John Decker
John Decker , birth name: Leopold Wolfgang von der Betten or Leopold Wolfgang Avenarius , (born November 8, 1895 in Berlin , † June 8, 1947 in Hollywood ) was a painter , set designer and caricaturist in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s.
origin
John's great-great-grandfather Count Friedrich von der Betten bought Ringelheim Castle near Salzgitter , three estates and the forest around the Bodensteiner Klippen am Hainberg in 1817 . All his possessions became a family fideikommiss . Friedrich received the title of Count for his services in the Royal German Legion during the Napoleonic Wars .
John's paternal grandfather, Count Georg von der Betten , was a member of the German Reichstag and an artist, like his grandson later. Georg painted large-format oil paintings of his castle and paintings for the neighboring church. He also created large wooden sculptures.
His father, Count Ernst August von der Betten (1867–1934), grew up at Ringelheim Castle near Salzgitter . He renounced his inheritance and became a reporter for British and German newspapers. John's mother Anna Maria Avenarius (1865-1918) was an opera singer in Berlin , she sang and Bayreuth Wagner - opera . Her father Ferdinand Avenarius was an actor. John Decker's parents met at the opera in Berlin and in Bayreuth. They emigrated to London in 1897 and married in Greenwich in 1898 .
Life
As a teenager he lived in London . He painted sets for various theaters . At the beginning of the First World War he was interned as an enemy alien on the Isle of Man . In 1921 he emigrated to the USA and took the name John Decker . In New York he worked as a cartoonist for the New York World newspaper until 1928 , after which he went to Hollywood and continued to work as an artist. Many movie stars like Anthony Quinn , Clark Gable , Errol Flynn , Charlie Chaplin , Greta Garbo , Mickey Rooney, and the Marx Brothers allowed Decker to paint a portrait of them. Many of his works have been used in films, such as the paintings by the frustrated artist in Fritz Lang's film Scarlet Street (1945) by him. One of his most famous paintings, depicting his friend and drinking companion WC Fields as Queen Victoria , hung for several years in Chasen's restaurant in West Hollywood. John Decker died on June 8, 1947.
Works
- Harmony. The Portrait of Three Singers is an oil painting by John Decker. There are two more oil paintings by John Decker.
- Portrait of Harpo Marx in the style of Gainsborough 's The Blue Boy sold at auction in 2013
- A gouache study for one of the murals with colorful caricatures of famous film actors for the 'Wilshire Bowl Restaurant' - John Decker 1941
- Five works in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery including the four studies for murals with colorful caricatures of famous film actors
- Additional material on John Decker in the National Portrait Gallery
- Portrait of Anthony Quinn painted by John Decker 1943 - Anthony Quinn Collection, Texas Tech University
- Portrait of John Wayne oil painting 1945, sold at auction in 2011 for $ 71,700.00
- Portrait of John Wayne, Kathrine Hepburn and three other works
- Lady of Brute Force. Portrait of a Woman by John Decker 1947
literature
- Stephen C. Jordan: Bohemian Rogue. The Life of Hollywood Artist John Decker. Scarecrow Press, 2005, ISBN 0-8108-5159-8 , online .
- Stephen C. Jordan: Hollywood's Original Rat Pack. The Bards of Bundy Drive. Scarecrow Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0810860322 online .
- Gregory William Mank, Charles Heard, Bill Nelson: Hollywood's Hellfire Club. The Misadventures of John Barrymore, WC Fields, Errol Flynn and 'The Bundy Drive Boys'. Feral Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-932595-24-6 , online .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Albrecht of the ceiling: John Decker - a versatile painter of the family of the ceiling. P. 3, online ( Memento from February 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 3.3 MB).
- ↑ a b c Herwart and Thassilo from the ceiling: genealogical tables of the family from the ceiling. 1994, p. 35
- ↑ a b c Stephen Jordan: Bohemian Rogue: The Life of Hollywood Artist John Decker. P. 9
- ↑ Ancestry.com: Search there with: Marriage 1898 in England [1]
- ↑ John Decker Dies. Coast Artist, 52. Painted Portraits of Screen Stars in Styles of Masters. Won JB Payne Medal , New York Times . June 9, 1947. Retrieved August 21, 2007. "Decker, Hollywood artist, bon vivant and close friend of the late John Barrymore, died tonight after undergoing- ..."
Web links
- Capsule biography of John Decker
- John Decker, in the Shadows of Hollywood's Golden Age by Richard Rushfield
- Before the Rat Pack, another wild bunch - Los Angeles Times 2005
- Article with examples of the works of John Decker: The Master of Satire
- Useless. Insignificant. Poetic. = Article about John Decker and his friends the actors
- John Decker to Artist Legend, video with works by John Decker, including self-portraits, 8 minutes
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Decker, John |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | from the ceiling, Leopold Wolfgang; Avenarius, Leopold Wolfgang |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British-American painter of German origin |
DATE OF BIRTH | November 8, 1895 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |
DATE OF DEATH | June 8, 1947 |
Place of death | Hollywood |