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Carl Gutherz
... and his beautiful Memphis Mardi Gras Invitations
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Carl Gutherz was an International artist of note who lived in
Memphis from 1859 to 1868 and again from 1873 to 1875.
While his art career began in Memphis, he received most of his
formal training in the art schools of Paris. At the
height of his career he produced large-scale paintings with
Christian imagery based on the concepts of the art movement
Symbolism. While he will always be associated with the
cities of Memphis, St. Louis, and Washington D.C., he is
especially remembered in Memphis as "the artist who designed
those beautiful Mardi Gras Invitations".
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Today, the world's largest collection of works by Carl
Gutherz is held by Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, with over
70 paintings and drawings. Included are his
allegorical works, the portraits and landscapes, as well
as a selection of his designs for the Memphis Mardi
Gras. |
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Gutherz painting |
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Click on small
photos to see an enlargement |
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| Carl
Gutherz ...biography |
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Carl
Gutherz was born in 1844 in Schoefland, Switzerland. He
was the second oldest of the children in the family of Heinrich
and Henrietta Gutlierz. The
family immigrated to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1851 where Heinrich established a terra-cotta works.
Carl began his art career there by modeling clay in the
studio. But by
1860 the terra-cotta works failed and the family re-settled in Memphis, where they remained during
the Civil War occupation. The elder Heinrich died during this
period and young Carl began work as a draftsman at a foundry
while studying art with a Memphis portrait painter.
His older brother, Gottfried joined the Confederate army and his sister Lena married a Union soldier and moved to St. Paul
after the war. From 1869 to 1872, Gutherz received his art training at the
prestigious Ecole des Beaux Arts in
Paris. |
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Gutherz 1875 |
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Schoefland,
Switzerland |
Memphis
1870 |
Gutherz1869 |
Gottfried
drawing |
Ecole des
Beaux Arts |
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In
1875 Gutherz accepted a teaching position at Washington
University in St. Louis. He remained there for 9
years and was very active in establishing the St. Louis School
and Museum of Fine Arts. He also continued frequent visits
to Memphis doing portrait commissions, and especially designing
the Mardi Gras invitations, floats, and costumes. During
one of these visits to Memphis he met and married Kate Scruggs
and they had two daughters and a son. In 1906 he produced
a design for an arts and sciences pavilion which was the basis
for the development of Brooks Memorial Art Gallery in Memphis. |
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St. Louis
School-Musuem |
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Scruggs |
Suzanne
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Family
1895 |
Washington Univ |
1873 Invitation |
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During
his St. Louis period, Gutherz made frequent trips to visit
his sister in St. Paul. While there, he did murals at the People's Church and
also murals for the Court house at Fort Wayne, Indiana.
From 1884 to 1895 he returned to Paris to study at the Academie Julian. It was here that he was influenced by
Symbolist theories, which resulted in his most successful
paintings - large allegorical works. In 1896, Gutherz moved to Washington D.C. - where
he executed a series of ceiling panels for the Library of Congress.
He spent the rest of his life there, dying in 1907. He
is buried at the Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington D. C. |
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Gutherz
1875 |
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Carl Gutherz ...the paintings |
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Gutherz was associated with the American Symbolist Movement of the
late 19th century. He established a modest but growing
reputation in Memphis, St. Louis, and St. Paul, as well as Paris.
Guntherz preferred to paint the allegorical works, but there was
little demand for these. Thus he continued to paint landscapes
and especially portraits. The largest collection of Carl Gutherz paintings is held by Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.
Gutherz' son Fredrick Marshall (who changed his name to Marshall F.
Goodheart) donated over 70 paintings and drawings to the museum. |
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Portraits ... |
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Allegorical ... |
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Landscapes ... |
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Library of Congress Murals ... |
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The Light
of Progress mural ... Library of Congress |
Sketch 1895 |
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| Carl
Gutherz ...and the Mardi Gras designs |
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In 1873 Gutherz was
commissioned by Memphian Colton Greene to design the
invitations for the new Memphis Mardi Gras - the first being
held in 1872. From the beginning he became noted as
"that artist who designs the invitations". To create interest in the Mardi Gras, the invitations were
sent out weeks in advance of the event and the invitations
themselves became the envy of the city. Everyone wanted
one. If you didn't receive one in the mail, the only way
of getting one was to bribe an official for one of them.
They were and still are, true collector's items.
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Carl
Gutherz |
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Each invitation was different. Notice how the elaborate
designs unfold. The
Memphis Mardi Gras ran from 1872 to the early 1900s. Gutherz'
designs were made during the first 10 years. By the
time he quit designing the invitations, the Mardi Gras had run
its course and had begun to fade away. |
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The outside of the Invitation |
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The inside of the Invitation |
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During
Mardi Gras, posters would be put up all over the city and they would
also be shipped to other states as well as to Europe. During
carnival season (just before Lent) this most coveted invitation was hand delivered
by a servant wearing a white jacket. The 1878 invitation was
described by Molly Crosby in her book, "The American Plague".
The envelope was exquisite, large and generally square, with golden
calligraphy. Inside it took the shape of a scroll on
powder-blue parchment with a regal crown framing the top where
CARNIVAL: MEMPHIS MARDI GRAS was engraved. Fanning out
of the Egyptian pyramid the secret order of the Ulks and
Memphi invites you and your household to attend pageants March 4 and
5, 1878.
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1878
Invitation |
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1884-Outside |
1884-Inside |
1888-Outside |
1888-Inside |
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The Invitations were so beautiful that many recipients
framed them. The one on the right is hanging in the
historic Mallory-Neely Home on Adams Avenue in Memphis.
The Mardi Gras year is unknown. (Currently there are
other invitations in the Memphis Public Library, but they
haven't yet been added to their on-line collection). |
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Mallory-Neely Home |
Year Unknown |
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This 1888 envelope and
tickets on the right were sent to
prominent Memphian John Gaston, who had one of the most
respected restaurants and hotels in Memphis - next to Court
Square. See the full invitation above.
(Although the design certainly looks like Gutherz, he may not
have been still designing the invitations in 1888) |
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1888
Envelope |
1888 tickets |
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The
1890 Invitation below is so "different" that it
obviously wasn't designed by Gutherz. The others certainly look like his
work but have not been positively identified as the Memphis
Mardi Gras and the years are currently unknown. |
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Note: If you
have an "Invitation" for a year we don't have: Please
scan your copy for us (front and back -
high resolution) and we'll post it with your credit. >
Email |
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May I have
the envelope, PLEASE?
The envelope sometimes gave a hint to how the folds on the
invitation might open. Each year it was an experience
simply unfolding the actual invitation. Since the
envelopes were hand-delivered, they are not dated unless the
receiver wrote the date on the outside. |
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Memphi |
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| Envelope |
Envelope |
Envelope |
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The 1876, 1879, and 1881 Invitations (above) were all
delivered to prominent Memphian Charles N. Grosvenor.
Included in his 1879 envelope was this coveted ticket to the
masked ball with his name on it. Grosvenor was a major
real estate investor in downtown Memphis and was very active
in establishing the Memphis streetcar lines. His wife,
Olivia, was the daughter of Napoleon Hill, and the owner of
the lot where the Sterick Building is located.
All 3 invitations, the Grosvenor portrait, and the ticket are
in the collection of George Whitworth. |
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C. N.
Grosvenor |
1879
Ticket |
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Carl Gutherz did it all
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This
artist not only designed those innovative and exquisite
invitations, he also did the illustrations for Harper's
magazine, and then designed the Mardi Gras floats ... as well
as the costumes. |
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Over 10,000 people would answer this invitation to Mardi Gras
in Memphis,
including one year, the president of the United States.
As many as 40,000 revelers would stand shoulder to shoulder
along the downtown streets of the city. Harpers magazine
would reserve front-page coverage, sending their best
illustrator (They often hired Gutherz). The glitter
and glamour of the event was known across the country.
And so Carnival would begin ... |
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Memphis
Mardi Gras 1872 |
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Gutherz
became involved with the Memphis Mardi Gras in 1873. The
invitation he produced was an elaborate pyramid-shaped design that integrated
Egyptian icons with a menagerie of birds. It was the first of
many Mardi Gras commissions he would execute over the next years.
He later became totally involved by designing the costumes. He used mythical characters and fantasy figures
as inspirations for his
costume designs. And he also designed the floats, as
well as providing art for the newspapers and magazines. |
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| and Colton Greene
- Originator of
the Memphis Mardi Gras |
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Colton
Greene was a leading citizen of Memphis and is best remembered as the
originator of the Memphis Mardi Gras. His business was insurance and
he was one of the founders of the Tennessee Club. Like most of
the South after the War, Memphis was suffering
from the Reconstruction. City leaders
thought the city needed a show of civic pride that might bring the
residents together. When the Memphis Appeal solicited ideas to
attract business to the city, Greene proposed that the city
celebrate Mardi Gras and establish the secret society of "Mystic Memphi"
to organize and sponsor all the activities. It was
a popular idea which caught on immediately. |
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Colton
Greene |
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The first
Mardi Gras was held in 1872. Greene
carefully
selected a
core group of Memphis business men to plan the first major
event
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Joseph Specht, a candy and ice cream
manufacturer,
Matthew Galloway, editor of the Appeal, and
Lou Leubrie, owner of the New Memphis Theatre. |
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The
lavish Mardi Gras balls were generally held at the huge Industrial Exhibition
Hall on Jefferson and the SW corner of 4th. The city had
built the great building in less than 6 months in 1872.
Although each exposition at the hall lasted only one month,
the hall was used year round. After an exposition
closed, the hall was used for the huge Masked Balls during
Carnival, Christmas, and special occasions. It was also
used as a skating rink and for conventions. |
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Ind. Exhibition Hall
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*
Colton Greene has his
own comprehensive coverage on another page of this website >
Click here |
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| P. S. |
On one
occasion Carl Gutherz, the designer of the invitations, had to sue the City of Memphis
for the money
it owed him
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Credits |
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The
Historic-Memphis website does not intentionally post copyrighted
photos and material without permission or credit.
On
occasion a "non-credited" photo might possibly be posted because we
were unable to find a name to give credit. Because of the nature of
our non-commercial, non-profit, educational website, we strongly
believe that these photos would be considered "Fair Use. We have
certainly made no monetary gain, although those using this website
for historic or Genealogy research have certainly profited. If by
chance,
we have posted your copyrighted photo, please contact us, and we'll
remove it immediately, or we'll add your credit if that's your
choice. In the past, we have found that many photographers
volunteer to have their works included on these pages and we'll
also do that if you contact us with a photo that fits a particular
page. |
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The "Historic-Memphis" website would like to acknowledge and thank the
following for their contributions which helped make this website
possible:
Memphis
Public Library, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis University Library, Memphis Law Library,
Memphis Commercial Appeal, Memphis Press Scimitar, Shelby County
Register of Deeds, Memphis City Schools, Memphis Business Men's
Club, Memphis Chamber of Commerce, Memphis City Park Commission,
Memphis Film Commision, Carnival Memphis, Memphis Historical
Railroad Page, Memphis Heritage Inc, Beale Street Historic District,
Cobblestone Historic District, Memphis Historic Districts, Vance
Lauderdale Family Archives, Tennessee State Archives, Library of
Congress, Kemmons Wilson Family, Richard S. Brashier, Lee Askew,
George Whitworth, Woody Savage and many individuals whose assistance is
acknowledged on the pages of their contributions. Special
thanks to Memphis Realtor, Joe Spake, for giving us carte blanche
access to his outstanding collection of contemporary Memphis photos.
We do not have high definition copies of the photos on these
pages. If anyone wishes to secure high definition photos,
you'll have to contact the photographer or the collector.
(To avoid any possibility of contributing to SPAM, we do not
maintain a file of email addresses for anyone who contacts us). |
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