A Significant Collection of Books on American Arts
Collecting and connoisseurship often begin at home, and sometimes result in profound significance and generosity. Long-time friend of Historic Deerfield, Stephen Wolf of New York City, grew up in and later operated the family paint business, founded in 1869.
But instead of turning to other interests in his spare time, Steve built the premier, private library on the topics of paint, varnish, and color theory dating from the 16th century onward—some 1,500 titles. When Steve passed away in June 2008, he made his long-promised bequest of the library to Historic Deerfield. His generosity, joined by that of his wife Mary and son Matthew, assures in perpetuity the public relevance of his library—and places Historic Deerfield’s reference and rare book collection in this field at the pinnacle of research interest.
Highlights of the collection include: Lomazzo’s A Tracte Containing the Artes of Curious Paintinge Carvinge Buildinge Written first in Italian…and Englished by [Richard Haydocke] …(Oxford: 1598), Stalker and Parker’s A Treatise of Japaning & Varnishing (Oxford:1688), and Owen Jones’s Grammar of Ornament (London: 1856). Many of the most beautiful books, given the topics of color and paint, were published during the latter half of the 19th century. They join other important titles with focused interest on New England, like the edition of Marcet’s Conversations on Chemistry … published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, in 1818, and Rufus Porter’s A New Collection of Genuine Receipts for the Preparation and Execution of Curious Arts …Dying (Boston: 1831).
The Wolf Collection is available to researchers interested in fine art, interior decoration, carriage painting, japanning, color theory, wall treatments, dyeing, enameling, glazing, theatrical set design, art restoration, varnishes, gilding, and the manufacture of paint. It is housed in the Joseph Peter Spang III Special Collections Room in the Memorial Libraries.
Introduction
History of Color
Figures 1- 3: These three colored frontispieces show some of the many representations of color that were produced by scientists and artists. From left to right: Field’s Chromatography by George Field (1885), The Theory of Colouring by J. Bacon (1872), and The Interior Decorator by D. R. Hay (1867)
Artistic Ventures
Prior to the 20th century an artist had to know how to produce the proper shades and textures necessary to create their works. Yet today’s appreciators of art do not think about the body of knowledge necessary to make great art. Different paints and their varying qualities contribute to how a finished product looks—artists knew this and adjusted their materials accordingly. These skills didn’t come naturally; instead, they had to be learned through trial and error, an apprenticeship, or book learning. There are many printed works targeting artists that offer an education in the materials, color theory, and techniques necessary for producing a creation. The Wolf Collection contains many of the manuals and treatises on painting that would have been referenced by artists from several different periods.
One of the earliest of these books of instructions in the Wolf Collection is Ars Pictoria, written by Alexander Browne and published in 1675. Browne explores the facets of drawing, painting, etching, and description (limning). His instruction is focused mainly on the body, thought to be the pinnacle of an artist’s representation, its proportions, and its movements. This early volume is full of detailed illustrations, concluding with several engravings of sketches for the reader to reference.
A century later in 1756, The Practice of Painting by Thomas Bardwell was published. Differing from Browne, Bardwell focuses on the different layers of a painting, giving detailed instructions for the colors and technique needed for each coat. This volume also focuses on perspective, background painting, and drapery, each a component that contributes to the attractiveness of the final product. Bardwell based his book on intensive study of the work of the old masters; he hoped to replicate their skills and techniques through copying, motivated by the belief that their techniques had been lost to time without being written down.
In 1821, John Bulkley authored A Treatise on Landscape Painting in Oil. As time went on, manuals such as these became more specific and focused on a specific type of painting or subject. At the time of Bulkley’s writing there was a movement toward specialization and in this volume Bulkley demonstrates the important things to know about lighting in scene painting. His writing is organized around plates that demonstrate landscape scenes each at a different time of day: morning, noon, evening, twilight, and night.
Figure 8: Engraving from Alexander Browne’s Ars Pictoria (1675)
What is a LITHOGRAPH?
Many books in the Wolf Collection, and several selected for this exhibit, feature prominent colored lithographs. This technique was the premier way of printing color images for several decades before the advent of more advanced processes. Prior to the lithograph technique, color in printed books had to be hand drawn onto black and white engravings, a process that took time and didn’t produce uniform copies. The lithograph technique was invented in 1798 by Aloys Senefelder. The process involves using a different printing surface (most often a slab of limestone) for each color. The artist draws directly on the stone with a greasy substance, like a wax pencil, and afterwards the surface is treated so that ink will only attach to the desired spaces. The process creates a unique way of printing, because it captures each stroke of the artist’s pencil. A lithograph is a beautiful product that looks like it’s been drawn by hand. But the precise nature of having to run each sheet through the press several times meant that there was great time and expense that went into each plate. The unique colored results produced through the lithographic process meant that it was common for publishers to advertise how many each volume had.
Figure 12: Engraving depicting a pleasing arrangement of frames (pg. 189) from The Paper Hanger, Painter, Grainer, and Decorator’s Assistant (1878)
Figure 13: Page of color swatches from Scumbling and Colour Glazing by Andrew Millar (1909)
Interior Decorating
The interior of houses and buildings can be a place to demonstrate one’s personal taste and style. It is also a place that requires maintenance. The work of interior decorators can be varied, and the Wolf Collection addresses many facets in several manuals. The decorator may use any array of tools to form the desired interior effect for their home or client.
The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones (1856) was an extremely famous and influential text. The book is most well known for its one hundred and twelve full colored plates depicting famous styles and designs from around the world. Different chapters include plates highlighting different design/ornament styles from cultures around the world. Each lithograph draws in the viewer and captures their attention with the detailed intricacy and vibrant color. Flipping through The Grammar of Ornament feels almost like stepping into the regions that it depicts, Jones brings to life on paper Egypt, India, Greece, as well as many others.
A standout in this category is the 1878 The Paper Hanger, Painter, Grainer and Decorator’s Assistant attributed only to “A Decorator.” Decorating is a theme that shows up in several books, and though paint is an important part of their job, this publication also includes information on how to hang pictures satisfactorily and examples of lettering styles. This volume specifically devotes much space to wallpaper (referred to as paper hangings) and stenciling. Developments in production in this period allowed for an explosion of wallpapers onto the market. As new ways to decorate one’s home were developed, new publications sprung up to provide expertise.
The American Grainers’ Hand-Book from 1872, published by John W. Masury & Son, a Brooklyn based paint company, is an instruction manual for creating realistic wood grains out of paint. It includes fourteen different full-page colorful examples of different popular woodgrains that the manual wishes to instruct the reader to create. Masury & Son give detailed explanations on how black and white engravings of the types of brushes and tools used to create them.
Some of the newest volumes, after 1900, in the Stephen L. Wolf Collection focus on the new ability for American consumers of all classes to customize their houses. The brilliantly colored paint catalogs from the early twentieth century showcase a unique look into the idealized American home. The catalogs function as ads for suitability of their own paints and supplies in the creation of a trendy and modern house.
Andrew Millar’s 1909 text focuses on some of the techniques known to create a more high end look, Scumbling and Colour Glazing. These techniques are not used exclusively on interior painting, they can also be applied to art or coach painting. Millar writes an instructional text for those wishing to learn the practices of scumbling or glazing. He goes through techniques, materials, and best practices. Millar’s book is filled to the brim with paint swatches showing examples examples of glazing and scumbling, they are especially interesting to look at because the change to the paint over a century is obvious in fading and discoloration.Many of these home decorating catalogs specifically focus on the harmony of colors, a holdover from the late nineteenth century. The catalogs often show the same room decorated different ways. In the still popular brand Benjamin Moore & Co.’s 1930 viewbook entitled Practical Suggestions for Interior and Exterior Decoration, colored plates are set side by side, each advertising a different way of styling rooms in the home, from the kitchen to the bedrooms. This ingenious style of advertising conjured up images of the most idyllic home, then skillfully provided everything you needed to make it yours.
Figure 14: A page spread from Benjamin Moore & Co.’s Practical Suggestions for Interior and Exterior Decoration (1930), showing two possible ways of styling the same sun porch
Exterior Decorating
Just as in interior decorating, exterior paint has many important functions, but is most noted for its aesthetic appeal. The exterior color of a building can be a strong indication of wealth, status, or function. Paint and other wood treatments can help to prevent weathering of buildings, and increase the longevity of the structure.
Modern House Painting
One of the most beautiful books in the Wolf Collection is E. K. Rossiter and F. A. Wright’s Modern House Painting compiled in 1882. This volume discusses the best colors and techniques for house painting, and is famous for its 20 beautifully colored lithographs. Each full-page illustration shows different styles of houses painted in various ways. Along with each is a description of why the colors suit the style of the house in question. Though Rossiter and Wright focus mainly on the exterior of contemporary houses, there are a few plates dedicated to interior color design and the importance of color harmony is yet again highlighted. Modern House Painting manages to capture the ideals of a stately well-maintained American house in the late 19th century.
Catalogue and Priced List of Materials…
Exterior painting requires a variety of paints and brushes. The Catalogue and Priced List of Materials… of C.T. Raynolds & Co. is an fascinating look into the 1892 world of exterior painting. The catalog covers all the things that an artist or professional painter could want. Though it starts with a focus on paint tubes, there is a large section devoted to brushes used by workmen including many images of the different brush types. The large brushes can be used for paint or varnish, on a variety of surfaces from wooden exterior faces to roofs.
Figure 16: Images of a selection of house painting tools and brushes from the Catalogue and Priced List of Materials (1892)
Transportation
Paint has become a staple of modern travel. The roots of today’s flashy car colors are found in past train and carriage painting. Transportation vehicles have long since been a symbol of elite status; though a Lamborghini might not have the intricate painting of an 18th-century coach, its value is well known to onlookers.
The painting of transportation vehicles stems from the important role that paint plays in the longevity of the vehicle. From modern cars to historic carriages, the treatments that are added to the body hold both aesthetic but also intensely practical applications. Varnishes and other treatments protect the wood or metal from the elements. The techniques applied to vehicles have the effect of making them durable and protected from the many situations that they will face in their travels. Paint used on vehicles needs to withstand beating sun, pouring rain, high speeds, and freezing temperatures.
Before the full metal bodies of automobiles and train cars, carriages were the main form of wheeled transportation, and painting them was an extensive art. There are several books in the Wolf Collection devoted to the trade, but one of the finest among them is The Complete Carriage and Wagon Painter by Fritz Schriber, circa 1895. In this guide Schriber covers painting not only carriages and wagons, but also sleighs, offering a glimpse into the now obsolete art. It includes examples of different design features and instructions on several lettering styles.
Paint companies expanded their customer base with the introduction of trains into the American consciousness. Trains, like all other mechanisms for conveying people and things, required specially produced paints. Masury’s Ready Made Colors, distributed by the company of John W. Masury & Son, is a pamphlet dedicated to promoting their paints advertised for just that purpose. In this 19th-century booklet, 35 different color swatches of Masury’s Railroad and Liquid Colors are on display. Additional advertisement text promotes the superiority of Masury paint at its unrivaled cost. Though it is described as liquid paint, meaning that it comes in cans, the pamphlet still includes a section explaining how to prepare and mix the paint for proper use.
John W. Masury & Son[6]
The Wolf Collection contains several items distributed by the Masury & Son company, originally located in Brooklyn, NY. Today the Henry N. Flynt Library holds a number of paint catalogs, manuals, and advertising materials from the several decades that the business was in operation. John W. Masury built a paint empire. At his start in the mid19th century, the creation of paint was still a laborious process. Masury pushed for the factory production of paint, a move that worked well and earned him immense wealth. Originally the company started as a collaboration, but by 1870 he was the sole owner, changing the name to “John W. Masury” and five years later he renamed it “John W. Masury & Son.” In addition to his revolutionary industrialization of the paint-making process with a mechanism for grinding paints, he is best known for the creation of the resealable metal paint can lid. Eventually manufacturing moved to Baltimore in the 1940s, and later the company was sold to the Valspar Paint Corporation in 1979 when the Masury line was discontinued.
Figure 19: Frontispiece from The Coach Painter’s Handbook and Guide by Coach Painter (1890s?)
The increase in mechanization at the start of the 20th century did not dissuade the popularity of horse-drawn vehicles. In 1906, M. C. Hillick wrote Practical Carriage and Wagon Painting, which covers everything from the necessary equipment in the shop of a painter, to the best colors to use and how to mix them. There are also instructions to create the most popular decorations, with depictions of what they are supposed to look like and the brushes needed to achieve them. But interestingly, Hillick acknowledges the changing world around him by providing in the final chapter a short guide to automobile painting.
Superfine Automobile & Coach Colors
In the early 20th century coaches and cars shared the road, though the latter would quickly come to dominate the pavement; contemporary paint companies catered to both forms of transportation. From this period comes John W. Masury & Son’s advertising booklet, Superfine Automobile & Coach Colors, bound in a colorful cardboard cover with depictions of subjects driving both cars and carriages. Inside the delightful covers is a selection of Masury paint samples, with each page protected by a sheet of tissue paper. There are instructions for use and lists of color names at the beginning of the book. This is an unusual piece of history to survive as it is not a traditional book, but rather a selection of paint swatches that wouldn’t usually find its way into a typical library. In this way the Stephen L. Wolf Collection is unique in its contents.
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Written by Claire Sullivan, Smith College – 2023 Memorial Libraries Summer Intern
[1] In order to learn more about Newton’s experiments and processes with color, visit the Cambridge University Library’s YouTube channel for a lecture on the his education and investigations, entitled The Origins of Colour.
[2] Though pigment collections were once a common part of all artists’ studios, premixed paints have become the standard. The Harvard Art Museum in Cambridge holds one of the premier collections of pigments (more than 2,700 different varieties).
[3] The University of Delaware produced a wonderful video that shows how artists would have produced the oil paints that they used.
[4] At its start, what we know as photography today was known as “daguerreotype,” named for its inventor Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre. The process was the result of years of work, but he eventually achieved success in capturing the temporary images shown by a camera obscura.
[5] For those interested, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s article detailing the process of lithography includes explanations of the materials used and wonderful short clips of each part of the process.
[6] This summary was compiled with reference to The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, The NYTimes Archive, and Patrick Mcheffey.