Siegfried Reinhardt
Encyclopedia
Siegfried Gerhard Reinhardt born July 31, 1925 in Eydkuhnen
, Germany
, died October 24, 1984 in St. Louis, Missouri
was a prolific artist and teacher based for most of his career, 1955-1970 at Washington University in St. Louis
, where he had taken his bachelor of arts
degree in English Literature
in 1950. He was also a prominent member of the St. Louis Artists Guild. He was the son of Otto Frederick and Minni (Kukat) Reinhardt, and emigrated with them in 1928 (naturalized in 1936). His best-known work is perhaps the series of murals he executed at Lambert International Airport illustrating the history of aviation. He was a pioneer in combining elements of realism
and surrealism
in a style known sometimes as superrealism. From 1949 to 1984 he worked with Emil Frei in the design and execution of stained glass
windows, including the (1960) Easter
Window in the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, in Sunset Hills, Missouri
, of which Reinhardt said:
Reinhardt, a Lutheran, often worked with Christian
motifs and themes. His 1955 commission for Monsanto Company, "Mistress of Chemistry," deploys his wife Harriet in imagery combining traditional depictions of the Madonna
; his 1953 "Crucifixion" receives extended discussion (pp. 83–84) in Robert Henkes' "The Crucifixion in American Art" (McFarland P, 2003). The Brauer Museum at Valparaiso University
has three religious works in its permanent collection: "Resurrection," "Design for a Crown," and "Caiaphas."
Additional works are housed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
, the Vatican Museum Picture Gallery, and the Whitney Museum of American Art
. In the late 1950s, he produced the painting “Man of Sorrows” in a series of seven installments on television station KETC
, explaining his decisions and techniques to viewers as he went. He was the subject of a feature in the March 24, 1952 issue of Life Magazine; in 1950 the magazine had listed him among nineteen important young artists. Time Magazine had also identified him as an important new figure (September 12, 1960):
He also did numerous figure studies, often using his wife, the sculptor Harriet Reinhardt (married April 25, 1948), as a model. They were beloved figures in their Kirkwood, Missouri
home on Potomac Avenue, and hundreds of original works as well as prints are thought to have been given away to friends, neighbors and acquaintances. One neighbor recollected: ”Siegfried Reinhardt served as the illustrator on the rare Shanghai edition of the Stars and Stripes, which was published aboard ship, the USS General R. M. Blatchford (AP-153)
, a vessel carrying 2,461 troops from the CBI-China/Burma/India campaign. The ship was returning to the States April 21-May 6, 1946 following World War II
. The then 21-year old Reinhardt's stencil sketches for the "daily" 17 issue onboard newspaper are nimbly done, and add a great deal to the morale boosting nature of this spontaneous edition of the Soldier's Newspaper…” http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/bulletin.aspx?searchtype=DISCUSS&artist=101008(Reinhardt had enlisted at the age of 18 ion February 24, 1944).
Reinhardt also served as artist in residence at Southern Illinois University
in Carbondale
(1950-1954) and 1968-1969 and St. Louis Community College
(Meramec
), 1971-1984. His works have sold for up to $11,500.00 (as in the case of "The Family, painted in 1958" from the collection of United States Senator William C. Benton, in 2006.
Reinhardt died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 59, according to his obituary in the New York Times.
Other works on public display include:
Chernyshevskoye
Chernyshevskoye is a settlement in Nesterovsky District in the eastern part of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, on the border with Lithuania.Between Chernyshevskoye and Lithuanian Kybartai is an important 24-hour border crossing point on the A229 principal road and the railway route connecting...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, died October 24, 1984 in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
was a prolific artist and teacher based for most of his career, 1955-1970 at Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
, where he had taken his bachelor of arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in English Literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
in 1950. He was also a prominent member of the St. Louis Artists Guild. He was the son of Otto Frederick and Minni (Kukat) Reinhardt, and emigrated with them in 1928 (naturalized in 1936). His best-known work is perhaps the series of murals he executed at Lambert International Airport illustrating the history of aviation. He was a pioneer in combining elements of realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
and surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
in a style known sometimes as superrealism. From 1949 to 1984 he worked with Emil Frei in the design and execution of stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows, including the (1960) Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
Window in the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, in Sunset Hills, Missouri
Sunset Hills, Missouri
Sunset Hills is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,496 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Sunset Hills is located at 38°32'8" North, 90°24'14" West ....
, of which Reinhardt said:
- "The 'flame' symbolizes the Holy Spirit as it descended in tongues of fire over the heads of the disciples in the miracle of the upper room in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- It also symbolizes, by contrast, the descent of Christ into hell, as well as His resurrection. It further represents the eternal presence of the Spirit of God in the dynamics of life lived to the glory of the Supreme Creator.
- The architectural triangle in which the flame is placed in the stained glass resolution is the triangle of the Holy Trinity--Father (God), Son (Jesus) and Holy Spirit (dove with the flame above its head.)" In the center of the flames is a Chi Rho (Greek abbreviation for Jesus Christ). In the lower right appears a fish, an early symbol of Jesus' resurrection and an identifying symbol of early believers of Christ. The dove (Holy Spirit) is in the upper left of the window. Suspended in one of the window frames on the left is the sanctuary lamp holding an ever-burning candle, a symbol of the ever-presence of God in His church." http://www.lcrstl.com/pages.asp?pageid=49668
Reinhardt, a Lutheran, often worked with Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
motifs and themes. His 1955 commission for Monsanto Company, "Mistress of Chemistry," deploys his wife Harriet in imagery combining traditional depictions of the Madonna
Madonna (art)
Images of the Madonna and the Madonna and Child or Virgin and Child are pictorial or sculptured representations of Mary, Mother of Jesus, either alone, or more frequently, with the infant Jesus. These images are central icons of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity where Mary remains...
; his 1953 "Crucifixion" receives extended discussion (pp. 83–84) in Robert Henkes' "The Crucifixion in American Art" (McFarland P, 2003). The Brauer Museum at Valparaiso University
Valparaiso University
Valparaiso University, known colloquially as Valpo, is a regionally accredited private university located in the city of Valparaiso in the U.S. state of Indiana. Founded in 1859, it consists of five undergraduate colleges, a graduate school, a nursing school and a law school...
has three religious works in its permanent collection: "Resurrection," "Design for a Crown," and "Caiaphas."
Additional works are housed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...
, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its neoclassical architecture and extensive collection of Asian art....
, the Vatican Museum Picture Gallery, and the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
. In the late 1950s, he produced the painting “Man of Sorrows” in a series of seven installments on television station KETC
KETC
KETC is the Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station in St. Louis, Missouri. Owned by St. Louis Regional Public Media, the call letters KETC represent the St. Louis Educational Television Comission, the former name of the organization responsible for bringing public television...
, explaining his decisions and techniques to viewers as he went. He was the subject of a feature in the March 24, 1952 issue of Life Magazine; in 1950 the magazine had listed him among nineteen important young artists. Time Magazine had also identified him as an important new figure (September 12, 1960):
- "German-born Siegfried Reinhardt of St. Louis has had no formal art training, but by the time he was eleven was intent on becoming a painter. A big (6 ft. 2 in.) and muscular 35, he went through an abstract phase ("esthetic nonsense," he calls it now), has since developed a wholly figurative style, which he boasts is "un-new, un-experi-mental and "un-angry." His main subject now, he says, is humanity, seen as the eternal lonely crowd—a torrent of faces and figures that gush out of "strange architectural settings that are unrelated to any recognizable place in the world."
He also did numerous figure studies, often using his wife, the sculptor Harriet Reinhardt (married April 25, 1948), as a model. They were beloved figures in their Kirkwood, Missouri
Kirkwood, Missouri
Kirkwood is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,540. Founded in 1853, the city is named for James Pugh Kirkwood, builder of the Pacific Railroad through that town. It was the first planned suburb located west...
home on Potomac Avenue, and hundreds of original works as well as prints are thought to have been given away to friends, neighbors and acquaintances. One neighbor recollected: ”Siegfried Reinhardt served as the illustrator on the rare Shanghai edition of the Stars and Stripes, which was published aboard ship, the USS General R. M. Blatchford (AP-153)
USS General R. M. Blatchford (AP-153)
USS General R. M. Blatchford was a for the U.S. Navy in World War II. She was named in honor of U.S. Army general Richard M. Blatchford. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General R. M. Blatchford in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service ...
, a vessel carrying 2,461 troops from the CBI-China/Burma/India campaign. The ship was returning to the States April 21-May 6, 1946 following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The then 21-year old Reinhardt's stencil sketches for the "daily" 17 issue onboard newspaper are nimbly done, and add a great deal to the morale boosting nature of this spontaneous edition of the Soldier's Newspaper…” http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/bulletin.aspx?searchtype=DISCUSS&artist=101008(Reinhardt had enlisted at the age of 18 ion February 24, 1944).
Reinhardt also served as artist in residence at Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a state university system based in Carbondale, Illinois, in the Southern Illinois region of the state, with multiple campuses...
in Carbondale
Carbondale, Illinois
Carbondale is a city in Jackson County, in the state of Illinois, within the Southern Illinois region. It is located at the junction of Illinois Route 13 and U.S. Route 51, southeast of St. Louis, Missouri, on the northern edge of the Shawnee National Forest...
(1950-1954) and 1968-1969 and St. Louis Community College
St. Louis Community College
St. Louis Community College is the Missouri two-year college supported by the Junior College District of St. Louis City – St. Louis County. The three original campuses were built simultaneously in 1964: Florissant Valley , Forest Park , and Meramec . A fourth campus, Wildwood opened in August 2007...
(Meramec
Meramec
Meramec is a name for several places in the United States:* Meramec River in Missouri* Meramec Caverns on the Meramec River* Meramec State Park in Missouri-See also:* Merrimac * Merrimack * Meramec...
), 1971-1984. His works have sold for up to $11,500.00 (as in the case of "The Family, painted in 1958" from the collection of United States Senator William C. Benton, in 2006.
Reinhardt died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 59, according to his obituary in the New York Times.
Other works on public display include:
- a mural portraying the history of Vernon County, Missouri, in the Nevada, MissouriNevada, MissouriNevada is a city in Vernon County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,327 at the 2011 census. It is the county seat of Vernon County. Nevada is the home of Cottey College, a junior college for women operated by the P.E.O. Sisterhood....
City Council Chambers, Ash Street at Austin Boulevard (U.S. 54 Highway). This mural, painted in 1975, is a three-panel depiction of Vernon County history;
- The Te DeumTe DeumThe Te Deum is an early Christian hymn of praise. The title is taken from its opening Latin words, Te Deum laudamus, rendered literally as "Thee, O God, we praise"....
mosaicMosaicMosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
at the Walther Library at Concordia Senior CollegeConcordia Senior CollegeConcordia Senior College was a liberal arts college located in Fort Wayne, Indiana and affiliated with the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod...
, IndianaIndianaIndiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
;http://replica.palni.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2Fcopcampus&CISOPTR=189&DMSCALE=100&DMWIDTH=600&DMHEIGHT=600&DMMODE=viewer&DMFULL=0&DMX=258&DMY=258&DMTEXT=&DMTHUMB=1&REC=18&DMROTATE=0&x=19&y=336
- The "Gateway to the West" mosaic at the Vistior's Center to the Gateway ArchGateway ArchThe Gateway Arch, or Gateway to the West, is an arch that is the centerpiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri. It was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States...
in St. Louis.
- On the grounds of the Cathedral of Saint JosephCathedral of Saint JosephThe Cathedral of Saint Joseph is the Mother Church for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City in Missouri. The cathedral serves as the parish church for the Bishop, who is currently the Most Reverend John R. Gaydos, the third Bishop of Jefferson City. The Cathedral sits on a site that also...
in Jefferson City, MissouriJefferson City, MissouriJefferson City is the capital of the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Cole County. Located in Callaway and Cole counties, it is the principal city of the Jefferson City metropolitan area, which encompasses the entirety of both counties. As of the 2010 census, the population was 43,079...
, a depiction of St. FrancisSt. FrancisSt. Francis may refer to a number of Roman Catholic saints:*St Francis of Assisi , Italian founder of the Order of Friars Minor *St Francis of Paola , Italian founder of the Order of the Minims...
and the animals.