4oZ78 Photographs and Historical Processes __ Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site Cornish N.H September 31 October 1995 Picture Gallery Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site RR Box 73 Cornish NH 03745 Front cover Autochrome of Maxfield Parrish in his studio 1913 Collection of Drs Sandy and Stephen Dorros Photographs and Historical Processes Over the years since the National Park Service acquired the collections of the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site great number of photographs have been added through gifts and purchases We know that Saint-Gaudens used photogra phy extensively in the production of his work from the very first summer he lived at Aspet when he was working on the monument to Abraham Lincoln the Standing Lincoln now in Chicago For this piece he employed local photogra pher George Knowlton of Windsor Vermont to capture various poses of the model Langdon Morse These photographs were lost possibly in the fires that destroyed the studios in 1904 and 1944 One day perhaps we may locate the Knowlton studio collection since we know knowlton moved to Sycamore Illinois in the late 19th Century In 1989 Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site was able to acquire the original prints from the DeWitt Clinton Ward collection that were to be portfolio of Saint Gaudens work produced as series of fine art prints Among these are some 900 images produced by Ward from existing photographs of Saint-Gaudens earlier works by George Cox and other art photographers employed by Saint-Gaudens as well as snapshots made by studio assistants and family members over the years In addition there is work done by Ward just after Saint-Gaudens death in 1907 no doubt in conjunction with the great retrospective exhibition that was mounted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 1908 After surveying this extensive collection of historic and modern photographs we found that almost all the historical processes used in photography were repre sented That survey and the discovery by the Dorros Family of some of the earliest color photographs ever made most of which were views of Cornish was the catalyst and inspiration for this exhibition would like to thank those who have assisted in the research and mounting of this exhibition Judith Nyhus Registrar of the Saint-Gaudens NHS Greg Schwarz Chief of Visitor Services Barbara Lemmen photographic conservator of Lebanon NH Vic Reno lighting consultant the Connecticut Valley Electric company Kit Hawkins in charge of exhibits for the Saint-Gaudens Memorial Trustees John Gilbert and the staff of the Facilities Division of the Saint Gaudens NHS and the donors and lenders to the exhibition the Estate of Percy MacKaye the Dartmouth College Special Collections the Woodrow Wilson House WDC the Library of Congress and especially Dr Stephen Dorros and Dr Sandy Dorros for their special assistance in making this publication possible John Dryfliout Superintendent Dorros Autochromes photograph captures moments in time that possibly would be lost to future generations had not some patient individual focused his lenses and attention on detailing his world The autochromes early color photographs on glass in this exhibition are unique specimens not only in the history of color photography but as an adjunct to the sense of history surrounding Cornish New Hampshire at time when artists poets writers socialites businessmen and politicians flocked to the region to live work and vacation The Autochromes are small gems of intimacy with the past Our Autochrome collection was discovered in San Diego in the summer of 1994 boxed in dark corner case of collectibles shop for several years apparently unappreciated unclaimed storage refuse Their beauty was immediately apparent their historical importance suggested by notations on many of the slides Cor nish Woods St Gaudens Studio Parrish Studio Leyendecker Garden Entrance to Parrish House Researching the images began with studying the autochrome process see mu seum notes which was short lived 1907-30s and used mainly by professionals and wealthy individuals due to its difficulty and expense Although these first color images were unique exciting intensely beautiful and captured the public imagination at the time they are fragile and light sensitive and few have survived these many years To find collection of 34 Autochromes including their diascopes viewing devices was astounding Further these images involved famous artists illustrators sculptors and actors and included interior views of their studios difficult to achieve at that time due to the longer exposure times required to capture more light Augustus Saint-Gaudens Maxfield Parrish J.C household in the of the twentieth Leyendecker were names early years century Augustus Saint-Gaudens as sculptor of the $20 gold piece and numerous historic sculpture commissions and monuments Maxfield Parrish as illustrator-painter for Harpers Weekly The Saturday Evening Post Ladies Home Journal Colliers Scribners and Leyendecker as illustrator for Colliers Saturday Evening Post and creator of the famous Arrow Collar Man advertising campaign for Cluett Peabody and Co Hidden among these images is also the figure of Martin Justice who in 1893 was the first and only salaried employee on the Saturday Evening Post and an illustrator for the magazine Ladies Home Com panion among others What an intriguing collection of images Having dated them to the fall of 1913 based partly on the image of Mrs Maxfield Parrish Lydia and her young daughter Jean born 1911 New information told us that the Justices spent summer in Cornish and attended several of the local performances The Justices were friendly with the Parrish family and the Rublee family as well Reprints from the 1933 Los Angeles Times tell us that Martin Justice moved to Los Angeles around 1920 to become movie producer for the old Vitagraph Com pany and was survived by his wife Irene at the time of his death in 1961 It is certainly conceivable then that the autochromes are the work of Justice -- the views of Cornish Maxfield Parrish in his studio his family and his home and Irene dressed as Jeanne DArc posing at the Oaks Cornish was abuzz in the fall of 1913 with the production of Percy MacKayes Sanctuarj-A Bird Masque and people journeyed to Cornish from all over for this event It is distinct possibility that Leyendecker who must have been an ac quaintance may have been visitor to Cornish Research into the origin of the autochromes continues Percy MacKayes Jeanne DArc was written in 1906 in Why was Irene costume seven years later Who are the other Cornish indi viduals in the autochromes There are myriad of unanswered questions to date but one thing is certain the beauty and poignancy of these images demand further investigation Because their rich color reaches to our modern sensibilities the insight into past times they offer us has an immediacy that touches us as no other early photography can We marvel at their beauty and respect their historic impact Sandy Dorros rL Saint-Gaudens Little Studio by Martin Justice 1913 Collection of Drs Sandy and Stephen Dorros WEST GALLERY Interior of Saint-Gaudens Big Studio Cornish NH gelatin printing-out paper by De Witt Clinton Ward 1905 5/8 inches The platform holds the clay model for the Parnell Monument center image on the left plaster model of Union Station WDC sculpture by Louis St Gaudens and on the right is the Seated Lincoln plaster SAGA 6097 Interior of Little Studio Cornish NH gelatin printing-out paper by De Witt Clinton Ward 1905 1/4 inches The photograph includes plaster sketch of the Baker Tomb and other sculptures in process SAGA 5698 Parnell Monument gelatin printing-out paper by De Witt Clinton Ward 1905 1/4 3/8 inches full scale plaster working model of the monument SAGA 6099 Parnell Monument gelatin printing-out paper by De Witt Clinton Ward 1905 inches The mock-up is full scale wooden plaster and cardboard working model installed in the field at Aspet SAGA 6100 Magee Fountain Stele gelatin printing-out paper by De Witt Clinton Ward 1906 1/4 inches full scale plaster working model shown in the field at Aspet note Little Studio in the background SAGA 5750 Male Athlete Model and Ideal Relief cyanotypes Annette St Gaudens 1910 inches SAGA photograph 407 Charlotte Houston Fairchild Playing Violin collodion printing-out paper Frances Houston 1905 93/8x71/4 inches SAGA 4356 gift of the estate of Sara Fairchild 1988 Homer Saint-Gaudens and Friends gelatin printing-out paper photographer unknown 1895 1/4 3/4 7/8 7/8 5/8 1/4 inches Swimming Pool at the Little Studio Lent by Dartmouth College Special Collections Baker Library Hanover NH Nude Female Model by Pool gelatin printing-out paper French Satin Jr./Philadephia Blue Print Co photog rapher studio of Augustus Saint-Gaudens 1895 7/8 7/8 inches Lent by Dartmouth College Special Collections Baker Library Hanover NH Tennis Players at the Rublee Court Cornish NH gelatin printing-out paper photographer unknown date unknown 7/8 inches SAGA Acc 255 gift of George and Ellen Rublee 1995 Children in Classical Dress collodion printing-out paper Annette St.Gaudens c.l920 ______ inches Annette often included the children of ____________ the Cornish community in her ideal reliefs which were finished in terra cotta in her son Pauls Orchard Kiln Pottery SAGA358f Upland Pasture School Boy with Pack-Burro silver gelatin print by Louise Birt Baynes Mrs Harold Baynes 1919 3/4 inches Robert and Katherine Ellis Barrett organized the Pasture School in 1919 and for the following three years led annual expeditions into