Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 74

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1048

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Dr. Frederick Hall, who visited the city in 1837, speaks of being taken to a small shop where he saw three full-length statues nearly completed carved out of hard sandstone repre- senting three individuals, with whom his con- ductor was well acquainted and which were pronounced to be perfect likenesses. Dr. Hall thought the workmanship of a high order,-not equal to that of the "Apollo Belvedere," or the "Venus dei Medici," but such as would render the name of its author immortal. The artist had no instruction in the use of the chisel, but had been led to employ it by his own native unbor- rowed talent and taste. Hall thought that a few years spent in Rome or Florence would make him one of the best sculptors of the age. This, artist was Clevenger, and nothing but his early death prevented him from achieving a fame as one of the world's greatest sculptors.

Another painter of portraits in the early days was Joseph Mason, whose portraits were in the houses of George Selves, David Churchill and others. He subsequently moved to Michigan and died while young. Mason painted the only pic- ture that is preserved of William Woodward.

An carly landscape painter, possibly the carli- est of any consequence, was Samuel M. Lee, who as a young lad was employed in a chair-maker's establishment, where he was doing the orna- mental work, and attracted so much attention as to be induced to establish a studio and tra- verse the country for the purpose of seeking out and transferring to canvas the beautiful scenes of the neighborhood. He painted many land- scapes which decorated the residences of such citizens as Peyton S. Symmes, Joseph Grim, Davis B. Lawler, J. G. Worthington, Thomas H. Yeatman and J. S. Armstrong. Afterwards he was employed at Louisville decorating private residences and at scene painting and some of his best works are in that city. He died while young in Louisiana. He never succeeded as a portrait painter and his name appears in the Directory of 1829 as a landscape painter, although strangely enough five years later he calls himself a portrait painter.

Ilervieu, the Frenchman, came to Cincinnati with Mrs. Trollope and departed with her. While here he decorated the Bazaar and painted the large historical picture of the landing of Lafayette in Cincinnati, which contained portraits of a great number of eminent citizens, including those of General Harrison and Governor Morrow.

Other early names in the Cincinnati world of art were: Alonzo Douglass, a portrait painter,

who came to Cincinnati in 1828; Christopher Harding, who came about the same time; Miner K. Kellogg; Thomas Tuttle, a pupil of West ; Daniel Steele; J. H. Beard; the Frankensteins, John P. and Godfrey N .; at a little later time John J. Tucker, William II. Powell, T. Buch- anan Read, William P. Brannon, A. Baldwin, T. W. Whittridge. Among the so-called miniature painters were Thomas Dawson, T. V. Peticolas, J. O. Gorman and Mrs. R. Hosea, Jr. Joseph Kyle was here as early as 1823. He painted genre pictures for a time but moved to New York City. In the very early days the City Hotel, kept by David Kautz at the corner of Sixth and Lower Market streets, was a gathering place for artists. Subsequently for about five years, from 1819 to 1824, we are told by Mr. Ratterman that there was a sort of club room in the second story of Mrs. Sophia Amelung's boarding house at No. 75 Sycamore street, where came Nathan W. Wheeler, a portrait painter ; E. B. Smith, Corwine, Mason and Dorfeuille, whose name was properly Dorfel, changed, as was the fashion in those days, in honor of Lafayette, to a French spelling. After 1824 the artists gathered at the headquarters of the city dancing master, Phili- bertus Ratel, on Third street between Main and Walnut. (H. A. Ratterman. )

Franks' Museum of Fine Arts was also a gath- ering place. Franks himself painted a picture for his gallery depicting the infernal regions.

The head of a family of painters, James H. Beard, in the early days painted portraits, fancy heads and groups and in 1841 his works were to be seen in the residences of Charles Stet- son, R. R. Springer, S. S. L'llommedieu, J. P. and S. E. Foote, Griffin Taylor and G. K. Shoenberger. Both James H. Beard and his brother William II. obtained some of their train- ing in Mlr. Franks' gallery. Here also Miner K. Kellogg painted. He was one of those who subsequently achieved international distinction. In this country he painted portraits of Presidents Van Buren, Polk and Jackson and Chief Justice Taney and General Scott. He also painted a portrait in Constantinople of the Grand Vizier of Turkey, in full length.

W. 11. Powell, a celebrated historical painter. began his work in Cincinnati in 1833, although he properly belongs to New York. His historical picture "De Soto Discovering the Mississippi." in the Capitol at Washington and "Perry's Vic- tory at Lake Erie." in the Capitol at Columbus. are well known. He painted a portrait of John

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Quincy Adams, which was presented to the Cin- cinnati Observatory.

The early life of Thomas Buchanan Read be- longs to this period. Apprenticed as a boy to a tailor, he ran away and learned in Philadelphia the trade of cigar making. He finally made his way to Cincinnati, where he found a home with Clevenger. His first vocation was that of a sign painter. He subsequently tried acting and the theatre, but by the liberality of Nicholas Longworth he was enabled to open a studio as a portrait painter. His wandering disposition was such that he could not remain long in one locality and he roamed from place to place, paint- ing portraits or signs if he could not obtain sit- ters, giving public entertainments and even mak- ing cigars as a means of support when other things failed. As is well known, he subsequently achieved his greatest fame as a poet.

The Frankensteins, John P. and Godfrey N., as well as two other brothers and a sister, have always held a high place in the annals of Cin- cinnati art. Godfrey N. Frankenstein painted both landscapes ( in which he was very suc- cessful) and portraits. He was also a sculptor, and one of the best known pieces of his work is the portrait bust of Justice Mclean, so familiar to all citizens.

Another artist who stayed for a time and afterwards returned to France, was August Ros- taing, carver of cameo likenesses and fancy licads and shells.

Another branch of art that called for much industry as well as skill was the carving of figure heads and sculptured ornaments for steam- boats, which cut so large a figure in the com- mercial life of the time. From this business grew the great wood-carving industry in Cin- cinnati. Engaged in it under the name of Shep- herd was a Pennsylvania German, who came to the city as Schafer in 1814. He subsequently associated himself with Mr. Sims in the business of wood carving. Schafer made the wooden statue of Minerva that stood for so many years before the Western Museum at the southwest corner of Main and Pearl. A little later came William Jones, a carver and gilder. Still later came Hiram Frazer, with whom was a well known German, Nicholas Adam.

E. S. Thomas mentions with especial favor King, an excellent artist, who had had great suc- cess in the Southern States; Whetstone, scarcely out of his "teens," who wanted encouragement to compete with the others; H. K. Brown, a sculptor and painter ; and particularly Christopher

C. Brackett. Thomas said of the last-named, that he began where others often left off. "An artist, his first production could not be found fault with, and he was not then twenty" years of age. He had seen but two or three pieces of statuary, but had already traced a bust of a beautiful sister, which was regarded as a very true portraiture. He had also executed several busts, including one of Thomas, and a statue claimed to be the first ever modeled in the val- ley of the Mississippi. This was the statue of "Nydia, the Blind Girl."

Nathan F. Baker's "Egeria" and "Cincinnatus" are well known. The latter stands in City Hall, after many years' wandering. These two statues excented in the carly "forties" were regarded as worthy specimens of the sculptor's art. (Cist's Miscellany. Vol. I, pp. 203 and 204.)

Eastman Johnson, too, lived for a time in this city, with his studio in the Bacon Building at Sixth and Walnut. Mr. Ratterman regards the transition period from the earlier to the later time as that of the Frankensteins, two of whom, John P. and Godfrey N., achieved marked dis- tinction. For a time William L. Sonntag was the rage and Sonntag's landscapes were in every household.

In October, 1838, came the establishment of the Cincinnati Academy of Fine Arts by a num- ber of artists "in order that by their union they might obtain greater facilities for improvements in the various branches of the fine arts." God- frey N. Frankenstein was the president and John L. Whetstone the secretary. An art exhi- bition was given by this society in the following year, which it was claimed was the first of the character held in the West. This was at the Mechanics' Institute and comprised 150 works of foreign and native artists. H. A. Ratterman fixes upon the decade of 1840 to 1850 as the golden age of art in the city, saying that "dur- ing this period art evinced more life, more vital- ity, more self-reliance in Cincinnati than at any other period. After 1850 it sank lower and lower. Not that the city then ceased to produce artists of genius. On the contrary. it raised in modern days more than ever and comparatively more and greater ones than any other American municipality, not excepting the 'Hub of the Uni- verse.' It is no bombastic puffery if we make this assertion. Our city was generally the start- ing point of American artists. We gave them birth and nourishment in their infancy; and when our artists were grown to manhood then the East would come to woo and wed them and

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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI

boast of them as their own." Despite the fruit- ful soil that this quotation would indicate the Academy of Fine Arts which started with such encouragement lasted but a short time. There was also a Fine Arts Department of the Cincin- nati Society for the Promotion of Useful Knowl- edge and lectures on various art topics were given by James H. Beard and E. P. and John Cranch. The fine arts department of this institution was under the charge of John Cranch, P. S. Symmes, William Piatt and A. Baldwin and for a time was inspected from this institution. About five hundred people were in the habit of attending the lectures. This institution died, as did others before and have many since, from the want of an endowment to supply the funds for defraying the necessary expenses. Mr. Foote tells us that after the extinction of two academies, that of 1827 and that of 1838 and one section of fine arts, "most of those who had been active in efforts for their encouragement and promotion have adopted the opinion that it would be best to let them take their course and be governed by the loss of trade-or of taste-and flourish or fade according to those losses." The organi- zation of the American Art Union in New York City, however, which took place in 1846, awak- - ened again the dormant energies of the lovers of art in Cincinnati and the Western Art Union was established on a similar plan. This was located at the northwest corner of Fourth and Sycamore streets and was conducted under the presidency of Charles Stetson. Others who assisted were F. S. Haines, Mr. Marchant and the artist, Baldwin. The hall, which occupied the fourth story of the building, was quite large, -71 by 33 feet and was 24 feet in height. It served to display 300 pictures of average size and on several occasions that many pictures were exhibited in it. Among its treasures for a time was one of Powers' statues of the "Greek Slave." This institution, however, did not have a long life, but while it lasted it undoubtedly did much to cultivate public taste both in this city and in the West and South. At a later time came the project for the establishment of a Gallery of National Portraits and the collection of por- traits of the heroes and sages of the Rebellion (made by Peale and for a time in Peale's Museum in Philadelphia) was purchased and the gallery opened for their exhibition. "The exist- ence of this institution, however, was more brief than that of its predecessor. The paintings for some mysterious cause were taken away and the institution, like an unsubstantial pageant, van-

ished." (J. P. Foote. ) In 1851 we learn that William Wiswell had fitted up a picture gallery which contained a valuable collection of 300 por- traits, fancy and historical pieces embracing the works of Kellogg, Beard, Rothermel, Read and other well known artists. The gem of the gal- lery was said to be Powers' recently executed bust of General Jackson. Visitors were admitted to this without charge and the opportunity seems to have attracted a number of people interested in such works. Mr. Cist, in his book published this year, urges the establishment of an "Academy of Design," which should contain col- lections of paintings and models, sculptures, carvings, engravings, engraved gems, original drawings, plaster casts and the like and in- stances the readiness with which $25,000 was raised for the benefit of the Western Art Union and the purchase of the Peale paintings. As has been so much the case with the development of Cincinnati art, it was left for a "Ladies' Gal- lery of Fine Arts," organized by Mrs. Sarah Peter, to show to the world "that woman is not only capable of display and greater degree. of good taste than man, but that the virtues of patience and perseverance will be exhibited by hier more decidedly." At the time Mr. Foote wrote these lines he had no idea of how subse- quent events in this city were to justify them. The plan of this institution was to procure for exhibition copies of the celebrated works of the old masters by artists of such reputation and talents that their copies would be accepted as authentic and also copies in plaster of the finest statues in Europe. Mrs. Peters crossed the ocean twice in the interest of this establishment, but unfortunately this scheme was not of a per- manent character.

In 1859. as in his carlier books, Mr. Cist enum- erates the artists whose influence was of the greatest importance in the development of Cin- cinnati's art inpulses. This list included Miner K. Kellogg, James H. Beard, John Franken- stein, William Il. Powell, T. Buchanan Read, T. W. Whittridge, Charles Soule, William L. Sonntag, William Walcutt, J. O. Eaton, William Miller and John R. Tait among the painters, and Iliram Powers, Clevenger and Joel T. Hart among the sculptors.

Others of the times just preceding the war were Lily Martin Spencer, well known for her treatment of Shakesperian subjects; J. Insco Williams, B. M. McConkey, Herman M. Groen- land, J. C. Wolf, A. H. Hammill, Gerhard Mnel- ler, Henry Koempel and Michael Muckle ( sculp-

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tor). An extended list is given by Mr. Cist in his "Cincinnati in 1851." A well known colored artist was R. S. Duncanson, who was quite suc- cessful in portraiture, landscape, genre and his- torical pieces. In that remarkable satire entitled "American Art; Its Awful Altitude," published in 1864 by John Frankenstein, a prominent figure is that picturesque looking sculptor, T. D. Jones, "that man out West that makes mud heads," said to have produced more portrait busts than any other artist in the country. He is the sculptor of the "Soldier on Guard" in the soldiers' lot in Spring Grove. Another interesting char- acter was the eccentric Theodore Jones. The artists of a later period are our own con- temporaries. Of them it can be said that high as were the achievements of the earlier days, they have been more than surpassed by those of the present brotherhood of art.

Mr. Goshorn, in his address at the dedication exercises of the Art Academy Building on No- vember 26, 1887, in tracing the development of art sentiment .in the city, mentions especially the Academy of Fine Arts founded by Frederick Eckstein in 1826, and the Gallery of Fine Arts of Frederick Franks opened in 1828-in .which were trained in part such painters as Miner K. Kellogg, the two Beards, W. H. Powell and T. Buchanan Read-the second Academy of Fine Arts, that of Godfrey N. Frankenstein and John L. Whetstone, in the late "thirties;" the Fine Arts department of the Society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge and the organization of Mrs. Peter and others in 1855. The next signifi- cant date in the history of art culture of the city was the opening of the School of Design in 1869. These apparently feeble efforts were about to bear good fruit for in them can be detected the germ from which developed the present art institutions of the city, the Art Museum and the Art Academy.

TIIE ART MUSEUM.

At a meeting of the Women's Centennial Ex- ecutive Committee of Cincinnati, held January 18, 1877, resolutions were adopted looking to the reorganization of the committee as an association to advance woman's work, particularly in the field of industrial art, and Mrs. Aaron F. Perry was requested to prepare and lay before the com- mittee a definite plan of work. Mrs. Perry com- plied with this request and on January 27, 1877, presented a paper on the subject of the estab- lishment of a ladies' association, which should look to the founding of an art museum. At a

subsequent meeting of ladies and gentlemen held at the residence of Mrs. A. S. Winslow, on March 12th, a committee was appointed to pre- pare a scheme of organization. This committee recommended that A. T. Goshorn, Joseph Long- worth, L. B. Harrison, A. D. Bullock, A. S. Winslow, Julius Dexter, George Ward Nichols, William Henry Davis and Obed J. Wilson be in- vited to act as a committee to assist in furthering the purposes of those interested. Finally on April 28, 1877, an organization was effected, of ladies only, whose objects were "the cultivation and application of the principles of art to in- dustrial pursuits and the establishment of an art museum in the city of Cincinnati." Mrs. Perry was elected president ; Mrs. John Davis, Mrs. A. D. Bullock, Mrs. John Shillito, Mrs. A. S. Winslow, Mrs. George Carlisle and Mrs. William Dodd, vice-presidents; Mrs. H. C. Whitman, treasurer ; and Miss Elizabeth H. Appleton and Miss Laura Valette, secretaries. This organiza- tion made an almost immediate impression upon the community and by the holding of loan exhi- bitions, the exhibition of art work at the in- dustrial expositions and the general exploitation of their purposes succeeded in stimulating an in- terest in the subject of fine arts. As a result on the eighth day of September, 1880, Melville E. Ingalls, at the conclusion of his introductory ad- dress on the occasion of the opening of the Eighth Industrial Exposition, was enabled to read a letter from him written two days before to Charles W. West, suggesting that he make a subscription for building an art museum and Mr. West's re- sponse of a day later to the effect that if Mr. Ingalls and his friends would . procure an act of incorporation as "The Art Museum Associa- tion of Cincinnati" and secure suitable grounds at a nominal perpetual rent he would subscribe toward the buildings the sum of $150,000, on condition that the subscribers subscribe a like amount. The subscriptions began immediately and by December 4th of the same year the com- mittee consisting of George Hoadly, John Car- lisle, Julius Dexter, A. T. Goshorn, A. H. Hinkle, Melville E. Ingalls, David Sinton and Charles W. West was able to, report a scheme of organization to the subscribers who, 455 in number, had agreed to contribute the sum of $316,501, including the contribution of Mr. West. The Cincinnati Museum Association was in- corporated by Messrs. Longworth, Springer, West and Dexter on February 15, 1881, and on March 7th of the some year to trustees,-Charles WV. West, A. T. Goshorn, John Carlisle, George

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Hoadly, Melville E. Ingalls, Elliott H. Pendle- ton, R. H. Galbreath, Samuel C. Tatem, Joseph Longworth and Julius Dexter,-were elected as trustees, who, with the mayor ex officio and two trustees elected by the Common Council, were placed in charge of the investment of the funds and the securing of the site for the Art Museum Building in Eden Park. After some delay an ordinance was passed by the Council, February 3, 1882, permitting "the erection of a museum and such other buildings as may be incidentally connected therewith" in Eden Park. Temporary quarters were opened a week later in the Music Hall and the trustees accepted as gifts valuable art treasures from Mr. Longworth, the Women's Art Museum Association, George Hoadly, Mrs. Eliza Longworth Flagg, Mrs. S. N. Pike and the Ninth Cincinnati Industrial Exposition. On the occasion of the opening of this temporary museum on February 10, 1882, a communication was read from Mr. West, offering to give the association the sum of $150,000 further to pro- vide a fund for the endowment of the Museum, which must be held perpetually without impair- ment. This offer was immediately accepted. On the 17th day of May, 1886, the Art Museum Building in Eden Park was dedicated with ap- propriate ceremonies in the presence of a large assemblage of citizens and guests from other cities and the valuable collections partly the property of the association and partly loans from various quarters were properly installed in a building adapted for their preservation and dis- play under conditions unusually felicitous. The Art Museum Building covers an area of 17,227 square feet of ground surface, with a floor space 36,266 square feet and a wall space of 26,820 square feet. It was erected at a cost of about $330,000 and includes the center and west wing of the building designed, of which the cast wing remains to be constructed. The tract of land reserved by the city of Cincinnati for the uses of the Museum covers 19.71 acres, The catalogue of the permanent collections of paintings and sculpture shows that these collec- tions are classified under the head of SCULPTURE, consisting of original marbles and bronzes and casts from Modern Renaissance, Roman and Greek originals, including parts of the Parthenon frieze ; TEXTILES, including Japanese embroideries, brocades, cashmere shawls, lace tapestries, fans, etc. ; the BOOKWALTER COLLECTION, consisting of a number of objects of art selected by Jolin W. Bookwalter during travels in the East and loaned to the Art Museum ; METAL WORK, includ-

ing original Chinese and Japanese bronzes and 500 electroplated reproductions of originals in European museums ;. ARMOR ; GRAPHIC ARTS, ill- cluding paintings, engravings, photographs and plaster casts of ivory carvings ; CERAMICS; ETII- NOLOGY ; AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY ; and MISCEL .. LANEOUS-musical instruments and the like.

It is proposed by J. G. Schmidlapp to erect a building for library and incidentally for exhi- bition purposes. This building will not attempt to follow the style of the existing buildings, but will be Doric Greek in treatment It is to be 100 feet square and its main portion will center at the meeting point of the main north axis of the Museum and the east axis of the Academy which lies to the northwest. It will be on a level with the main floor of the Museum, with which it will be connected by a gallery 100 by 30 feet, extended north from the entrance hall of the Museum. The Museum contains a reference library of 2,655 bound volumes and 3,967 pam- phlets and is also equipped with a printing office. According to the report for the year ending De- cember 31, 1903, the endowments amount to $257,178.60 which, with the building and its con- tents, make the total Museum fund $584,629.91. The death of Alfred Traber Goshorn on February 19, 1902, deprived the Art Museum of the services of its most valued friend, who had been connected with it as director and trustee from its incorporation in 1881, a period of almost 22 years. He brought to the services of this enterprise the administrative talents which had made him distinguished throughout his life and had caused him to be selected above all other men as the director gen- eral of the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876. He was succeeded as director by J. H. Gest, who had been assistant director. The present officers of the association are : Melville E. Ingalls, presi- dent ; Charles P. Taft, vice-president; W. W. Taylor, treasurer; who with William Worthing- ton, R. HI. Galbreath, Edmond P. Harrison, D. H. Holmes, J. G. Schmidlapp, Nathaniel Henchi- man Davis and 1 .. A. Ault ( trustees) and Julius Fleischmann (mayor ) and Edward Goepper and William Von Steinwehr ( the trustees on behalf of the city) constitute the board of trustees.

THE ART ACADEMY.

Adjoining the Art Museum and under the control of the same management is the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Work on this building was begun March 4, 1886, and completed in

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Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 2, Part 74

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1048

Author: Greve, Charles Theodore, b. 1863. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1048