621

Walter J. Huchthausen

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:20,000.00 - 25,000.00 USD
Walter J. Huchthausen

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Auction Date:2014 May 14 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
American soldier and architect (1904–1945) who became known as one of the 'Monuments Men,' charged with recovering art and treasure plundered by the Nazis as they swept through Europe. Huchthausen was killed in action in 1945 while attempting to salvage a German altarpiece. Stunning original artwork depicting a magnificent cathedral or castle, pencil and dark red watercolor on a 19 x 14 sheet of artist’s board, indistinctly signed in the lower right, “W. J. Huchthausen.” It is also illegibly titled and dated below the signature. Some chipping and tack holes to corners, otherwise fine condition. After earning a master’s degree in architecture from Harvard in 1930, and studying abroad from 1930-1932, Huchthausen taught at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts, and the University of Minnesota before his enlistment in 1942. His background in art and architecture made him an ideal candidate to become part of the ‘Monuments Men,’ and because of his experience and fluency in the language he became responsible for operations in much of the northwestern portion of Germany. Huchthausen was one of only two ‘Monuments Men’ killed in the war, literally giving his life to art. This particular piece was recently discovered in a private estate, a previously unknown work by this important figure in the reclamation of Europe’s cultural legacy in the aftermath of World War II, especially interesting in that it is a study in his own discipline of architecture.