Wilmers, Gertrude de G. and Julie L. Sloan — Frederic Crowninshield: A Renaissance Man in the Gilded Age

Amherst, Mass, University of Massachusetts Press, 2010. Hardcover. Black cloth, gilt letters on spine, black and gray glossy dust jacket, 335 pp. 76 color illus. & 27 BW illus. The task of decorating the interiors of the many new public and private structures created in Gilded Age America called for artists proficient in the skills of mural and stained glass design. Frederic Crowninshield (1845-1918) was one of those artists, and his career sheds light on what came to be known as the American Renaissance. Like his contemporaries Louis Comfort Tiffany and John La Farge, he devoted much of his energy to designing murals and stained glass windows. But he was also a successful painter, teacher, and author. His book Mural Painting (1886) was the definitive study on the subject for many years, and his murals and stained glass windows decorated churches and public buildings in New York, New England, and the Midwest. This book describes Crowninshield's life and work and situates his career in the context of patronage, class, and art. It also analyzes his work in stained glass, mural painting, oil, and watercolor. Contents as follows: Machine generated contents note: 1. Growing up in Boston -- 2. Europe -- 3. Teaching in Boston -- 4. New York and Italy, 1885-1908 -- 5. The American Academy in Rome, 1909-1911 -- 6. The Final Years, 1912-1918: New York, Stockbridge, Capri -- 7. Epilogue: The Next Generation -- 8. Stained Glass Designs -- 9. Mural Designs -- 10. Paintings in Oil and Watercolor -- 1. The Stained Glass Windows of Frederic Crowninshield -- 2. The Mural Paintings of Frederic Crowninshield -- 3. Designs for Mural Painting and Stained Glass Windows (Boston, 1883). VG/VG .