Theodore Gilbert Haupt (American, 1902-1990), Moctezuma

oil on canvas, 1959, signed and dated at lower left, inscribed to verso, presented in a later floater frame.
Stretcher size 50 x 18 in.; Frame dimensions 53 1/2 x 21 1/2 in.
Theodore Haupt was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1902. His father was an Episcopalian Minister and not particularly supportive of his son’s interest in the arts.

In 1923, several of Haupt’s paintings were exhibited at the Beard Art Galleries in Minnesota and received favorably. With this encouragement, Haupt enrolled at the Minneapolis School of Art and was awarded a scholarship to the Academy Julian in Paris. Haupt remained in Europe for two years, studying with André L’Hote and other noted modernists in Paris, Vienna and Graz.

Haupt returned to the United States in 1927 and settled in New York. During this period he built a career as an illustrator. In fact, between 1927 and 1933, he produced forty-five covers for The New Yorker. These works, and much of his studio work, from this period show a lot of influence from the cubist figural work he soaked up from L’Hote - strong lines, bold colors, a judicious use of negative space.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Haupt’s modernist paintings were exhibited frequently. His work was shown at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. He also benefited from the WPA’s Federal Art Project and his wife’s steady employment as a school teacher.

In 1948, the couple moved to San Miguel de Allende, an artist’s community in central Mexico. He was greatly influenced by the cultural contrasts in Mexico and his exposure to other expat and Mexican artists in the community. And that’s where we find him painting this work, Moctezuma. Haupt synthesizes the mighty emperor into a vertical arrangement of shapes and colors often seen in Aztec art.

Additional high-resolution photos are available at www.lelandlittle.com

Good estate condition.