Horlbeck, Edward
HORLBECK, Edward C.
Atlanta Artist Edward C. Horlbeck
On November 22, 2021, at 79 years of age, Edward Charles Horlbeck passed away after a brief but intense battle with colon cancer. Born August 2, 1942, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Mary Agnes (Horlbeck O'Shea Sharkey) Redman and Edward Charles Horlbeck (Sr.), he was known as "Little Ed" growing up in the close-knit neighborhood of Bloomfield, with his father "Big Ed," running Green's Bar on Liberty Avenue. Living with his parents and extended family in an apartment, his was a lively childhood filled with baseball games with friends in city streets, all day double features at the local movie theater, and playing jacks and cards with cousins. Ed watched his father, an artist trained at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, paint large Western-themed scenes throughout his childhood, inspiring him to become an artist as well. Ed attended Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh (class of 1960) where he studied art under Brother Jerome.
After tragically losing his father when he was 18, Ed was drafted in the U.S. Army in 1960. He went through basic training at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, and was ultimately stationed at Fort Ord in Monterrey, California, serving as Military Police there. He fondly remembered his time in the Army and in California, which made a lifetime impression on him. After an honorable discharge, he returned to Pittsburgh and enrolled at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh (AIP), ever more resolute that art was his calling. At the Art Institute, he studied under renowned TIME magazine portrait painter Henry Koerner. Even at that young age, Ed was known for his intense focus and discipline, qualities he cultivated throughout his life. After graduating from AIP, Ed worked as a commercial illustrator for the city's major department stores, Horne's and Kauffman's, creating advertisements for menswear and furniture.
Like so many northerners beginning in the 1970s, he relocated to the booming Sunbelt. In 1976, he moved his family of four to Atlanta, Georgia to work in the art department of the Southeast's major department store, Rich's, where he continued to illustrate advertisements and create special feature ads. He began a freelance career after leaving Rich's in 1982, illustrating ads for clients including Muse's Menswear, Coca-Cola, the PGA, Bacardi Rum, and the Ford Motor Company. He was a member of the Society of Commercial Illustrators from 2005-2015 and participated in several of the Society's annual Member's Shows in New York City.
After retiring from his career in commercial illustration in the late-1990s, Ed turned his focus to oil painting, particularly portrait painting. He served as a sought-after art instructor at Fulton County's Abernathy Art Center, teaching portrait/figure painting classes with live models. His work was featured in several shows at Abernathy Arts Center, including the "Two-Man Show." His painting of Atlanta's flatiron building was a finalist in the "Artists Over 60" competition for Artist's Magazine and was featured on the magazine cover in 2009.
He achieved much in his artistic career, a prolific painter who truly lived his passion. But perhaps his greatest achievements were as father, husband, and friend. He was loyal, kind, caring, and generous. He faced hardships with strength and fortitude, carrying with him the motto "never leave a man behind." No matter how difficult a situation he encountered, he forged on with dignity and grace, always trying to find humor and levity to help those around him. Over the course of his life, he cared for dying loved ones, loved ones with mental illnesses, became a single dad to his two daughters (all this with little sleep while being a freelance artist), and somehow did all of this with humanity, humility, and humor. He found healing and solace during the last two decades with his beloved wife and kindred spirit Meredyth Tsigalas, with whom he shared a love of art and travel during their loving, peaceful life together. He is also survived by daughters, Alexis Sipmann (Corey), Jacqueline Tyson (Michael); son, Christopher Tsigalas (Jennifer); grandchildren, Macey Sipmann, Chloe Sullivan, Quinn Sullivan, Rose Tyson, and Miller Tyson. He will be lovingly remembered for his epic conversations, booming laughter, and general joie de vivre. He left the world a better place and both his memory and the artwork he left behind have been a comfort to those that knew and loved him and miss him dearly.
