Gustave Herter

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Gustave Herter (* May 14, 1830 as Julius Gustav Alexander Hagenlocher in Stuttgart ; † November 29, 1898 ) was a German-American furniture designer and owner of the Herter Brothers company .

Life

Gustave Herter, as he later called himself, was born the illegitimate son of Johanna Christiana Maria Barbara Hagenlocher, later the Stuttgart cabinetmakers Christian Herter married (1807-1874). Gustav was adopted by him some time after the marriage. His half-brother Christian was born in 1839 . Both learned the craft of Christian Herter the elder, possibly from himself.

Gustav left Germany in 1848 and moved to New York, where at that time the third largest German language community in the world had come together. Numerous national and professional colleagues of Herter's had settled in "Little Germany", but Herter soon stood out from the crowd. He probably met Auguste Pottier through Edward W. Hutchings , with whom he worked from 1851. From 1853 Erastus Bulkley was his business partner. Five years later, Herter Bulkley bought his share in the business and now operated as Gustave Herter until he teamed up with his brother in 1964 and Herter Brothers was formed. He retired from this company in 1870. In 1869, shortly before Gustave Herter's departure from the company, the brothers relocated the company headquarters to the Hoyt Building , 873–879 Broadway at 18th Street, which with its huge shop windows was suitable for presenting their products to passers-by.

Probably at the beginning of 1871 Gustave Herter traveled back to Germany. Perhaps the decisive factor was the desire to be close to his aging parents and the four sons he and his wife Anna, nee. Schmidt, had to train in Germany. Apparently he withdrew from professional life at a relatively young age. In 1892 he returned to New York, where he stayed in the Everett House , a luxurious hotel.

Gustave Herter died many years after his younger brother; his body was transported from Grand Central Station to the cemetery on a specially designed train. The Herter Brothers company survived until 1906 after Christian and Gustave Herter's death.

Works

In 1853, Gustave Herter appeared with several pieces of furniture at the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations , including an oak sideboard that was greatly admired. However, he soon expanded his field of activity and offered not only furniture, but the complete equipment of rooms. Outstanding examples of his work in the pre- Herter Brothers era were walnut furniture intended for a private library or art collection, with clear Renaissance echoes , and a clock case that had elements of 18th century English clock casings with Italian Renaissance style features combined.

In 1858 Gustave Herter, who at the time had the company address 547 Broadway, furnished the summer residence of the hotel owner Ruggles Sylvester Morse in Portland (Maine) . He chose dark rosewood for the furniture, in which elements of the Louis XIV style mixed with Native American motifs. Apart from the furniture, the house was kept rather bright and light and obeyed the Rococo style . The seating was based on models by Alexandre Georges Fourdinois that had been shown at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1855 and of which Herter probably knew at least pictures. Further influences in the design of the house can be found in Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin , Jean Honoré Fragonard and others; Overall, Herter created a diverse mix of styles here. For example, Herter designed the library in a neo-Gothic style.

Another customer of Gustave Herters was Henry Probasco , who had his residence "Oakwood" in Cincinnati furnished by him. Dr. Thomas Ward in New York City, John Pierpont Morgan , John AC Gray and Tiffany and Company also bought from him. By 1860 he had around a hundred employees making $ 4,800 a month. Furniture and other products worth about $ 121,500 were made annually. The company used 40,000 feet of walnut and 15,000 feet of oak per year.

Gustave Herter presumably also worked for a gun factory.

The organ at the Boston Music Hall

In 1860 he was commissioned to produce a prospectus for the organ of the Boston Music Hall , which was built by Eberhard Friedrich Walcker in Ludwigsburg and delivered in 1863. At the foot of the organ, which is no longer in its original location, there are twelve herms , including six androgynous figures, four lions and two atlas figures. Musical instruments, masks, composers' names adorn the panels. The bust of Johann Sebastian Bach and the depiction of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music, occupy a central position . The work is crowned by a personification of the organ part in the form of a Renaissance woman with her mouth open to sing.

In the first half of the 1860s, the motif of Orpheus rising from Hades with the lyre in his arms repeatedly appeared in Gustave Herter's works . It appears to be a popular fashion that may have come to America from France.

In collaboration with his brother, Gustave Herter was involved in the design of the country house in Elm Park by LeGrand Lockwood towards the end of his time in the USA .

For the period after 1870 only one work by Gustave Herter can be found: the family mausoleum in the Kensico Cemetery in New York. When exactly he accomplished this work is not known; however, it can be assumed that he only tackled it after his return from Germany.

exhibition

The work of the Herter brothers was recognized in 1995 in a traveling exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hospital Church (Stuttgart) : Church book . To baptize. No. 104/1830.
  2. ↑ In some sources alternative year of death 1892. American Biographical Archive (ABA), year of mention: 1853–1892.
  3. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1026/is_n5_v147/ai_16945009/?tag=content;col1
  4. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1026/is_n5_v147/ai_16945009/pg_2/?tag=content;col1
  5. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1026/is_n5_v147/ai_16945009/pg_3/?tag=content;col1
  6. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1026/is_n5_v147/ai_16945009/pg_5/?tag=content;col1
personal data
SURNAME Herter, Gustave
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Herter, Gustav; Hagenlocher, Julius Gustav Alexander (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American furniture designer and interior designer
DATE OF BIRTH May 14, 1830
PLACE OF BIRTH Stuttgart
DATE OF DEATH November 29, 1898