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Karl BitterAustrian and American sculptor
Date of Birth: 06.12.1867
Country:  Austria |
Content:
- Early Life and Education
- Military Service and Emigration
- Fame and Success in America
- Personal Life and Citizenship
- Tragic Death
Early Life and Education
Karl Bitter, an Austrian-American sculptor, was born into a family of an apothecary father (Protestant) and a Catholic mother. He was the second of three sons. At the age of 14, Bitter left gymnasium (secondary school) to enroll in the sculpture class at the Vienna School of Applied Arts. He later studied under Edmund von Hellmer at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts.
Military Service and Emigration
Bitter was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army, but during a furlough in 1889, he left for the United States. In New York City, Bitter initially worked in a shop that decorated building facades. Soon after, he caught the attention of architect Richard Morris Hunt, who gave him an opportunity on a country project for the Vanderbilt family.
Fame and Success in America
Bitter's breakthrough came when he won the competition to create the bronze doors for Trinity Church in New York City. He subsequently received commissions from Hunt to decorate the Administration Building for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Bitter also led the sculpture works at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo (1901) and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis (1904). His notable works include the caryatids on the facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and sculptures for the Pittsburgh terminal.
Personal Life and Citizenship
In 1898, Bitter became an American citizen. He married Maria Schevill, an American of German descent. In 1909, he received amnesty for his desertion from the army and traveled to his homeland to visit his parents. On his subsequent visit to Vienna, Bitter was accompanied by his wife and their three children.
Tragic Death
Bitter died tragically in a car accident in New York City in 1915. The vehicle struck him and his wife as they were returning from the opera.
