USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Montclair > History of Montclair township state of New Jersey; including the history of the families who have been identified with its growth and prosperity > Part 44
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later he moved to Brooklyn with his parents and received a thorough education at the public schools of that city. He began the study of medicine at the New York Homeopathic Medical College in 1867, and entered the New York College of Dentistry in 1869, graduating in 1876. He practiced for some years in Brooklyn and then in Owego, Tioga County, N. Y., where he became well and favorably known as a dentist, and as an enterprising and public-spirited citizen. He was a prominent member of the fire department of that town and was active in promoting other public enterprises. He came to Montelair in 1882, and although an entire stranger in the community, he soon acquired a fair practice, and his clientèle has increased annually.
He was formerly an active member and is still a contributing member of the Brooklyn Dental Society, of the Sixth District Dental Society of New York, a delegate to the New York State Dental Society ; was later a member of the New Jersey State Dental Society.
Dr. Wright was among the first to advocate the organization of a fire department for Montelair, and from the beginning up to the present time has been unremitting in his efforts to improve its efficiency and increase its numbers and strength. His previous experience as a fireman and his willingness to assist in the various duties pertaining to the organization, has won for him the admiration of his associates and of his fellow citizens generally. He had done much to improve the various departments, and the excel- lent system of fire alarms and signals is largely due to his efforts.
ART AND ARTISTS.
" Like attracts like." The artist, ever absorbed in the beanties of nature, selects for his permanent abode the place offering the greatest variety of natural attractions-the hills, the woodland, the vale, the rippling brook, the old thatched cottage, with its quaint well-sweep-together with animal life in all its varieties. That some of the most prominent artists in America should find the brightest realization of their dreams along the slope of the Watchung Mountain, which combines all these attractions, is not surprising. Probably no other place of its size in the country has drawn together so many well-known artists. First came Harry Fenn, whose illustrations of " Picturesque America," Europe and the East, are familiar as household words : next came George Inness, who is without a peer as a landscape artist in this country. His son, George Inness, Jr., followed in his father's footsteps, but found objects of greater interest in animal life than in the portrayal of inanimate nature. Hartley, the sculptor, was also attracted by the natural beauties of Montelair, and Earle, the character artist, has discovered the quaint and the queer, even in his surroundings.
HARRY FENN.
Residents of Montelair, who are familiar with the works of larry Fenn, the artist, have little idea to what extent the beanties of this locality have entered into his numerous illustrations.
From his beautiful home on the mountain side, where he has lived for more than twenty years, he has
" Viewed the landscape o'er and o'er,"
and every tree and shrub, every nook and corner of the mountain, every rivulet, every old cottage or barn, every old well-sweep, or vine-covered stone wall, are familiar to him, and have at times served to embellish the pages of his numerous works of art. The following brief sketch of his life, taken from the American Bookmaker of September, 1889, will be of interest to his numerous friends and admirers :
"Harry Fenn was born in 1840 at Richmond, Surrey. England. He displayed his tendency toward art at a very early age, and when not six years old used to spend his half holidays with a toy paint box out of doors. One of his earliest memories dates back to a day in Richmond Park, when he sat almost buried in the high ferns trying to sketch a mighty oak. While struggling with the intricacies of branch and foliage he was disturbed by a lady and gentleman who alighted from a carriage to investigate the occupation of the tiny artist. They expressed themselves as much interested in the embryo landscape, and inquired the little boy's name. The incident had almost faded from the child's
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mind, when one day a parcel was delivered at his home ; and what was his surprise and joy to find a real artist's water color box, with silver mounted brushes ; and enclosed was a card inscribed with the pleasant words : 'For larry Fenn, with the best wishes of the Rev. John Selwyn, Bishop of New Zealand.'
" Mr. Fenn learned the art of wood engraving in the school of the Brothers Dalziel. In the meantime he painted and sold water colors.
" When about nineteen he took his little box of sovereigns, and spread the contents in a row on his father's desk. He then surprised that gentleman by a request that he should make the row just as long again, in order that the aspiring artist could go to see Niagara, promising to return in six months.
" For six years he stayed in America and then went to Italy for a short term of study. Before sailing Harry Fenn gave away his gravers, informing his fellow workers that he intended thereafter to use only brush and pencil, but they scoffed at his ambi- he would come home in a mind.
trated his first book. soon followed by the . Bal- These works marked an making, and opened the of to-day.
an extended tour in the gather material for ' Piet- owing to the enterprise of successful. This journey rapid out-door sketching, versant with the charac- About this time he joined who started the 'American New York.' After a great ceeded in tilling one room mens of that branch of art. to Europe to make sketches and several years later, made a long sojourn in the uresque Palestine,' 'Sinai months the two artists arduous work lay in cross- the Convent of Mount ing mountains. * * tion, accuracy of drawing acterize Mr. Fenn's work. to art he has been as con- he has been persevering " Rarely indeed can an many years of successful a store of general culture. overlook the fact that art. requires that the soil in kept mellow and well irri- other talents than the
HARRY FENN.
tion, and assured him that very different frame of "On returning he illus- Whittier's 'Snow Bound,' lads of New England.' era in the history of book way for the great successes " In 1870 Mr. Fenn made United States in order to uresque America,' which, the Appletons, proved so was a great education in and made the artist con- teristies of our territory. a small band of pioneers, Water Color Society of deal of labor they suc- with presentable speci- " In 1873 Mr. Fenn went for ' Picturesque Europe,' with J. D. Woodward, he Orient, working on . Piet- and Egypt.' For fourteen lived in tents. Their most ing the desert of Arabia to Sinai, and in the surround- "Great fertility of inven- and delicacy of finish char- " In dedicating his life scientious and manly as and industrions.
artist point back to so work, coupled with so rich " Artists are very apt to like many other things, which it grows should be gated by the cultivation of merely imitative.
" In this respect Mr. Fenn's career may well serve as a model for students who would reach the same result."
From Our American Illustrators, MR. F. HOPKINSON SMITH :
* * * " And last, but not least, this delightful httle thing of Harry Fenn's -Oh, you fellows can criticise the precise, exact work of an exact man, but I tell you, that but for Harry Fenn this present school of American illustra- tors would not exist. We live in a peculiar age, and in a mercenary one. Art for art's sake is all very well over on the other side, and now and then, some American, more liberal than another of his money-loving and money-making friends does a big, generous thing, as you can see for yourself any time you walk into the Metropolitan Museum, but for all that art for the sake of the dollar is more prevalent.
" Harry Fenn's illustrations of ' Picturesque America' entitle him to be called the nestor of his guild, not only for the delicacy, truth and refinement of his drawings, but also because of the enormous financial success attending its publication-the first illustrated publication on so large a scale ever attempted-paving the way for the illustrated
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magazine or paper of to-day simply because it showed the publishers the commercial value of pictures inserted in pages of printed type.
" . Picturesque America' paid, and paid enormously, and soon there was not enough artists to go round among the other publishers. * * *
" If Fenu had made a dead failure of that book instead of a success-a brilliant success for the time in which it was issued-some of the distinguished illustrators of to-day would probably have been measuring tape at Macy's. They certainly would not have gone into illustrative art."
LAWRENCE C. EARLE.
As a man, Mr. Earle is little known to the people of Montelair. As an artist, however, his name is as familiar as " household words." His recent achievements at the World's Fair have brought him into special prominence, and while he has through this means made a wide circle of acquaintance, his reputation was already made.
Mr. Earle is a native of New York City, born Nov. 11, 1845, and educated at the public school. Although he early developed a taste for art he gave little attention to it until after completing his regular studies. llis father removed in 1857 to Grand Rapids, Mich., and engaged in the manufacturing business, and Lawrence remained with him as assistant for three years. Excessively fond of out-door sports, he frequently painted birds and other game secured on his hunting expeditions. He went to Chicago in 1869, and studied at the Academy of Design under Sherlaw. In 1872 he went abroad and studied under Barth and other masters. He returned to Chicago where he remained until 1881, and then went to Florence and Rome, and studied under Simmouetti in water colors. He returned to Chicago. and in 1889 came East, following the line he had marked out for himself, viz., character studies in water colors. In 1893 he executed two large paintings in water colors for the Columbian Exhibition, 33 by 18 feet long, to be placed in the Liberal Arts Building, entitled, "Glass Blowing Industry " and " The Potter Industry." Among his best works are " The Old Taxidermist," " The Book Worm," " The Village Postmaster." "Solitude," " Easter Moon," "The Game Keeper's Children," "The Board of Education," "The Disputed Account," " An Old Salt," " The Mischief Makers," "The Old Flute Player," " The Mud Turtle Club," " The Ball Nine," etc.
Church, the famous painter, says of him : " Earle is an artist from head to foot. He is one of the best water color painters we have, and I know of no one who is a finer, technically, here or abroad. His . Flute Player,' which was in the Water Color Exhibition at the Academy two years ago, was simply superb from that standpoint. and thoroughly artistic otherwise. He is very versatile, understands thoroughly the use of all medimmus, paints a good portrait, splendid in dogs or birds, and is a first-class landscape artist. I think water color is his forte, and some of his old men. perhaps, show him at his best."
JONATHAN SCOTT HARTLEY.
JONATHAN SCOTT HARTLEY, National Academician, Member of the Society of American Artists, of the Architectural League, Players' Club, etc., etc .- It is said that "a prophet hath no honor in his own country," but this proverb does not apply to the people of Montelair, who feel highly honored in claiming as fellow-citizens men who have attained the highest rank in their profession : and the personal achieve- ments of these men, although not identified with the home of their adoption, forms an interesting chapter in its history.
Jonathan Scott Hartley, in the front rank of modern sculptors, was born of English parentage. in Albany. New York, September 22, 1845. Gifted with a strong tendency toward art, it only needed the slightest encouragement and even a casual opportunity to determine the life-work of the future sculptor. This was found while yet in his teens by employment in a monumental yard at the capital of the State of New York, a city, by the way, which has contributed to the guild of American art many of its most eminent stars. In such an atmosphere it was very natural for young Hartley to drift to the then Mecca of our national sculpture-the studio of Erastus D. Palmer. AAnd as to the significance of the fact,
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it should be recalled that American sculpture was then little more than an expression. As a matter of fact. sculpture seems to have been the last of the arts to be cultivated on American soil. But since the advent of Palmer, Hiram Powers, H. K. Browne. Crawford. Story and Greenough, a rapid movement has taken place in this Western world that promises astonishing results in the near future. Connected with this advance in plastic art no one has been more prominent, more prolific in creation and workmanship, more tireless and devoted in founding and organizing clubs and societies of broad scope and enduring purpose than Hartley himself. For instance, it was in his somewhat cramped dingy studio, at 596 Broadway, New York, was organized the Salmagundi Club amid a group of roystering Bohemians, eventually to become a unique institution in the club-land of the world, at whose door many worthy men knock in vain for admission to membership at this writing. Moreover, when speaking of this branch of his useful career to painters, senlptor- and architects alike, it is well to remember that in his services to the Art Students' League, in his capacity as a lecturer and teacher of the theory and technique of his profession, and later as the author of the work " Anatomy in Art." now a standard authority in art schools and in many institutions of learning, he has a standing quite apart from the rank and file of sculptors. Had it not been for the versatile quality exemplified in what has been said, Hartley would easily have been at the top of his profession on other grounds. Whenever called upon to compete in ideal work, he has been more than ordinarily successful, and there came a recognition of that class of art-work which has been the key- note of his studio life-Conscience. If an artist be not sincere, if he indulge in passing of counterfeit work, if he give way to a flash fad. he is building his house of sand. In the wonderful museum of models which literally stack his twin studios in West 55th Street. can here be studied what has been achieved during a period of marvelous industry, the very point which is here adduced, and the writer of this can say, after having been a familiar visitor in the chief studios in Europe and America, that no such like collection either in variety of composition, in mere original conception, in widely differing portraiture of man, woman or child, in bold and striking departure from the conventional, can be found anywhere on the earth. These may seem startling words; they are nevertheless true.
Among Hartley's principal works in the Ideal are :
" The Whirlwind," " King Ring's Daughter," " Psyche," " The Bath," " Satan Vanquished." and other creations.
Reference has been made elsewhere to some of the more conspicuous of his achievements, among which not already spoken of. may be named the Eight Reliefs on the interior of the Saratoga monu- ment. illustrative of the surrender of Burgoyne ; the Daguerre monument in the National Museum at Washington, the memorials to John P. Howard placed in the University of Vermont at Burlington, the memorial to Algernon Sydney Sullivan in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, the monument to John Kyle, founder of the silk industries at Paterson, New Jersey.
If taking from this list several of his public or what might be termed artistic works, we may note as perhaps the earlier, the statue of Miles Morgan, one of the Pilgrim Fathers, now standing in Springfield, Mass., a commission from H. T. Morgan of New York. It is a robust figure eight feet high, and well- known to New Englanders. But it was the figure of the " Whirlwind " which has been the most universally admired, showing as it did not only a profound knowledge of anatomy but a subtle and poetic conception of lines, beauty of form and handling of drapery to-day unmatched by the work of any sculptor on this side of the Atlantic. Another of Hartley's works which woke up the sluggards of American senlpture was " The Defeat of Satan," which gave him the gold medal of the American Art Association as far back as 1>>7. Yet while this interesting phase of an artist's life may claim public
attention, portraiture itself is a most difficult branch of the sculptor's art. and vastly different from the task that confronts the painter with pigments, easel and canvas. This can be appreciated by any one who will take the trouble to watch the method of a conscientious modeler of the human head, intent on like- ness, expression. intelleet and character. Mr. Hartley's busts in this respect are the marvel of the pro- fession and the admiration of the critic and connoisseur. Not to speak of the John Gilbert which stands alone. his A. H. Wyant, Cyrus W. Field, Dion Boncicault, John Drew and Susan B. Anthony,
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he has a distinet gift in the treatment of children, as shown in the cabinet bust of his own boy. Inness. Ilartley likewise has been fortunate in having been thrown in contact with strong men. For instance, among his sitters and friends of whom he has made characteristic busts unsurpassed in our time, have been Edwin Booth. Noah Davis. George Inness, his father-in-law : Lawrence Barrett, Ashley W. Cole. T. W. Wood, President of the Academy of Design : Felix Morris, John Drew. Dion Boneieault, Jno. T. Raymond, the actors : Ada Rehan. Thomas Moran the painter : J. II. Dolph. Judge Van Voorst. W. C. Church, founder of the "Army and Navy Journal : " John D. Crimmins, Julien T. Davies, Cyrus W. Field. and many other notables of the present day.
llowever. Mr. Hartley's most important work is the statue of John Ericsson, on the water front at the battery. This commission given by the State of New York is the ouly official recognition made to a seulptor by the municipality. It was unveiled on April 26. 1993. with imposing ceremonies. the parting of the flags of the United States and Sweden being saluted by twenty-one guns from the U. S. Monitor Miantonomah, which Ericsson himself had designed. This national event was further dignified by the passing of the allied squadron up the Hudson River in a Naval parade unexampled in modern times.
The domestic side of Hartley's life is as interesting as that which is in the public view. Married to a beautiful and gifted wonrin, who has inherited her father's genius and sympathy for color, and who dispenses a gracion- hospitality, surrounded by a group of lovely children, living in an ideal home within earshot of two celebrated artists (father-in-law and brother in-law). George Inness and George luness, Jr .. it would seem indeed, that this fortunate sculptor has little to long for which belongs to mortals.
GEORGE INNESS.
" Let us believe in art not as something to gratify curiosity or suit commercial ends, but as something to be loved and cherished, because it is the handmaid of the spiritual life of the age."
That George Inness, acknowledged to be the greatest landscape painter in America. should select Montelair as a permanent place of residence, evinees an appreciation on his part of its great healthful- ness and beauty. and affords cause for congratulation to its citizens, and more especially those who have labored so earnestly to develop its many attractive features.
To what extent the remarkable gifts possessed by Mr. Inness are due to the law of heredity. can ouly be conjectured, his environments having contributed little or nothing to their development.
The family of Inness is one of the oldest in Scotland, and is derived from the place of that name. The earliest reference to the surname is that of Sir James Inness. of Scotland. who was knighted in 1441. he being 15th in descent from one Barowald in the time of King Malcom, of Scotland.
George luness. the subject of this sketch, was born in Newburgh. New York. May 1, 1525. Ile removed with his parents to Newark. New Jersey, when quite young, and very early in life developed a taste for art, which at first was discouraged by his father, who preferred that he should follow a mercan- tile life : but finding that the son had no inclination in that direction he was afforded such opportunities for acquiring a knowledge of the rudiments of drawing and oil painting as were most easily obtainable at the time. At the age of sixteen he went to New York to study engraving, but ill health obliged him to return home, where he continued to sketch and paint. When twenty years of age he spent a month in the studio of Regis Gignoux in New York City, which was all the regular instruction he ever had. and after this period he "groped his way by the dim light of nature." being wholly self-taught. He began landscape painting in New York City, and subsequently made two visits to Europe and lived in Florence and Rome for some time. For several years after his return he made his home near Boston. where some of his best pietnres were painted. In 1962 he went to reside at Eagleswood. near Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and a few years later removed to New York City. Ile was elected a National Academician in 1868. From 1571 to 1575 he again resided in Italy. He again removed to Montelair in 1884. and purchased the place known as The Pines. In this beautiful. secluded spot. away from the noise and
Quees Respectful
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turmoil of the city, he has produced some of his finest works. Here he has enjoyed the opportunity of studying nature, and nature is the self-evident of God. It has been truly said of him that "he is in the world and yet not of the world." Except when wandering through the fields and over the hills and mountains drinking in the beanties of nature, his whole time is spent in his studio.
Few persons in Montelair have enjoyed his intimate acquaintance, so wholly absorbed is he in his art. His devoted wife, however, who relieves him of all the cares of life and attends to all his business affairs, has made his home beautiful and attractive, and extends a hearty welcome to his friends and admirers. It is a fact not generally known that Mr. Inness spends some hours every night in his favorite literary pursuits, which to him are a pastime and a means of recreation. If the results of these are ever brought to light, much of the inner man and the secret of success of this remarkable man will become known. Appletons' can Biography says of Cyclopedia of Ameri- him : " The art life of two distinct styles, the finish and conscien- tails, the second style, panding grasp of the a richer appreciation is broad and vigorons, to masses than to de- painter has represent- tine in the American feeling, a finer esti- color, or a better com- sources. He has been the French school of other American artist. and original. He is Swedenborg, and have a spiritual or alle- Among his best piet- Promise," " Peace and of the Woods," " A " The Valley of the " The Apocalyptic Jerusalem and River Storm," "Summer ow." " Smmmer After- Inness is marked by first indicating careful tions regard for de- formed with the ex- principles of art.shows of the truths of nature. paying higher regard tail. * x No ed the aspects of na- climate with deeper mate of light and mand of technical re- more influenced by landscape than any yet his style is distinct an absorbed reader of many of his paintings gorical significance." ures are " The Sign of Plenty," " Going Out Vision of Faith." Shadow of Death." Vision of the New of Life," - A Passing Sunshine and Shad- LANDSCAPE BY GEORGE INNESS. noon," " Twilight." " Light Triumphant," " Pine Grove." " Barbarina Villa," " Joy After the Storm," " View near Nome," " Washing Day near Perugia," " The Mountain Stream," " Autumn," " Italian Landscape," " Passing Clouds," " The Afterglow," " The Morning Sun," and " Delaware Water Gap." Ilis " American Sunset " was selected as a representative work of American art for the Paris Exposition of 1867. In 1878 he exhibited at the Paris Exhibition, " St. Peter's, Rome, from the Tiber," and " View near Medfield, Mass," and in the National Academy, " An Old Roadway, Long Island." In 1542 he exhibited at the Academy Exhibition in New York City, " Under the Greenwood, "; in 1853 " A Summer Morning "; in Iss5 " A Sunset," and " A Day in June ": in ISS6 " In the Woods." ~ Sun- set on the Sea Shore." and " Durham Meadows."
The Photographie Times of April 7. 1593, says of him :
" At the age of sixty-eight George Inness is the most prolific and eminent landscape painter of his time. This is the almost unanimous verdict of artists, critics, connoisseurs and collectors alike. During an active and unceasing art
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