Lovable new york: buildings c. 1830-1930
Opening Reception:
Wednesday, October 2nd 5:00-8:00pm
the artists
DAVID MACAULAY
Like Frank Lloyd Wright, a childhood fascination with toy technology and model making developed and propelled him through an architectural education at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he still does some teaching. Very early on, however, he found his niche in life as The Great Explainer. In more than twenty books, starting with "Cathedral" in 1973, he has tinkered with ships, buildings, machinery and in the hugely popular "The Way Things Work" almost everything with a movable part. His drawings for "Great Moments in Architecture" were exhibited at SPACED in 1977. The artful smugness that he brings to his fine line drawings combines a unique blend of respect and curiousity. His work is currently on view in the project called "Building Big", a five-part series on engineering for public television.
RICHARD HAAS
As a native of Spring Green, Wisconsin, it was natural to come under the architectural influence of Frank llyod Wright indirectly through an uncle who worked there. Although without formal training, he was interested in the architecture he had seen in his European travels and that carried forth to his move to New York in the late 1960's. His neighborhood was the as yet undiscovered SoHo. Its building patterns and the strength of its shades and shadows were the subject matter of the trompe l'oeil style which he developed. He has exhibited widely. In this show, there are two views of the Dakota. One is the somber, almost eerie starkness of The Courtyard, done before John Lennon immortalized the location. That is in contrast with the mellow tones of the Dakota Rooftops, with its quaint mansard rhythms. In 1977 he received the American institute of Architects Medal of Honor.
ANTON SCHUTZ (1894-1977)
Born in Germany where he studied architecture, he excelled in etching. He arrived in New York City in 1924 and became a friend of Joseph Pennell and his artistic circle at the Art Student's League. He traveled extensively, documenting the urban scene in the United States and his work was exhibited widely and sought after until the Depression. In 1931 he took control of the company that had been distributing his etchings, creating The New York Graphic Society, the first company to produce quality reproductions of museum works, both old masters and contemporary. Within 15 years it became the largest art replicator in the world. Schutz did his last etchings in 1939. His deft line and eye for detail distinguished a formularistic approach to various set dramatic perspective views.
EDWARD P. CHRYSTIE (1887-1960)
Rightfully endowed with an interest in New York, he was a descendant of a grandfather whose farmland stodd at the corner of West 9th Street and 6th Avenue. His watercolors, such as the four in this exhibit, were shown at the 1939 World's Fair and many institutions in New York City. He illustrated two books about New York and professionally worked as a delineator for prestigious architectural firms. His specialty was portraying as-yet unbuilt structure in a living context at various times of day or in different seasons. In expressing the rhythm of urban life - fluttering flags, turgid traffic, passing pedestrians-he portrayed a candid quality later captured by the camera and the exact antithesis of computer images of today.