Exceptional William Hunt Diederich Pair of Torchieres

About the Item

William Hunt Diederich Pair of Torchiere w/ Copper Panels at bases surrounding the etched shade on the torchiere are three prancing rams formed from cut steel, the base of the lamp has raised repousse panels of copper with antelopes in profile William Hunt Diederich Sheet Metal hand crafted Weather Vane. Marked New York 1928. Hunt Diederich born Wilhelm Hunt Diederich was known for his stylized Art Deco figures and animals. Diederich was born in Szent-Grot, Austria-Hungary into an eminent family, including William Morris Hunt and the architect, Richard Morris Hunt. He emigrated to America in 1894, and eight years later traveled West (1902), spending a couple of years in Wyoming, New Mexico and Arizona living as a cowboy. He became friends with sculptor Paul Manship while studying with him at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and they later traveled to Europe together. Diederich also went to Africa and ended up traveling and working in Europe for ten years. In Paris he studied at the Academy Julian from 1904 to 1905, and became friends with Elie Nadelman, Jules Pascin and Ferdinand Leger. Upon returning to New York in 1921, Diederich moved into a studio at 50 ½ Barrow Street in Greenwich Village with George Biddle. Diederich's work was in extremely high demand and Ferargil Galleries became his New York art dealer. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum and the Newark Museum all purchased his work during the 1920's.. n 1928 Diederich fell and broke his leg while working on the castle he owned in Germany. This incident slowed him down for several years, He received the major commission of creating signs and weathervanes for the Central Park Zoo in New York City. Important commissions also came from the WPA program for work at the Bronx Zoo, the Forest Hills train station and a large sculpture entitled Pegasus with Messenger for the Westwood, New Jersey Post Office in 1938. Posthumously the artist has been honored in exhibitions at the Museum of American Folk Art in 1973, the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1975, and with one-man shows at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1991 and D. Wigmore Fine Art, Inc. in New York in 2005.

Attributed to:

Wilhelm Hunt Diederich (Artist)

Dimensions:

Height: 63 in (160.02 cm)Width: 20 in (50.8 cm)Depth: 18 in (45.72 cm)

Materials and Techniques:

Copper,Metal

Place of Origin:

United States

Period:

20th Century

Date of Manufacture:

1928