Hans Kleiber's own hand, from the introduction of his book Songs of Wyoming, published by the Mills Publishing Company of Sheridan, Wyoming in 1963:

"My parents were natives of Northern Silesia, then a province of the Austrian Empire,and were traveling in Germany when I was born in Vogelsmuehle, near Cologne on August 24th, 1887. By profession my father was a designer of textiles, and had brought his young wife with him to see Western Europe together. However, when the families on both sides heard of my arrival, they insisted on seeing their first grandson, we returned to pay them a visit."

"During our stay with them, my Father was offered a promising position in Jaegerndorf, where our families had lived for generations, and we made our home there until we decided to settle in the Unites States in April of 1900. The city of Jaegerndorf was a fair sized industrial center at the base of the Sudeten Mountains that in its lay resembled Sheridan, Wyoming, in the Bighorn country."

The family first settled in Webster, Massachusetts, an important textile manufacturing town of the time.

Though Kleiber drew, painted and etched wonderful images of the traditional culture of the west, the predominance of his work is landscapes and wildlife, especially as admired through his etchings.

Source: Artist Book Songs of Wyoming

Submitted by: Edmond Allmond

Hans Kleiber was born in Cologne, Germany in 1887 and died at the Eventide Nursing Home in Sheridan, Wyoming in 1967. He was a traditional Western etcher, painter, and illustrator.

He came to Wyoming from Germany in 1906 and in 1907, he entered the U. S. Forestry Service as a Ranger with duties throughout the Northwest. When he resigned in 1924, it was to devote his entire time to art, despite his lack of formal art instruction.

In 1931, he received the Silver Medal Award from the California Print Makers Society. He was a member of the Associated American Artists.

His work is in the collection of the Library of Congress; the Wyoming State Art Museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming; the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming; the Montana Historical Society in Helena, Montana; The Bradford Brinton Memorial and Museum in Big Horn, Wyoming; and the Buffalo Bill Historical Society in Cody, Wyoming.

Sources:
Bradford Brinton Memorial & Museum
The Meadowlark Gallery

Hans Kleiber (1887-1967)

Born in Germany, Kleiber came to the United States as a young man, expecting virgin forests and wide open spaces where he settled in Massachusetts. Instead he found factories and noise.

He left school after a year to help support the family and at age 18 joined the Forest Service.

Kleiber's first assignment as a logger took him to the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming. He soon became a ranger, building a cabin on the West Fork of the Tongue River. One of his longtime friends in the Big Horns was William Gollings, well known Western painter and cowboy.

From 1918 to 1923, the Forest Service sent Kleiber all over the Northwest, from Minnesota to Washington. During this time he taught himself to draw, making studies of landscapes, animals creeks, and mountains. He studied printmaking and etching.

Kleiber was also a poet. He published a small book of poems, Songs of Wyoming in 1963.

In the 1930s Kleiber's art was shown in the United States and Europe, including one selected for the 1939 New York World's Fair. In 1944 his nature studies were given a special showing at the National Museum in Washington, D.C.

Kleiber's studio in Dayton, Wyoming was a rustic log cabin where he entertained visitors with his love of art and nature.

He passed on at the Eventide Nursing Home in Sherida, Wyoming.