Louis Weingartner
Died 1934
Active: 1900 - 1930
Country of birth and death: Switzerland
Designer, jeweller, medallist, sculptor and metal worker
Probably came from Lucerne. Weingartner's brother was Seraphim Weingartner, director of Lucerne School of Arts and Crafts. Louis may have trained in Florence before working for Bossard goldsmiths in Lucerne. Here a fellow worker was Josef Hodel who later became a partner or associate after they moved to Britain c.1900. Both practitioners worked for the Bromsgrove Guild in the early 1900s. For Weingartner this was the start of a long association with Walter Gilbert leading to collaborations with H.H. Martyn in Cheltenham after 1918. In that year Walter Gilbert became an assistant manager of the company for five years with responsibilities for artistic direction. Weingartner seems to have returned to Switzerland in 1930.
This includes information from Philip Medhurst, 'Walter Gilbert: The Romance in Metalwork: An annotated inventory of works by architectural sculptor Walter Gilbert and associates', 2013. The details of Weingartner's Swiss background are derived from Ken Fackrell's research into his grandfather's, Joseph Hodel's, life. This includes information from documentary material in Sempach, Switzerland, translated by the Archivist at Stadt Sempach.
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
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Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1902
'Aphrodite Comb'
Institutional and Business Connections
Worked for Bromsgrove Guild
1902 (Circa) - 1921
Worked on various commissions including one in 1902. Moved to Bromsgrove in 1904 and became the Guild's chief designer, sculptor and metal worker. Weingartner also produced a model of the great lock that was comissioned for the Buckingham Palace project in c. 1905-1908. See Townshend 'The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts', in Watt 'The Bromsgrove Guild', (1999), p. 19. Weingartner left the Guild in 1921 to work for Martyn's of Cheltenham (p. 39).
Personal and Professional Connections
Collaborated with Joseph (Josef) Anton Hodel
1902 (Circa) - 1904 (Circa)
Shared a studio in London. Worked on various commissions including one in 1902. See Townshend 'The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts', in Watt 'The Bromsgrove Guild', (1999), p. 19.
Collaborated with Walter Gilbert
1903 (Circa) - 1930
Based on research by Philip Medhurst.
Sources
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1902
1902
Cat. No. 237, p. 26
The Bromsgrove Guild. An Illustrated History, 1999
1999
p. 19, p. 39 and p. 61.
Citing this record
'Louis Weingartner', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib4_1243854725, accessed 09 Jun 2023]
