“Scot at Oxford” by George J. Didusch, 1944

George James Didusch (1916 – 1992)
 
“A Scot at Oxford”
 
Pen ink and pastel on paper: 48 x 31.5 cm.
Inscribed, signed and dated, lower left: ‘Scot at Oxford / Sgt. Geo. J. Didusch 1944’
 
This highly accomplished drawing was executed when the artist George Didusch was stationed with the US army in Oxford, in 1944. It is a highly graphic portrait of a young Scots guard, who is set within a confined composition. The cross-hatching is distinctive and reminiscent of his family’s trade in anatomical drawings. The hard penmanship appears erratic, which is countered by the restrained colouring in soft pastels. The picture offers a candid insight into the close relations between the American and British forces toward the end of the conflict in Europe.
 
George James Didusch was from an artistic family of German descent, based in Baltimore, Maryland. His grandfather, Josef Didusch, was originally from Munich and became a successful sculptor in Baltimore. George’s father, James, and uncle William, were the first students of Max Brödel in the department of ‘Art as Applied to Medicine’ at Johns Hopkins University. When the Carnegie Institute of Embryology was established at Johns Hopkins in 1913, James was appointed as its illustrator. He was the main illustrator for the Carnegie Institute of Embryology until his death in 1955, with many of his drawings and plates forming the main visual component of many Carnegie publications. He and his wife Theresa had three children, including George. George’s sister Anna would also become an accomplished artist and marry the Baltimore artist, Hans Schuler. They would found their own art school, which still exists today: the Schuler School of Arts.
 
George Didusch’s studies were interrupted by WWII, when he served as a sergeant in the United States army. He was a recipient of the ‘Purple Heart’, a highly respected military decoration awarded, in the name of the President, to those who have been wounded whilst serving in the US army. After the war, he obtained a BSc degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1953. He then attended the Maryland Institute College of Art, where he obtained a Master of Fine Arts in 1956. Three prints depicting fortifications in Baltimore, made in 1935, survive at the Maryland Historical Society. He appears to have worked as a draughtsman and artist in Baltimore for the rest of his life. He was buried in the Maryland Veterans cemetery.

The picture remains in excellent condition and is sold unframed. The paper is backed onto stable card, which is slightly warped at the edges.
 
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