Jared Bradley Flagg
Encyclopedia
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
from New Haven, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. He was the younger brother of artists George Whiting Flagg
George Whiting Flagg
George Whiting Flagg from New Haven, Connecticut, was an American painter of historical scenes and genre pictures...
and Henry Collins Flagg III. His father, Henry Collins "Grandfather" Flagg, was a one time mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of New Haven.
Education and training
The Flagg brothers all studied painting under their famous uncle, Washington AllstonWashington Allston
Washington Allston was an American painter and poet, born in Waccamaw Parish, South Carolina. Allston pioneered America's Romantic movement of landscape painting...
, and received some recognition of their own. When he was only sixteen years old, Jared exhibited a portrait of his father in the National academy and was favorably noticed by the critics.
As a young man, Jared Flagg settled in Hartford. However, he moved to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1849 and was soon elected an academician
Academician
The title Academician denotes a Full Member of an art, literary, or scientific academy.In many countries, it is an honorary title. There also exists a lower-rank title, variously translated Corresponding Member or Associate Member, .-Eastern Europe and China:"Academician" may also be a functional...
. Jared pursued the study of theology at intervals with his art, and, in 1854, he entered the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Jared received the degree of A.M. from Trinity College
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity College is a private, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut after Yale University. The college enrolls 2,300 students and has been coeducational since 1969. Trinity offers 38 majors and 26 minors, and has...
in 1861, and that of S.T.D. from Columbia
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1863. For ten years he devoted himself to the discharge of his theological duties, then he returned to the practice of his art.
Notable works
Jared Bradley Flagg occasionally painted ideal figure pictures but made portraits his specialty. Among Flagg's more notable portraits are of several of the judges of the New York Court of AppealsNew York Court of Appeals
The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the U.S. state of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six associate judges who are appointed by the Governor to 14-year terms...
, including a three-quarter length of Chief Justice Sanford E. Church
Sanford E. Church
Sanford Elias Church was an American lawyer and Democratic politician...
, which was placed in the new state capitol; a life-size full-length of William M. Evarts
William M. Evarts
William Maxwell Evarts was an American lawyer and statesman who served as U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator from New York...
, also hung in the capitol (1887); and several portraits of Commodore Vanderbilt, one of which hangs in the directors' room at the Grand Central
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
depot in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Other notable paintings by Jared Flagg include Holy Thoughts and Paul before Felix (1849), and Angelo and Isabella (1850).
Real-estate developer
Beginning in 1881, Jared Flagg started organizing the syndicates behind the first co-operative apartment houses in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He earned a reputation as a sharp dealer in this new kind of investment, where capital was raised from future occupants, who were sometimes easily fleeced with overly optimistic predictions.
In 1882, Flagg acquired the lot next to the square leading to Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, the site of the present Plaza Hotel
Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel with a height of and length of that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza...
, intending to build "the largest and handsomest apartment house ever erected in this country." The idea of a luxury apartment building was essentially unknown at the time; the earliest co-ops
Housing cooperative
A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...
were conceived as communal artists' dwellings.
Later that year, Flagg's project had fallen through, and his partners had backed out. After going through several architects, financial problems and ownership groups, the "Plaza" was finally completed as its present incarnation in 1907.