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ART DECO SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

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In This Issue:

Deco Destinations: Outer London 3 Hidden Masterpiece: Frank House 12 (reprinted from Modern Magazine) Sidney Waugh: Sculptor & Designer 24

ADSW

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Treasurer—Lou Simchowitz Secretary—Kim Trubenbacher General Counsel—Isabelle Puleo Yerger Preservation Chair—Linda Lyons President Emeritus—Jim Linz

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Trans-Lux

Trans-Lux is published four times a year by the Art Deco Society of Washington, P.O. 42722, Washington, D.C. 20015-2722. Phone (202) 298-1100.

ADSW is a non-profit organization in-corporated to foster public awareness and appreciation of the Art Deco period through volunteer actions to preserve the era’s decorative, industrial, architectur-al, and cultural arts.

Editor/Publisher—Jim Linz

Book Reviews Editor—Vacant

Calendar Editor—Vacant

Contributors: Jim Linz Clive Foss

Trans-Lux is looking for a few good writers. Please submit manuscripts and photographs to Jim Linz, PO Box 221011, Chantilly, VA 20153. Please enclose a self-addressed envelope for return of material. Sub-mission of letters/articles implies the right to edit and publish. ©2015 ADSW

On the Cover: Wine, Woman and Song Designed by Sidney Waugh for the New York World’s Fair, 1939 From Modern Glass, 1939 Steuben Glass, Inc.

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Deco Discoveries Outer London By Clive Foss

. The 1930s were a time when London’s underground railways were reach-ing into more remote suburbs, and even creating new suburbs along the growing lines. In fact, the railways were the major factor in the city's ex-pansion, to the extent that the new suburbs were collectively nicknamed Metroland. Growth was particularly active after the various companies were consolidated into the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933. The manager of the new board, Frank Pick, had a great interest in design and determined that stations along the new lines should have a clean mod-ern look. For that, he collaborated with architect Charles Holden who de-signed some 50 stations throughout London's suburbs, most of them in the undecorated Streamline Moderne style. By the mid-30s, though, he was getting overwhelmed by the volume of work, especially after he took on the design of the University Senate House (see 'Inner London Deco'). Conse-quently, he contracted some stations out to other firms. Among them was Park Royal station on the Piccadilly Line west of the central city, which went to the firm of Herbert Welch (1884-1953, known for his houses in new suburbs and for introducing the International Style to London) and Felix Lander (1898-1960), who had also worked on the new satellite towns.

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The rectangular tower with its band of brick fluting and the drum shaped ticket hall of Park Royal are hard to miss on the highway that leads west from London. Brick, glass and aluminum were the composing elements of the station and of the adjacent commercial block that was part of the same project. Here, the curves continue, with shops on the ground floor and metal framed strip windows on the floors above. The complex forms a harmonious whole that greatly improves an otherwise dreary commercial district.

A few miles beyond this station stands the queen of London Art Deco, the Hoover factory, built in 1932 by Wallis Gilbert and partners (see Senate House in 'Inner London deco') and affording an unforgettable visual treat to the thousands of drivers and passengers who pass by on the thronged highway every day. The long, low office building was the headquarters of the Hoover company which manufactured its enormously popular vacuum

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cleaners on the premises. Two stories high, it comprises fifteen bays with low towers at either end. Tall prismatic fluted columns without capitals sep-arate the bays and frame the main entrance where the door and glazed tiles above feature the sunbursts and zigzags popular in the 20s. The cor-ner towers introduce a new element with their distinctive arched corner windows.

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To the west, the factory canteen occupies a separate block built by the same firm in 1938. By then, the style is very much the Streamline Moderne, with its curves, symmetrical tripartite facade, strip widows and central pro-jecting triangular light. There is much to admire in this factory complex.

In 1929, the northeast suburb of Walthamstow gained the high status of metropolitan borough and looked for someone to design a new administra-tion building. The competition was won by Philip Dalton Hepworth (1888-1913), known for his houses, churches and war cemeteries. Being aware of Scandinavian trends in architecture, he produced a building of classic sim-plicity, with no extraneous decoration to distract from its clear lines. The main facade, like the two short wings, is faced with Portland stone and

marked by narrow elongated windows. Its focus is the entrance porch whose rectangular unfluted piers support an unadorned pediment, all crowned with a copper bell tower that culminates in a cupola. High on the inner side of the piers are abstract relief plaques depicting various forms of manual labor, not at all easy to read. This Town Hall, completed in 1941, stands out in its modernity.

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The extravaganza of the Grosvenor Theatre (now the Zoroastrian Centre) in Harrow, north of London, would make a striking contrast with the Town Hall if they were neighbors; as it is, it dominates its rather drab surround-ings. Frank Ernest Bromige (1902-1979), architect of several movie houses, built it in 1936 for the Grosvenor cinema company; it showed films until closing in 1986. The main facade seems unparalleled with its symphony of curves. A rounded concrete canopy stretches out over the entrance. Above it rises a swirling projection that has been likened to the head and trunk of an elephant. This projects from a central portal-like structure whose narrow dark windows, in a concave curve, are outlined in aluminum. Bays on either side feature the same elements but in a convex curve. The ensemble is har-monious, dynamic and - as certainly intended - very visible from afar.

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Restraint and calm elegance mark the final site - Eltham Palace east of London. This royal residence, used by kings from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries, was leased in 1933 to the enormously rich Stephen Courtauld, heir to a textile fortune, and so free to wreak major change on the then dilapidated building. He reconstructed the medieval great hall, remodeled the exterior in a pseudo-Renaissance style and complete-ly transformed the interior in a way that can't be imagined from the out-side.

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The whole interior is distinguished by veneers of precious wood, elaborate inlays and subdued colors. All very French, and much of it the work of aris-tocratic Italian interior designer Marchese Peter Malacrida (1889–1980). The dramatic entrance hall, with its marquetry and vast dome of its glazed ceiling, however, was produced by Swedish designer Rolf Eng-stromer. Among the exquisite rooms are the bedrooms lined with veneer of pale wood subtly decorated and with built-in drawers, cabinets and clos-ets in what was described as the Cunard style for its resemblance to a first-class ocean liner. The curved walls support a domical ceiling. There are many rooms to visit here, each with a different deco surprise, among them the gold mosaic of Mrs. Courtauld's bedroom.

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The Alan I W Frank House in Pittsburgh was described as “the na-tion’s crown jewel” by former National Gallery of Art Director J. Carter Brown. The home, designed by Walter Gropius with interiors by Marcel Breuer, is currently un-dergoing restoration.

ADSW is exploring ways to assist in the restoration, working with the Alan I W Frank Foundation. Take a quick tour of the house. ADSW will visit the house during its Novem-ber tour of Pittsburgh Art Deco.

The following article is reprinted from the Fall 2012 issue of Modern Magazine, courtesy of the publisher.

Subscribe

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Sidney Waugh:

Sculptor & Designer

Jim Linz

Sidney Waugh in his studio, Peter A. Juley & Son Collection, Smith-sonian American Art Museum J0002265 Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, Sidney Biehler Waugh (1904-1963) was admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture at age 16. After 3 years at MIT, Waugh moved to Rome to study at the Scoula delle Belle Arte before moving on to Paris to work under Emile Bourdelle and then Henri Bouchard. During his four years in Paris, he was awarded the bronze medal of the Salon de Printemps in 1928 and the silver medal in 1929. After a brief return to the Rinehart School of Sculpture in Baltimore where he won the Prix de Rome, Waugh returned to Italy for three years of study at the American Academy in Rome. One of Waugh’s first commissions was with the American Battle Monuments Commission for whom he produced The Spirit of American Youth on the cen-tral high pylon at the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial. Waugh is well represented in Washington, D.C. He designed the Andrew

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W. Mellon Fountain located just north of the National Gallery of Art, at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue, Constitution Avenue, and 6th Street NW. The fountain is made up of three small-to-large nested bronze basins, which sit in a granite outer basin. The largest bronze basin is decorated in zodiac signs sculpted by Waugh. The signs sit in their correct astrological position for the sun's rays.

Waugh also designed the sculptures seen outside the National Archives and the Federal Reserve buildings.

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Waugh also designed the exterior decorations on Pittsburgh’s Buhl Plane-tarium, now the Children’s Museum. The Planetarium was designed by Ingham & Boyd, and built with a bequest from Henry Buhl, a Pittsburgh merchant and philanthropist. At the time of its opening in 1939, the Buhl Planetarium was one of only four planetariums in the United States. Waugh designed six reliefs Integrated into the building’s exterior, including bronze figures Primitive Science and Modern Science located near the for-mer main entrance. Primitive Science is represented by a Native American surrounded by fire and medicinal plants, holding snowshoes, a bow, and an arrow. Modern Science is represented by a researcher surrounded by ob-jects that refer to chemistry, physics, and geography.

Above the old side entrance, Night is asleep at the west door and Day holds a dove at the east door.

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The Heavens and The Earth are on either side of the former entrance. The Heavens holds the sun, surrounded by wind and rain. The Earth clutches a hammer in front of the plants that formed the region's coal deposits.

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In addition to his sculptures, Waugh began a three decades long associa-tion with Steuben Glass in 1934 as chief associate designer. Shown on the following three pages are some of his designs included in the 1939 Modern Glass catalog. The catalog contained a foreword by Sidney Waugh.

The Trident Punch Bowl In the collection of the Art Insti-

tute of Chicago

The Gazelle Bowl In the collection of the Metropolitan

Museum, New York

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The Europa Bowl

In the collection of the

Clevelamd Museum of Art

The Venus Vase In the Collection of the

Toledo Museum

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The Zodiac Bowl In the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Crystal Horse

Crystal Fish

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Sidney Waugh was well represented at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair, both through the Corning Glass exhibit which featured his 300 pound glass sculpture Atlantica of a mermaid riding the seas and his Manhattan Sculpture located in the center of the fountain in front of the entrance to the Marine Transportation Building.

Atlantica Photo by Greg Miller

At the Corning Museum of Glass

Manhattan 1939 New York World’s Fair

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Waugh served with the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. Initial-ly, we worked with military intelligence and, later, with the Allied Mili-tary Government following the Allied victory. He worked under fire to protect cultural treasures in North Africa and Europe. His efforts were most notable in Italy, where Waugh had spent many years in training. Waugh received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Croix de Guerre twice, and was named Knight of the Crown of Italy. Waugh died of natural causes in 1963. Sidney Waugh at Brookgreen Gardens Two examples of Sidney Waugh’s work are displayed at Brookgreen Gar-dens in Murrell’s Inlet, South Carolina.

Lion, 1936

Sidney Biehler Waugh

Image by Pete Finneran

Courtesy of Brookgreen Gardens

Privacy Makes Innocent Medal, 1946

Sidney Biehler Waugh

Image courtesy of Brookgreen Gardens