Sunday, March 26, 2017

My favorite things 13


My father was only one generation off the farm, and there was no art in his family tree, but some mysterious impulse made him into an art lover.  In his lifetime he must have bought hundreds of paintings, prints and sculptures, and he raised us kids to be both art lovers and art collectors.  I think the first original work of art he ever owned was this very big (48 inches wide plus frame) painting of Saginaw, Michigan, where Dad grew up and my sister and I were born.

It shows a view of the West Side of Saginaw, looking across the Saginaw River from the park on Ojibway Island where we used to go to play.  The tower in the center of the picture is the Saginaw County Court House, three blocks down from the house where my grandmother lived.  The steeple towards the right of the picture is Holy Cross Lutheran Church, where my parents were married and my sister and I were baptized.  The big building whose black roof occupies most of the skyline in the left-hand part of the picture used to be Ippel's department store, upstairs of which my grandmother lived for decades after she had to leave the house on Fayette Street (the Ippel's building burned down many years after she died).

Dad had been involved with a local art organization and when they decided to hold a contest, sometime around 1950, he was the judge.  His payment was the winning painting (although maybe I have that wrong, and he didn't like the winning painting so he got the second place...).  In any case, this picture hung over his desk in six different houses until he downsized both the picture and the desk, both of which came to me, the picture fitting perfectly on top of the desk, shrinkwrapped together in a truck.

I don't have a lot of nostalgia for Saginaw; we moved away when I was 6 and after my grandmother died there wasn't much reason to go back.  But I love the painting, because it was the start of something extremely important in our family: a love of art that has burned bright for decades and continues to illuminate our lives.

The artist is W. C. Brethauer, whom I cannot find any trace of on Google.  I hope that he was proud to get the purchase prize in the local art contest.  I wish that he knew how much we all have loved that painting for almost three-quarters of a century and with any luck will continue to do so for a long time.

P.S.  I wrote earlier this week about encountering my father's name in a book, and realize that I should have included a link for those couple of readers who might be interested in his career in typography.  For Jan Q and others, here's his obit from the New York Times.


11 comments:

  1. Your dad's obit is so interesting. Great picture with the huge wood type. We can see where you get your love of journalism, art and all things creative.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Couple of thoughts..... While Saginaw holds no special memories for you I still would be interested in a photo from the spot this picture (that began it all) was painted. You described so many items.... are many of them still there???? Can't help but add to the picture history - 50 years later....

    Next... there is a Barry W Brethauer married to Patricia still in Saginaw. Age 58. Some how I bet he knows W.C. Brethauer.......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Saginaw holds lots of special memories -- just not much that makes me want to go back now that the relatives are gone. I just spent some time on google street view and the bridge is still the same, of course; the courthouse and the church steeple are still there. The gray boathouse seems to be gone.

      I can tell you from previous visits to Michigan that visiting our old houses in Saginaw, East Lansing and Tawas City is like a walk back in time -- NOTHING seems to have changed in 60 years except maybe some replacement windows and aluminum siding. The courthouse area that you see in the painting is not much changed from the way it looked when I was in college. The silver lining in economic stagnation -- your nostalgia trips are much easier.

      Delete
    2. Once my mom died the pull back to Chicago was no where as strong as before. My brother's family are the only ones left there.

      Delete
  3. Well, I did another search and Barry Warren Brethauer lives at 3569 Annchester, Saginaw, MI 48603.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. well, maybe he's it! I'll drop him a note and let you know if he is.

      thank you!!!

      Delete
    2. Also would be interested in where the art took him/her???

      Delete
  4. Thank you for posting about your father. His story and accomplishments are fascinating and we all have benefitted from his redesigned newspapers. I remember those tedious skinny columns.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A reference to a W. C. Brethauer in June of 1941: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/147688492/
    And to a Mrs. W. C. Brethauer, same year:
    https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/147688492/
    And in 1917, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/87692759/
    Enticingly, there's a 1920 Art Institute of Chicago annual report that seems to mention him though I've not made it through all 190 pages to be certain. file:///C:/Users/phillifr/Downloads/N530_.A3_1920.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  6. I suspect farmers are way more artistic than they let on, although most of it is expressed in ways that result in utilitarian items. My dad had scrap metal and wood piles, and made things that filled a need. I wonder what he would make if it weren't for his "must be useful" line of thought.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Believe me, my father's farmer family wasn't in the least bit artistic; au contraire, they thought artists were sissies. I fervently hope all farmers aren't like them.

      Delete