William Hunt Diederich

1884 - 1953

BiographyWilliam Hunt Diederich (1884–1953) sat with the same self-assurance astride the wild-eyed horses of the American West as he did mounted on the finely tuned horses on his family’s European estate (Fig. 1). These two competing lifestyles: the rough and tumble world of the independent cowboy and the rarefied, disciplined world of the gentry, informed Diederich’s modernist approach to art, expressed in his aristocratic yet fluid forms. Both personas were linked by Diederich’s singular fascination with animals. While the human form figured in his work, it is for his depiction of animals that he is most widely recognized. “I love animals first, last and always,” he once said, “Animals seemed to me truly plastic. They possess such supple, unspoiled rhythms.”1

Growing up in Szent-Grot, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Diederich’s family’s home was a wonderland of exotic hounds, horses, and stags. By the age of five, with scissors in hand, the young Diederich began creating unique paper silhouettes of these noble beasts. The tradition of scherenechnitte, otherwise known as paper cutting, began in the 1500s in Switzerland and Germany. Diederich’s unusually delicate cutouts were the first manifestation of animals as the primary motif in his work. Their graceful lines, inherent regality, and fluid movement fed a bottomless reservoir of aesthetic inspiration (Fig. 2).

While it was his work in the decorative arts that forged his legacy, Diederich was also a gifted painter, draughtsman, ceramist, and the creator of exceptional sculptures (Fig. 3). With the proficiency of an animal tamer, Diederich wrangled wrought iron, transforming one of the most obstinate and inanimate materials, into elegant and energetic designs, producing a body of ironwork that projects an aura of weightlessness. In the beautifully wrought Hounds and Hares chandelier (Fig. 4), Diederich plays with positive and negative space to enhance the sensation of lightness. The stylized shape of the hounds and the dynamic articulation of the hares, their attenuated bodies slicing through the air, distract the viewer from the chandelier’s heavy metal medium.

Information retrieved from: https://www.incollect.com/articles/william-hunt-diederich-1884-1953 [1/2/2025]

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