The records document Messmore and Damon's work in the design and construction of parade floats, museum dioramas, exhibitions, displays and scenery. The materials include business records, photographs, patents, scrapbooks, promotional materials, sound recordings and moving image.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of papers relating to Messmore and Damon's work in the design and construction of parade floats, museum dioramas, exhibitions, displays and scenery. The materials include business records, patents, photographs, scrapbooks containing clippings and photographs, promotional materials, sound recordings, and moving image.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into eleven series.
Series 1: Background/Biographical Materials, 1925-1996
Series 2: Business Files, 1918-1997
Subseries 2.1: Messmore and Damon, Inc., 1918-1988
Subseries 2.2: Messmore, Inc., 1971-1989
Series 3: Patents, 1892-1952
Series 4: Projects/Exhibitions, 1924-1997
Series 5: Parades, 1960-1997
Series 6: Product Literature, circa 1930s-1992
Series 7: Heart Patient Simulator Materials, 1977-1998
Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1925-1947
Series 9: Photographs, 1900-1997
Subseries 9.1: Family, 1900-1997
Subseries 9.2: Subjects, 1930-1995
Subseries 9.3: Chronological, 1957-1985
Subseries 9.4: Ephemera, undated
Subseries 9.5: Postcards, undated
Subseries 9.6: Negatives, undated
Series 10: Oversize Materials, 1930-1989
Series 11: Audiovisual Materials, 1933-1937, 1997
Subseries 11.1: Audio Discs, 1933-1937
Subseries 11.2: Moving Image, 1997
Biographical / Historical:
Messmore and Damon, Inc. was founded in 1914 by George Harold Messmore (1884-1961) and Joseph A. Damon (1882-1962). Messmore and Damon met in 1916 while working on floats for the Elks Convention in New York City. The two formed a partnership and in 1914 opened Messmore and Damon, Inc., a small shop where they initially constructed animal displays, but quickly expanded to theatrical scenery, parade floats, props for television, amusement park operations, seasonal displays, special effects in stores, advertising and promotional work, window displays, dioramas, and other exhibit work. Most of their parade and department store work featured mechanical devices which animated the animal and human figures involved, pioneering in what became known as "animatronics." The firm did the first Macy's Day Parade in 1924 and attained world-wide fame with their exhibit, The World a Million Years Ago at the 1933-1934, Chicago Century of Progress Exposition. A separate company, Messmore, Inc., was created to manufacture and sell a cardiology patient simulator, "Harvey," later known as "George," for use in medical schools.
Joseph A. Damon, born in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, attended art school in St. Louis. A scenic artist by training he worked at Lee Lash Studios and built floats for the Hudson/Fulton Celebration in 1909. Damon married Olga Schaufelberger and had one daughter named Olga C. Damon (1922-2000).
George H. Messmore, known as "GH," started his career working backstage in theaters and built displays for the Panama-Pacific Exposition (1915). Messmore married Meta Decker (1890-1985) and they had one son, Francis (1916-1997), known as "Fran." Fran joined Messmore and Damon in 1946, working on department store displays and ran the company until his death in 1997. The company was dissolved on September 2, 1998.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
William L. Bird Holidays on Display Collection (AC1319)
Michael Cipriano Papers (AC1274)
Landy Hales Papers (AC0906)
John Nicholson Papers (AC1279)
Edward J. Orth Memorial Archives of the World's Fair (AC0560)
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Pamela Messmore Tobiason, granddaughter of George H. Messmore, in 2003.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Social Security numbers are present and numbers have been rendered unreadable and redacted. Researchers may use the photocopies in the collection. The remainder of the collection has no restrictions.
Reference copies for the audio discs do not exist. Use of these materials requires special arrangement with Archives Center staff.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The collected papers of Everett Shinn measure 3.1 linear feet and date from 1877 to 1958. Found within the papers are biographical material; correspondence with friends and colleagues; personal business records; art work, including two sketchbooks of designs for Belasco's Stuyvesant Theatre; notes and writings; eight scrapbooks; printed material; and numerous photographs of Shinn, his colleagues, and his work.
Scope and Contents note:
The collected papers of Everett Shinn measure 3.1 linear feet and date from 1877 to 1958. Found within the papers are biographical material; correspondence with friends and colleagues; personal business records; art work, including two sketchbooks of designs for Belasco's Stuyvesant Theatre; notes and writings; eight scrapbooks; printed material; and numerous photographs of Shinn, his colleagues, and his work.
Biographical material includes miscellaneous biographical accounts and a membership certificate from the American Watercolor Society.
Correspondence consists of letters from Shinn's friends and colleagues, primarily from author Poultney Bigelow. There are also letters from decorator Elsie De Wolfe, dramatist Clyde Fitch, and artists Charles Dana Gibson, William Glackens, and George Luks, whose letters are illustrated. There are scattered letters from A. Stirling Calder, Theodore Dreiser, Robert Henri, Ernest Lawson, Julia Marlowe, Claude Rains, Ruth Warrick, Alexander Woollcott, and Mahonri Young.
Personal business records consist of two account books recording art work used in publications and loaned for exhibitions, and miscellaneous invoices.
Artwork consists of two sketchbooks of designs for the Stuyvesant Theatre murals and miscellaneous drawings by Shinn. Artwork by others, including H. B. Eddy, James Ben Ali Haggin, Colonel Hegan, Oliver Henfold, George Luks, and Philip Nolan, consist primarily of caricatures.
Notes and writings include a handwritten draft of Shinn's play Hazel Weston or More Sinned Against Than Usual, notes for a book on art, poems, and typescripts by Shinn including "Plush and Cut Glass," a book about George Luks.
Eight scrapbooks primarily contain clippings. Scrapbook 2 contains clippings, exhibition catalogs, a note from Stuart Benson, an illustrated postcard from Ed, and scattered photographs.
Additional printed material is primarily comprised of clippings, but there are also exhibition announcements and catalogs for Shinn, reproductions of art work, booklets, and miscellaneous printed material. Rare programs for plays written by Shinn list cast members, including Wilfred Buckland, Edith Glackens, William J. Glackens, James Ben Ali Haggin, Robert Henri, J. E. Laub, Thomas Newell Metcalf, James M. Preston, Florence Scovel Shinn, and John Sloan.
Numerous photographs are found within the collection and depict Shinn as a boy, in various Philadelphia newspaper offices, in costume for stage performances, at the easel, and with colleagues, including Robert Henri and John Sloan. Photographs of colleagues also include author Poultney Bigelow, decorator Elsie De Wolfe, portrait painter James Ben Ali Haggin, actress Julia Marlowe, and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts classmates William Glackens and Florence Scovel. There are also photographs of Shinn's residences, exhibition installations, set designs and stagings of plays, murals, and other art work.
Arrangement note:
The collection is arranged as 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical material, 1953 (Box 1; 2 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1899-1952 (Box 1, 4; 61 folders)
Series 3: Personal business records, 1898-1928 (Box 1; 3 folders)
Series 4: Artwork, 1893-1928 (Box 1, 4, OV 6; 10 folders)
Series 5: Notes and writings, 1922-1951 (Box 1; 9 folders)
Series 7: Printed material, 1894-1958 (Box 2, 4; 21 folders)
Series 8: Photographs, 1877-1950 (Box 2-4, OV 7; 1.3 linear feet)
Biographical/Historical note:
Everett Shinn (1876-1953) was a painter, muralist, illustrator, and theatrical scene designer who worked primarily in New York City. Shinn was a member of "The Eight," a group of painters known for their realistic portrayal of American urban life.
Everett Shinn was born on November 6, 1876 in Woodstown, New Jersey, the son of Isaiah and Josephine Ransley Shinn. He attended Quaker schools until 1890 when he went to the Spring Garden Institute in Philadelphia, studying engineering and industrial design until 1893.
Shinn enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts between 1893 and 1897. During this time he was hired as an artist-reporter for the Philadelphia Press, the Inquirer, and the Ledger. He also forged his friendships with painters George Luks, John Sloan, William J. Glackens, and Robert Henri, all future members of "The Eight."
Shinn moved to New York City in 1897 and quickly found employment as an illustrator for the newspaper The World. In 1898, he married Florence Scovel, the first of his four wives. In 1900, he traveled to England and France, and was later employed by Harper's Weekly. Shinn befriended decorator Elsie De Wolf and architect Stanford White, and designed and executed murals for the homes of their clients. Shinn created eighteen mural panels for David Belasco's Stuyvesant Theatre that opened in 1907, and murals for the Council Room of the Trenton, New Jersey City Hall in 1911. His most notable murals were created for the Oak Room of New York's Plaza Hotel in the 1940s.
In 1908, Shinn participated in the seminal group exhibition of "The Eight" at Macbeth Gallery. In 1911, he was included in the Exhibition of Independent Artists, and was invited to send works to the International Exhibition of Modern Art, better known as the Armory Show, in 1913, but for an unknown reason, declined. Shinn exhibited regularly and his works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Delaware Art Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others.
Throughout his career Shinn was fascinated by the theater and the act of performance, which he made the subject of many of his works. He also wrote, directed, and performed in his own plays. Between 1917 and 1920, Shinn worked as an art director for Sam Goldwin at Goldwyn Pictures. He also worked for Inspiration Pictures from 1920 to 1923, and for William Randolph Hearst at Cosmopolitan Pictures in 1923. He divorced Florence Scovel in 1912, and married Corinne Baldwin in 1913, with whom he had two children, Janet and Davidson. He divorced again in 1921, married Gertrude Chase in 1924, and divorced again in 1932. In 1933, Shinn married his fourth wife, Paula Downing; they divorced in 1942.
From 1935 to 1939, he covered a murder trial for the Boston Traveler, exhibited his work at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and won a prize for watercolor at an exhibition at the Chicago Art Institute. In the 1940s Shinn participated in exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and at the American-British Art Center. In 1949, Shinn was made an Academician of the National Academy of Design, and in 1951, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Everett Shinn died on May 1, 1953 in New York City.
Related Archival Materials note:
Additional Everett Shinn papers are available at the Helen Farr Sloan Library, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware.
Provenance:
The bulk of the Everett Shinn collection was acquired via purchase from art dealer Thurston Thatcher between 1958-1964. Art collector Howard Lipman donated additional material in 1962. Five negatives of Shinn's work were donated in 1969 by Dr. Milton Luria, an acquaintance of Shinn's son, Davidson. The photograph of Everett Shinn, John Sloan, and Robert Henri was donated on an unknown date by an unidentified donor. The handwritten draft of Shinn's play Hazel Weston or More Sinned Against Than Usual was acquired via auction purchase in 2011.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
A 45-page booklet compiled by Mrs. John Wenger containing photocopies of biographical data, letters, clippings, reproductions, lists of institutions owning Wenger's work, and lists of theatrical sets designed by him; catalogs and announcements; obituaries; and 40 snapshots of paintings and set designs.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, set designer; New York, N.Y. Died 1976.
Provenance:
Donated by Mrs. John Wenger (Bessie Vera), 1977-1979.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
[Stage with large piece of scenery of arch over a river with actors in posed scenes, possibly at Dunbar High School, ca 1930-1940 : acetate film photonegative, banquet camera format.]
Scurlock, George H. (Hardison), 1919-2005 Search this
Extent:
1 Item
Container:
Box 14, Folder 1
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Panoramas
Banquet camera photographs
Place:
Washington (D.C.) -- 1930-1950 -- Photographs
Date:
circa 1930-1940
Scope and Contents:
Scan Number: 618ns0241686sc.tif
Large piece of stage scenery of an archway with a backdrop of a river or canal lined with houses. Actresses in classical costume stand in posed scenes. Three actresses sit within the backdrop, two in spheres and one as the head of an angel in the sky. "Military Social Music Art Professions Dunbar Business Ambition Home [Hist]ory" is written across the bottom of the backdrop. The negative is cut to the outline of the backdrop at the top and sides. Ink on negative: "F". No edge imprint. Pencil retouching.
Subseries Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Series 8: Business Records, Subseries 8.1: Studio Session Registers are restricted. Digital copies available for research. See repository for details.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Subseries Rights:
When the Museum purchased the collection from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, it obtained all rights, including copyright. The earliest photographs in the collection are in the public domain because their term of copyright has expired. The Archives Center will control copyright and the use of the collection for reproduction purposes, which will be handled in accordance with its standard reproduction policy guidelines. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film
Panoramas
Banquet camera photographs -- 1930-1940
Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film
Subseries Citation:
Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The collection was acquired with assistance from the Eugene Meyer Foundation. Elihu and Susan Rose and the Save America's Treasures program, provided funds to stabilize, organize, store, and create digital surrogates of some of the negatives. Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Scurlock, George H. (Hardison), 1919-2005 Search this
Extent:
1 Item (Silver gelatin on cellulose acetate film sheet., [10" x 20"].)
Container:
Box 14, Folder 25
Culture:
African Americans -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Banquet camera photographs
Panoramas
Retouching
Place:
Washington (D.C.) -- African Americans
Washington (D.C.) -- 1930-1950 -- Photographs
Date:
1935 June 22
Scope and Contents:
Scan Number: AC0618.004.0001325.tif
Group of children in costume standing in a line on a stage. The children are dressed as peapods, carrots, lettuces and rabbits. They each hold a rolled piece of paper. There is a backdrop on the stage behind them. It is painted with trees and peacocks. Ink on negative: caption and "Scurlock Photo". "DEFENDER SAFETY BASE" edge imprint. Pencil retouching on faces.
Subseries Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Series 8: Business Records, Subseries 8.1: Studio Session Registers are restricted. Digital copies available for research. See repository for details.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Subseries Rights:
When the Museum purchased the collection from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, it obtained all rights, including copyright. The earliest photographs in the collection are in the public domain because their term of copyright has expired. The Archives Center will control copyright and the use of the collection for reproduction purposes, which will be handled in accordance with its standard reproduction policy guidelines. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
African American children -- 1930-1940 Search this
Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film
Banquet camera photographs -- 1930-1940
Panoramas
Retouching -- Pencil
Subseries Citation:
Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The collection was acquired with assistance from the Eugene Meyer Foundation. Elihu and Susan Rose and the Save America's Treasures program, provided funds to stabilize, organize, store, and create digital surrogates of some of the negatives. Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Scurlock, George H. (Hardison), 1919-2005 Search this
Extent:
1 Item (Silver gelatin on cellulose acetate film sheet., [11" x 20"].)
Container:
Box 14, Folder 30
Culture:
African Americans -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Banquet camera photographs
Panoramas
Place:
Washington (D.C.) -- African Americans
Washington (D.C.) -- 1930-1950 -- Photographs
Date:
circa 1930-1940
Scope and Contents:
Scan Number: AC0618.004.0001330.tif
The large piece of set consists of four columns with three arches joining them with a pediment at the top of the central arch. The first column is marked "1877", the last, "1935". At the base of each column is a plinth labelled from left to right, "Law", "Religion", "Grief" and "Justice". On each plinth stands an actor dressed in personification of each word. Winged angels stand on the top of each column and on the central pediment. Inside the three archways are a series of posed scenes. From left to right they depict: an artist and model, musicians, people looking at a globe, a person in a wheelchair and a nurse, two people filling a jar, a person typing and a person reading, a man in military uniform and a woman standing over a pram. No ink on negative. "DEFENDER SAFETY BASE" edge imprint.
Subseries Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Series 8: Business Records, Subseries 8.1: Studio Session Registers are restricted. Digital copies available for research. See repository for details.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Subseries Rights:
When the Museum purchased the collection from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, it obtained all rights, including copyright. The earliest photographs in the collection are in the public domain because their term of copyright has expired. The Archives Center will control copyright and the use of the collection for reproduction purposes, which will be handled in accordance with its standard reproduction policy guidelines. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Theater -- 1930-1940 -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film
Banquet camera photographs -- 1930-1940
Panoramas
Subseries Citation:
Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The collection was acquired with assistance from the Eugene Meyer Foundation. Elihu and Susan Rose and the Save America's Treasures program, provided funds to stabilize, organize, store, and create digital surrogates of some of the negatives. Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Scurlock, George H. (Hardison), 1919-2005 Search this
Extent:
1 Item (Silver gelatin on cellulose acetate film sheet., 10" x 20".)
Container:
Box 14, Folder 37
Culture:
African Americans -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Banquet camera photographs
Panoramas
Place:
Washington (D.C.) -- African Americans
Washington (D.C.) -- 1930-1950 -- Photographs
Date:
1935
Scope and Contents:
Scan Number: AC0618.004.0001337.tif
Group of children in costume seated and standing in rows on a stage. Many children are wearing period costume with powered wigs. A group of girls are dressed in kimonos and hold fans. Three cast members sit on a prop throne in the center. The backdrop is painted with a scene of a path through trees with a castle turret to the right. Ink on negative: caption and "Scurlock Photo". No edge imprint.
Subseries Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Series 8: Business Records, Subseries 8.1: Studio Session Registers are restricted. Digital copies available for research. See repository for details.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Subseries Rights:
When the Museum purchased the collection from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, it obtained all rights, including copyright. The earliest photographs in the collection are in the public domain because their term of copyright has expired. The Archives Center will control copyright and the use of the collection for reproduction purposes, which will be handled in accordance with its standard reproduction policy guidelines. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
African American children -- 1930-1940 Search this
African American schools -- 1930-1940 -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film
Banquet camera photographs -- 1930-1940
Panoramas
Subseries Citation:
Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The collection was acquired with assistance from the Eugene Meyer Foundation. Elihu and Susan Rose and the Save America's Treasures program, provided funds to stabilize, organize, store, and create digital surrogates of some of the negatives. Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Scurlock, George H. (Hardison), 1919-2005 Search this
Extent:
1 Item (Silver gelatin on cellulose acetate film sheet., [8" x 10"].)
Container:
Box 104
Culture:
African Americans -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Place:
Washington (D.C.) -- African Americans
Washington (D.C.) -- 1950-1960 -- Photographs
Date:
1955
Scope and Contents:
Posed group of men in black or white tie standing in a line in front of a backdrop. On the backdrop is the text, "D.C. Chapter Guardsmen", castles and a knight on a horse. Several musicians with instruments are seated in front of the background. Other men and women stand at the edges of the group. Ink on negative: caption and "Scurlock Photo". "KODAK - SAFETY - FILM 450" edge imprint.
Biographical / Historical:
The Guardsmen started in Brooklyn in 1933 by several young men, most of them graduates of Howard University, Lincoln University and Morgan State College. Their objective was to form a club of men with like desires, to foster social programs that would include their wives and girl friends. The Washington Chapter was organized in 1933 and was inducted into the National Association in 1938 by the National President from the Brooklyn Chapter. [taken from www.theguardsmen.org].
Subseries Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Subseries Rights:
When the Museum purchased the collection from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, it obtained all rights, including copyright. The earliest photographs in the collection are in the public domain because their term of copyright has expired. The Archives Center will control copyright and the use of the collection for reproduction purposes, which will be handled in accordance with its standard reproduction policy guidelines. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Photographs -- 1950-1960 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film
Subseries Citation:
Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The collection was acquired with assistance from the Eugene Meyer Foundation. Elihu and Susan Rose and the Save America's Treasures program, provided funds to stabilize, organize, store, and create digital surrogates of some of the negatives. Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
This collection documents Kauffer's work as a theater designer, and graphic designer from 1915-1954.The collection includes allusions to correspondences between Kauffer in America to T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) in London, between 1930 and 1955. (There are no letters between the two men in the collection.) Although Kauffer and Eliot were to become friends after 24 July 1930, they were professionally related before that time. Kauffer illustrated the Ariel edition of Eliot's "Marina." Kauffer and Eliot met in London. In the collection are also posters of Kauffer's works, biographical pieces, and obituaries as well as photographs of the artist.
Arrangement note:
Unprocessed; The archive material consists of sketches, posters, manuscript leaves, photographs, clippings, and other related items that document Mr. Kauffer's career from 1915-1954.
Biographical/Historical note:
Edward McKnight Kauffer (1891-1954) was born at Great Falls, Montana. He grew up in the small town of Evansville on the Ohio River in Indiana, where the Kauffer grandparents had settled. After the divorce of his parents, he spent two years in an orphanage. By the age of four or five he had begun to draw. His mother remarried in 1899. Kauffer left school at the age of 12 or 13 to be helper to the scene painter in the City Directory.
In the Elder Bookshop and Art Rooms in San Francisco Kauffer acquired not only a speaking voice of marked attractiveness and distinction but also a life-long passion for books. He continued his studies as a painter by receiving his first formal training at evening sessions at the Mark Hopkins Institute. He met Professor McKnight, who became his patron; in homage to him Kauffer adopted the name of McKnight. A small exhibition of Kauffer's paintings was held at the Elder Art Rooms. He also studied at the Chicago Art Institute, and in Munich and Paris, and started his career as a theatrical scene painter. He was returning from Germany to this country in 1914 and was in London when World War I broke out.
In 1914 Kauffer would marry American Pianist, Grace Ehrlich and they would have a daughter. In 1921 Kauffer would move to New York City leaving his wife and daughter. In the spring of 1922 Kauffer returned to London with Marion Dorn, American textile designer. They would stay in London just prior to the beginning of World War II when they would return once again to New York. They would eventually marry in 1950.
In the Twenties in London, he went to work in a soldiers' canteen and began designing posters for the London Underground Railway in his spare time. His posters were so strikingly successful that he soon got further orders, and built up a reputation in his field. The posters would indicate to the war-weary British the normal resumption of public transportation. The posters made history in art circles and have been regarded ever since as revolutionary concepts of art-cum industry. A 1926 exhibition given at the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford furthered Kauffers notoriety.
His recognition in America began in 1937, when the Museum of Modern Art presented his work in its first one-man show ever given to an American poster designer. He returned to this country to live in 1940. While Kauffer was widely recognized abroad and the MOMA show brought attention, very few Americans knew of him and fewer advertisers were willing to accept the poster as an art form. His clients, since his return to America have included the National Red Cross, American Airlines, the New York Subways, Ringling Brothers Circus, the Container Corporation of America, the American Silk Mills and many others.
Kauffer was among the first in the early Twenties to respond to the impact of modern art, particularly the work of the cubist painters Picasso and Braque. The influence of cubism can be seen in his posters and was the basis of his dynamic geometrical style. The emphatic angular forms of Kauffer's posters shocked the public into attention. His artistry, and in particular his color sense, held that attention and, in a few short years just after the First World War, laid the foundations of his reputation as a designer, not only among the leading business men of the time, but particularly among critics and art students. T.S. Eliot, a friend of Kauffer's, describes his marriage of the public and modern art, "He did something for modern art with the public as well as doing something for the public with modern art."
In addition to his involvement in advertising, Kauffer was a book illustrator as well illustrating editions of many classics, including Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy," Cervantes' "Don Quixote," Carl Van Vechten's "Nigger Heaven," and works by Herman Melville, T.S. Eliot, Arnold Bennett, Lord Birkenhead and others.
His work is represented in the South Kensington Museum in London and in the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington, and there are examples of it also in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and in Milan. He edited a survey, The Art of the Poster, in 1934. He was a Fellow of the British Institute of Industrial Art and a member of the Council for Art and Industry. When the Royal Society of Arts established its high diploma of R.D.I. (Designer for Industry) in 1937 he was ineligible as a foreigner, but was granted honorary status. He was asked to be Honorary Advisor to the Department of Public Information for the United Nations. He was Advisory Council for the Victoria and Albert Museum. His biography appears in the English "Who's Who" and in the American "Who's Who", as well as in the Columbia Encyclopedia.
Kauffer began to lose interest in the New York advertising scene. A friend of his said that he chose to kill himself with drink. He continued to work to the end, almost obsessively. Kauffer died on 22 October 1954.
Provenance:
All materials were donated to the museum by Grace Schulman in 1997.
Restrictions:
Unprocessed; access is limited; Permission of Library Director required; Policy.
Robert Wilson : Mr Bojangles' memory : og son of fire : ouvrage publié à l'occasion de l'exposition présentée au Centre Georges Pompidou du 6 novembre 1991 au 27 janvier 1992
