The Tile Club: Camaraderie and American Plein-Air Painting The Tile Club | Page 43

Notes
Notes
1 . Thorstein Veblen , The Theory of the Leisure Class , 1899 ( Reprint . New York : The Modern Library , 1931 ), p . 209 . Although the term “ conspicuous consumption ” was coined by Veblen over a decade later , it is applicable to what was developing in American society at the time .
2 . For a full discussion on this topic , see Doreen Bolger Burke , “ Painters and Sculptors in a Decorative Age ,” ln Pursuit of Beauty : Americans and the Aesthetic Movement ( New York : The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Rizzoli , 1986 ), pp . 294 – 339 .
3 . Linda Henefield Skalet , “ The Market for American Painting in New York 1870 – 1915 ” ( unpublished Ph . D . dissertation , John Hopkins University , 1980 ).
4 . William Mackay Laffan , “ The Tile Club at Work ,” Scribner ’ s Monthly XVII , no . 3 ( January 1879 ), pp . 401 – 409 .
5 . For detailed biographical sketches on each artist member see : Constance Eleanore Koppelman , “ Nature in Art and Culture : The Tile Club Artists / 1870 – 1900 ” ( unpublished Ph . D . dissertation , State University of New York at Stony Brook , 1985 ). This is the most comprehensive source on material relating to the Tile Club , however , with all secondary sources about this elusive group , facts must be carefully rechecked and confirmed . This is not meant to demean Ms . Koppelman ’ s impressive research and extensive biographies , for which I am indebted .
6 . F . Hopkinson Smith and Edward Strahan [ Earl Shinn ], A Book of the Tile Club ( New York Houghton Mifflin & Co ., 1887 ), p . 5 .
7 . Laffan , p . 401 . 8 . Ibid . 9 . Ibid . 10 . Ibid ., p . 402 . 11 . Ibid .
12 . Letter from Edwin Austin Abbey to Will Low ( 1908 ) quoted in E . V . Lucas , The Life and Works of Edwin Austin Abbey , R . A . ( New York : Scribner ’ s , 1921 ), Vol . I , p . 47 .
13 . Laffan , p . 402 . 14 Ibid . 15 . Ibid . 16 . Ibid . 17 . Ibid ., pp . 402 – 403 . 18 . Smith , p . 9 .
19 . As a means of deciphering these sobriquets see : William R . Shelton , “ Autobiography ,” ( Washington D . C .: Archives of American Art , c . 1920 , Roll No . 800 ); and J . B . Millet , “ The Tile Club ,” J . Alden Weir : An Appreciation of His Life and Work , ( New York : E . P . Dutton & Co ., 1922 ).
20 . Primary sources have variously identified Paris ’ s studio at “ 1 ” and “ 3 ” Union Square . Shelton ( cited above ), who claims he took over the studio from Paris , lists the address as “ 3 ” and provides a description .
21 . Laffan , p . 403 .
22 . Smith , p . 5 .
23 . For technical background and English derivations see Althea Callen , Women Artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement ( New York : Pantheon Books , 1979 ).
24 . Smith , p . 5 .
25 . F . Hopkinson Smith , The Fortunes of Oliver Horn ( New York : Scribner ’ s Sons , 1902 ), p . 432 . Smith provides an account loosely based on the Tile Club in Chapter XX , “ The Stone Mugs ,” and Chapter XXI , “ The Woman in Black .” Interesting as these accounts are , none can be taken as pure fact .
26 . Smith , p . 6 . 27 . Ibid . 28 . Laffan , p . 407 .
29 . All technical details have been derived from two basic primary sources , as listed above : Laffan , and Smith and Strahan .
30 . For numerous related works done at Mountainville , New York , see : Gordon Hendricks , The Life and Work of Winslow Homer ( New York : Harry N . Abrams , Inc ., Publishers , 1979 ). This source also includes discussion on Homer ’ s tile and tile fireplace surrounds .
31 . See Burke , p . 338 , who in footnotes 71 – 72 credits Lloyd and Edith Havens Goodrich for providing extensive information on Homer ’ s tiles ( correspondence , April 6 , 1984 ).
32 . Ibid . 33 . Laffan , p . 409 .
Decorative Age or Decorative Craze ? 37