CHARCOAL AND PASTEL ON PAPER BY WILHELM HUNT DIEDERICH

Charcoal and pastel on paper by Wilhelm Hunt Diederich (1884-1953) portrait of Central Park Zoo caged monkey, framed.

Wilhelm Hunt Diederich, born in 1884 in Hungary, was fascinated by animals from an early age. In 1894 he immigrated to the United States, settling in Boston. Soon after he began to study sculpting at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art. It was here that Diederich grew close to fellow sculptor Paul Manship as they both began to make work inspired by animals. 

The classical nature of Diederich’s forms brought him critical acclaim: his Greyhounds sculpture was exhibited with much fanfare at the Paris Salon in 1913, he received the Gold Medal from the Architectural League for excellence in craftsmanship in 1921 and his work was extensively shown in New York, at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum, throughout the 1920s and 1930s. During the Great Depression, Diederich crafted many sculptures for the WPA Program, including weathervanes for the Central Park Zoo and metal works for the Bronx Zoo.

Diederich died in 1953, and his works are held in the permeant collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Smithsonian, Washington D.C. and the Whitney Museum, among many others.

• Dimensions: 30.25"H x 20.75"W
• Period: 1930's-1940's
• Condition: Good Vintage Condition. Wear consistent with age with some faint folding creases, small tears, and discoloration to paper.
• Materials: Charcoal, Pastel, Paper, Wood
• Origin: U.S.A.