Erwin J NEUSCH Painting New Jersey born artist Folk Art Oil

Actual painting measures about 16 1/2” x 20”. Overall with frame about 20” x 24”.

"Some of Neusch’s paintings are owned by actor Jack Nicholson and playwright Neil Simon, according to the foundation.

Neusch didn’t begin painting until he was 72. His first work was a wood carving, a trade he learned from his father. He practiced the trade from the 1920s through the 1940s with his brother Henry, with whom he owned and operated the former Neusch Brothers. The company specialized in architectural and furniture wood carving. Neusch particularly was known for wood carving he did for churches, including St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

Neusch contracted an illness in 1943 that prevented him from carving, so he and his wife Gertrude moved to White Plains, N.Y., where they opened an antiques shop and painting restoration shop. They ran the business until 1967.

By that time, Neusch had begun to paint. After he closed his shop, he began exhibiting his primitive-style oil paintings in libraries. Soon they were being exhibited in galleries and being purchased by collectors.

After Gertrude Neusch died in 1983, Neusch moved to Springfield Township to be near his brother Eugene. According to Moffett, who was Neusch’s lawyer, the brothers lived next door to each other.

“I think I met him when he was 94,” Moffett said. “He was reserved. He liked to talk about his life’s experiences. He loved to talk about his early work in wood carving.”

Moffett saw some of Neusch’s woodwork, including a four-poster bed he carved. The bed was one of many items from his estate auctioned after Neusch’s death.

“It was all hand-carved,” Moffett said. “It was quite beautiful.”

Later in his 90s, Neusch moved to the Independence Court retirement home in Quakertown, then to the Lutheran Home at Topton, which is where he died. Moffett recalled visiting him at Independence Court.

“He was always well dressed,” Moffett said. “He always put on a suit and tie. He always dressed like he was going to church.”

In those years, Moffett helped Neusch write his will. Neusch had no children and had outlived many of his relatives, so he planned to give his money away."

“He favored the area he had settled,” Moffett said. “He was desirous of having (his estate) benefit the people of upper Bucks County.”

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