Theodore Otto Langerfeldt
Theodore Otto Langerfeldt | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 2, 1841 |
| Died | September 7, 1906 |
| Nationality | German-American |
Theodore Otto Langerfeldt (1841-1906) was a German-American architectural renderer and painter.
Biography
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Langerfeldt was born March 2, 1841 in Bückeburg, then capital of the German principality of Schaumburg-Lippe.[1] He studied architecture at the Polytechnic School of Hanover. Circa 1863 Langerfeldt moved to England, where he studied and worked as a painter for five years. In 1868 he came to the United States, settling in Boston.[2] He was first noted in the Boston directories in 1870 as an architect with an office in the Studio Building. From 1875 until his death he is instead noted as a watercolor artist.[3]
Langerfeldt was best known for his architectural subjects, and was often employed by architects of Boston and New York to prepare watercolor perspective renderings for competition entries or exhibitions.[4] These included Charles B. Atwood, George A. Clough,[5] George Keller,[6] McKim, Mead & White,[7] Peabody & Stearns,[8] William G. Preston[5] and Frederick W. Stickney.[5] Presenting a watercolor by Langerfeldt with a competition design was considered a great advantage.[4] In 1876, at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, one of his drawings received an award.[2]
He was one of the first artists to provide professional rendering services to architects, preceding a later generation which included E. Eldon Deane, David A. Gregg and Hughson Hawley, among others. He largely withdrew from work for architects in the 1890s, as his health worsened.[4] Following an illness of ten years, Langerfeldt died September 7, 1906 in Boston.[1]
Langerfeldt signed his drawings "T. O. L." In addition to his architectural work, Langerfeldt also painted landscapes, and had a solo show at the Boston Art Club in 1874.[2] Two of his landscapes are in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
References
- ^ a b New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 7 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1907)
- ^ a b c Clara Erskine Clement and Laurence Hutton, "Langerfeldt, T. O.," in Artists of the Nineteenth Century and their Works, vol. 2 (Boston: Houghton, Osgood & Company, 1879): 38-39.
- ^ Boston directories
- ^ a b c "Death of T. O. Langerfeldt," American Architect and Building News 90, no. 1603 (September 15, 1906): 82.
- ^ a b c Catalogue of the First Annual Exhibition of the Boston Architectural Club (Boston: Boston Architectural Club, 1890)
- ^ Stagis, Julie (September 16, 2011). "Soldiers And Sailors Arch To Be Rededicated". The Hartford Courant. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ "Exhibition of the Boston Public Library Plans," American Architect and Building News 23, no. 643 (April 21, 1888): 182.
- ^ Wheaton A. Holden, "The Peabody Touch: Peabody and Stearns of Boston, 1870-1917," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 32, no. 2 (May 1973): 114-131.