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Johannes Kirchmayer also known as John Kirchmayer (March 31, 1860 – November 29, 1930) was one of the leading woodcarvers in the
Hause der Bayerischen Geschichte (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirchmayer, Johannes 1860 births 1930 deaths People from Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district) American woodcarvers 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century American male artists American male sculptors German emigrants to the United States
Johannes Kirchmayer also known as John Kirchmayer (March 31, 1860 – November 29, 1930) was one of the leading woodcarvers in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, active primarily in the Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
area.
Kirchmayer was born in Oberammergau
Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The small town on the Ammer River is known for its woodcarvers and woodcarvings, for its NATO School, and around the world for its 380-year tradition of ...
, Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...
. After learning sculpture in Germany, he emigrated in 1880 to Boston and took up work mainly in church sculpture. He was a founding member of the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts with his work featured in an 1887 exhibition. After 1898, in the employ of Boston furnituremaking and architectural woodworking firm Irving and Casson
Irving & Casson was a Boston, Massachusetts, firm of interior designers and furniture makers, founded in 1875.
Its specialty was interior woodwork and mantels, but it also made furniture, primarily in the styles of the 17th, 18th and early 19t ...
, he worked on the buildings of the noted American Gothic-revivalist Ralph Adams Cram
Ralph Adams Cram (December 16, 1863 – September 22, 1942) was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic Revival style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partne ...
.
Kirchmayer's notable work around Boston includes carvings in The Church of the Advent, Brimmer Street, Boston; All Saints' Church, Ashmont, Dorchester; the Second Church, Newton; and Unity Church in North Easton. He also designed the mantling of the Anderson Memorial Bridge
Anderson Memorial Bridge (commonly but incorrectly called Larz Anderson Bridge) connects Allston, a neighborhood of Boston, and Cambridge. The bridge stands on the site of the Great Bridge built in 1662, the first structure to span the Charles ...
over the Charles River.
His work outside the Boston area includes carvings in Christ Church Cathedral, Springfield, MA; the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, West 46th Street, New York City; St. Mary's Anglican Church, Windsor, Ontario; the Church of the Saviour, Syracuse, New York; and the James J. Hill House
The James J. Hill House in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, was built by railroad magnate James J. Hill. The house, completed in 1891, is near the eastern end of Summit Avenue near the Cathedral of Saint Paul. The house, for its time, was ...
, St. Paul, Minnesota. At $1.00 an hour, he was the highest paid workman on the Hill House construction project. He is also responsible for the carvings at Christ Church Cranbrook
The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This National Historic Landmark was founded in the early 20th century by newspaper mogul George Gough Booth. It consists of Cra ...
and on one door carved images of the craftsmen who worked on the church, including himself.Eckert, Kathryn Bishop, Cranbrook: The Campus Guide,. Princeton Architectural Press, NY, 2001 p. 64
References
Hause der Bayerischen Geschichte (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirchmayer, Johannes 1860 births 1930 deaths People from Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district) American woodcarvers 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century American male artists American male sculptors German emigrants to the United States