Carl Lehmann-Haupt Obituary

Carl Andrew Lehmann-Haupt BEAUFORT, SC - Born July 22, 1938, in New York, New York; departed this life March 29, 2024, Beaufort, South Carolina. Musical, an artist, graphic designer, writer and philosophical thinker, Carl was one of the three sons of Letitia Jane Hargrove Grierson (Letty) and Hellmut Otto Emil Lehman-Haupt. Letty, the daughter of literary scholar, Sir Herbert Grierson, admired for her lively intelligence and resourcefulness, imparted to her sons literary and poetical sensibilities that infused their shared traditions of speech and merriment and held them together as brothers. Hellmut, a scholar of rare books who worked internationally with intelligence agencies during and after WW2, was instrumental both in the war effort and in restoring German cultural life and the careers of individual artists. The end of his parents' marriage separated Carl from his brothers, Christopher and Sandy for a time during and after the war. All were deeply affected by this. As a young man, Carl traveled in France, where he encountered the teachings of George Gurdjieff, beginning a lifelong association with this and other philosophies which formed the basis of many enduring friendships. An engaging, gregarious personality, Carl's friendships with other artists including Paul Reynard and John Gundelfinger, enriched his life and work. Involved in the happenings and counterculture of the 1960's, his acquaintance included Alexander Calder, Allen Ginsburg, Neil Cassidy, Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. Carl attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School and later studied at Columbia where he first met the brilliant, irreplaceable Celestine Frost. Years later they reunited and were married from 1975 until her death in 2019. Her inspiration of, and support for all his endeavors remained through out their lives and is chronicled in his memoir The Crazy Thing. https://thecrazything.net/about/. Carl was the beloved "Growly" to Celestine's four grandchildren, Holt, Dmitri, Olivia and Sasha and their parents: Preston and Marina, Jane and Alexey. He is survived by his niece, Rachel; nephew, Noah; great- nephew, Alexander; great-niece, Lucy; half siblings, Johnny and Roxy; and sisters-in-law, Natalie and Fredrika. Carl was fortunate to have remarkable women in his life. In addition to his mother and wife, the devoted and indomitable Annie Chisholm cared for him around the clock in his last years, throughout the pandemic in New York and finally in Beaufort, South Carolina. Carl continued to paint until his final days. https://www.carllehmann-haupt.com/about Landscapes were followed by abstract studies and, at the end, figures expressive of transcendence and flight. He had a lifelong love of reading and reading aloud, and his last nightstand was piled high with works of philosophy, poetry and, of course, Dickens.