Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he was the son of a German beer brewer. He took an interest in art at an early age, and when he was fifteen, Rettig began to paint frescos. He then studied at the McMicken School of Design. Graduating in 1881, he also studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati with Frank Duveneck and Edward Henry Potthast.

Rettig traveled to Europe and studied in Paris with Raphael Collin and Gustave Courtois. As an artist, he was a painter, sculptor, muralist, and a theatrical set designer. With his younger brother, Martin Rettig, a fellow artist, he decorated and modeled Rookwood Pottery.

Dubbed as the "Wizard of Scenic Creation", he was best known for his set designs, creating many open air pageants in Cincinnati, North Africa, and Mexico. In 1903, he traveled to Europe again and spent most of his time in Holland at a fishing village called Volendem, which later became his second home. Hi firest scenic work was a drop curtain for Heuck's Opera House.

Rettig was the president of the Cincinnati Art Club from 1890 to 1892 and again from 1908 to 1910. His paintings are on display in private and public collections around the world. Also, he and his painting Crucifixion are mentioned at length in the Kurt Vonnegut novel, Deadeye Dick.

He died at a hospital in Cincinnati in 1932 when he was 75 years old.

His wife, May Evelyn Rettig, was also an artist. The bronze relief on his monument at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio is one of his works, and he is buried in that cemetery.

Studied

McMicken School of Design, 1873-81, with Duveneck, Potthast; Paris with Collin, Courtois, Prinet

Member

SC; Cincinnati AC; AFA

Exhibited

PAFA Ann, 1896-1910; Boston AC, 1902; AIC; S. Indp. A. 1917

Work

Cincinnati Art Museum

Resources

WW31; Samuels, 396; Cincinnati Painters of the Golden Age, 97 (w/ illus.); Falk, Exhibition Record Series. findagrave.com