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A Saugatuck Friend

2021.30.01

Easel

Oil

Saugatuck, Michigan (geographic place)

Winthers, Sally

Houlberg, Arthur

circa 1919

image area

35 in

39 in

2nd floor gallery/conference room

Fursman, Frederick Frary 1874-1943Heuer, John Deitrich "Dick" 1844-1925Ox-Bow/Summer School of Art

Source: Early Memories of Saugatuck, Michigan : 1830-1930 Author: Heath, May Francis Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Grand Rapids, Mich: 1930 2019.35.46 JOHN DEITRICH HEUER For more than half a century a most familiar figure here in the village was one whom everyone addressed as "Dick"; John Deitrich Heuer; he was born in Germany, Nov. 10, 1864, coming to America at the age of four years, with his parents, who settled at Kalamazoo and later lived in Niagara City, N. Y., where Dick was confirmed in the German Lutheran church at the age of eighteen. He then came to Saugatuck where he engaged in the fishing business for many years, living on the west side of the river. At the age of 25 he was united in marriage to Anna Ohlheiser and to this union were born eight children, seven of whom grew to manhood and womanhood,—viz:—Kittie, William, Gertrude, Edith, Pearl, Joseph and Shelby. Both Mr. and Mrs. Heuer were original characters in the village activities, and were more than popular with the summer tourists, and they were given more than local fame by the brush of F. F. Fursman, whose portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Heuer have been exhibited in the Chicago Art galleries. Both lived to more than the allotted "three score years and ten" as Mr. Heuer lived to be 78 years and Mrs. Heuer to 82, though each had their share of physical suffering.

Curator’s Choice Exhibit

Arthur K. Houlberg 1894 - 1949 A Saugatuck Friend c. 1919 | oil on canvas Notes: Arthur Houlberg was born in Chicago to Danish immigrant parents. He entered the School of the Art Institute of Chicago while in his mid teens. Following military service in France during WWI, he returned to the Art Institute. This is one of several works Houlberg created as a student of Frederick Fursman at the Ox-Bow Summer School of Painting. The close-up perspective of the aged woman emphasizes the subject’s individuality and displays the artist’s comfort with the evolving new expressionistic use of color. *adapted from Wendy Greenhouse PhD, schwartzcollection.com Collection: Saugatuck Douglas History Center Gift of: M. Christine Schwartz Accession: 2021.30.01

07/02/2021

08/21/2024