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for Frederick Knecht Detwiller
American, 1882 - 1953
Frederick Detwiller attended the Easton Academy, where in 1893 he won a prize in drawing. He continued his amateur pursuit of art while attending Lafayette College in Easton by doing pen-and-ink drawings for the school magazine, Melange. Following graduation in 1904, he studied for a degree at New York Law School, received it in 1906, and then attended the Columbia University School of Architecture from 1908 to 1910. He next went to Paris to continue his architectural studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (1910-11). In 1912 Detwiller studied painting in Florence and returned to Paris to study at the Académie Colarossi in 1914. Later that year he went back to New York and began two years of study at the Art Students League.
Detwiller established his home and career in New York. Although he painted scenes of the Maine coast, Alaska, Mexico and other places he visited, the city was the primary subject of his paintings in oil and watercolor and prints in various graphic media. The Ainslee Galleries in New York presented exhibitions of his landscapes in 1923 and 1925. But Detwiller was fascinated with the sights and structures of the machine age and with the pictorial effects that could be derived from them. He dramatically depicted bridges, excavations, shipping, and construction. Among his print series was one done in 1924 that focused on the demolition of the Sixth Avenue El. An exhibition of his industrial-subject works was held at the Neighborhood Club, Brooklyn, in 1929. He exhibited regularly with the Brooklyn Society of Artists and was included in the Brooklyn Museum's Exhibition of Works by Brooklyn and Long Island Artists (1930-31).
Detwiller maintained his studio in New York's Carnegie Hall building. From 1948 until his death he was the resident artist at Lafayette College.
Detwiller established his home and career in New York. Although he painted scenes of the Maine coast, Alaska, Mexico and other places he visited, the city was the primary subject of his paintings in oil and watercolor and prints in various graphic media. The Ainslee Galleries in New York presented exhibitions of his landscapes in 1923 and 1925. But Detwiller was fascinated with the sights and structures of the machine age and with the pictorial effects that could be derived from them. He dramatically depicted bridges, excavations, shipping, and construction. Among his print series was one done in 1924 that focused on the demolition of the Sixth Avenue El. An exhibition of his industrial-subject works was held at the Neighborhood Club, Brooklyn, in 1929. He exhibited regularly with the Brooklyn Society of Artists and was included in the Brooklyn Museum's Exhibition of Works by Brooklyn and Long Island Artists (1930-31).
Detwiller maintained his studio in New York's Carnegie Hall building. From 1948 until his death he was the resident artist at Lafayette College.
