VOLU M E: Ill NOVE:N\BE:R 1921 NUMBER 11 A MESSAGE FROM GROMORT HE fact that M. Georges Gromort's book on it is possible that sometimes it provoked men to de­ Itali an Renaissance architecture has now been bauchery and crime, but it is not to be doubted that, T translated into Engli sh impels us to devote in developing sensibility, it produced very great art­ this page to an appreciation of his work, in the ists. O n the other hand it exalted good instincts belief that calling the attention of our readers to to the same extent as evil ones, and it is probable the translation is the best use we can make of the that peoples. like works and individuals, are worth space usually devoted to an editorial. much more possessing a few qualities than lacking T his book contains a vitalizing message for the any defects." architect and the architectural student. lt stirs one Speaking of the charm possessed by many Ren­ and gives greater power. It deepens, organizes ancl aissance buildings he says, in part: "F rom the three clarifies one's understanding of the meaning of ar­ marble steps by which one reaches the portico of the chitecture. If reading it does not make a man a Libreria Vecchia to the topmost mouldings of the better architect, we believe he must be either per­ balustrade which crowns its brilliant cornice, there fect or, hopeless. is not a line, not a detail of ornament the study of This book is much broader than its title " Italian which seemed less useful, or rather less ai1 1,11sing, to Renaissance J\ rchitecture." \ i\T hile discussing the the artist than any other. ... The architectural de­ Renaissance the author makes clear the reasons for tails have been s t~1di ed , caressed, we might say, with the general excellence of the work of the period the same loving conscientiousness of which we spoke under considerati on and since these reasons are a moment ago. Q uite a spontaneous conscientious­ basic, points the way to the creation of architecture ness, however, and one that we are hardly called of the highest character today- not necessarily in upon to credit the artist with. He was amnsing the Renaissance manner. himself, and there _d oes not seem to be very great i\I. Gromort is peculiarl y well fitted to stimulate merit in that. How could works of art conceived an appreciative interest in the spirit of architectural with such fervor and executed from beginning to works. This sets his book apart from other schol­ encl with so much delight he really tedious? Did arl y, hi storical and descriptive works, and gives it their authors reall y possess so little happiness, or special value. rather so little common ability? The least particle There is somehow the quality of a spoken message of talent, backed up by such a way of working, oughl from the author to each reader. This is so, per­ to produce interesting things: what if these methods haps, because M. Gromort prepared this work for are placed at the service of genius?" hi s own pupils, men he knew and talked to. The M. Gromort classifies the Renaissance works of translator, M r. George \i\!aters, himself an able art­ architecture in three divisions, marking the period ,~ ist. has preserved this quality while sympathetically of development, and he discusses each period in a turning into Engli sh M. Gromort's text. way that is illuminating and intensely interesting. As indicating the author's approach to his sub­ The book contains one hundred ten photographs and ject. we give below two quotations from the book. measured drawings, also forty-five illustrations in In speaking of the exaltation of personality which the text and a fo lding chronological chart of the was one of the characteristics of the Renaissance principal Renai ssance buildings. period he says: "If one of the faults of our time. as Stendhal so bitterly complained, is an unfortunate THE SKETCH COMPETITION propensity to di sgui se the tendencies and the pas­ S THIS issue goes to press we are able to say sions which form the depth of our nature and con­ A that the Birch Burdette Long Sketch Competi ­ stitute the onl y elements worthy of characterizing tion for 1922, judging by the number of entrie;;. us, the men of the Renaissance on the contrary never will be as great a success as the competition held last hesitated to give free rein to these propensities, good year. The judgment will take place shortly at the or bad as they might be. and to cultivate carefully headquarters of the Architectural League o f New those likely to distinguish them from their neigh­ York where a selection of the drawings will be ex·· bo1·s. \Ve do not have to inquire what such a con­ hibited for one week A t ravelling exhibition of ception is worth from a philosophical point of view; sketches will then he sent on the road. 9 ...... 0 ' ~ - "4<) .. • -..t:;, ... nJ , .... ;·-...· ~ft'"·· ~! : -! ~~j • • •• R endering by Otto R. Eggers, Dram1. -in P encil witli Light Washes of Color. For Description of the Making of This Drawing See Mr. Eggers's Article B eginning on the Opposite Page. THE GENESIS OF A RENDERING BY OTTO R. EGGERS In this article J.1r. Eggers describes ·in detail the way in which he made one of his renderi11_qs , covering evei-31 step from the first conference with the c/.ient to the completion of the drawi11g, ill11strating his method of work­ i 11g bv a concrete example and making helpfiil co mments as he proceeds.- Eo. H E drawing reproduced on the opposite page always keeping in mind the exterior. The size of was made for the double purpose of study­ the various rooms were more or less predetermined. T ing the design and of showing the idea to the Incidentally, it may be said that the ceilings were to client. The first step was, naturally, to learn the be high and the interior more formal than the ex­ cli ent's requirements. In this instance this was teri or. N ext, a sketch plan was drawn with T- rather easy, f o r square and triangle. she had spent much Then rough ele­ time in France, had vations wer e a house in a sub­ o I sketched, merely urb of Paris in studies in m as s, fact, and showed a made principally to decided preference ,. give the silhouette for the chateau of the roofs. One type. The i d e a of these elevation .. .. wa_s crystallized hy f .... studies is shown on gomg over a num- /. this page. It hap­ I j ~ · I ber of books with pens to be of the the client, notin g river front of the the characteristics house, opposite to of the old chateanx R onr;h Study of an Elevation. that shown in the that especially ap­ perspective. pealed to her. The site, a strip o f comparatively The planting that would be required by the site level land along a river, was of the kind into which was then studied in a rough sketch. This planting a house of this character would fit very well . The is shown on a more carefully drawn plot plan which slight slope of the ground was eliminated before was made at a later stage and is reproduced on page the completi on of the work. A s the approach was 12, in connection with this article. to be from the higher ground on the side opposite The next step was the making of the preliminary to the river front, the first view of the house would drawing that was to serve as a basis for the render­ be in the nature of a bird's-eye view. Under these ing. This drawing is shown in the illustration at circumstances, it was apparent that steep roofs the bottom of this page. It was made practically in would be desirable-the kind of roofs that one can elevation in order that the design might be studied play with. the more easily. It is at one-eighth inch scale and Rough free-hand studies of the plan were made. was drawn very lightly and indefinitely. A hard F~ r 1· \ '\ ~ ~- i ! .·j. ~/:-1,~ I ' .:.~ Li ~ The Preliminary Drawing Hl hich vVas Used as a Pasis for the R endering Shown on the Opposite Page. 11 PENCIL POINTS / .· l ...\ . ..... ,. ; ~·· . ~~"' ( ! . '· .. ( . r .> I 12 PENCIL POI N TS and very definite clrawing makes a bad basis for a of the surface upon which they are cast does not rendering fo r it is difficult to avoid getting the hard­ show sufficiently to give life to the . shadows, the ness of the preliminary drawing into the finished indication of this detail may be strengthened. work. By the way, a professional render who has Where ivy is shown, if. it does not come out black that kind o f drawing gi ven to him, as is often the enough, it can be ·strengthened later by making case. is badly handicapped at the start. There seems what may, for lack of a better term, be called curly, to he no way out of that difficulty, however, where zigzag little lines, that suggest the leaves. the rendering is not to he cl one by the designer, for In drawing trees it seems natural to draw them one man can hardly be left very much freedom in­ upward, the way a tree grows.