Category: Art
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Carillon Tower Planned as a Victory Memorial
In 1920, a tower of bells to honor America’s WWI victory — one bell provided by each U.S. state — was planned for Washington, D.C. The structure was never built. Further to enhance the proposed carillon with a peculiar memorial significance, bills have been introduced in Congress to grant the use of 200,000 pounds of…
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Metropolitan Museum’s Rarest Treasures
When the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s director was asked in 1919 what was the museum’s “one great treasure among many,” he answered the Estruscean bronze chariot. [It is] the only complete one in the world. It is a magnificent triumphal affair and was found in the tomb of the hero who once rode proudly in…
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If You Don’t Believe the War Is Over — Look at These Summer Magazine Covers
Magazine covers during summer 1919, after WWI had ended, were different than during summers 1917 and 1918 during the war: For two Summers the June, July, and August covers displayed about the same thing that they showed in the other three seasons — beautiful girls dressed as nurses, or canteen workers, or motor corps drivers,…
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France’s Airman-Artist Tells How He Works
Henri Farré was the official painter of the French government during World War I, whose job was to paint battles as he observed them from airplanes. While this may seem like a strange occupation to be funded at taxpayer expense after the invention of the photograph, WWI was also the first major military conflict to feature aviation.…
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Washington Crossing Rhine, Not Delaware
The iconic painting Washington Crossing the Delaware is a misnomer. The river was actually modeled after the Rhine River in Germany, leading to several inaccuracies. According to Wikipedia: “The river is modeled after the Rhine, where ice tends to form in jagged chunks as pictured, not in broad sheets as is more common on the Delaware. Also,…
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Using the Camera to Illustrate Fiction
Books in 1918 were starting to use real people portraying the characters instead of illustrations, as books had previously done for centuries prior: The two “illustrating photographers” employ a scout who is sent out to the locations where suitable models for the character required may be found, but most of the new models — and…
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Artistic Instinct of Negroes Should Be Developed
This 1917 article lamented the lack of flourishing culture in the African-American community. The Harlem Renaissance would start a mere year later in 1918, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Led by such figures as Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, and Richard Wright, the period would produce an explosion of literature, music, and art from the African-American…
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Portraits in Independence Hall Under Suspicion
Philadelphia’s Independence Hall used to feature 342 portraits of America’s founders and most important early contributors. Then in 1917, the Philadelphia City Council created a new body with jurisdiction over all the paintings there, giving more control to politicians rather than artists or historians. At the time of this article’s writing, the new body had…
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