Cincinnaticum

Hentschel’s 2nd poster for the Cincinnati Art Museum and his ‘Batik’ banner on velvet, c. 1922, 75” X 80”

“Another of the Museum’s Special Exhibitions…for which Hentschel also designed the announcement poster…'The Work of Leon Bakst', presented in April, 1914, overwhelmed Billy with the artist’s dazzling designs.”

William Hentschel, 26, demonstrating the use of a tjanting in Pieter Mijer’s “Batik’s, and How to Make Them”.

“As Hentschel completed his course of study in painting [at the Cincinnati Art Academy], it was Bakst’s palette of textiles…which fostered a vibrant new vision in Billy…Batik—a staple of Bakst’s costume design—was gaining popularity…largely due to the efforts of Pieter Mijer, another of Billy’s teacher’s in New York. In 1919, Mijer published Batiks and How to Make Them, and, among its illustrations were two photographs of his young student assistant, Billy Hentschel, demonstrating the process.”
--‘Parade of Discovery’, by Don Wellman for the Duke Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan, 1987

Images: Cincinnati Art Museum; Janine Menlove, Duke Gallery; G.W. Harting for Dodd, Mead & Co., 1919