City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2007 Edward Durell Stone: Perception and Criticism Mary Anne Hunting The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3660 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] EDWARD DURELL STONE: PERCEPTION AND CRITICISM by MARY ANNE HUNTING A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Art History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2007 UMI Number: 3249917 Copyright 2007 by Hunting, Mary Anne All rights reserved. UMI Microform 3249917 Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 ii © 2007 MARY ANNE HUNTING All Rights Reserved iii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Art History in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Kevin Murphy Date Chair of Examining Committee Kevin Murphy Date Executive Officer Rosemarie Haag Bletter Sally Webster Richard Guy Wilson Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iv Abstract EDWARD DURELL STONE: PERCEPTION AND CRITICISM by Mary Anne Hunting Adviser: Professor Kevin Murphy The work of the New York City-based architect Edward Durell Stone (1902-1978) has been subject to ongoing critical controversy. Stone achieved phenomenal success, beginning in the 1950s as an architect in the period of the Cold War, with buildings on four continents, in thirteen foreign countries, and in thirty-two states. But an examination of his stylistic progression reveals that Stone increasingly fell out of critical favor as he shifted modernism from the International Style to a more “romantic” modern aesthetic that incorporated decoration along with aspects of monumentality, regionalism, historicism, and fantasy—a progression that can be traced in six of his high profile projects: the Richard H. Mandel house in Bedford Hills, New York (1933-1935); a model house for Collier’s magazine (1936); the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (1935-1939); the United States Pavilion at the Exposition Universelle et Internationale Bruxelles (1956-1958); the American Embassy complex in New Delhi, India (1953-1965); and the Gallery of Modern Art in New York City (1956-1964). And yet, middle-class consumers responded positively to Stone’s architecture, reflecting the larger problematic of a crisis of taste in America, exemplified by the extended arguments between the popular writer Tom Wolfe, who praised Stone as an apostate for daring to break free from the constraints of doctrinaire modernism, and Stone’s most outspoken adversary, Ada Louise Huxtable of the New York Times, who panned his v work as “kitsch,” a criticism that still endures but not necessarily with a full understanding of its connotations. Through kitsch, it can be argued, Stone was able to democratize taste by cracking the barrier between the high art of the avant-garde and the emerging middle-class culture. Much of Stone’s legacy as a celebrity architect is due to the influence of his second wife, Maria, who helped to shape his public image as she managed his publicity at the apex of his career in the late 1950s and early 1960s. During this period—when mass communication systems were growing at an unprecedented rate—Stone especially used to his advantage print and television to achieve worldwide fame, which lasted as long as his aesthetic was contemporary with the mass culture it represented. vi Acknowledgements To Thomas Henry Remien, without whom I would never have attempted those things now most important in my life; to Henry David Hunting Remien and Mary Ives Hunting Remien, my motivation to finish; and to my mother and father who always encourage me. With much gratitude to Professor Kevin Murphy, adviser and mentor; to Jill Lord, dissertation colleague; to Eleanor Gustafson, gifted editor and friend; and to the family of Edward Durell Stone, especially Hicks and Emily. Appreciation is also extended to the dissertation readers: Professors Rosemarie Haag Bletter, Sara Webster, and Richard Guy Wilson. I would also like to thank all those who supported my research, including (but not limited to) Andrea Cantrell and the staff of Special Collections at the University of Arkansas, Kate Wood of Landmarks West!, Maria Stone, Ernest Jacks, Christian Bjone, Robert Skolmen, Pamela Wilson, Erica Stoller, Kevin Lee Sarring, Robert J. Roche, Sherry Neely, Jane C. Loeffler, Roderick K. Johnson, Jerry Kieffer, Raymond Gomez, Jeff Cronin, Denise and Vincent Degenhart, Paige Donhauser, Wayne Checkman, Louis Walker, Juliet Hartford, Helen Keier, John Baldi, Gregory Luhan, Charles Cash, Bernard Rooney, Kate Wood, Mrs. Julian Salley, Frederick E. Nelson, and Edward Jones III. And finally, with thanks to Allison Ledes, editor of The Magazine Antiques, for introducing me to the subject of this dissertation. vii Table of Contents Acknowledgements................................................................................................................ vi List of Illustrations............................................................................................................... viii Introduction............................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter One: An Artistic Path.............................................................................................. 40 Chapter Two: Transition in Modernism ............................................................................... 60 Chapter Three: New Romanticism: A Provocative Aesthetic ............................................ 133 Chapter Four: Architecture for the Average Man............................................................... 215 Chapter Five: Quest for Celebrity....................................................................................... 270 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 325 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................... 331 Illustrations ......................................................................................................................... 379 viii List of Illustrations Fig. 1. Gallery of Modern Art, Two Columbus Circle, New York City: 1964; 2005.......................379 Fig. 2. Huntington Hartford with a model of the Gallery of Modern Art..........................................380 Fig. 3. Carlson Terrace, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; 2005 demolition..............................381 Fig. 4. Edward Durell Stone townhouse, 130 East 64th Street, New York City...............................382 Fig. 5. Redevelopment of the Stuart Pharmaceutical Company building, Pasadena, CA.................383 Fig. 6. General Motors building, New York City..............................................................................384 Fig. 7. A. Conger Goodyear house, Old Westbury, Long Island, New York....................................385 Fig. 8. Cover of Edward Durell Stone, Evolution of an Architect (1962).........................................386 Fig. 9. Edward Durell Stone on the cover of Time (March 31, 1958)...............................................387 Fig. 10. National Cultural Center; Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Washington, D.C............388 Fig. 11. Hallmark Gallery, 720 Fifth Avenue, New York City.........................................................389 Fig. 12. Photograph of Maria Elana Torch Stone..............................................................................390 Fig. 13. Cartoon by Alan Cantwell Duncan.......................................................................................391 Fig. 14. The Edward Durell Stones, chancery atrium, American Embassy, New Delhi, India.........392 Fig. 15. Living room, Edward Durell Stone townhouse, New York City.........................................393 Fig. 16. Rotch Travelling Scholarship drawings...............................................................................394 Fig. 17. “The Colosseum,” Rome, Italy.............................................................................................395 Fig. 18. Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis, MO............................................................................395 Fig. 19. United States Pavilion, Exposition Universelle et Internationale Bruxelles, 1958..............395 Fig. 20. Doge’s Palace, Venice, Italy.................................................................................................396 Fig. 21. Gallery of Modern Art, New York City...............................................................................396 Fig. 22. Parthenon, The Acropolis, Athens, Greece..........................................................................397 Fig. 23. Chancery, American Embassy, New Delhi, India................................................................397