National Museum of American Illustration

National Museum of American Illustration

Coordinates: 41°28′11″N 71°18′25″W / 41.4696°N 71.3069°W / 41.4696; -71.3069

National Museum of
American Illustration
Established 1998
Location Newport, RI, USA
Type Visual art
Director Laurence S. Cutler and Judy Goffman Cutler
Website http://www.americanillustration.org/

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.[1][2]

Contents

History

The NMAI was founded in 1998 by husband and wife team Laurence S. Cutler (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.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

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.[6]

Notable paintings

Notable works by Norman Rockwell in the collection include Russian Schoolroom and The Runaway.

Artists in the American Imagist Collection[7]

Vernon Court

The American Imagist Collection is housed in the Carrère and Hastings 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.[8]

The Frederick Law Olmsted Park

Stoneacre (1884), the three acres property opposite Vernon Court, 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.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Founding of the Museum." NMAI: The National Museum of American Illustration. http://www.americanillustration.org/html/m_founders.html. 27 Oct. 2009.
  2. ^ "Museum Mission Statement." NMAI: The National museum of American Illustration. http://www.americanillustration.org/html/m_mission.html.
  3. ^ Laurence S Cutler; Judy Goffman Cutler; National Museum of American Illustration. Maxfield Parrish and the American Imagists. Edison, NJ: Wellfleet Press, 2004. pg. 329 - 331.
  4. ^ Laurence S Cutler; Judy Goffman Cutler; National Museum of American Illustration. Maxfield Parrish and the American Imagists. Edison, NJ: Wellfleet Press, 2004. pg. 329 - 331.
  5. ^ "Artists in the American Imagist Collection." NMAI: The National Museum of American Illustration. http://www.americanillustration.org/html/artists_indexlite07.html. 27 Oct. 2009
  6. ^ Berman, Ann E.. "Newport News: An Illustration Museum Debuts in Rhode Island." Architectural Digest, Dec. 1999: 76+. Print.
  7. ^ "Artists in the American Imagist Collection." NMAI: The National Museum of American Illustration. http://americanillustration.org/html/artists_indexlite07.html.
  8. ^ Laurence S Cutler; Judy Goffman Cutler; National Museum of American Illustration. Maxfield Parrish and the American Imagists. Edison, NJ: Wellfleet Press, 2004. pg. 329 - 332.
  9. ^ "MuseNews." NMAI: The National Museum of American Illustration. http://www.americanillustration.org/html/news1.html.
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