Sawmill laborer to soldier Eduart Wilhelm Christian Kuhn was born March 29, 1872, in Martinsville, Niagara County, New York. Martinsville sits on of land on the Tonawanda Creek, near the
Erie Canal in
North Tonawanda a suburb of
Buffalo, New York. The oldest of eleven children, Kuhn labored in the local sawmill as a young man, but dreamed of becoming a professional painter. He would rush home from work, change clothes, eat dinner, and race to the train station to make the trip to Buffalo's
Albright-Knox Art Gallery where he attended art school, . Kuhn frequently relocated and would seek out the local art school or leading commercial artists wherever he went. He studied under
George de Forest Brush while stationed near
New York City,
Eric Pape, a well-known Boston illustrator, and he continued to develop as a painter while stationed in
Cuba,
Puerto Rico,
Panama,
Japan, and the
Philippines. This became the responsibility of Colonel Robert E. Wyllie, Coast Artillery Corps, and Chief of the Equipment Branch of the General Staff. According to Wyllie, there was "no official coordinated control or supervision over the designs of arms and badges for organizations prior to their adoption near the end of 1919, thus making them rife with heraldic and historical inaccuracies." Kuhn's knack for heraldry was discovered while stationed at
Fort Hamilton after
World War I, when he was asked to design a coat of arms for his company. That same year, Kuhn was assigned to duty as an official Army artist responsible for the original designs of insignia and coats of arms for the
cavalry,
infantry,
artillery, engineers, signal corps, and other branches. Kuhn published his own articles and artwork in military history journals as well. Kuhn is credited with the original coat of arms for every regiment in the Coast Artillery Corps, the
National Guard of the United States, and the crest of the minuteman of the organized reserves. Image:Kuhn_Office.jpg|Kuhn at work in his Washington, D.C. office. Image:Kuhn_Coats.jpg|Kuhn with coats of arms of the Coast Artillery Corps.
Flag paintings Kuhn was particularly interested in the history and evolution of flags from around the world. He studied their development and perfection, and was considered the foremost expert on the topic in the United States. Kuhn is credited with identifying and restoring a flag that was carried at the first inauguration of
George Washington. He continued researching, painting and writing about historical flags at his home following his retirement from the Army. In 1966 Demler retrieved a number of paintings from discarded household effects following the death of Agnes Krull, his aunt and Kuhn's sister-in-law. He donated some for public display in appropriate American governmental buildings, including seven that were given to the
U.S. Naval Academy Museum for display and preservation of Naval history. A series of six watercolor paintings tracing the development and history of the
flag of the president of the United States were donated to the White House, and hung in the Military Aides' room in 1972. In 1977, the
Smithsonian received twenty-two of Kuhn's watercolors showing various official American flags with bearers in service uniforms and civilian dress. Image:Presidents_Flag_1882.jpg|President's Flag 1882 Image:Presidents_Standard_1898.jpg|President's Standard 1898 Image:Presidents_Flag_1902.jpg|President's Flag 1902 Image:Presidents_Standard_1902.jpg|President's Standard 1902 Image:Presidents_Standard_1912.jpg|President's Standard 1912 Image:Presidents_Standard_1916.jpg|President's Standard 1916 Image:White_House_Letter.pdf|Letter from White House Curator Image:NPS_Letter.pdf|Letter from National Park Service Director Image:NPS_Certificate.pdf|National Park Service Certificate
Embroidery Kuhn’s magnum opus is a massive silk embroidery of the coat of arms of the United States (see also
Great Seal of the United States) that he stitched in his spare time over fourteen years. Proficient with a needle and thread, as were most soldiers of the day, Kuhn became interested in the intricacies of the art as a corporal. He started with an immense silk field of different shades of white, approximately wide by high. Over four fast-paced hours were required to finish a strip across the length of the field. Kuhn sketched the coat of arms on the completed field, before embroidering the rest of the design. Image:embroidery.jpg|Kuhn's silk embroidery of the coat of arms of the United States. Image:Kuhn_Embroidery1.jpg|Kuhn with embroidery. ==Conclusion==