Art

In 1847, the year in which Atlanta was incorporated, there appeared in the columns of the Southern Miscellany and Upper Georgia Whig an advertisement of Major Wyllys Buell, portrait painter. The editor recommends him and urges readers to have likenesses made of wives, sweethearts, and children. This notice, which is among the earliest records concerning art in Atlanta, indicates that there was at least a small measure of artistic appreciation in the community even when it was little more than a frontier settlement. It seems that Buell did not let art interfere with political affairs, however, for he became mayor of the city in 1850, and nothing further is found about him as a portrait painter.

Indeed, the bustling, practical citizens of Atlanta were working too hard for a living to support an artist group. Probably they shared the conviction of most of the United States that a little elegant painting and embroidery were desirable for young ladies but that painting pictures was no job for a virile young man. Boys were seldom urged to scribble or strum or paint. Yet there are numerous indications that the arts had their admirers, as is shown not only in the advertisements of photographs, ambrotypes, and oil paintings that continued to appear in the newspapers but in the practical measures that occasionally were taken to stir appreciation and encourage talent. In 1850, at the fifth annual fair presented by the Southern Central Agricultural Society, there were "five beautiful oil paintings by Orgali, an Italian," lent by an Atlanta citizen, while two Atlanta ladies were commended for their own paintings as follows. By Mrs. V. Foster... landscape, horses, domestic animals, & c.—executed in India ink. An elaborate and beautiful picture. Premium $3. Also two pieces of Flowers and Fruits... By Miss Guthrie... two Monochromatic Drawings. Landscape, Domestic animals, & c—well executed. Honor."

The Intelligencer even ran an article in 1858 minutely describing the paintings on the splendid new fire engine of Atlanta Fire Company No, 1. One of these pictures showed the classic race of the redoubtable huntress Atalanta and her suitor Meilanion, who won both the race and the huntress by casting golden apples before her, and "the paintings are all very spirited, and finished most exquisitely, doing credit to the genius of the artist, M..J. Shreeves, of Philadelphia."

During the 1860's the creative impulse sometimes seemed almost extinguished as the civilians of Atlanta, with the rest of the Confederacy, strained every effort to the breaking point. With the blockade runners loading their cargoes with food, medicines, and most strangely —fashionable ball gowns, artists materials were scarce. Nevertheless, the women's defiant gayety was shown in the silk flags they made to float, proud in their fringed gold and scarlet, above the lines of fighting regiments. Atlanta women also directed their instinct for design into the making of screens, fans, feather-and-beeswax flowers, and all sorts of embroidered articles that were sold at bazaars to aid the Confederate cause. When the supply of thread failed, human hair was used to execute the skillful embroidery stitches.

The harsh days of Reconstruction did nothing to awaken the impulse. In January 1869, an Intelligencer reporter visited two art galleries in the city... and saw some nice pictures and excellent likenesses. We regret that it is true ... that in a great measure the arts are looked upon as useless or supernumerary. The people had little money to buy pictures, although it is remembered that one Atlanta citizen, who later amassed great wealth, earned a little cash by peddling the popular Currier and Ives prints of the American scene. From the early 1870's on, the number of professional artists in Atlanta increased steadily. C.W. Motes set up a studio, where he took photographs, instructed in miniature painting, and entertained his friends by exhibiting his life sketches and paintings done while he was on the march with Confederate forces. Among his visitors was Horace Bradley, later to attain some celebrity as a painter and still remembered by a few old citizens as having demonstrated his youthful talents by painting designs on the belts, caps, and bats of a baseball club to which he belonged.

When Atlanta began to work back toward a normal prosperity, art became popular and the number of instructors rapidly grew. In 1882 the Art Loan Exposition, under the auspices of the Young Men's Library Association, brought to the city a large collection of paintings from all sections of the United States. So great was public interest that excursion trains were run from several Georgia towns in this region. The Constitution notes: " 'The Deliverance' by E.H. Blashfield, of Boston, is a large canvas and occupies a central position, around which cluster contributions from... other distinguished artists. Each picture is full of refined interest, and will delight the eyes of all who see them. . . Mr. J, Carroll Beckwith sends his lovely ideal face of 'Azalia', which is beautiful in flesh color and exquisite drawing... Mr. W.E. Herring, of this city, has kindly loaned 'Midsummer Night's Dream' by Ang. Riedel... this picture is valued at $10,000, and is one of unusual appearance, it being a little Cupid gracefully reposing upon a cloud and surmounted by three owls... In the upper portion of the picture burns a beautiful flame, perfectly painted, which lights the figures dimly. The lights and shadows are perfectly managed and" —one may well believe! "produces a wonderful effect."

During these years there were not many instructors in Atlanta who taught their pupils to paint from the living model. Usually the students copied from calendars and other pictures or at most did still-life oil or water color paintings from arranged fruits and flowers. Miniature painting was made so popular by the young ladies of Atlanta that often photographers employed painters to do this work, usually from photographs. Such miniatures of famous people are on permanent exhibition in the Department of Archives and History in Rhodes Memorial Hall.

Also on display at Rhodes Memorial Hall, as well as at the State capitol, are numerous portraits of Georgia statesmen produced by Atlanta artists who were popular during the last two decades of the century. Some of these canvases show an honest realism; others have a pompous rigidity, as though the clothes had been painted in first and the face inserted to order afterward. In at least one instance boldness and influence proved to be acceptable substitutes for talent: anecdotes are told of a woman who became locally known as a portrait painter by soliciting commissions from prominent citizens, hiring hack workers to copy the portraits from photographs, and signing her name to the portraits before they were delivered. This same lady also earned her living as a teacher, although her pupils state that after distributing materials she set them to work on elaborate lamp shades trimmed with roses and beehives without ever imparting a word of instruction. A far greater number, however, earned their way by honest work. Some of these, such as Adelaide C Everhart, are still popular painters. Lucy May Stanton, who painted in Atlanta for a time, later won the medal of honor at the Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters Exhibition for her miniature of Joel Chandler Harris.

Sculpture during these years was for the most part rather elementary and imitative. Stonecutters produced much ornamental work in marble or granite in tombstones and in various memorial shafts and statuary. Oakland Cemetery has a striking example in T.M. Brady's Lion of Atlanta inspired by the famous Lion of Lucerne and erected in 1894 by the Atlanta Ladies Memorial Association to honor the unknown Confederate dead. Bronze or marble busts of notable men constituted another popular form of art. Orion Frazee, a native of New York who came to Atlanta in 1885 and became well known both as a painter and sculptor, executed death masks of Jefferson Davis, Robert Toombs, Henry W. Grady, and other Southern celebrities. In the opening years of the twentieth century a Swedish sculptor named Ocherberg, who lived for a time in the city, carved numerous busts, including one of Joel Chandler Harris, upon which the famous writer is said to have placed his hat when he entered the house.

During the 1880's William Lycett came to Atlanta and opened an art school on Whitehall Street, where he and his wife gave lessons in oils and water colors and in china painting. The painting of plates and dishes was for years a popular pastime with Atlanta housewives, and examples of their white-and-gold handiwork still may be seen in many a cupboard and china closet.

An important step in the development of art in the city was taken when the Atlanta Art Association was chartered in 1905. This organization conducted an art school, gave funds for traveling exhibits, offered prizes, and arranged for lectures by nationally known artists. Meetings were held in bank offices and in various homes, while displays were set up in empty stores. In 1924, with the assistance of the Chamber of Commerce and of a member of the Art Association, J.J. Haverty, this organization secured its first exhibition of note from the Grand Central Galleries of New York. It was not until 1926, when Mrs. Joseph Madison High presented her home to be used as a museum, that the association acquired permanent quarters. A school to teach both fine and commercial art was opened immediately. In the following year a loan exhibit from Atlanta homes was sponsored by the association, and for the first time the public saw how many works of famous artists were in the city. Romney, Gainsborough, John Opie, Ralph Blakelock, Franz Von Lenbeck, Thomas Sully, Phillip Wouverman, George Inness, Ribera, Le Sidoner, Harpignies, David Tenier, and Jules Du Pre were among the artists represented. Since then loan exhibitions from various galleries have been arranged frequently at the High Museum by the director, Lewis Skidmore.

A strong influence on Atlanta art is exercised by several instructors, among the most important of whom are Ben E. Shute and Robert S. Rogers of the High Museum School of Art. Talented and progressive, Shute and Rogers have retained flexibility of expression by constant experimentation with fresh techniques, so that their work is as varied as it is dextrous. Ralph Britt, head of the Britt School of Art, is known not only for the soundness of his own craftsmanship but for his teaching. Maunce Seigler, instructor of drawing in the architecture department of the Georgia School of Technology, is known as a fresco worker, a portrait painter, and an outstanding draftsman of the human body. Although the prevalent green and purple tones are the most vivid feature of his paintings, even his work in oils is notable for the firm draftsmanship beneath the paint. Private individuals also have had vital influence. George Ramey, an architect and a gifted painter, has rendered invaluable service to art circles by the exhibitions which he has periodically arranged at the Carnegie Library.

One of Atlanta's best portrait painters is Marjorie Conant Bush-Brown, who works in an excellent traditional technique with modem expression. By careful under-painting, Mrs. Bush-Brown succeeds in rendering flesh tones of a glistening transparency, especially in her Negro studies, and her portraits are notable for their backgrounds which are boldly colorful yet kept subordinate to the subject. Elizabeth Paxton Oliver, too, has won honors for her Negro portraits, as well as for her animated and realistic bird paintings.

The favors of the public are well distributed among both the artists of longer standing and the newer ones. Charles F. Naegele has worked for many years at his portrait painting and has gathered a large following. Kate Edwards has long enjoyed widespread popularity for her portraits in oils; she has also received enthusiastic praise for her excellent drawings in white point. One of the most celebrated of the younger painters is Claud J. Herndon, who has excellent taste and a fine sense of decorative values in his portraits. "Within the bounds of the strictly decorative, Athos Menaboni is eminent. Working on plaster, glass, or canvas to execute his brilliant murals, he intentionally keeps his figures flat, but they are vital because of their colors and the admirable arrangement of the patterns. Menaboni's bird paintings, which combine the delicate detail characteristic of Japanese work with a strongly anatomical quality, are in frequent demand for exhibitions by nationally known organizations.

Other examples of interesting work recently produced by Atlanta artists are Kitty Butner's colorful portraits, Wilbur G. Kurtz' illustrations of historic episodes, Cornelia Cunningham's pencil sketches, Catherine Nunnally's sensitively realized yet substantially executed figures, Mrs. A. Farnsworth Drew's striking murals and pleasing seascapes, Leroy Jackson's well composed water colors, Julian Binford's portraits and landscapes, and Lamar Baker's lithographs that are as widely celebrated for their strong social recognitions as for their finely patterned technique. Strongly contrasting work has been done by a talented daughter and mother. The faces in Mary E. Hutchinson's portraits have strength and dimension while retaining a decorative character almost equal to that of formal designs in a frieze. Her mother, Minnie Belle Hutchinson, paints abstractions with a gaylysatiric realization, evoking an ironical emphasis by her seemingly innocent use of clear primary colors.

In Negro art Hale Woodruff is the most prominent instructor aswell as one of the most original and powerful craftsmen. Painting in an uncompromisingly modern technique with a lavish use of strong raw colors, Woodruff has done memorable work in depicting the peasantry of Mexico and of his own people. His pupil Robert Neal has also been praised for the rhythm and gayety of his work even when he selects squalid backgrounds to render.

The statuary and monumental work of Fritz Zimmer, Steffert Thomas, and Joseph Klein have received wide notice, as have the sympathetic plastic studies of Mrs. Edward Donnelly. Outstanding, in sculpture is Julian Harris, who in his work returns to the archaic principle of treating sculpture not dramatically but as an art of masses and their relation. Harris has made an important contribution to Atlanta art by his insistence on the close association between architecture and sculpture, and his bas-relief panels on the new State Office Building are indicative of this renascence.

Under the stimulus of growing public interest, Atlanta painters in recent years have been aroused to performances that express their own individual conceptions. The native characteristics of the State have been more zestfully realized in both landscape painting and portraiture, and the result has been productions that are more supple, informal, and audacious. Not only has new subject matter been discovered but newer techniques have been applied to the portrayal of old scenes with vigor and vivacity. Atlanta art is like a growing plant, strong, vital, and branching off in many directions.

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