Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Huntington Mansion In New York: Economics Of Architecture And Decoration In The 1890s, Isabelle Hyman

The Courier

In 1889 railroad millionaire Collis P. Huntington (1821-1900) and his wife Arabella (d. 1924) purchased a large property on the southeast comer of New York's Fifth Avenue and Fifty-seventh Street, the most fashionable residential neighborhood of the period, and undertook to build there another of the great stone piles that constituted the habitats of the very rich during the city's Gilded Age. Aspects of the history of the Fifty-seventh Street Huntington mansion have been recounted, but supplementary information about its decoration and about the artists and craftsmen who embellished it can be found in the George Arents Research Library at …

The New School Of Wood Engraving, Edward A. Gokey

The Courier

This article traces the history of modern wood engraving, including the argument in the art world that took place regarding whether wood engraving could be considered "art" in the first place. As the art form gained popularity with print publishers due to its convenience and beauty, internal debates took place about which direction the art form should take, especially within the "New School" of wood engraving that had emerged. Research for the article was aided by Syracuse University's Special Collections.

Audubon's "The Birds Of America": A Sesquicentennial Appreciation, David Frederic Tatham

The Courier

This article details the unique copy of John James Audubon's The Birds of America which now resides in Syracuse University's Special Collections. The author describes the backstory and traces the journey of this extremely rare work. Audubon's work continues to stimulate interest in diverse fields in academia, from art history and science to literature.

Audubon/Au-Du-Bon: Man And Artist, Walter Sutton

The Courier

This article highlights some of the works of the legendary work of John James Audubon, drawn from the collection located in Syracuse University's Special Collections. The author gives special attention to the 1820-21 journal of his voyage down the Ohio and Mississippi (which has been preserved intact), the English and Scottish journal of 1826 (also in its original form), and the descriptive sketches of early pioneer life in the Ornithological Biography. These early journal sources dramatically reveal, at first hand, Audubon's long struggle through many failures and obstacles to win the success and recognition he craved and also enduring status …

The Jean Cocteau Collection: How 'Astonishing'?, Paul J. Archambault

The Courier

Between 1963 and 1971, the Syracuse University Library acquired more than two hundred fifty holograph manuscripts by Jean Cocteau. These are now to be found in the George Arents Research Library for Special Collections, where they enhance an already rich assortment of French manuscripts that have been thoroughly listed in a previous article in the Courier. An abridged history of their acquisition might be told here. The story is interesting, for it includes several of those ironical twists that made so much of Cocteau's life seem like a chassé-croisé with Death, choreographed by the artist himself.

Clothing Of Wrought Gold, Raiment Of Needlework: Embroidered Chasubles In The Syracuse University Art Collections, Susan Kyser

The Courier

This article details the collection of chasubles and other liturgical vestments located in the Syracuse University Art Collections. They were collected and donated by Mr. and Mrs. George Arents, whose other collections make up a significant part of Syracuse University Special Collections. The article sheds light on the remarkable embroidery and artistic talent that the vestments required.

The Drawings And Papers Of Alan Dunn And Mary Petty At Syracuse University, Elisabeth Kaltenbrunner Melczer

The Courier

Alan Dunn and Mary Petty were cartoonists whose wit and humor enlivened the pages of The New Yorker from 1926 to 1974. Though they were man and wife as well as teacher and student, their output was distinctively separate in style, mood, and content. Their work has been recognized internationally as providing incisive commentary on the social conventions, the values, and the arts of their New York contemporaries. The bulk of their roughs and finished cartoons are held in the Syracuse University Art Collections and their papers, including correspondence and diaries, are in the George Arents Research Library at Syracuse …

Benson Lossing: His Life And Work, 1830-1860, Diane M. Casey

The Courier

Benson J. Lossing's interest in reaching a popular rather than an elite audience, his journalistic style, and the changing methods of historical research, which began to develop at the end of the nineteenth century, have all led to the current opinion of him-that he was a popularizer of history, and not a historian. However, an examination of his long and varied career suggests that his work deserves consideration in the study of antebellum American life.

Ivan Mestrovic Comes To Syracuse University, William P. Tolley

The Courier

This article, written by former Syracuse University Chancellor William P. Tolley, tells the story of his efforts to secure a professorship for famous Yugoslavian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic, who at the time had legal and health problems while living in Europe.

Ivan Mestrovic: The Current State Of Criticism, Dean A. Porter

The Courier

Few artists have had careers as long and prolific as Ivan Mestrovic's, and even fewer have known as much success and recognition. It would require volumes of print to document completely and properly, to discuss, and to evaluate the quality and scope of his sculptural, architectural, and literary accomplishments, and then additional volumes to duplicate the many monographs, essays, and articles that have been written about him. A brief mention of these accomplishments and a short review of the art-historical and critical comments on them will provide us with a point of reference from which to consider his position, as …

Ivan Mestrovic, Laurence Schmeckebier

The Courier

This article is an amalgamation of two pieces written by Professor Schmeckebier: "The Art of Mestrovic", which prefaced the catalogue of the spring 1984 exhibition of Mestrovic's work at The Joe and Emily Lowe Art Gallery at Syracuse University, and an as yet unpublished paper entitled "Mestrovic as a Sculptor in America," which he gave at Columbia University in November 1982 at a seminar sponsored by The Institute on East Central Europe.

The article details Mestrovic's life and contributions to art, whose monumental sculptures are on the same level as other greats such as Rodin and Michelangelo.

William Lescaze And Hart Crane: A Bridge Between Architecture And Poetry, Lindsay Stamm Shapiro

The Courier

This article expounds upon the unique relationship between the architect William Lescaze and poet Hart Crane after Lescaze's emigration to the United States during the early twentieth century. Lescaze's knowledge of European modernism influenced Crane's poems, which sought to counteract the pessimism of modern poets (for example T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland"), and provide affirmation of the Machine Age.

The "Modern" Skyscraper, 1931, Carol Willis

The Courier

This article details the history of The Philadelphia Saving Fund Society (PSFS) building, constructed through the partnership of William Lescaze and George Howe in 1932. The author argues the building to this day remains "modern", displaying complexity and a varitey of color and materials. The building is also, the author says, the first skyscraper designed in the International Style. The author also examines the PSFS in the context of other tall buildings of the period, usually described as belonging to the Art Deco style.

William Lescaze And The Machine Age, Arthur J. Pulos

The Courier

In this article, the author talks about the history of modern architecture, and in particular William Lescaze's contributions. He gives the reader background about the Machine Age in America, and how Lescaze evolved in his art, eventually dedicating his life to Formalism and the International Style.

The William Lescaze Symposium Panel Discussion, Dennis P. Doordan

The Courier

This article is an adapted form of a panel discussion that took place discussing the architect William Lescaze. Overall, the panel seemed divided between those who judged Lescaze's achievements acoording to the established tenets of orthodox modernism and those who sought a new critical framework for evaluating Lescaze's contribution to the rise of modern design in American based upon typological, professional, and commercial criteria.

European Modernism In An American Commercial Context, Robert Bruce Dean

The Courier

This article seeks to explain why architect Willaim Lescaze's career proceeded the way it did. The author also makes observations about Lescaze's life in America during a secular, materialist age.

William Lescaze And Cbs: A Case Study In Corporate Modernism, Dennis P. Doordan

The Courier

During the period 1934 to 1949, the Columbia Broadcasting System provided William Lescaze with a series of commissions that, considered together, constitute one of the largest, most varied, and most important bodies of work in his entire career.

Lescaze was responsible for the design of a major new broadcasting facility, the interior design of studio and office spaces, the design of a variety of studio furnishings such as microphones and clocks, the design of a mobile broadcasting vehicle, and the graphic design for CBS facilities across the country. A careful review of the material indicates that Lescaze made a major …

A Brief Survey Of Architectural Holdings At The Syracuse University Libraries, Werner Seligmann

The Courier

This article gives a brief look at the various holdings regarding modern architecture located at Syracuse University. Among special note are the Lescaze papers, which the rest of this Courier issue examines in detail.

William Lescaze Reconsidered, William H. Jordy

The Courier

This article gives a critical look to William Lescaze's architectural career. While he had early success, his later career seems to pale in comparison. Regardless, the author praises Lescaze for remaining eclectic and not adhering too strongly to the orthodoxy of modernism.

Irene Sargent: A Comprehensive Bibliography Of Her Published Writings, Cleota Reed

The Courier

Irene Sargent (1852-1932), professor of the History of Fine Arts at Syracuse University from 1895 to 1932, was the subject of an article by the author in The Courier, XVI, 2 (Summer 1979),"Irene Sargent: Rediscovering a Lost Legend." A leading art historian of her day, Irene Sargent wrote extensively for The Craftsman and The Keystone and contributed as well to other periodicals. Dr. Sargent's articles merit close study as documents of the development of the Arts and Crafts Movement in America. Her work contributed to the growth of an appreciation of native accomplishments in the arts, including the fine crafts, …

Roy Crane—Pioneer Adventure Strip Cartoonist, Ray Thompson

The Courier

The newspaper comic strip was well established in the United States by World War I. It had become a part of every American's cultural background long before the Disney cartoon films of the 1930s. The George Arents Research Library for Special Collections at Syracuse University has a large collection of original drawings for comic strips. There are cartoons from the early days of the comic strip to the work of artists still drawing strips which many Americans read every day.

Some of the comic strips have extraordinary lives, continuing past their creator's lifetimes. Buzz Sawyer and his friend Roscoe Sweeney …

Irene Sargent: Rediscovering A Lost Legend, Cleota Reed Gabriel

The Courier

Professor Irene Sargent was a distinguished teacher of the history of fine arts at Syracuse University for thirty-seven years, from 1895 to 1932. As a noted author and critic in these years, she was influential in promoting and maintaining the values of the Arts and Crafts Movement in America; yet, since her death in 1932, she has been largely forgotten. We can begin to form an image of her as an awesome pillar of knowledge and a great lady with a colorful personality through the vivid memories of her former students.

Archimedes Russell And Nineteenth-Century Syracuse, Evamaria Hardin

The Courier

In November 1978 the Syracuse architectural firm of King and King gave an extensive collection of the papers of Archimedes Russell to the Archives of Syracuse University. The gift drew attention to a man who did as much as any other to shape the face of both the Syracuse University campus and the city of Syracuse. Archimedes Russell's commissions included Park Presbyterian Church, the churches of St. Anthony of Padua and St. Lucy, the First English Lutheran Church, the Yates Hotel, Dey Brothers Department Store, and the Snow Building, as well as Central High School, the fourth Onondaga County Courthouse, …

Bud Fisher—Pioneer Dean Of The Comic Artists, Ray Thompson

The Courier

The George Arents Research Library for Special Collections at Syracuse University has an extensive collection of original drawings by American cartoonists. Among the most famous of these are Bud Fisher's "Mutt and Jeff."

Bud Fisher set the pattern of a new phase of visual entertainment that has endured and blossomed to this day. Everybody knows of "Mutt and Jeff" - an American institution and a synonym for "tall and short." Fisher was one of the most copied of the early cartoonists. One can trace his influence through dozens of strips created between 1910 and 1920.

The European Diary Of Fred And Lillian Lear, Patricia Newman

The Courier

This article describes the journals and sketches of Frederick and Lillian Lear, now housed in Syracuse University Special Collections. The couple toured Europe just a few years before the dawn of World War I. Frederick, an architecture professor at Syracuse University, critiqued the style of European art and architecture of the time, while Lillian offered interesting observations of Eueopean culture.

Notes From A Cartoonist, Edward D. Kuekes

The Courier

Edward D. Kuekes, who was a Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, gives a retrospective on his career and life. Also includes reproductions of some of his cartoons, three thousand of which can be found in the Syracuse University Special Collections.

Carleton E. Watkins, Photographer: 1829-1916, Amy S. Doherty

The Courier

This article chronicles the life of Carleton E. Watkins, who was active during the dawn of photography in the nineteenth century. He photographed Yosemite Valley, the sequoias, and other scenery of California. Includes prints of Watkins, which are taken from the Syracuse University Watkins album.

The Illumination Of An English Psalter: A Preliminary Assessment, Bruce Watson

The Courier

Several years ago the George Arents Research Library, Syracuse University, acquired a small English illuminated psalter (Uncat. MS 1), dated ca. 1300. It formerly had been in the collection of the Virtue and Cahill Library of the Cathedral Chapter of the Diocese of Portsmouth. Thus far, to the best of my knowledge, the only publication of the work has been the necessarily brief description of it by Barbara Larkin and Kenneth Pennington in the exhibition catalogue Medieval Art in Upstate New York. Placement of the style of the illumination of this psalter in the development of English Gothic manuscript painting …

Cruikshank's Fagin—The Illustrator As Creator, Sidney Wechter

The Courier

"I am the originator of Oliver Twist." So claimed George Cruikshank in a pamphlet he had published, entitled "The Artist and the Author," in 1872. Cruikshank waited until two years after Dickens's death before putting forth his claim. He also wrote that he was the originator of Harrison Ainsworth's The Miser's Daughter, The Tower of London, and other books by Ainsworth.

It has been proven beyond doubt that all these assertions are without foundation. We have learned that, starting with his first book, Sketches by Boz, for which Cruikshank did the illustrations, it was Dickens's policy first, to write a …

Hobby-Horses, Horseplay, And Stephen Crane's "Black Riders", Donald Vanouse

The Courier

Not long ago, on a visit to the George Arents Research Library at Syracuse University, I saw a bizarre little illustration on the cover of the Roycroft Quarterly occasioned by the publication of Stephen Crane's first volume of poems, The Black Riders and Other Lines. (Boston: Copeland and Day, 1895). The Roycrofters had substituted polka-dotted rocking horses for the death symbols of Crane's black horsemen. The imagery seemed a surprising anticipation of the Dadaism which occurred about twenty years later in the wake of World War I. The Beardsleyesque, Art Nouveau style of the drawing exemplified the ironies of Crane's …