Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer | |
|---|---|
_MET_DT94_(cropped).jpg) Bronze relief portrait byAugustus Saint-Gaudens, 1888 | |
| Born | Mariana Alley Griswold (1851-02-21)February 21, 1851 New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Died | January 20, 1934(1934-01-20) (aged 82) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Occupation(s) | Critic and writer |
| Spouse | Schuyler |
| Children | George Griswold Van Rensselaer |
| Parent(s) | George Griswold Lydia Alley |
| Awards | American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal |
| Signature | |
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Mariana Alley Griswold Van Rensselaer (February 21, 1851 – January 20, 1934), usually known asMrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer orM. G. Van Rensselaer, was an American author focusing on architectural criticism.
Mariana Alley Griswold was born inNew York City on February 21, 1851. She was the daughter of George Griswold and Lydia (née Alley) Griswold (1826–1908).[1] Her younger brothers wereFrank Gray Griswold (1855–1937), the stepfather ofCass Canfield, and George Griswold (1857–1917), the vice president and general manager of theTuxedo Park Association.[2][3]
In 1868, she moved with her family toDresden, Germany, where she remained for five years.[4]
She began writing in 1876.[5] The first woman architectural critic, she grew in influence in the 1880s.[6] However, her publications encompassed also art and landscape architecture criticism, fiction, and children's literature.[4] She wrote articles in American Art Review, Century Magazine, and Garden and Forest (in which she wrote many unattributed articles)[4][7] After refuting an offer to edit the American Art Review in 1881, she began writing for Century Magazine.[4] She advocated that the public should view architectural works, not as just the work of the individual firm owners, but the entire firm (particularly aboutMcKim, Mead, and White),[4] and preferred architectural training at colleges for creating intellectual and genteel architects, rather than the on-the-job training which was common at the time.[4]
Around 1890, Van Rensselaer garnered an honorary membership to theAmerican Institute of Architects, and in 1920 to theAmerican Society of Landscape Architects[4][8] In 1910, she received the degree of D. Litt. fromColumbia University,[8] the accomplishment being an extraordinary one for a woman at that time. She was awarded the 1923American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal.[4] In 1915, in honor of their deceased son, she donated a collection of reproductions of frescoes, vases, and other objects which illustrate the prehistoric culture of Greece toFogg Art Museum ofHarvard University.[9]
Van Rensselaer also served several charitable organisations, includingUniversity Settlement Women's Auxiliary (president from 1896-1898),Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement, and the New York Infirmary for Women and Children.[4] She was president of the Public Education Association of New York from 1899-1906.[4] Although she did vote in 1893 while living in Colorado, she later was involved withNew York State Association Opposed to the Extension of Suffrage for Women.[4]
In 1873, she married Schuyler Van Rensselaer (1845–1884) of the prominentVan Rensselaer family. Together, they lived inNew Brunswick, New Jersey. They had one child, born in February 1875, before her husband, a mining engineer, died in 1884.[4]
Van Rensselaer died away while in New York City on January 20, 1934.[10] She was buried next to her husband and only child atGreen-Wood Cemetery inBrooklyn, New York.[11]
Her writings include:
