Beaux goes White

Beaux Arts and Stanford White

Back to the Metropolitan tonight to get another glimpse into the Beaux Arts movement and my potential future when I'm 80. Will I be a grey-haired old spinster waxing on nostalgically over days long-gone? This is what the audience seemed to be portraying. Unfortunately one such lady went into a coughing fit worth of a Monty Python skit, phlegm and snot noises completely drowning out the lecture for several minutes. Ick!

After leaving Hunt and the posh palaces he built for Alva Vanberbilt and others, David Garrard Lowe shifts his attention to the man who gave him his greatest writing glory, Stanford White. Both Hunt and White would change forever the look and style of New York City, Buffalo, Newport, and many other Northeastern cities. The late 1800's architecture was very English and some would say dull, with rows of brownstones and too much intrusion of nature. Hunt and others wished to suppress the disorderly influence of trees, mud, and hills and use architecture to bring order to the wilds of Manhattan. Hunt was no fan of the Central Park and Olmestead. Hunt, White, and others in the Beax Arts movement strove to change the muddy browns and neutrals into whites, yellows, and pinks. They imported styles from the Grand Canal in Venice, Versailles, the Arc de Triumph, and many other influences from Europe.

Unlike Hunt, who studied at the Ecole in Paris, White came from a poor family who could not afford to send him to college or Europe. Not sure if this is the cause of his enormous mustache. He used pictures of great buildings to inspire his designs. He was a skilled draughtsman and this made him invaluable and successful. At 19, he was running the Boston office of Gambrill and Richardson, his most famous work being the Trinity Church in Copley Square.

During my days living in Boston, I loved walking the streets around Beacon Hill, through Boston Commons and the Public Gardens, onto Commonwealth Ave. or Newbury and ending up in Copley Square. I enjoy McKim's Public Library, Trinity Church, and the old feel of Boston but I'm probably in the minority for loving I.M. Pei's Hancock building. I love how the windows reflect the old (Trinity) into the new with a blend of the sky and surroundings. It is a lovely reflection of the inclusiveness of our ideal Boston where all live in stylish harmony. Unfortunately wealth has always been very powerful in Boston, and elsewhere, but in the early 1800s this power and wealth was prominently displayed by churches and individuals most rigorously in architecture. I enjoy looking at it but enjoy the new just as much, for its attempt to bring in a bit of the commoner into the planning and appreciation of lines. While I've lived in many cities where it is clear, through architecture, who the haves and have-nots are, I would claim that Boston still clings to segregation the strongest, both along economic lines and racial/religious lines. New York is a close second but mass transit and the huge population requires NYCers to mingle much more than Bostonians. Does architecture influence this segregation? Possibly.

Back to the lecture - White soon found himself starting the eminent New York architectural firm of Mckim, Mead, & White. Fame, money, and success followed. He loved designing public spaces, homes, clubs, and even furniture, jewelry, and picture frames. One story involves him grabbing a female friend's handbag, taking it home, and returning it to her a few weeks later - he just couldn't stand to look at ugly design. The lecture rightfully focused on the buildings and style White brought to life - the Metropolitan Club, the Washington Square Arch, and the glorious Madison Square Garden (2890 - 1925) where White was murdered while watching a show performed on the rooftop garden. Saint-Gaudens' sculpture of the huntress, Diana, a weather vane placed high atop the Madison Square Gardens, was scandalous for the time. It was a public, outdoor piece showing her nude! How do we shield the children from this? White was very prolific, producing some of the more memorable buildings of the turn of the century. He had no hesitation using very expensive materials - marble from Italy, onyx from Mexico, gold leaf, and sculpted pieces from Saint-Gaudens. One of his more gilded home designs was Rosecliff in Newport, Rhode Island; the massive and luxurious ballroom was used in the film The Great Gatsby. A fun part of Lowe's talk were little notes here and there about how he tried to get into some of the buildings associated with White - impersonating a gas inspector with a French friend in Paris (White did go to Paris later in his career), getting shut out of a building in New York (the business owners are none too happy at his repeat attempts to enter).

What was also interesting was what Lowe ignored, whcih I would have highlighted given my love of movies. White was a notorious lady's man, as fictionalized in the film The Girl On The Red Velvet Swing. Norman Mailer played Stanford White in Ragtime. He had numerous affairs the most famous with Evelyn Nesbit, the "Eternal Question". Lowe defended White's reputation claiming that he was not estranged from his wife, even though he lived in the City and she out on a large estate on Long Island. Lowe briefly closed the lecture ending with a synopsis of the Murder of the Century. Harry K. Thaw walked up to Stanford White during a song in the show Mamzelle Champagne playing at Madison Garden; shot him tree times in the head. End of lecture.

Huh? I was left wondering motive? Who was this Thaw character? It seemed Lowe either didn't care to go into the murderer's details too much or he assumed we all know the story. I had to look up on the internet that Thaw was Evelyn Nesbit's husband. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity, the first use of this plea in U.S. courts. He seems to have been a spoiled, rich mamma's boy with some rather violent and masochistic tendencies. Lowe obviously admires and reveres Stanford White; he limited discussion about his personal life and focused on his architecture and style.

Personally, I find the overly ornate decorative style of White, Hunt, and Beaux Arts too excessive and opulent. I'd never want to live with a staircase that seems to be from the set of Dynasty. I'd be too tempted to slap someone down it. And I just can't imagine sitting in one of White's living rooms, enjoying a pint of Häagen-Dazs watching TV. Comfy couches and stylish fabrics can make a home look great and inviting - not like some museum floor where you're scared to sit down on the chairs. I have one more lecture on Beaux Arts. Perhaps I'll change my mind. For right now, however, I think the mansions and interiors look great for movie sets and special events. For living, I'll take my little studio apartment over lavish marble fireplaces and ballrooms. Then again, if I had a car, at least I'd have some place to park it.