Photo taken by Emma Finn

An award Eric von Schmidt won

Many students walk down the halls of Staples having absolutely no idea that they are in the presence of the works of the famous artist and musician Eric von Schmidt.

“I have never really looked at it closely,” Said Sam Shepard 16’ while looking at Giants of the Blues painting that hangs in the theater hallway. “But now that I do, I can see there is a nice mix of warm and cool colors.”

What Shepard doesn’t know and frankly most of Staples is that Eric von Schmidt, an artist, created oil paintings, children book illustrations, and huge historical works of art taking years and years to make.  In some of his famous historical works not at Staples he depicted events such as a general Custer and many American wars.  In these paintings he made sure that that were historically accurate as well as the people fighting were portrayed as they had been in the actual event.

Caitlin von Schmidt, his daughter who lives in Westport, said her father would spend years and years on research he was incredibly detailed.  The attire, who was winning the war, even the thickness of the lines on the clothes- Schmidt made it perfect.  She also said he empathized with minorities and would not always portray the Americans winning as most artist did at the time.

Ellen Naftalin, co-chair of Westport Public Library’s Exhibits Committee, gave some insight to why Schmidt’s pieces were chosen to be displayed at the library.

“I was a friend of Eric’s and am a friend of his daughter Caitlin. While there are some of Eric’s pieces scattered around town and there are his Giants of the Blues Paintings at Staples, there had never been a retrospective of his work.”  Naftalin also said Eric’s mother saved all of his art and was excited to showcase it around town.

“Baby, Let Me Follow You Down” was one of Bob Dylan’s most famous songs in which he says before he sang the song, “First heard this from Ric von Schmidt.”  Mentoring Bob Dylan was not his only accomplishment.  Von Schmidt also won a grammy for his album in “Anthology of American Folk Music, Vol. 1-3.”

Von Schmidt had many faces.  To his family, he was known to be a little prickly, but to friends he was known to be gregarious and outgoing.

“He inspired me to do music.  Crazy and wonderful.  For example when we went to the supermarket one time and he forgot his hat, he took the sleeves off a shirt and wore it into the store.  Beloved guy, a wonderful man,”  said Dave, a friend of von Schmidt, at the gallery opening.

“You just had to know this guy.  I would describe him as salty, a wreck on tour, fiercely independent, kind, courageous, and a pacifist at heart.  It was a pleasure to know him.  He also was very sensitive.  After Eric got cancer he would write in booklets.  The first thing he wrote to me after my died was, ‘I miss your mom at stop and shop’.”  Another friend, who did not want to use her name, said.

His daughter had a different opinion than most of his friends.

“He was one of a kind.  It was a little bit of a struggle to be in a relationship with him.  He was a lone wolf.  Wanted to do what he wanted to do.”  she said.

Von Schmidt towards the end of his life got throat cancer as well as Lyme, a devastation for a musician as well as artist.  Caitlin said he painted a lot the last 10 years of his life, it was what he always went back to.