Claus Hoie

Place: Stavanger

Born: 1911

Death: 2007

Biography:

Claus Hoie was born on November 3, 1911, in Stavanger, Norway. He emigrated to the United States at the age of thirteen and settled in Brooklyn, NY. Hoie spent time at sea, a heritage from his grandfather and father who were both ship's captains. During World War II, he served four years in the Army as a Sergeant in a special Norwegian-American battalion of the mountain infantry (99th Infantry Battalion), whose mission was to assist in the liberation of Norway. His battalion also landed on Normandy Beach five days after D-Day. After the war, he studied art at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris and attended Pratt Institute and the Art Students League in New York. Hoie worked as an independent artist creating mostly watercolors and graphics but also was a commercial artist. He has exhibited his work at various museums and galleries, including the American Watercolor Society, Brooklyn Museum Watercolor Biennial, and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Annual. Hoie's wife, Helen, is also an artist. He wrote and illustrated a book, Whaler Helena of Sag Harbor in the South Pacific, 1843-1845 (1994). Claus Hoie passed away in 2007.