Label
From “Keeping an Eye on History” at the OSH 2018
The Four Net Menders, Saugatuck
Robert Von Newman
Lithograph, no date
the story | Commercial fishing was a mainstay of the Saugatuck area economy, hence, maintaining the nets was necessary to its success. This scene from daily village life depicts net menders Buster Purchase (top left), John Diepenshorst (top right), John Hochlander (lower right), and George Sewers (lower left), per inscription on the back.
the art | Born in Germany, Robert Von Neumann (1888-1976) studied at the Royal Academy in Berlin. He immigrated to the United States in 1926 and settled in Milwaukee, WI. An award-winning regionalist artist, Von Neumann is most known for painting scenes from the Great Lakes.
SDHC Collection, gift of Kenneth R. Carls and James A. Schmiechen
Accession number 2018.13.21Label
From "Collecting the Lakeshore" 2025-2026 at the History Center main floor gallery
Robert Von Neumann
1888-1976
The Four Net Menders
circa 1950 | lithograph
This print is a portrait of labor on Saugatuck’s working waterfront in the mid-twentieth century. Commercial fishing was a mainstay of the Saugatuck area economy, hence, maintaining the nets was necessary to its success. This commonplace scene from village life depicts net menders Buster Purchase (top left), John Diepenshorst (top right), John Hochlander (lower right), and George Sewers (lower left), per an inscription on the back of the artwork.
Born in Germany, Robert Von Neumann studied at the Royal Academy in Berlin. He immigrated to the United States in 1926 and settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. An award-winning regionalist artist, Von Neumann is most known for painting scenes from around the Great Lakes.
This artwork along with the Richard Epperly Fishing Tugs painting (upper left) were part of the twenty-six pieces donated to the History Center’s permanent collection in 2018 by Kenneth Carls and James Schmiechen and featured in the exhibit Keeping an Eye on History.
Gift of Kenneth R. Carls and James A. Schmiechen
Accession 2018.13.21
