In 1992 an amazing discovery surfaced in Central Florida; a discovery that almost wasn’t. It came when a man by the name of Chuck Faulkner was introduced to a bag of art, salvaged from a storage unit before the place was demolished.
Inside this bag, Faulkner found stacks of paintings, newspaper clippings, and photographs from an artist named Harry Sonntag. The stack of pictures is a trove of Florida history, in a time when most of the state was completely barren. Faulkner’s research on the life of Harry Sonntag, combined with his art, tells a tale of Florida’s past; a story almost lost forever.
Harry Sonntag was a lifelong artist. He started his career in New York, eventually opening his own gallery. New York is a great place for an artist, but Sonntag craved individuality with his art. He didn’t want other artists to copy his style and ideas, thus in 1949 he moved to the Florida Keys where he would assume the life of a “hermit artist.” It was during this time that he began depicting life in Key Largo in his art.
Before he moved to Key Largo, a small misfortune struck Sonntag when his studio burned to the ground. He claimed that all his works of art burned in the fire, so Key Largo was going to be a great new start for Sonntag.
In Key Largo, Sonntag opened the Key Largo Art Gallery. This gallery was right off the main road leading to Key West; a great place for vacationers to stop and see his work. The ironic part was that his gallery was an abandoned structure, dilapidated with a roof full of holes. Structurally, one would wonder how the place remained standing. Sonntag didn’t care. He covered the roof up with tarps and hung his work with pride; ironically, the looks of the gallery didn’t deter the rich and famous from perusing the gallery.
From 1950 to 1957, the Key Largo Art Gallery’s walls donned pictures painted by Sonntag, which depicted life in Key Largo during that time. During the 1950s, cameras weren’t readily available; so many locals didn’t carry or own one. Sonntag’s pictures were the only real documentation of Key Largo during this period of time, because of this; Sonntag is considered Key Largo’s first resident artist and quite possibly, historian.
In 1957, another tragic twist of fate struck Sonntag, as his gallery once again burned to the ground. The Key Largo Art Gallery was no more, and with it, according to Sonntag’s statement to the Miami Herald, all his works of art.
Since his gallery was destroyed and nothing was keeping him in South Florida, Sonntag would leave the United States and take residence in St. Thomas, the
Virgin Islands. Sonntag would continue his art, depicting life in St. Thomas until 1960 when his father became deathly ill. Sonntag returned to St. Petersburg, Florida to be by his father’s side leaving everything behind.
THE DISCOVERY
In 1960, a couple staying in the room house that Sonntag once inhabited, found a bag full of pictures underneath the bed. The couple took the pictures to the room house’s front office, where they said the couple could keep the art.
That couple returned to Florida, and stored the pieces of art in their storage unit in Central Florida where they would remain in a non-climate controlled environment for 32 years.
In 1992, Chuck Faulkner gained possession of the pieces and realized how valuable they were. The bag contained 175 pieces of art. Ironically, it contained pieces of art from when Sonntag lived in New York and Key Largo that supposedly were destroyed in the fires. It also contained his latest works of art from when he lived in St. Thomas. Strangely, only seven of these original pictures are signed.
Wanting to know more about Florida’s “hermit artist,” Faulkner asked locals who may have known Sonntag, about his life and gallery. What he got was some amazing stories about how Sonntag lived from former visitors of the gallery and personal acquaintances.
Faulkner managed to even reach out to Sonntag’s school in New York, obtaining his transcripts, his birth and death certificate as well.
Faulkner is dedicated to his find and wants now to sell the collection and all his knowledge of Sonntag to a collector who will cherish it as he does. He doesn’t want it split up because he feels it’s just not the right thing to do. He hopes the next owner will find a way to get this collection on display somewhere in Key Largo, returning the art work to its home, allowing locals to see what life was like back in the mid-20th century.
Faulkner has created a website dedicated to the collection, and information about Sonntag which can be found at www.harrysonntag.com
About Sonntag
When Sonntag moved to Key Largo, he earned the title “hermit artist.” Sonntag lived in a self-built shack behind his decrepit Key Largo Art Gallery.
For food, Sonntag would spear fish in the water behind his gallery. He grew all his own vegetables and anything else he needed to eat.
When he needed supplies or food he just couldn’t grow or catch himself, Sonntag would hitch hike up to Miami where he would purchase the goods.
Sonntag’s hermit life personifies the artist spirit. He had nothing, but was a very happy and content man. In today’s standard, and maybe even by standards back then, he would be considered strange, maybe even an outcast; to Sonntag this way of life was exactly what he wanted.
In 1960, Sonntag would return from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, to care for his sick father. His dad would eventually pass away in St. Petersburg, Florida that year. Sonntag would move no more, calling St. Petersburg his home until his death in 1990, just two years shy of his artwork being discovered back in Florida.
As far as we know, he didn’t create any more art while living on Florida’s west coast. Maybe he wanted it that way, maybe he knew his work would be discovered in that room house, setting up his own legacy with the tale that his work was destroyed in the fire. Did Sonntag know that his work would make someone rich, by discovering it and appreciating it enough to take care of it? The story is eerily similar to “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” where Willie Wonka wants to pass down the factory to a stranger who cares about his work. We may never know, but what a story to tell.
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