Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1869-04-28)April 28, 1869 Pomfret, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | April 23, 1924(1924-04-23) (aged 54) New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | New Haven Collegiate and Commercial Institute |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Parent(s) | Charles Wells Goodhue, Helen Grosvenor (Eldredge) Goodhue |
| Practice | Cram, Wentworth & Goodhue; Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson |
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (April 28, 1869 – April 23, 1924) was an American architect celebrated for his work inGothic Revival andSpanish Colonial Revival design. He also designed notabletypefaces, includingCheltenham and Merrymount for theMerrymount Press. Later in life, Goodhue freed his architectural style with works likeEl Fureidis inMontecito, California, one of three estates he designed.
Goodhue was born inPomfret, Connecticut, to Charles Wells Goodhue and his second wife, Helen Grosvenor (Eldredge) Goodhue. Due to financial constraints, he was educated at home by his mother until, at age 11 years, he was sent toRussell's Collegiate and Commercial Institute. Finances prevented him from attending university. In lieu of formal training, in 1884 he moved toManhattan, New York City, to apprentice at the architectural firm ofRenwick, Aspinwall & Russell (one of its principals,James Renwick Jr., was the architect of Grace Church andSt. Patrick's Cathedral, both in New York City). Goodhue's apprenticeship ended in 1891 when he won a design competition for St. Matthew's in Dallas.
After completing his apprenticeship, Goodhue moved toBoston, Massachusetts, where he was befriended by a group of young, artistic intellectuals involved in the founding of theSociety of Arts and Crafts – Boston in 1897. This circle includedCharles Eliot Norton ofHarvard University andErnest Fenollosa of theBoston Museum of Fine Arts. It was also through this group that Goodhue metRalph Adams Cram, who would be his business partner for almost 25 years. Cram and Goodhue were members of several societies, including the "Pewter Mugs" and the "Visionists". In 1892–1893 they published a quarterly art magazine calledThe Knight Errant. The multitalented Goodhue was also a student ofbook design andtype design. In 1896, he created the Cheltenham typeface for use by a New York printer, Cheltenham Press. This typeface came to be used as the headline type forThe New York Times.
In 1891, Cram and Goodhue formed the architectural firm of Cram, Wentworth & Goodhue, renamedCram, Goodhue & Ferguson in 1898. The firm was a leader inNeo-Gothic architecture, with significant commissions from ecclesiastical, academic, and institutional clients. The Gothic RevivalSaint Thomas Church was designed by them and completed in 1913 onManhattan'sFifth Avenue in New York City. In 1904, Goodhue built a townhouse at 106East 74th Street, pushing the front to the building line and redesigning it in a mix of Gothic and Tudor styles.[1] In 1915, Goodhue accepted membership to what is known now as theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters.[2] In 1917, Goodhue was elected into theNational Academy of Design as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1923.
When Goodhue left to begin his own practice in 1914, Cram had already created his dreamed-ofGothic Revival commission at theCathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, and continued to work in the Gothic style mode for the rest of his career.
Goodhue departed into a series of radically different stylistic experiments over his independent career. His first was theByzantine Revival style forSt. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church on New York City'sPark Avenue, built on a new platform just above theGrand Central Terminal railyards.
In California, in 1915, Bertram Goodhue re-interpreted masterfulSpanish Baroque andSpanish Colonial architecture complete with the latter's traditionalChurrigueresque detailing into what became known as theSpanish Colonial Revival Style of architecture. This was for the significant commission of theEl Prado Quadrangle's layout and buildings at the major 1915Panama–California Exposition, located in San Diego'sBalboa Park. He was the lead architect, taking over fromIrving Gill, withCarleton Winslow Sr. andLloyd Wright assisting. The Panama–California Exposition's style was seen by many and widely published, becoming extremely influential in California and the Southern and Southwestern United States. It led to California's assimilation ofSpanish Colonial Revival Style architecture as its dominant historical regional style, which continues to this day. The singular style for therebuilding of Santa Barbara after its 1925 destruction by a major earthquake was drawn from the localMission Revival and Goodhue'sPanama–California Exposition Spanish Colonial Revival style trends.[3] Examples of influential private Californian commissions, both extant registered landmarks now, are his 1906 J. Waldron Gillespie Estate,El Fureidis; and 1915 Dater – Wright Ludington Estate, Dias Felices — Val Verde inMontecito.[3][4][5] Goodhue and Gillespie had done a six-month research and acquisitions tour together throughEgypt,Persia, and theArabian Peninsula before collaborating on the classicPersian gardens layout and Roman and Spanish Colonial Revival residence at El Fureidis. Goodhue's Spanish Colonial Revival style work went on to dominate theHawaiian architecture of public buildings and estate residences during the 1920s building boom in theTerritory of Hawaii.[6]
Later Goodhue's architectural creations became freed of architectural detail and moreRomanesque in form, although he remained dedicated to the integration ofsculpture,mosaic work, and color in his surface architectural details. Towards the end of his career, he arrived at a highly personal style, a synthesis of simplified form and a generalized archaic quality, and those innovations paved the way for others to transition to modern architectural idioms. This style is seen in his last major projects: the 1926Mediterranean revival andEgyptian revivalLos Angeles Public Library; theNebraska State Capitol; and in his 1922 entry for theChicago Tribune Tower competition.
Goodhue died in 1924 in New York City. He was interred within a wall vault in the north (left-hand)transept of hisChurch of the Intercession, at his request in the building he considered his finest. Architectural sculptorLee Lawrie created aGothic styled tomb for him there, featuring Goodhue recumbent, crowned by a carved halo of some of his buildings. He received theAIA Gold Medal in 1925.
Throughout his career, Goodhue relied on frequent collaborations with several significant artists and artisans. These included architectural sculptorLee Lawrie, and mosaicist and muralistHildreth Meiere. Their work is central to the aesthetic power and social messages implicit in Goodhue's best work. Lee Lawrie worked with Cram and Goodhue on: the Chapel at West Point, the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Bartholomew's, and the reredos at the Church of St. Thomas. Lawrie worked after 1914 with Goodhue's independent practice on: theLos Angeles Public Library, theNebraska State Capitol, theRockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago, theNational Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C., and theChrist Church Cranbrook completed after Goodhue's death at theCranbrook Schools inBloomfield Hills, Michigan.Edward Ardolino was a frequent collaborating sculptor.
After Goodhue's unexpected death in 1924, many of his designs and projects were brought to completion by architect Carleton Winslow Sr. in California, the successor firm ofMayers Murray & Phillip in New York, and other former associates. Goodhue's offices had employed before they established their own independent practices and reputations, designers and architects such asRaymond Hood, Carleton Winslow Sr.,Clarence Stein, andWallace Harrison. Thematic consultantHartley Burr Alexander, Lee Lawrie, and Hildreth Meiere reassembled in the 1930s for theRockefeller Center project collaboration with Raymond Hood.
In a dissertation on American regional architecture in California and Hawaii, Goodhue is credited with creating a distinctive interpretation ofSpanish Colonial architecture into theSpanish Colonial Revival Style as a dominant Californian regional vernacular.[6] He also directly influenced the dominance of the Spanish Colonial Revival style in major public and private architecture of 1920s Hawaii.[6]
Along withPaul Cret and others, Goodhue is sometimes credited with being part of popularizing theart deco style in America, as in his design for theNebraska State Capitol building, by which some may retroactively classify him as an early AmericanModernist. However, his dedication to the integration of art and architecture was contrary to the spirit ofModernism design, and at least partly accounts for the academic and critical neglect of his work.[citation needed]
A significant archive of Goodhue's correspondence,architectural drawings, and professional papers is held by theAvery Architectural and Fine Arts Library atColumbia University in New York City.
James Perry Wilson, an architect and painter responsible for many of the Natural History dioramas at theAmerican Museum of Natural History, was employed by Bertram Goodhue Associates before transitioning to museum work.[7]
