Background
Ferdinand Louis "Fritz" Schlemmer was born and raised in Crawfordsville, Indiana, the son of Otto and Louise (Miller) Schlemmer.
Ferdinand Louis "Fritz" Schlemmer was born and raised in Crawfordsville, Indiana, the son of Otto and Louise (Miller) Schlemmer.
He enrolled in Wabash College but soon left to study art in Chicago. He was noted as an athletic swimmer and basketball player. Schlemmer was commissioned a first lieutenant with the 89th Infantry Division (United States) in 1917 and served as Divisional Camouflage Officer during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in World War I.
After the war he studied in Paris and also spent winters in Florida where he did society portraits.
During the summers he studied in Provincetown, Massachusetts at the Cape Cod School of Artist
He returned to Crawfordsville in 1923 and opened a studio. He was appointed "Artist in Residence" at Wabash College in 1939.
Schlemmer had 19 pieces accepted into the Hoosier Salon over a period of seven years. He died in 1947 of Addison"s Disease.