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VICTOR HAMMER
(Austrian, resided in America, 1882-1967)
Vanitas (Semi-nude), circa 1932
Tempera on panel
26 3/4 x 18 1/2"
Bequest of Edgar Kaufman, Jr. 1989.14

Victor Hammer’s versatility as a portrait painter, sculptor, typographer, book designer, craftsman, and teacher left a lasting legacy in his adopted community of Lexington, Kentucky. Born in Vienna, Hammer studied at the city’s fine art academy before traveling throughout Europe for special training. From 1922 to 1933 he lived in Florence, where he completed portrait commissions and established a private press. By 1937, he had returned to Vienna to teach at the art academy but this appointment proved to be only temporary: Hammer left his homeland in 1939 to prevent his art and his skills from being used by the Nazi regime. He initially settled in Aurora, New York, where he taught at Wells College until his retirement in 1948. From 1948 to 1953 he was artist-in-residence at Transylvania University in Lexington. Hammer’s strong respect for his craft coupled with his commitment to the master/apprentice relationship to teach specialized skills, such as bookmaking and printing, contributed to the tradition of printing with hand presses in the Bluegrass region. Vanitas, which depicts a nude woman seated at a dressing table, is Hammer’s allegory of the transience (or emptiness) of earthly possessions: youthful beauty fades, and jewels, money, and other worldly goods become meaningless after one’s death. The incisive line and near-obsessive concern for finish are attributes of Hammer’s academic training and his lifelong commitment to consummate craftsmanship.