Ferdinand Louis "Fritz" Schlemmer was born and raised in Crawfordsville, Indiana and studied art in Chicago. After traveling the United States for a few years in the "Paris Players" giving performances for the Chautauquas he then served his country in World War I as a first lieutenant with the 89th Infantry Division. After the war Fritz studied in Paris and spent his summer in Florida where he was commissioned to do society portraits while studying in Provincetown Mass and the Cape Cod School of Art. He returned to Crawfordsville in 1923 and opened a studio and got married to Beatrice Deane having one daughter, Beverly. In 1939 Fritz was appointed "Artist in Residence" at Wabash College and had 19 pieces accepted into the Hossier Salon over the next 7 years. He died in 1947 from Addison's Disease.

This oil painting portrait by Schlemmer is a fabulous example of Fritz's society portraits that he executed in Winter Park Florida shortly after World War I. This oil painting on artist board came out of the established artists estate of Maurice John (Jack) Lenhardt from his Winter Park home in Orlando and depicts either him or his brother Robert Lenhardt. Resting in its fantastic original gold wood frame it measures approximately 27 1/2 x 34 1/4 inches while the artist board measures 20 x 27 inches making it a nice formal portrait size.

This work is signed in the upper left corner "F. Schlemmer" and can be fairly easily read as seen in the images provided. Not only is this a killer portrait but their is another work of art on the backside of the artist board depicting a home with green lush grass as seen in the last two photos with some pencil inscription. The portrait does have some little areas of loss and would benefit from a good cleaning. The white spots in the lower right portion of the canvas would be removed from a cleaning. 

The quality and level of execution is outstanding with its iconic early 20th century portrait style painted with thick brushstrokes. The face of either Robert or Maurice has incredible detail and color showing a most lifelike appearance. The images provided accurately represent the quality, condition and aesthetic beauty of this killer and rare portrait by Fritz Schlemmer but if you have any questions please feel free to ask prior to purchasing! Schlemmer is highly collected in the circle of Indiana works of art from the early 20th century with his portraits being more desirable over most other examples which tend to be still life's and landscapes.  

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