National Museum of American Illustration
Encyclopedia
The National Museum of American Illustration (NMAI), founded in 1998, is the first national museum
to be devoted exclusively to American illustration
artwork.
The NMAI is located on Newport, Rhode Island
's historic Bellevue Avenue in the mansion Vernon Court
, designed by the noted Gilded Age
architecture firm Carrère and Hastings
. The museum's collection contains over 2,000 original works by noted American illustrators such as Norman Rockwell
, Maxfield Parrish
, J. C. Leyendecker
, N. C. Wyeth
, and others.
(an award-winning architect, urban designer, and former RISD, Harvard, and MIT professor) and Judy Goffman Cutler
(a leading illustration art dealer, collector, and founder of the American Illustrators Gallery, NYC), with the National Arts Club
as its founding institution. The museum opened its doors to the public on July 4, 2000. After considering several locations throughout the United States, the Carrère and Hastings
designed Vernon Court estate Newport, Rhode Island
was selected by the Cutlers, as its Gilded Age
architectural origins are contemporaneous with the ‘Golden Age of American Illustration’ which the NMAI’s American Imagist collection focuses on.
In addition to Vernon Court, the adjacent property on Bellevue Avenue, Stoneacre, is owned by the museum. The property is named for the demolished mansion designed by architect William Appleton Potter
for John W. Ellis that once occupied the site. The grounds for the site were designed by the noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted
, and following the purchase of the site by the NMAI founders, it has been restored as a park in Olmsted’s honor.
For much of this period, when television was not the dominating medium that it is today, illustration art was the primary source through which Americans were exposed to images outside the scope of their immediate, physical, tangible reality. As such, illustration art culturally and socially defined the times with images as it helped shape and reflect the styles, attitudes, and goals of the United States.
The NMAI features original art created by illustrators such as Norman Rockwell
, Maxfield Parrish
, N. C. Wyeth
, Howard Pyle
, J. C. Leyendecker
, Jessie Willcox Smith
, and other luminaries. The illustrators created images integral to American culture, ranging from the New Year’s Baby to Uncle Sam
, thus capturing the national persona. For these reasons, the NMAI’s collection has been named the American Imagist Collection.
In addition to original artworks from illustration artists, the museum’s collection also includes many pieces of art memorabilia and artifacts such as Norman Rockwell’s first paint box, Maxfield Parrish’s stippling paint brushes and a plethora of photographic materials.
designed Vernon Court, an adaptation of an 18th century French chateau (Chateau Haroue), by architect Germain Boffrand
.
During the Gilded Age
, the U.S. sought symbols of its emerging civilization by appropriating European architectural styles with French style architecture being considered the consummate expression of proper architectural manners. In that atmosphere, Vernon Court was constructed in 1898 by Carrère and Hastings
to be used as a summer cottage for a young widow, Anna Van Nest Gambrill (1865–1927). The property remained in the Gambrill family until 1956, when it was auctioned. In 1963, Vernon Court Junior College, a small all girls college, was founded with Vernon Court serving as the school's administrative building until its closing in 1972. Over the next two and a half decades it passed through several different owners. In 1998, Vernon Court was acquired by the Museum founders: Judy Goffman Cutler
– a renowned art dealer, and Laurence S. Cutler
– an award-winning architect of international repute.
, is named for the mansion which once occupied that site. The mansion was designed by architect William A. Potter for John W. Ellis. Potter recommended Frederick Law Olmsted
(1822–1903) to Mr. Ellis. Stoneacre was Olmsted's first commission after establishing his office in Brookline and naming the new profession of landscape architecture, making it the first professional landscape architectural commission. The Stoneacre mansion was demolished in 1963, to reduce real estate taxes and the grounds lay dormant for decades thereafter, the last privately owned open space on Bellevue Avenue. Stoneacre was purchased in 1998, by Judy Goffman Cutler
and Laurence S. Cutler
with a vision to create a memorial park honoring Frederick Law Olmsted
, America's first professional landscape architect.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
to be devoted exclusively to American illustration
Illustration
An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
artwork.
The NMAI is located on Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
's historic Bellevue Avenue in the mansion Vernon Court
Vernon Court
Vernon Court is a Gilded Age mansion, located at 492 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, on the Atlantic coast of the United States. Its design is an adaptation of an 18th century French château, Château d'Haroué.-History:...
, designed by the noted Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
architecture firm Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings , located in New York City, was one of the outstanding Beaux-Arts architecture firms in the United States. The partnership operated from 1885 until 1911, when Carrère was killed in an automobile accident...
. The museum's collection contains over 2,000 original works by noted American illustrators such as Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
, Maxfield Parrish
Maxfield Parrish
Maxfield Parrish was an American painter and illustrator active in the first half of the twentieth century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery.-Life:...
, J. C. Leyendecker
J. C. Leyendecker
Joseph Christian Leyendecker was one of the pre-eminent American illustrators of the early 20th century. He is best known for his poster, book and advertising illustrations, the trade character known as The Arrow Collar Man, and his numerous covers for The Saturday Evening Post. Between 1896 and...
, N. C. Wyeth
N. C. Wyeth
Newell Convers Wyeth , known as N.C. Wyeth, was an American artist and illustrator. He was the pupil of artist Howard Pyle and became one of America's greatest illustrators...
, and others.
History
The NMAI was founded in 1998 by husband and wife team Laurence S. CutlerLaurence S. Cutler
Laurence S. Cutler AIA, RIBA is an architect, urban designer, historic property developer, author, educator, and advertising executive. Cutler, along with his wife, Judy Goffman Cutler, is co-founder of the National Museum of American Illustration at Vernon Court in Newport, RI; the first...
(an award-winning architect, urban designer, and former RISD, Harvard, and MIT professor) and Judy Goffman Cutler
Judy Goffman Cutler
Judy Goffman Cutler is an art dealer, art collector, co-founder of the National Museum of American Illustration, and founder and Executive Director of the American Illustrators Gallery, NYC, the premier gallery showcasing major original artworks from the 'Golden Age of American Illustration'...
(a leading illustration art dealer, collector, and founder of the American Illustrators Gallery, NYC), with the National Arts Club
National Arts Club
The National Arts Club is a private club in Gramercy Park, New York City, New York, USA. It was founded in 1898 to "stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate the American people in the fine arts". Since 1906 the organization has occupied the Samuel J...
as its founding institution. The museum opened its doors to the public on July 4, 2000. After considering several locations throughout the United States, the Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings , located in New York City, was one of the outstanding Beaux-Arts architecture firms in the United States. The partnership operated from 1885 until 1911, when Carrère was killed in an automobile accident...
designed Vernon Court estate Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
was selected by the Cutlers, as its Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
architectural origins are contemporaneous with the ‘Golden Age of American Illustration’ which the NMAI’s American Imagist collection focuses on.
In addition to Vernon Court, the adjacent property on Bellevue Avenue, Stoneacre, is owned by the museum. The property is named for the demolished mansion designed by architect William Appleton Potter
William Appleton Potter
William Appleton Potter was an American architect who designed numerous buildings for Princeton University, as well as municipal offices and churches. He served as a Supervising Architect of the Treasury from 1874 to 1877....
for John W. Ellis that once occupied the site. The grounds for the site were designed by the noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
, and following the purchase of the site by the NMAI founders, it has been restored as a park in Olmsted’s honor.
The Collection
The NMAI’s American Imagist Collection focuses on artwork from the ‘Golden Age of American Illustration’, a period whose heyday dates from 1865 to 1945, with the end of the original Saturday Evening Post marking its ultimate demise.For much of this period, when television was not the dominating medium that it is today, illustration art was the primary source through which Americans were exposed to images outside the scope of their immediate, physical, tangible reality. As such, illustration art culturally and socially defined the times with images as it helped shape and reflect the styles, attitudes, and goals of the United States.
The NMAI features original art created by illustrators such as Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
, Maxfield Parrish
Maxfield Parrish
Maxfield Parrish was an American painter and illustrator active in the first half of the twentieth century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery.-Life:...
, N. C. Wyeth
N. C. Wyeth
Newell Convers Wyeth , known as N.C. Wyeth, was an American artist and illustrator. He was the pupil of artist Howard Pyle and became one of America's greatest illustrators...
, Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.__FORCETOC__...
, J. C. Leyendecker
J. C. Leyendecker
Joseph Christian Leyendecker was one of the pre-eminent American illustrators of the early 20th century. He is best known for his poster, book and advertising illustrations, the trade character known as The Arrow Collar Man, and his numerous covers for The Saturday Evening Post. Between 1896 and...
, Jessie Willcox Smith
Jessie Willcox Smith
Jessie Willcox Smith was a United States illustrator famous for her work in magazines such as Ladies Home Journal and for her illustrations for children's books....
, and other luminaries. The illustrators created images integral to American culture, ranging from the New Year’s Baby to Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam is a common national personification of the American government originally used during the War of 1812. He is depicted as a stern elderly man with white hair and a goatee beard...
, thus capturing the national persona. For these reasons, the NMAI’s collection has been named the American Imagist Collection.
In addition to original artworks from illustration artists, the museum’s collection also includes many pieces of art memorabilia and artifacts such as Norman Rockwell’s first paint box, Maxfield Parrish’s stippling paint brushes and a plethora of photographic materials.
Notable paintings
Notable works by Norman Rockwell in the collection include Russian Schoolroom and The Runaway.Artists in the American Imagist Collection
- Edwin Austin AbbeyEdwin Austin AbbeyEdwin Austin Abbey was an American artist, illustrator, and painter. He flourished at the beginning of what is now referred to as the "golden age" of illustration, and is best known for his drawings and paintings of Shakespearean and Victorian subjects, as well as for his painting of Edward VII's...
- Constantin AlajalovConstantin AlajalovConstantin Alajalov was an American painter, and illustrator.-Life:He immigrated to New York City in 1923.He became a citizen in 1928....
- Rolf ArmstrongRolf ArmstrongRolf Armstrong was an American painter of pin-up art.-Biography:Rolf Armstrong was born in Bay City, Michigan on April 21, 1889 to Richard and Harriet Armstrong. His father owned the Boy-Line Fire Boat Company, which included a line of passenger ships. Some were deployed in Chicago for use at the...
- Stanley Arthurs
- Clifford AshleyClifford AshleyClifford Warren Ashley was an American artist, author, sailor, and knot expert. He was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, son of Abiel Davis Ashley and Caroline Morse. Ashley married Sarah Scudder Clark in 1932 and had two daughters, also adopting his wife's oldest daughter from a previous...
- John AthertonJohn AthertonJohn Atherton was the Anglican Bishop of Waterford and Lismore in the Church of Ireland. He and John Childe were both tried and executed for buggery in 1640.-Life and death:...
- William Aylward
- Joyce BallantyneJoyce BallantyneJoyce Ballantyne was a painter of pin-up art. She is best known as the designer of the Coppertone girl, whose swimming costume is being pulled down by a dog.-Early life and career:...
- McClelland BarclayMcClelland BarclayMcClelland Barclay was an American painter of pin-up art. Born in St. Louis in 1891, Barclay studied first at the Art Institute of Chicago, then later at the Art Students League in New York City, where he studied under George Bridgman and Thomas Fogarty...
- Cecil Calvert Beall
- Arthur Becher
- Władysław T. BendaWładysław T. BendaWładysław Teodor "W.T." Benda was a Polish-American painter, illustrator, and designer....
- Gerrit BenekerGerrit BenekerGerrit Albertus Beneker was an American painter and illustrator best known for his paintings of industrial scenes and for his poster work in World War I.-Biography:...
- Anna Whelan BettsAnna Whelan BettsAnna Whelan Betts was an American illustrator and art teacher who was noted for her paintings of Victorian women in romantic settings...
- Ethel Franklin BettsEthel Franklin BettsEthel Franklin Betts was an American illustrator primarily of children's books during the golden age of American illustration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries....
- Walter BiggsWalter BiggsWalter Biggs was an American Illustrator and fine art painter. He was a student of Robert Henri, and some of his fellow students included Edward Hooper and Rockwell Kent.-External links:*...
- Edwin BlashfieldEdwin BlashfieldEdwin Howland Blashfield , an American artist, was born in New York City.He was a pupil of Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat in Paris beginning in 1867, and became a member of the National Academy of Design in New York...
- Enich Bolles
- Franklin BoothFranklin BoothFranklin Booth, was an influential American artist notable for his highly detailed pen-and-ink illustrations.-Biography:...
- S. Cole Bradley
- Paul BransomPaul BransomPaul Bransom was an U.S. illustrator of animals.Born in Washington, D.C., he began his career as a technical draftsman and comic strip artist. After moving to New York, his talent as a wildlife artist was recognised while creating studies of the animals at the Bronx Zoo...
- F. Sands Brunner
- Duane Bryers
- Al BuellAl BuellAlfred Leslie Buell was an American painter of pin-up art. He was born in Hiawatha, Kansas in 1910, and grew up in Cushing, Oklahoma...
- Edward Ulreich Buk
- Charles Livingston Bull
- Clara M Burd
- Hal Burrows
- Harrison CadyHarrison CadyWalter Harrison Cady was an American illustrator best known for his Peter Rabbit comic strip which he wrote and drew for 28 years....
- Howard Chandler ChristyHoward Chandler ChristyHoward Chandler Christy was an American artist and illustrator famous for the "Christy Girl", similar to a "Gibson Girl".He was born in Morgan County and attended early school in Duncan Falls, Ohio...
- Frederick Stuart ChurchFrederick Stuart ChurchFrederick Stuart Church was an American artist, working mainly as an illustrator and especially known for his depiction of animals.-Biography:...
- Benton Clark
- Matt ClarkMatt ClarkMatthew or Matt Clark may refer to:* Mat Clark, American ice hockey defenceman* Matt Clark * Matt Clark * Matt Clark * Matt Clark *Matthew Clark*Matthew H. Clark...
- John ClymerJohn ClymerJohn Ford Clymer was an American painter and illustrator known for his work that captured nature and the American West....
- Dean CornwellDean CornwellDean Cornwell was an American illustrator and muralist. His oil paintings were frequently featured in popular magazines and books as literary illustrations, advertisements, and posters promoting the war effort. Throughout the first half of the 20th century he was a dominant presence in American...
- Douglass Crockwell
- Julian De Miskey
- Maynard DixonMaynard DixonMaynard Dixon was a 20th-century American artist whose body of work focused on the American West. He was married for a time to American photographer Dorothea Lange.-Biography:...
- Stevan DohanosStevan DohanosStevan Dohanos was an artist and illustrator of the social realism school, best known for his Saturday Evening Post covers, and responsible for several of the Don't Talk set of World War II propaganda posters. He named Grant Wood and Edward Hopper as the greatest influences on his painting.Dohanos...
- Arthur DoveArthur DoveArthur Garfield Dove was an American artist. An early American modernist, he is often considered the first American abstract painter.-Youth and education:...
- Peter DribenPeter DribenPeter Driben, an American pin-up artist, was perhaps one of the most productive pin-up artists of the 1940s and 1950s. Although both Alberto Vargas and Gil Elvgren have extensive catalogues of work, neither came close to the output of Driben...
- Helen DrydenHelen DrydenHelen Dryden was an American artist and successful industrial designer in the 1920s and '30s. She was reportedly described by the New York Times as being the highest-paid woman artist in the United States, though she lived in comparative poverty in later years.- Education :She was born in...
- Harvey DunnHarvey DunnHarvey Thomas Dunn was an American painter. He is best known for his prairie-intimate masterpiece, The Prairie is My Garden. In this painting, a mother and her son and daughter are out gathering flowers from the quintessential prairie of the Great Plains.-Early life:Dunn was born on a homestead...
- Benjamin Eggleston
- Gil Elvgren
- Maginal Wright Enright
- John Falter
- Anton Otto FischerAnton Otto FischerAnton Otto Fischer was an illustrator for the Saturday Evening Post.-Background:Born in Germany and orphaned at any early age, he ran away at the age of 15 to escape being forced into priesthood. He came to America as a deck hand on a German vessel...
- Harrison FisherHarrison FisherHarrison Fisher was an American illustrator.Fisher was born in Brooklyn, New York City and began to draw at an early age. Both his father and his grandfather were artists. Fisher spent much of his youth in San Francisco, and studied at the San Francisco Art Association...
- James Montgomery FlaggJames Montgomery FlaggJames Montgomery Flagg was an American artist and illustrator. He worked in media ranging from fine art painting to cartooning, but is best remembered for his political posters....
- Alan Stephens Foster
- A.B. Frost
- Paolo Garretto
- Harold Gaze
- Charles Dana GibsonCharles Dana GibsonCharles Dana Gibson was an American graphic artist, best known for his creation of the Gibson Girl, an iconic representation of the beautiful and independent American woman at the turn of the 20th century....
- William James Glackens
- Philip R. GoodwinPhilip R. GoodwinPhilip R. Goodwin was an American painter and illustrator who specialized in depictions of wildlife, the outdoors, fishing, hunting and the Old American West. He provided illustrations for numerous books and magazines, as well as for commercial items, such as posters, advertisements and calendars...
- Walter Granville-Smith
- Elizabeth Shippen GreenElizabeth Shippen GreenElizabeth Shippen Green was an American illustrator. She illustrated children's books and worked for many years for Harper's Magazine....
- Frederick R. Gruger
- Jules Guerrin
- Jay Jastings
- Childe HassamChilde HassamFrederick Childe Hassam was a prolific American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionism to American collectors, dealers, and museums...
- Mabel K Hatt
- Charles "Budd" Hawes
- John Held Jr.
- Albert HerterAlbert HerterAlbert Herter was an artist and painter. He was born in New York, New York, and studied in Paris and then in New York's Art Students League...
- Al HirschfeldAl HirschfeldAlbert "Al" Hirschfeld was an American caricaturist best known for his simple black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars.-Personal life:Born in St...
- Guy Hoff
- Leonard T Holton
- Winslow HomerWinslow HomerWinslow Homer was an American landscape painter and printmaker, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th century America and a preeminent figure in American art....
- Gayle Porter Hoskins
- George HughesGeorge HughesGeorge Hughes may refer to:*George Edward Hughes , Professor of Philosophy at the Victoria University of Wellington*George Hughes , former NFL player*George Hughes , British locomotive engineer...
- Peter Hurd
- EO Hurst
- Henry Hutt
- Elbert McGran Jackson
- RC Kauffman
- JF Kernan
- Rockwell Kent
- WHD Koerner
- John LaFarge
- John LaGatta
- Frank X. Leyendecker
- JC Leyendecker
- Henry Linnell
- George Luks
- Reginald Marsh
- Richard Field Maynard
- Frederic Kimball Mizen
- Thomas Moran
- Thomas Nast
- Thornton Oakley
- Violet OakleyViolet OakleyViolet Oakley was an American artist known for her murals and her work in stained glass. She was a student and later a faculty member at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.-Life:...
- Cushman Parker
- Maxfield ParrishMaxfield ParrishMaxfield Parrish was an American painter and illustrator active in the first half of the twentieth century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery.-Life:...
- Edward Penfield
- George Petty
- Coles PhillipsColes PhillipsClarence Coles Phillips was an American artist and illustrator, who after 1911 used Coles Phillips as his signature. He is known for his stylish images of women.-Early life:He was born in Springfield, Ohio...
- Henry Pitz
- Edward Potthast
- Maurice PrendergastMaurice PrendergastMaurice Brazil Prendergast was an American Post-Impressionist artist who worked in oil, watercolor, and monotype...
- Norman Price
- Howard PyleHoward PyleHoward Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.__FORCETOC__...
- Ethel Ream
- Sidney Reisenberg
- Frederic RemingtonFrederic RemingtonFrederic Sackrider Remington was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in depictions of the Old American West, specifically concentrating on the last quarter of the 19th century American West and images of cowboys, American Indians, and the U. S...
- Louis Rhead
- Norman RockwellNorman RockwellNorman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
- Alex Ross
- Charles M. Russell
- Russel Sambrook
- Mead SchaefferMead SchaefferMead Schaeffer was an American illustrator from the early to mid-twentieth century. He lived in New Rochelle, New York, a community favored by artists, illustrators and writers from the period, where he was a neighbor and personal friend of Norman Rockwell...
- Jes Schlaikjer
- Frank E. Schoonover
- Remington Schuyler
- Barbara Shermund
- Everret Shinn
- John Sloan
- Jessie Wilcox Smith
- Walter Granville Smith
- Henry J Soulen
- Paul Stahr
- Alice Barber Stephens
- Herbert Morton Stoops
- Haddon Sundblom
- Saul Tepper
- Leslie Thrasher
- George T. Tobin
- Rico Tomaso
- Charles Twelvetrees
- Alberto Vargas
- Elihu Vedder
- Harold von Schmidt
- Thomas Webb
- Alton TobeyAlton TobeyAlton Stanley Tobey , the American artist, was a painter, historical artist, muralist, portraitist, illustrator, and teacher of art.-Biography:...
- Sarah Stilwell Weber
- Albert Beck Wenzell
- Andrew WyethAndrew WyethAndrew Newell Wyeth was a visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century....
- Jamie WyethJamie WyethJames Browning Wyeth is a contemporary American realist painter. He was raised in Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania, son of Andrew Wyeth and grandson of N.C. Wyeth...
- NC Wyeth
Vernon Court
The American Imagist Collection is housed in the Carrère and HastingsCarrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings , located in New York City, was one of the outstanding Beaux-Arts architecture firms in the United States. The partnership operated from 1885 until 1911, when Carrère was killed in an automobile accident...
designed Vernon Court, an adaptation of an 18th century French chateau (Chateau Haroue), by architect Germain Boffrand
Germain Boffrand
Germain Boffrand was one of the most gifted French architects of his generation. A pupil of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Germain Boffrand was one of the main creators of the precursor to Rococo called the style Régence, and in his interiors, of the Rococo itself...
.
During the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
, the U.S. sought symbols of its emerging civilization by appropriating European architectural styles with French style architecture being considered the consummate expression of proper architectural manners. In that atmosphere, Vernon Court was constructed in 1898 by Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings , located in New York City, was one of the outstanding Beaux-Arts architecture firms in the United States. The partnership operated from 1885 until 1911, when Carrère was killed in an automobile accident...
to be used as a summer cottage for a young widow, Anna Van Nest Gambrill (1865–1927). The property remained in the Gambrill family until 1956, when it was auctioned. In 1963, Vernon Court Junior College, a small all girls college, was founded with Vernon Court serving as the school's administrative building until its closing in 1972. Over the next two and a half decades it passed through several different owners. In 1998, Vernon Court was acquired by the Museum founders: Judy Goffman Cutler
Judy Goffman Cutler
Judy Goffman Cutler is an art dealer, art collector, co-founder of the National Museum of American Illustration, and founder and Executive Director of the American Illustrators Gallery, NYC, the premier gallery showcasing major original artworks from the 'Golden Age of American Illustration'...
– a renowned art dealer, and Laurence S. Cutler
Laurence S. Cutler
Laurence S. Cutler AIA, RIBA is an architect, urban designer, historic property developer, author, educator, and advertising executive. Cutler, along with his wife, Judy Goffman Cutler, is co-founder of the National Museum of American Illustration at Vernon Court in Newport, RI; the first...
– an award-winning architect of international repute.
The Frederick Law Olmsted Park
Stoneacre (1884), the three acres property opposite Vernon CourtVernon Court
Vernon Court is a Gilded Age mansion, located at 492 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, on the Atlantic coast of the United States. Its design is an adaptation of an 18th century French château, Château d'Haroué.-History:...
, is named for the mansion which once occupied that site. The mansion was designed by architect William A. Potter for John W. Ellis. Potter recommended Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
(1822–1903) to Mr. Ellis. Stoneacre was Olmsted's first commission after establishing his office in Brookline and naming the new profession of landscape architecture, making it the first professional landscape architectural commission. The Stoneacre mansion was demolished in 1963, to reduce real estate taxes and the grounds lay dormant for decades thereafter, the last privately owned open space on Bellevue Avenue. Stoneacre was purchased in 1998, by Judy Goffman Cutler
Judy Goffman Cutler
Judy Goffman Cutler is an art dealer, art collector, co-founder of the National Museum of American Illustration, and founder and Executive Director of the American Illustrators Gallery, NYC, the premier gallery showcasing major original artworks from the 'Golden Age of American Illustration'...
and Laurence S. Cutler
Laurence S. Cutler
Laurence S. Cutler AIA, RIBA is an architect, urban designer, historic property developer, author, educator, and advertising executive. Cutler, along with his wife, Judy Goffman Cutler, is co-founder of the National Museum of American Illustration at Vernon Court in Newport, RI; the first...
with a vision to create a memorial park honoring Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
, America's first professional landscape architect.