Portrait of a Young Man

Posted by millerfenwood in Custom Frames, Works on Canvas

This Portrait of a Young Man had been previously restored, but its condition had continued to degrade, leading to a flaking paint film, some areas of loss, some areas where it had been hit, and a dry and weak canvas that had been cut to the painting size, which can be an indication of severe damage that was simply amputated.

New archival linen was adhered using a heat press. Besides improving the foundational strength, the heat and pressure had the added benefit of consolidating the paint film. In-painting concealed areas of loss and conservation varnish finished the restoration. A custom hand-carved Dutch Modernist frame was prepared to complete this artwork.

Based off the information on the reverse, and the subject matter, style, and color palette, we believe this to be the work of Henry Hannig (1883-1948).

Born in Hirschberg, Germany on February 27, 1883, Henry Hannig emigrated to America with his parents at the age of seven. He received his formal eduction from the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts under the mentorship of Lawton Parker. To make ends meet, he worked in industrial design and illustration.

By 1908 he was a pupil in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where students followed the traditional European drawing curriculum, beginning with the copying of master engravings and drawing after plaster casts, then concentrating on the nude figure. Students worked toward the goal of winning various academic prizes. One of Hannig’s fellow students was Louis Ritman. Hannig’s paintings reflected the mainstream American style of the early twentieth century — broadly executed impressionism. Like so many others, he worked with a high-keyed palette and shingle-like strokes of broken color. Consequently, the same spontaneous “on-the-spot” image is found as the basis of many of Hannig’s drawings.

Unfortunately, Hannig had no wealthy patron who might have subsidized his career and he remained dependent on his various jobs as a commercial artist. Eventually he became art editor for the South Town Economist, a Chicago newspaper. Meanwhile, he was involved with Chicago’s German community, in the Steuben Society. He executed pen drawings that are quite within the stylistic boundaries of illustration, yet many are more powerfully rendered than a usual illustrator’s work. Sometimes he executed Western subjects — cowboys at work and play.

Around 1939 Hannig moved to Charleston, West Virginia to work at the Union Carbide Company. He died on December 22, 1948.

Lambrite Iles Petersen House Secco Fresco 3-story Entryway

Posted by millerfenwood in Secco fresco

Down in Davenport, Iowa, the Lambrite Iles Petersen House built in 1856 resides in the Hamburg Historic District. Its designer, architect J.C. Cochrane, is also known for the Renwick Mansion and Davies Mansion In Davenport, and the Scott County Courthouse, and the Iowa statehouse in Des Moines, and the Illinois statehouse in Springfield.

The Lambrite Iles Petersen House stands as the first residence built in the city to use the Italian villa style, and is named after three of its previous owners: Jospeh Lambrite, Dr. Homas Iles, and John H.C. Peterson. The current owners have sought out our expertise in secco fresco restoration to return its 4-story entryway, that culminates in an impressive belvedere overlooking the Mississippi River, back to its original splendor. A preliminary trip was made to the sight and, as is documented in the photographs below, the projects looks like it will be equal parts spectacular and challenging. We will be sure to post updates as we go.

Joseph Lambrite was a partner in Davenport’s largest sawmill, a major industry in the city’s early history.The mill was located on the Mississippi River between Scott and Ripley Streets.

Thomas Iles was a physician in Midway, Kentucky. He married Maria Louisa Nuckols and together they had eight children, seven boys, and a girl. In 1862 the family moved to Davenport. He served as the chief surgeon of the Civil War Confederate prison camp located at the Rock Island Arsenal. Iles became a prominent doctor in Davenport after the war, and he owned the house until his death.

John H.C. Petersen’s was born in Schleswig in present-day Germany and went to school until he was 16 when he was apprenticed to a dry-goods seller. Petersen married Johanna Elsbeth Hansen in 1844 and they had ten children together. The family immigrated to the United States in 1860 and settled in Scott county, Iowa where he initially worked as a farm hand. In 1872 he established the business by which he would be known for the rest of his life. The J.H.C Pertersen’s Son’s Store was located at 219 Second Street. As the business grew he added the building at 220 Second Street and then later 217-217½ Second Street.The store became one of the foremost mercantile establishments in Davenport. In 1916 it was sold to Charles J. von Maur, R.H. Harned, and Cable von Maur, who owned their own store. Thereupon, the two stores merged into a new store named Petersen Harned Von Maur in 1928. In 1989 the store’s name was shortened to Von Maur.

Female Portrait by Alex Katz

Posted by millerfenwood in Works on Paper

This work on paper by Alex Katz (1927-) suffers from foxing and from folds in the paper. It measures 24″ x 40″ and is an excellent example of the Katz style. Stay tuned for more…

The son of Russian immigrants, Alex Katz was born July 24, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Queens in a liberal, Bohemian setting. He is a figure painter of realistic portraits of friends and family, and his figures are usually relaxed close-ups from a frontal perspective and appear in a flattened manner. With his artwork, he strives to convey the feeling that it is good to be alive. It has been said that his style highly influenced the popularity of New Realism in the 1970s. Along with his associates Al Held and Philip Pearlstein, and others who were struggling against the ‘titanic presences of Pollock and de Kooning’ and other abstract expressionists.

Castle Over Mosel River by Frederick Trapp

Posted by millerfenwood in Frame Restoration, Works on Canvas

This painting by Frederick Trapp suffered from an old and yellowed varnish with dirt particulates across the surface. The linen and paint film were dry, and the frame had lost some ornamentation and had become compromised at the joinery.

After careful cleaning and removal of the old varnish, the painting was relined onto new archival linen. This gave a substantial improvement to its structural integrity. New conservation varnish finished the restoration. The corners of the frame were re-joined and the small areas of ornamentation-loss were recreated. A lacquer application was used to match the color tones.

Encyclopedia Britannica: The Mosel river is a west-bank tributary of the Rhine River, flowing for 339 miles (545 km) across northeastern France and western Germany. Rising on the forested slopes of the Vosges massif, the river meanders past Épinal, Pont-Saint-Vincent, Toul, Frouard, Metz, and Thionville before leaving France to form the frontier between Germany and Luxembourg for a short distance. The river enters Germany and flows past Trier to its confluence with the Rhine at Koblenz. In this sector of the valley (German: Moseltal) are the vineyards from which the famous Moselle wines are produced. The Moselle River’s chief tributaries are the Madon, Orne, and Sauer (French: Sûre) on the west and the Meurthe, Seille, and Saar (French: Sarre) on the east. Above Metz the Moselle has been navigable to 300-ton barges since the 19th century. It connects at Toul and Frouard with the Rhine-Marne Canal. From Metz to Thionville the river has been navigable by 300-ton barges since 1932; below Thionville it was not navigable until the inauguration in 1964 of the Moselle Canal from Metz to Koblenz, built to take barges up to 1,500 tons. The canal is administered by a tripartite authority representing France, Germany, and Luxembourg. There are several iron and steel plants and power stations along the waterway.