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William Hunt Diederich
Image Not Available for William Hunt Diederich

William Hunt Diederich

Hungary, 1884 - 1953
BiographyWilliam Hunt Diederich grew up and attended school in Switzerland but moved to Boston at age fifteen for more schooling. He then traveled to the Southwest and spent time in Wyoming working on a ranch. After moving back east, Diederich attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and took trips to both Europe and Africa. The artist continually moved around the world for the rest of his life between the United States, Germany, and Mexico.
Working in the Art Deco Style, Diederich created freestanding sculptures as well as functional items, such as gates, light fixtures, candelabras, etc. His decorative ironwork appears as silhouettes of graceful animals and curling foliage. Although horses and dogs make up a major part of his opus, Diederich also depicted the wildlife he had seen on trips to the American West and Africa. In the later part of his life, the artist's politics tempered interest in his work as he took an active pro-German stance during both world wars, and he became even more eccentric in his old age. However, the quality of craftsmanship and his elegant designs reveal Diederich to be one of the eminent Art Deco artists of the early twentieth century.
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