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Berks County Almshouse, 1895 by Mader, Louis

Mader, Louis · 1895

Louis Mader’s 1895 painting *Berks County Almshouse* in Berks County, Pennsylvania, looks like a straightforward architectural record. It hangs today in a public collection as a quiet document of a rural institution. But the year it was painted, the building was at the center of a scandal that shattered the community’s trust.

Look at the inscription at the bottom. It names the directors and officials who oversaw the almshouse. One of them is Charles E. Kutz, who also served as the county treasurer. The painting gives him a place in the institution’s official history, right as he was destroying it from the inside.

In 1895, an audit of the county’s books uncovered a deficit of about $68,000, an enormous sum at the time. Kutz had been embezzling funds meant for the poor and the county itself. When the shortage came to light, he abandoned his wife and children and vanished from Reading overnight. For years, his name appeared on wanted posters while this painting hung on a wall, still bearing his name among the institution’s leaders.

Mader created this work on a metal panel, using oil paint to give the brick building a warm, almost documentary glow. He had no way of knowing the man listed on his painting would soon become a fugitive. The piece now stands as an accidental record of the moment before the fall.

Details

The inscription names the directors who ran it.
The inscription names the directors who ran it.
That same year, an audit revealed a massive shortage.
That same year, an audit revealed a massive shortage.
He fled Reading in the night, leaving his wife and children.
He fled Reading in the night, leaving his wife and children.
Its gnarled form and placement suggest resilience or perhaps isolation.
Its gnarled form and placement suggest resilience or perhaps isolation.
Transcript

It looks like a quiet record of a rural poorhouse. The inscription names the directors who ran it. One official, Charles E. Kutz, was also the county treasurer. That same year, an audit revealed a massive shortage. Kutz had stolen $68,000 from the county and the poor. He fled Reading in the night, leaving his wife and children. This painting hung as his name was printed on wanted posters.