Weidemann Art Tour

Christian Weidemann served as the foreman of the Capitol painting project from 1885-1890 for the William Wright Company of Detroit. The Christian Weidemann Art Collection, donated by descendents of the artist, contains designs that can be found throughout the Capitol.

Begin the Tour

Proceed from the "Art Adorns the Paths of Life" exhibit on the ground floor to the east elevator across the hallway. Take the elevator to floor one.

Outside the elevator on floor one, take a glance up to observe one of the Capitol's highly ornate textured plaster ceilings.

Sunburst Ceiling

This particular pattern, featuring four panels of rays around a central sun, compares closely with a sketch found in one of Christian Weidemann's design sketchbooks.

Textured plaster was featured heavily throughout the Capitol's first floor corridors to draw visitors eyes toward to the ornamental artwork. Thick layers of wet plaster were applied and shaped using stiff brushes and tools. Once the plaster had cured, or hardened, the decorative designs were painted.  

Attempts were made throughout the construction and decorating of the Capitol to keep costs down, including the heavy use of "faux finishes", or false finishes, in the building's interior spaces. Expensive resources such as red marble were simply imitated through many layers of paint using more affordable white pine wood (wainscots) and cast iron (columns). 

As decorative painters in the Victorian Era, faux finishes would have been a technique Christian Weidemann and the William Wright Company crew employed commonly throughout their designs. 

Next, take the elevator up to floor two.