Henriette and the Court Painter

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I promised some surprises in this family story. Hopefully what follows counts as one. It sure surprised me when I found out.

A mother and her daughter

If you remember my earliest posts about The Family, I wrote about Jan Vokoun's sister Marie or Mary Novotny. Here are the three generations of Jan Vokouns that I referenced in the last post about Kralovice. Jan Nepomucky Vokoun is the landowner from Stupice. Jan Vokoun b. 1804 is his son married to Anna Klin. Marie and Jan are two of their siblings who immigrated to Chicago. Marie arrived first about 1866 and married Henry Novotny.



Here is the 1880 census that I listed in my post, The Family, showing Jan and Marie and families living in the same tenement. The Novotny's have four children at this point, Zdenka 'Sidney', Miles, Alexander, and Caroline.


In the 1900 the family now lists, youngest daughter Henriette who is 17. This is the story of Henriette and her remarkable family.


In 1875 a man of extraordinary artistic talent was born in Prague. His name was Rudolph Bohunek (pronounced "bow-o-nek" or "bow-nek"). He studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts and also at the Vienna Academy. His ability was recognized in Vienna such that he was hired to be royal court painter for the Count of Bettyany. His portraits of the family were displayed in the halls of Castle Battyany. He also had a royal appointment as personal instructor to one Countess Frederica Schaumburg whose talents (without a trace of skepticism, here) warranted the attention of a grand master. Alas, her artistic work seems to have been lost forever to the world but I'm sure that wasn't Rudolph's fault.

Rudolph Bohunek
 
In 1907, Rudolph boarded the ship Kronprinz Wilhelm and departed Bremen, Germany for America. He was single and his listed occupation was kunstmaler (painter). After completing his training, his royal portrait work, and tutelage of the dear countess, perhaps he was restless and searching for a new adventure. He would find work in America to suit his ability.

One of Rudolph's first commissions was from the Louisiana Sugar Planters Association to paint portraits of some of its prominent members and historical figures of Louisiana and New Orleans. He moved to New Orleans where he resided for four years. I believe that his works from that time are in the possession of the Cabildo Museum in New Orleans. These paintings have been retained and used by the Louisiana State Museum as part of its displays on the history of Louisiana. Some of the portraits shown below. He wrote a letter of thanks to his New Orleans patron after he left his employ.

Jean Étienne de Boré, first producer of granulated sugar in Louisiana
    

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, early governor of French Louisiana

Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, founder of the French colony of Louisiana

Gentleman of the Louisiana Sugar Planters Association

"cold words are not a very expressive medium"

In 1911 Rudolph moved to Grand Rapids Michigan on commission from the Dutch Masters Cigar Company. It was he who painted the lithographic copy of Rembrandt's The Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild (De Staalmeesters) that became the Dutch Master trademark. Below is the newspaper article of his arrival in Grand Rapids.

Here is the story of the history of the famous Dutch Masters image, created by Rudolph, that remains on the company's cigar products to this day.


Rudolph married Henriette in 1912. I would yield the totality of my artistic abilities (which is admittedly a meager sacrifice) to know how they met. My guess is that Henriette's sisters were teachers and Rudolph was an instructor at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts which led them to cross paths. Another possibility is that Henriette met through her own art because, as you will see, she was quite talented in her own right. The couple had two children. Miriam 'Mimi' was born in 1916 and Henry was born in 1920. The family settled in Chicago after Rudolph's earlier nomadic life.


As with so many artists, the record suggests that business was not always so lucrative or steady. He is said to have opened his own art school. Another article reported an exhibition in Joliet, Illinois that included some works that the state of Louisiana commissioned but then couldn't find the funds to pay. So Rudolph refused to relinquish them and offered them to any bidder in Joliet! Here are some ad's for his work.

Pays the bills

Woodrow in the bargain bin.

Rudolph's reputation was suitable to warrant recognition as a notable American of Czech ancestry. Here is a sample of some of Rudolph's work including his other commercial work.

Washington, Wilson, Lincoln presidential lithograph

Portrait of a young girl in a Bordeaux-colored dress and a wide-brimmed hat with an ostrich feather

Old Overholt Whiskey

Lincoln Lithograph for the Illinois Watch Company A. Lincoln watch

Here is some work that you won't find online courtesy of his son, Henry's, niece who was so helpful in putting this narrative together.

Self portrait
Spring, Summer

Fall, Winter







Louis XIV, replica of official portrait

In 1930 Rudolph took his family on an extended trip to Europe lasting several months that included stops in France and London. Here is a picture of him with Henry and Mimi. While he was there he took some time to paint and there is a painting of Henry at play by a river.

Rudolph, Henry, Mimi in Europe 1930


Henry at play with the pidgeons

Oh, don't let me neglect that painting at the beginning of this post. That is Rudolph's portrait of Henriette and his daughter Miriam 'Mimi.' Here are the photographs that he worked from to create that painting. Both were taken in their backyard.

Henriette and Mimi

Henriette and Mimi
Rudolph died in 1939. His obituary is simple and doesn't do justice for such an accomplished individual. He is buried at Mount Emblem cemetery in Elmhurst, Illinois.


More to follow on this family's story (but with hopefully not too many of my cold words lacking expression!)

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