Frits Schiller (George Friederich Ferdinand Schiller) was the son of a successful owner of an establishment on the Rembrandtplein in Amsterdam and was trained as a painter in that city. But when his father died in 1907, he took over the management of the family business with his brother Hein and his sister Elsa and had the hotel-restaurant divided over five buildings converted into a single whole in a style with many Art Deco elements (for much of it still intact). In addition to his work as a hotel director, however, Frits Schiller continued to paint, although that never became his main activity.
In the Interbellum, hotel and restaurant experienced a heyday; The Schillerbar developed through the charm of the artistic director and that of his acting wife into a meeting point of urban bohemia. Writers such as Heijermans, Slauerhoff and Greshoff, painters such as Breitner, actors and comedians as well as musicians and architects frequented the Schiller family's catering facility. Frits Schiller has created over 600 paintings in a style inspired by the Amsterdam Impressionists of his youth; about half of this adorns the Schiller complex in the restaurant, lobby and hotel rooms. Frits Schiller painted portraits, still lifes and cityscapes.
