his prolific painting career, he produced more than 500 works and exhibited in galleries and museums in Minneapolis and throughout the Midwest. His art celebrates the beauty of everyday life, blending natural and domestic themes with spiritual and metaphoric depth.

While he was alive, Kaul and his wife, Sandy, published three books of his paintings: “Letters to Isabella,” “We Sit,” and “For Now.” Marley Kaul passed away in 2021, just as he and Sandy were beginning work on their fourth book, a comprehensive hardcover of more than 300 images documenting his 60-year painting career, from 1961 to 2021.

Along with Sandy, their son Stephen Kaul and daughter Allison Kaul DeLeone picked up the mantle to finish his last book. In this magnificent retrospective “Marley Kaul Paintings” and in his vibrant original works, Kaul's artistic legacy endures.