Henry "Dick" GREMKE

1860 - 1939

Henry Deidrich Gremke was born in San Francisco, CA on April 10, 1860. "Dick" was the son of German immigrants who had sailed to California in the early 1850s. His father was a gold miner and later a chandler for the clipper ships. The younger Gremke grew up in San Francisco and began art studies locally at the School of Design under Yelland. As well as being a fine painter, he was also an able photographer. He specialized in oils and watercolors of the Sierra Nevada, highly detailed florals, and also painted murals for the stations of the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railroads. Gremke remained a bachelor and lived at the family home at 544 38th Street in Oakland until his death on May 4, 1939. Exhibited: Oakland Industrial Expo, 1896; Mechanics' Institute, 1897; California State Fair, 1902; Oakland Art Fund, 1905; Berkeley Art Ass'n, 1908; Oakland Art Gallery, 1928. Works held: Oakland Museum; California Historical Society.