Photographic archive related to the works of sculptor Karl Bitter and his friend/student/colleague Gustav Gerlach. Featuring approximately 40 large photographs on boards, approx. 11 x 14 in.; 35 photos, approx. 6 x 9 in., on board; other loose photos; 2 albums with approximately 100 photos each, one identified 1914 Pan American Exposition in San Francisco. Accompanied by paperwork regarding the sculptors and cost for each work. Many of the photographs are identified on the reverse and indicate “Pa”, which was noted by Gustav Gerlachs’ daughter who annotated the photos. Also included are large portraits of Karl Bitter. Karl Bitter (1867-1915) was born in Austria and trained at the Imperial School for the Applied Arts (Kunstgewerbeschule) and the Academy of Fine Arts (Kunstakademie) there. He deserted from the Austrian Army while on leave, and even though he was pardoned by Emperor Franz Josef (in hopes of luring him back to Austria), Bitter made his way to the United States, arriving in 1889. He won the contest for memorial bronze gates of Trinity Church, giving him enough to open a small studio. He completed a number of projects, becoming the architect for many of New York's upper crust. He worked as a sculptor on the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago (1893), and was chosen as the director of sculpture at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY in 1901 then the 1904 St. Louis Exposition, and, later, the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Expo in San Francisco. For the 1901 expo, he hired 35 artists to design small models of their sculptures, which were then produced in full size in several workshops. Among the artists hired were St. Gaudens and Frederick Remington. Most of the paperwork, listing sculptures and their artists, seems to date from the 1901 Buffalo Exposition, as well as many of the mounted photographs. One of the scrapbooks has work from the San Francisco Exposition (1914-15). The second scrapbook seems to have other sculpture, although there are several photos of Adolph Weinman's Destiny of the Red Man, 1904, which was created for the St. Louis Expo, so it is likely that some of the other images relate to this fair. Gustav Gerlach, a pupil of Bitter's, worked on sculptures for all three expos (South Portal, Palace of Education - 1915; personification of Minnesota - 1904; Gerlach's studio produced many of the 1901 sculptures). About the time of his death, his Germanic heritage became a bit of a problem, since Germany invaded the low countries and France in 1914. There appears to have been an effort to collect money for a memorial for Bitters. On one of the photos is the note: "Papa's fountain for Hamilton Plaza ... Karl Bitters Home site. ...Collected money but didn't pay to go further because Mr. Bitter was from Austria & with the war on they - the people of Weehawken - didn't want anything connected with Germany.... Pa put a lot of work into it - but it wasn't appreciated, and the money collected had to be returned." Somewhat ironically, one of the sculptures pictured is a plaque from "the Salon of the Lusitania ship." Condition: A few of the images have corners torn. Most of the mounts are chipping along the sides (but for the most part the photographs are fine). There is little toning and most of the images are not brittle, sticky, etc.
Photographic archive related to the works of sculptor Karl Bitter and his friend/student/colleague Gustav Gerlach. Featuring approximately 40 large photographs on boards, approx. 11 x 14 in.; 35 photos, approx. 6 x 9 in., on board; other loose photos; 2 albums with approximately 100 photos each, one identified 1914 Pan American Exposition in San Francisco. Accompanied by paperwork regarding the sculptors and cost for each work. Many of the photographs are identified on the reverse and indicate “Pa”, which was noted by Gustav Gerlachs’ daughter who annotated the photos. Also included are large portraits of Karl Bitter. Karl Bitter (1867-1915) was born in Austria and trained at the Imperial School for the Applied Arts (Kunstgewerbeschule) and the Academy of Fine Arts (Kunstakademie) there. He deserted from the Austrian Army while on leave, and even though he was pardoned by Emperor Franz Josef (in hopes of luring him back to Austria), Bitter made his way to the United States, arriving in 1889. He won the contest for memorial bronze gates of Trinity Church, giving him enough to open a small studio. He completed a number of projects, becoming the architect for many of New York's upper crust. He worked as a sculptor on the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago (1893), and was chosen as the director of sculpture at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY in 1901 then the 1904 St. Louis Exposition, and, later, the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Expo in San Francisco. For the 1901 expo, he hired 35 artists to design small models of their sculptures, which were then produced in full size in several workshops. Among the artists hired were St. Gaudens and Frederick Remington. Most of the paperwork, listing sculptures and their artists, seems to date from the 1901 Buffalo Exposition, as well as many of the mounted photographs. One of the scrapbooks has work from the San Francisco Exposition (1914-15). The second scrapbook seems to have other sculpture, although there are several photos of Adolph Weinman's Destiny of the Red Man, 1904, which was created for the St. Louis Expo, so it is likely that some of the other images relate to this fair. Gustav Gerlach, a pupil of Bitter's, worked on sculptures for all three expos (South Portal, Palace of Education - 1915; personification of Minnesota - 1904; Gerlach's studio produced many of the 1901 sculptures). About the time of his death, his Germanic heritage became a bit of a problem, since Germany invaded the low countries and France in 1914. There appears to have been an effort to collect money for a memorial for Bitters. On one of the photos is the note: "Papa's fountain for Hamilton Plaza ... Karl Bitters Home site. ...Collected money but didn't pay to go further because Mr. Bitter was from Austria & with the war on they - the people of Weehawken - didn't want anything connected with Germany.... Pa put a lot of work into it - but it wasn't appreciated, and the money collected had to be returned." Somewhat ironically, one of the sculptures pictured is a plaque from "the Salon of the Lusitania ship." Condition: A few of the images have corners torn. Most of the mounts are chipping along the sides (but for the most part the photographs are fine). There is little toning and most of the images are not brittle, sticky, etc.
Try LotSearch and its premium features for 7 days - without any costs!
Be notified automatically about new items in upcoming auctions.
Create an alert
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
