Description
Louis R. Otto, Jr. attended the Tulane College of Engineering in his native New Orleans and studied architecture at the Ecole Politechnique in Lausanne, Switzerland. His engineering career included working for the U.S. Corps of Engineers in France and the Boeing Company Saturn Space Program in Louisiana. Meanwhile, he purchased and remodeled 20 historic and non-historic buildings in New Orleans. After retirement, he established the Au Bois Sculpté studio in the city’s Vieux Carré (French Quarter). He produced over 100 works in carved wood, including the nameboards for the Steamboat Natchez, and coats of arms, signs and plaques for popular organizations and establishments such as Deutches Haus, the New Orleans Country Club, and the Rex Room at Brennan’s Restaurant. His carved and painted wood mural of “1902 Rex Parade” (1990) is displayed at the Presbytere, a part of the Louisiana State Museum that displays its collection of Mardi Gras memorabilia. His obituary stated that Otto “wanted to be remembered as the ‘Famous Unknown Wood Sculptor’ of the Vieux Carré.”
Felix Herwig Kuntz collected manuscripts and printed ephemera, paintings and furniture. Part of his furniture collection is on permanent display in period rooms at the New Orleans Museum of Art, and his collection of books and manuscripts is housed today at Tulane University.
Condition: Generally very good with the usual light overall wear.
References:
Gontar, Cybèle. “Furniture Collecting in Louisiana.” AFANews.com. 1 October 2011. http://www.afanews.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1054:furniture-collecting-in-louisiana&Itemid=4&tmpl=component&print=1#.UPit-I6GrDU (17 January 2013).
“Kuntz, Felix H. (Felix Herwig), 1890-1971.” Tulane University Special Collections. http://specialcollections.tulane.edu/archon/?p=creators/creator&id=774 (17 January 2013).
“Louis Richard Otto, Jr.” Tributes.com. http://www.tributes.com/show/Louis-Richard-Otto-89387438 (17 January 2013).