Rupert Schmid became California’s darling, despite his (potentially) faked suicide.

Rupert Schmid was born in the mid-19th century in a Bavarian German city called Egg. I’m of the opinion that an artist from a town called Egg is a clear invitation go wild on the egg puns, so here we go:

Schmid was looking to move beyond his humble roots and really get some notice for his egg-cellent talents as a sculptor, so in 1884 he hatched a plan to immigrate to the United States with his degree from the Royal Academy in Munich. By 1890 Schmid had got over his shell shock at being in a new country and made the move from New York to San Francisco, where he quickly became sought after for his busts of California’s rich and famous. Schmid didn’t like to have all his eggs in one basket so he also spent a fair amount of time traveling the world and doing commissioned sculptures of everyone from the Prince Regent of Bavaria to the President of Mexico. But enough with the egg puns, let’s get to the controversy!

Back on the East Coast, the New York Times published a bizarre opinion piece speculating that Schmid had faked his own suicide in order to auction off his work, make a fortune, and retire to California (with wife in tow). Schmid was, in fact, alive and well and we still aren’t really sure how the New York Times misinterpreted his change of coasts so drastically.

On the other hand, San Francisco’s newspapers regularly raved about Schmid. After his statue The California Venus was unveiled at the World’s Fair in Chicago, Schmid developed something of a cult following. The statue, modeled after 16 year old Marion Nolan, was considered a devastatingly perfect representation of the most beautiful woman in California. Nolan’s subsequent fame unfortunately led to her untimely death when stalker Edward Marshutz fatally shot her after he proposed to her outside her house and she whacked him with her umbrella. It’s hard not to blame Schmid...but we’ll make an egg-ception.

Local media of the era would have you believe that Rupert Schmid had a monopoly on the early 20th century San Francisco art scene.

Many notable Californians posed for him, and he also created commissioned marble works of world rulers and visionary weirdos, including Porfirio Diaz, Grover Cleveland, and Sebastian Kneipp (a Bavarian priest who created the recipe for the leading type of bread in Norway, and coined a form of hydroptherapy known as the 'Kneipp Cure'....the more you know).

His best known work was the California Venus, a sculpture which he created for the Women's Building at the World's Fair in Chicago. Schmid actually held a beauty contest to select 'the most beautiful woman in California' as an appropriate model, so we can infer that he was a bit of a douche.