Week 23: Fritz Werner: Portrait Painter of the San Marcos
In 1936, Dr. Alexander J. Chandler lost the San Marcos Hotel to the Pacific Mutual Insurance Company. A longtime guest, E.W. Edwards, bought the hotel on somewhat of a lark, according to family lore. Edwards was an industrialist from Cincinnati, who, in modern terms, would be considered a corporate raider. He also was president of Fifth Third Bank, chairman of the Cincinnati subway system, was an avid golfer, and was one of the world’s largest art collectors. Master artists Renoir and Monet were among his personal friends. In fact, he once toured the world with Monet. In his capacity as an art collector, he invited a well known portrait artist, Fritz Werner, to spend an afternoon at his palatial mansion in Cincinnati. Their meeting would have a significant impact on the history of Chandler’s San Marcos Hotel.
Edwards commissioned Werner to paint a portrait of him. While sitting for the portrait, Edwards explained that he had recently purchased the San Marcos and invited Fritz and his wife Emmy to the hotel for the next winter season as his personal guests. The Werners happily accepted.
They arrived at the San Marcos in October of 1937. Edwards had set the Werners up in one of the many bungalows stretching between the hotel’s main building and the golf course. Werner was blown away by the beauty of the San Marcos. In his autobiography, he gushed over the “luxuriant flower gardens and graceful palm trees,” and marveled at the architecture, which he incorrectly attributed to Frank Lloyd Wright. To Werner, the most breathtaking aspect of the hotel was the artwork that Edwards had used to decorate it. Edwards had adorned the walls with oil paintings by the great masters, 16th century tapestries, sculptures, vases, and urns which “added to the impression of being in a museum rather than a hotel.” Edwards had also set up a well lit studio for Werner on the second floor of the main building which faced the orange grove.
During his first visit to the hotel, while enjoying cocktails with Edwards, Fritz Werner was introduced to Dr. Chandler. He described this encounter in his autobiography: “…I noticed an older man of imposing build entering the bar. This powerful looking man with features resembling a warrior of the Middle Ages so impressed me I asked Mr. Edwards if he knew him. Thereupon, Mr. Edwards stood and greeted the man whom he introduced to us as Dr. Alexander Chandler…Mr. Edwards proposed a toast to Dr. Chandler, saying ‘This community owes so much to his pioneering achievements…I will commission Fritz to immortalize this great man with a large portrait to be permanently displayed in the lobby of the San Marcos.’” This portrait was the first one that Werner painted in Chandler, and still hangs in the San Marcos lobby stairwell.
This was the first of 38 consecutive seasons that the Werners spent at the San Marcos. Every season they returned to the hotel in October and stayed until March, always staying in the same bungalow and using the same room for a studio. Over the years Werner painted many wealthy guests and celebrities who stayed at the hotel. Fritz and Emmy were regulars at the hotel parties, especially the many costume and themed parties held every season, often taking home the crown for best costumes.