The Tile Club: Camaraderie and American Plein-Air Painting The Tile Club | Page 27

artists,” as its author explained. 79 By the summer of
1879, they had come to realize that every member was
“heavily long of keramics,” and it was highly suspected
that even their good-natured friends had received
more than their fair share of “peculiar presents.” 80
In response to this “plethora of tiles,” they decided to
move on to round plaques, which provided, temporarily
at least, a different shape.
The next major account of the Tile Club’s activities
did not appear until February of 1882, when “The Tile
Club Ashore” was published in The Century Magazine,
consisting of eighteen pages and twenty illustrations,
none of which were of tiles. 81 This article offered some
insight as to what had happened to the group over the
previous two years, however, its explanation cannot be
taken at face value. The excuse given for the delay of
the article’s appearance was “the unostentatious prac-
tices and modest habits of that worthy body have led
it to avoid the public gaze and to prefer the seclusive
charm to be found with itself alone.” 82 In reality, the
club delighted in publicity, while continually reinforc-
ing its exclusivity. A more reasonable explanation is
that the artists were busy with other matters, and it
had taken them this long to gather enough material
to piece together an interesting, although relatively
brief, article. Laffan, the author, reiterated the grow-
ing tendency of the group to depart from the original
purpose of painting tiles. Now any artistic pursuit was
permissible, as the Wednesday night worktable was
“covered with drawing-boards, blocks of water-color
paper, small canvasses, charcoal and pencil paper, tiles
and plaques; and brushes, paints, ‘turps’ and materials
of all kinds.” 83 O’Donovan continued to do plaster
bas reliefs, including two images of the Gerson sisters,
Alice and Virginia, who posed as models for members
of the group (figs. 15 and 16). Later Alice became
Figure 15. William Rudolf O’Donovan (American,
1844–1920), Alice Gerson, 1884, plaster, 7 1/2 x 5 5/8 x
1/2 in., Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, gift
of Mrs. Talcott Williams, 1912.7.1
Figure 16. William Rudolf O’Donovan (American,
1844–1920), Virginia Gerson, 1881, iron-based
paint and plaster, 10 1/4 x 7 3/4 in., Chazen Museum
of Art, gift of D. Frederick Baker from the Baker/
Pisano Collection, 2017.27.55
Decorative Age or Decorative Craze? 21