Etching of Pamela by Georg Hartmann, c. 1970 Courtesy Scott Bader
Georg Hartmann, Pamela’s second husband, was the one character in the book for whom I could find almost no information. I had to invent his personality, how he met Pamela, how he died. Then, in May 2018, nine months after the publication of The Velveteen Daughter, I received an email from a stranger, Scott Bader, who wrote, “I met George and Pamela in Michigan in 1970. They were visiting an art dealer in Greenville who was selling George’s art work.” Here was someone who had actually met Georg (not to mention Pamela)! I was beyond excited.
Bader, who was a young artist at the time, also wrote that, “Georg was the out spoken extrovert and Pamela the demure introvert. They had a wonderful marriage; a fine example of opposites attracting. In the summer of ’71 I attended The Art Students League in NYC, so I was able to visit Georg and Pamela for tea; usually in Georg’s studio. They lived in adjacent studios at the top of the Colonnade Building in the East Village in NYC. With them I spent many happy hours as they shared their extraordinary life experiences.”
Amazing. Later Bader and I spoke on the phone and he mentioned that Georg was a 2nd generation German-American and was born in Hoboken, NJ. He spoke fluent German and studied set design with Max Rinehardt in Vienna; however, he later decided that he preferred a career in fine art, painting, illustration and print making. Bader also mentioned that Georg could be “a difficult person.” Apparently he was quite sure of himself and did not suffer fools gladly.
Georg was born in 1894 and died in 1976. In The Velveteen Daughter, Georg dies suddenly – Pamela finds him in his studio, slumped over his drawing board. It turns out that suddenness did in fact play a part in Georg’s actual death: Bader reports that The Colonnade was in very bad shape even back then (it is crumbling in places now) – and one day a piece of the ceiling in Georg’s studio fell and hit him on his head. He never recovered.
One day when Bader visited Georg and Pamela, he took this photograph of Pamela in her studio. Behind her you can see a portrait she painted of her son, Lorenzo.
Scott Bader is a graphic artist who lives in Vancouver. He has a collection of Georg Hartmann etchings. I am very grateful to him for sharing his stories.