OUR LEGACY | Schuler School

THE LEGACY

OF THE SCHOOL

The Schuler School of Fine Arts came into being as a direct result of the life work of two prolific artists: Hans Schuler, Sr. (1874 – 1951) and Jacques Maroger (1884 – 1962). Their respect for the old masters and dedication to excellence became the hallmark of their lives and continues to be the hallmark of the Schuler School of Fine Arts.

Hans Schuler, Sr. was a renowned sculptor who did traditional, monumental work as well as portrait busts memorials, and medallions. All of his work was created in the studio he built in 1906 at 7 E. Lafayette Avenue. Today, this studio houses the Schuler School of Fine Arts. Mr. Schuler’s legacy was continued by his son, sculptor Hans C. Schuler and now by his granddaughter, Francesca Schuler Guerin, and great grandsons, Andy and Hans Guerin.

HANS SCHULER

Known as the Monument Maker, sculptor Hans Schuler, Sr. graduated from the Maryland Institute's Rinehart School of Sculpture, in Baltimore, Maryland. He taught there, was elected to the board in 1925, and served as the Institute's director from 1925 to 1951. Early in his career he was the first American sculptor to win a Salon Gold Medal in Paris (1901). He went on to great success, acquiring numerous awards and commissions throughout the United States. Locally, this great sculptor's monuments, reliefs, and sculpture portraits grace public buildings, streets, universities, and cemeteries throughout Maryland, adjacent states, and the District of Columbia.

JACQUES MAROGER

Jacques Maroger, a former director of the Laboratory of the Louvre in Paris, president of the Restorers of France, and a recipient of the Legion of Honor, arrived in the United States in 1939. Shortly after, he took a teaching position with the Maryland Institute, bringing with him a passion for the works of the old masters, whose paintings had an inner glow, permanency of color, and freedom of technique rarely found in the oil painting of his day. He longed to rediscover the lost formulas for their painting mediums, and devoted his life to researching and experimenting with their composition. A dedicated art mentor as well as a scientist, Maroger believed that without a firm foundation in drawing, the use of light and shadow, color values, and anatomy, mere knowledge of painting technique was meaningless.

HANS SCHULER JR.

Sculptor Hans Schuler, Jr. was a graduate of The Johns Hopkins University and the Maryland Institute's Rinehart School of Sculpture, but viewed his most important training as an understudy to his father, working on many of Hans Hans Schuler, Sr.'s large monuments. Hans Schuler, Jr.'s own works consist of large memorials, architectural pieces, portrait busts and reliefs, and medals and trophies in bronze, stone, and ceramic, which can be found throughout the United States. Hans Schuler, Jr. also learned teaching methods from his father and Hans Jr. became director of the Maryland Institute's Evening School and an instructor of sculpture. These experiences and the influence of his father led to the founding of the Schuler School of Fine Arts in Baltimore. He married Ann Didusch, also an artist, instructor and co-founder of the Schuler School.

ANN DIDUSCH SCHULER

Born on November 02, 1917, in Baltimore, Maryland, Ann Didusch Schuler was influenced by her father, James Didusch, a well renowned medical illustrator at Johns Hopkins. After graduating from the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore in 1940, she met and apprenticed under Jacques Maroger. This association covered a period of twenty years, during which time she worked extensivly with him on developing his medium while teaching extensively on her own. She married Hans Schuler Jr., son of the director of the Institute, in 1945. With the death of Hans Schuler sr., Mr. Maroger encouraged the couple to begin their own school to continue to teach in the traditional methods, and in 1959, they opened the Schuler School of Fine Arts in the studio of Hans sr. Ann continued to work on her own commissions primarily as a portarit painter, seen in numerous Universities, Hospitals, Government buildings and private collections. Her work includes still-life, figure painting and drawing, and florals as featured on this web site.