Gladys M. Lutz (1909-2007) of Schnecksville, Pa. (born in Lynnport, Pa.), was an elementary school teacher for 37 years prior to retiring in 1964. The start of her education career was in one-room schoolhouses. Lutz was a member of Jacobs Church in New Tripoli and began her painting career in 1968. Documenting Pennsylvania German everyday life and culture, primarily in the Lehigh Valley, she worked with a vibrant color palette on board in what is considered a naive untrained or self-taught folk tradition. Lutz provided a short description on the reverse of her paintings using her manual typewriter, providing a documented historical record of what the scene or activity depicted.
Specializing in themed series, she often did paintings in groups of five, such as covered bridges of the region. One example in the 9-by-12-inch oil-on-board covered bridge series depicts “Schlicher’s Bridge.” The typed index card on reverse reads: “Schlicher’s Bridge is located near the Trexler-Lehigh County Game Preserve. It is also known as the Deer Pen Bridge. It is the shortest (108 ft. long) and the ‘newest’ (built in 1882) bridge that spans the Jordan Creek. It is a one span structure, constructed with the Burr truss and is maintained by the state. It is one of five covered bridges that cross the Jordan Creek. The others are Guth’s Bridge, Wehr’s Bridge, Rex’s Bridge, and Geiger’s Bridge.” The other four are also depicted in the series.
In 2005, the Albany Township Historical Society had a booth the Kutztown Folk Festival recreating a Pennsylvania German summer kitchen and daily food ways of rural Pennsylvania Germans during the summer. Many farms used (some still do) summer kitchens during the heat of the summer months in order to keep extra heat out of the house. Summer kitchens are most often attached out buildings with a hearth and bake oven. An outgrowth of the festival experience prompted society volunteers to create a cookbook using Lutz’s paintings to illustrate traditional activities in a seasonal format such as collecting dandelion greens in spring, harvesting berries and baking pies in summer, making apple butter in the fall, and smoking meats in winter. “Folk Art & Foodways of the Pennsylvania Dutch” by Jeff Dietrich and Lucetta Trexler Muth, the cookbook organized around the four seasons with seasonal illustrations by Lutz, was published in 2006. Filled with 115 recipes collected from local Pennsylvania German families, some are classic dishes, other recipes are more contemporary, adapted to modern times.
Dietrich and Trexler Muth perfectly incorporate 13 of Lutz’s colorful paintings. With each illustration is a story written by the artist and was skillfully arranged in the book by Gail Gottlund.
Another worthwhile examination of Lutz’s artwork was done by the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center (PGCHC) at Kutztown University with the publishing of “Folk Art Memories: The Folklife Illustrations of Gladys M. Lutz” in 2014. This work also beautifully captures daily Pennsylvania German farm life and countryside scenes as seen and imagined through the artist’s eyes. On par with other artists such as Verna Seagreaves, Luke Gottshall, and Hattie Brunner, it is Gladys Lutz who served duel roles of being a historian and artist, not only skillfully rendering quality work but taking the time to document the associated history of the work.
Four seasonal paintings by Lutz,, titled “Planting the Garden” “Picking Sour Cherries,” “Harvesting Wheat,” and “Cutting Wood,” sold for $230 at the first Richard and Rosemarie Machmer auction held through Sotheby’s in Kutztown in 1997.
Gladys Lutz estate donated a collection of her paintings to PGCHC at Kutztown University.
Unless noted, all images are courtesy of Jeff Dietrich.
Look for more of these “Profiles in Pennsylvania German Studies” in the future.