Wilhelm Hunt Diederich

Known for his stylized Art Deco figures and animals in iron, Wilhelm Hunt Diederich was born in Szent-Grot, Austria-Hungary. He was born into an eminent family, including William Morris Hunt and the architect, Richard Morris Hunt. He emigrated to America in 1894 and eight years later traveled West (1902), spending a couple of years in Wyoming, New Mexico and Arizona living as a cowboy.

He became friends with P. Manship while studying with him, back in the east, they later traveled to Europe together. Diederich also went to Africa and ended up traveling and working in Europe for ten years. In Paris he became friends with Nadelman, Jules Pascin and F. Leger. He also spent long periods in southern France and Mexico.

He was well known in the upper circles of international society and respected by his fellow sculptors. He produced little after 1928, when he fell from a ladder, injuring his leg, in his castle in Germany. He returned to the U.S. and lived in Tappan.

Credit: Peter Falk, "Who Was Who in American Art" (Source: Archives of Askart.com, http://www.askart.com, Accessed May 4, 2004)