Calvert Vaux | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1824-12-20)December 20, 1824 |
| Died | November 19, 1895(1895-11-19) (aged 70) Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Spouse | Mary Swan McEntee |
| Children | Calvert Downing Helen Julia |
| Practice | 1850–1895 |
| Buildings | Dr. William A. M. Culbert House Daniel Parish House Halsey Stevens House W. E. Warren House Sheppard Asylum Ammadelle Frederico Berreda House Belvedere Castle Olana Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| Projects | Central Park Prospect Park Buffalo Parks System Hudson River State Hospital Samuel J. Tilden House Downing Park Rockwood Park, Saint John |
Calvert VauxFAIA (/vɔːks/; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-Americanarchitect andlandscape designer. He and his protégéFrederick Law Olmsted designed parks such asCentral Park andProspect Park in New York City and theDelaware Park–Front Park System inBuffalo, New York.
Vaux, on his own and in various partnerships, designed and created dozens of parks across the northeasternUnited States, most famously inManhattan,Brooklyn, and Buffalo in New York. He introduced new ideas about the significance ofpublic parks in America during a hectic time ofurbanization. Thisindustrialization of thecityscape inspired Vaux to focus on the integration of buildings, bridges, and other forms of architecture into their natural surroundings. He favored naturalistic and curvilinear lines in his designs.
In addition to landscape architecture, Vaux was a highly-sought after architect until the 1870s, when his modes of design could not endure the country's return toclassical forms. His partnership withAndrew Jackson Downing, a major figure inhorticulture, landscape design, and domestic architecture, brought him fromLondon toNewburgh, New York, in 1850. There, Downing's praise ofGothic Revival andItalianate architecture contributed to Vaux's personal growth as a designer of homes and landscapes. After Downing's sudden death in 1852, Vaux was left with their assistantFrederick Clarke Withers to continue Downing's legacy. He left Newburgh in 1856 to grow his practice in New York City, where he began, received and completed commissions with Olmsted, Withers, andJacob Wrey Mould. As a result, Vaux's name was frequently overshadowed by other designers, such as Olmsted, yet the contemporary American public still recognized his talents.
Born inLondon to aphysician, Vaux was baptized atSt Benet Gracechurch on February 9, 1825. He trained as an apprentice under the architectLewis Nockalls Cottingham, a leader of theGothic Revival movement interested in Tudor architecture.[1] Vaux trained under Cottingham until the age of twenty-six, also befriendingGeorge Godwin andGeorge Truefitt during his studies.[citation needed]
In 1850, Vaux exhibited a series ofwatercolor landscapes that he made while en route to theUnited States that caught the attention ofAndrew Jackson Downing, a noted landscape architect inNewburgh, New York. Rejected in his offer toAlexander Jackson Davis to form a partnership, Downing traveled to London in search of a new architect who would complement his architectural vision.[2] He believed that architecture should be visually integrated into the surrounding landscape, and wanted to work with someone who was equally passionate. Vaux accepted the opportunity and subsequently moved to the United States.[citation needed]
Vaux worked with Downing for two years and became a firm partner. Together, they designed many projects such as theWhite House grounds and theSmithsonian Institution inWashington, D.C. Vaux's work on the Smithsonian inspired him to write an article in 1852 forThe Horticulturalist, of which Downing was the editor. In his publication, he argued that the government should recognize and support the arts. Shortly afterward, Downing died in asteamboat accident.[citation needed]
After Downing's death, Vaux gained control of the firm. As a partner, he hiredFrederick Clarke Withers, who was already working at the company.[3] In two separate periods of partnership, interrupted by the Civil War, their projects included multiple houses in Newburgh, theHudson River State Hospital, and theJefferson Market Courthouse.
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In 1856, he gained U.S. citizenship and became identified with New York City's artistic community, “the guild,” joining theNational Academy of Design, as well as theCentury Club.
In 1857, he became one of the founding members of theAmerican Institute of Architects.
Also in 1857, Vaux publishedVillas and Cottages, which was an influentialpattern book that determined the standards for “Victorian Gothic” architecture.
These particular writings revealed his acknowledgment and tribute toRuskin andRalph Waldo Emerson, as well as to his former partner Downing. These people, among others, influenced him intellectually and in his design path.
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In 1857, Vaux recruitedFrederick Law Olmsted, who had never before designed a landscape plan, to help with the Greensward Plan, which would become New York City'sCentral Park. They obtained the commission through theGreensward Plan, an excellent presentation that drew upon Vaux's talents in landscape drawing to include before-and-after sketches of the site. Together, they fought many political battles to make sure their original design remained intact and was carried out. All of the built features of Central Park were of his design;Bethesda Terrace is a good example.
In 1865, Vaux and Olmsted founded Olmsted, Vaux and Co., which went on to designProspect Park andFort Greene Park inBrooklyn, andMorningside Park inManhattan. InChicago, they planned one of the first suburbs for theRiverside Improvement Company in 1868. They also were commissioned to design a major park project inBuffalo, New York, which included The Parade (nowMartin Luther King, Jr. Park), The Park (now theDelaware Park), and The Front (now simplyFront Park).
Vaux designed many structures to beautify the parks, but most of these have been demolished. Vaux also designed a large Canadian city park in the city ofSaint John, New Brunswick calledRockwood Park. It is one of the largest of its kind in Canada.
In 1871, the partners designed the grounds of theNew York State Hospital for the Insane in Buffalo and theHudson River State Hospital for the Insane inPoughkeepsie.
In 1872, Vaux dissolved the partnership and went on to form an architectural partnership with George K. Radford andSamuel Parsons. In that same year he completed work onOlana, the home of artistFrederic Edwin Church, who collaborated with Vaux on the mansion's design.[4]
FamousNew York City buildings Vaux designed are theSamuel J. Tilden House, and the original Ruskinian Gothic buildings, now largely invisible from exterior view, of theAmerican Museum of Natural History and theMetropolitan Museum of Art. In addition to the New York buildings, Vaux also was the architect forThe Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital inTowson, Maryland.
Less familiar are twelve projects Vaux designed for theChildren's Aid Society in partnership with Radford; theFourteenth Ward Industrial School (1889), pp. 256–258 Mott Street, facing the churchyard ofSt. Patrick's Old Cathedral,[5] and the Elizabeth Home for Girls (1892), 307 East 12th Street, both survive and are landmarked.[6]
The last collaboration between Vaux and Olmsted wasDowning Park in Newburgh, given to the memory of Downing. Divided into two sections, a hillside landscape and a meadow, the partners handled each differently, connecting them via paths. After Vaux's death, his son Downing completed the grounds, adding aconservatory of his own design.John C. Olmstead completed his father's portion as he had become gravely ill and could not return to Newburgh.[7]
On November 19, 1895, Vaux accidentally drowned inGravesend Bay inBrooklyn while visiting his son Downing. He is buried inKingston, New York'sMontrepose Cemetery. In 1998, the city of New York dedicatedCalvert Vaux Park, situated in Gravesend overlooking the bay, to him.[8]
In 1854, Vaux married Mary Swan McEntee, the sister ofJervis McEntee, aHudson River School painter. They had two sons (Calvert andDowning) and two daughters (Helen and Julia).
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