Edgar Kaufmann, Sr. -- Portrait of the Owner as a Young Man

Austrian artist Victor Hammer painted this detailed portrait of Edgar Kaufmann, Sr. that now hangs in Fallingwater's Living Room. In addition to portrait painting, Hammer was an accomplished architect, professor and printer. He designed an uncial type, a style of writing characterized by somewhat rounded capital letters and found especially in Greek and Latin manuscripts of the fourth to the eighth century, A.D. He also hand-printed a number of books. Edgar Kaufmann, jr. [sic] was an apprentice of Hammer's in Florence, where he studied drawing and printing with the artist, and under whose tutelage, gained a deeper understanding and appreciation of architecture.

The Kaufmanns - as they did for many promising artists - supported Hammer through his work. After she met Hammer in London in 1929, Liliane Kaufmann commissioned this portrait of her husband. Titled Excursion, it was painted with egg tempera and oils on a wood panel and exhibited in the 1930 Carnegie International.

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