In 1924 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Dave Adam’s funeral on June 24th. Rupert and I went in his car. Dave was a fine fellow and was only 40 years of age. He had made quite a hit with his pictures.” Adam specialized in portrait painting and taught at the Art Institute of Chicago.
David L. Adams, 1922
David L. Adam died on June 20, 1924 and was buried four days later at the Irving Park Blvd. Cemetery. On June 21, 1924, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “David L. Adam, Artist Dies After Operation” (page 8). The obituary notice described, “David L. Adam. 40 years old, former president of the Palette and Chisel club, 1012 North Dearborn street, and widely known as an artist, died at the Columbus hospital yesterday afternoon following an operation. The funeral will be held Tuesday from the undertaking rooms of C. Kraupse, 3905 Lincoln avenue.”
David Livingston Adam was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 8, 1883. He was the son of William Palaue Adam (b. 1846) and Isabella Kilpatrick (b. 1849) Adams. Born in 1884, he was one of four children born to the couple. His brother, William Jr., was born in 1881, his sister Mary in 1882, and his sister Isabella in 1885. The family emigrated from Scotland in 1897, settling in Chicago where William Sr., William Jr. and David all worked as artists. The 1900 census listed their occupation as “copyist and artist.” That year, the family was living at 5926 Ontario Street.
Prior to his arrival in America, David had studied at the Glasgow School of art with Jean Delville and M. Greiffenhagen. In America, Adam continued his studies at the Art Institute of Chicago and was active in the Palette & Chisel Club. This was where he became close friends with Moses. He and Moses selected the final site for the club’s summer home at Fox Lake. In Moses’ scrapbook there was an article from the mid-1920s entitled, “The Camp Tradition Draws Members to Fox Lake.” The article noted the selection of the club’s summer location: “The present site was elected by Tom Moses and the late Dave Adam, and their choice was immediately ratified by the erection of a more pretentious camp building that we have ever before.” The club’s summer quarters at Fox Lake were described on Oct. 2, 1921, in the “Chicago Tribune”- “During the summer months the club maintains a place at Fox Lake for outdoor painting. The ‘Summer Camp,’ as it is called, is the property of the club and comprises a clubhouse of sufficient size to accommodate seventy-five persons. It occupies a site adjacent to the lake.”
In 1921, Adam was president of the Palette and Chisel Club. That year, the Palette and Chisel Club was featured in the “Chicago Tribune” when the club became part of the North Side Colony. In 1921 the Palette & Chisel Club also opened its new quarters on 1012 North Dearborn street. For the opening David L. Adam was listed as the master of the ceremonies (Chicago Tribune, 2 Oct 1921, page 18). As his term was ending at the club, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “At a recent meeting of the Palette and Chisel club Glen Scheffer was elected president for the coming year. He takes the office from David L. Adam, under whose presidency the club has made great strides during the last year. It now has a membership of 200, which it is hoped will be increased by 350 in the near future. Sketch classes are held four nights a week” (12 Feb 1922, page 76). On April 3, 1922, he was interviewed by “the Inquiring Reporter” for the “Chicago Tribune.” When Adam was asked, “What is your best cure for the blues?” at the Palette and Chisel Club, he responded, “I so seldom have had the blues that I hardly know whether they are blue or black or what. Prevention is better than any cure, and I have to do that by having so many outside interests.”
At the time of his death, Adam’s occupation was listed as a teacher, specializing in portraiture at the Art Institute. His is just one more tale of a talent that ended too soon.
Over the years, Moses saw so many artists cut down at their prime. This list included Moses’ first mentor, Louis Malmsha of McVicker’s, and his one-time business partner Walter Burridge. There is something tragic about an artist who dies so early in life, just when the sun is starting to shine. You never see them grow old, their artistic styles shift, or them overcome any of life’s later obstacles. They are frozen in time, always full of promise and potential.
Two painting by David Livingston Adam.Amelia Earhart by David L. Adam, 1919.Painting by David L. Adam, 1923.
In 1884, Henry C. Tryon joined the Sosman & Landis studio staff in Chicago as replacement for Lemuel L. Graham. “Lem” had left for Kansas City to open a regional branch there. At the time, John H. Young was also working for Sosman & Landis, but primarily painting at the firm’s New York studio.
Henry C. Tryon pictured in the “Inter Ocean,” Feb. 28, 1886, page 9.John H. Young pictured in the “Inter Ocean,” Feb. 28, 1886, page 9.Thomas G. Moses pictured in the “Inter Ocean,” Feb. 28, 1886, page 9.
Of Tryon’s arrival at Sosman & Landis, Moses wrote, “he enthused Young and I more than anyone ever had. He was a pupil of Thos. Moran and James and William Hart and was very clever, but awfully eccentric.”
In October 1885, Moses, Young and Tryon journeyed to West Virginia on a sketching trip. The full story was published in the “Palette & Chisel Club” newsletter years later. Today’s post is a series of excerpts about Tryon from Moses’ story. It provides ten sort scenes that give us a glimpse into Tryon’s personality on the sketching trip:
1. Moses wrote, “I certainly enjoyed talking on any subject with Tryon. He was very strong on politics, which did not particularly interest me. He was very interesting when it came to anything on art. He had been a pupil of Thomas Moran. Tryon told this story: He had bothered Moran for some time trying to induce Moran to take him on as a pupil. Moran was too much of a gentleman to throw Tryon out of his studio, so he finally took an old canvas, slapped on a lot of color with a palette knife, handed it to Tryon and said: “Take home that, make a picture out of the accidentals and bring it back in a week.” Moran felt that Tryon would throw the canvas away and not come back. The week-end found Tryon back and Moran was so well pleased with the result that he took Tryon in as a pupil, which was very beneficial to Tryon who followed Moran’s style of work even into his scenic painting, as well as his oil. He enjoyed telling this story; he surely must have made a good picture of Moran’s accidentals.”
2. Moses wrote, “We went through a number of tunnels and one, which was over a mile in length, was at a town called Tunneltown. We were now in West Virginia, on the Cheat River. The color was wonderful; the extreme blue of the distant mountains gave the whole landscape a most brilliant opalescent effect. Tryon was simply wild with joy, jumping from one side of the car to the other and calling me “There look a that, isn’t it wonderful! Aren’t you glad that you came? Did you ever see such color”? We both felt like jumping off; at every turn we could see a picture. As we neared Piedmont, West Virginia, the scenery became wilder and more colorful.”
3. Moses wrote, “While we were waiting for our dinner, and were all seated on the big porch, Tryon was seized with stomach cramps. Mr. Elkins noticed Tryon’s groaning and said, “Mr. Tryon, if you will go up to Room 3 you will find a black grip; open it and right on top you will find a cure for stomach trouble.” Tryon did this and came down feeling better, thanked Mr. Elkins, and within fifteen minutes had another cramp. Mr. Elkins said, “Go after it again, Tryon,” and he did. This time he must have taken a good long one, for it seemed to settle him.”
4. Moses wrote, “The General Store at Schell was some store and included the post office. Back of that was the living-room and kitchen and there were three rooms upstairs. Tryon and I occupied one of these. John Young joined us here and entered into the spirit of the outing. The evening of Young’s arrival we were all in the store. Young was stretched out on the counter, with his head resting in the scoop of the scales, and Tryon, with his immense meerschaum, was hitting it up like an engine. We missed the talkative huntsman, but everyone here was interested in us and our work because Mr. Elkins had told them who we were. We had two beds in our room, but had to pass through a room occupied by the landlord’s son. If he happened to be awake when we retired, Tryon would always stop and talk with him. The landlord was an infidel, which pleased Tryon, for it gave him the opportunity to assist in tearing all of the religions of the world into shreds. In one way, Tryon did not believe all he said. I believe he only wanted a chance to argue.”
5. Moses wrote, “The eccentric antics of Tryon seemed to amuse the natives. He very seldom had breakfast with Young and me; we would usually be out sketching an hour before he showed up. We found one fine place not more than a quarter of a mile from the store, across the river, which, at this point, was very narrow and awfully swift. We had a small boat which we used in crossing this turbulent stream, and we had to be very careful to avoid being dashed to pieces against the big rocks. By going upstream some distance we could ford across, and Young, with his long legs could jump across from rock to rock, but he preferred the boat. On the other side we found all kinds of sketches.”
6. Moses wrote, “During the night a heavy thunderstorm passed over us, and the wind through the big pine and hemlock trees, together with the constant baying of the hounds, made the night one of unpleasant dreams. Tryon and I had a double room. As he was very careless with his clothes – the floor was better than a chair – he stepped on his derby hat. A fine kind of hat to take on a sketching trip! Strips of paper glued to the inside of it put it in good working shape again.”
7. Moses wrote, “On a trip to Blackwater Falls we experienced a hard battle to get through the laurel, not so much ourselves as the unwieldy stools, easels and paint boxes, which managed to get caught at every other step, sorely impeding our progress. On reaching the brink of the Falls we discovered a very precipitous bank, impossible of descent. We made a couple of sketches up the river from the brink, then tried to figure out some way to get below, for that was the sketch we wanted. Tryon was not quite through with his sketch, but agreed to follow us, so Young and I forged ahead down the river, trying to find a place to crawl down. We went fully a mile before we found an opening; then the walk back to the falls was pretty hard – mostly over rocks in midstream, which was madly rushing over and around them. It was hard to keep our feet from slipping on the wet stones. On reaching the bottom of the Falls we were surprised to find Tryon calmly sketching and smoking his big pipe and quietly giving us the merry “Ha! Ha!” We were quite anxious to know how he did it. He explained that he had come down on a big pine tree which grew within three feet of the bank and was fully sixty feet high. He had dropped his stool and easel before going down himself. For a wonder, nothing was broken; they just happened to fall on a lot of moss and leaves. One look at his clothes, face and hands proved that he had paid the price, but he did not mind that. The pleasure of beating his two young students (as he always called us) was all he cared for. The effort of getting down and back was offset by the good sketches we had made. On returning we asked Tryon why he did not return the same way he had dropped into the pocket. He looked at the big tree, shook his head – then went back with us.”
8. Moses wrote, “Another long tramp into the wilderness brought us to the head of the north branch of the Potomac, a spring as little known as the source of the River Nile. We tramped through jungles. Forded streams and climbed precipices until I gave out and had to rest and take the good-natured jibes of Tryon and Young. After a good rest, in which my tramping friends participated, we pushed onto the Potomac. It is a narrow powerful stream; a number of cataracts, in a series of eleven bold leaps, are a shining flood down the mountain side; gloomy chasms open from either side, dense, dark laurel thickets choke every approach, but through all the vigorous, bright stream leaps and shouts with a mad joy as it forces, its way on to the ocean. In the early spring this stream must be very powerful as is indicates by the amount of good-sized logs and debris of all kinds piled up on the banks, at present out of reach of the water which, at this season of year, is clear and cold.”
9. Moses wrote, “When we three were working together there was a constant stream of talk, not always about art. Tryon was very fond of an argument. One instance: In painting a rock in the water, the wet part of the rock, being so much darker, forms a sharp line on the top of the water. Young and I had always painted a light line – Tryon proved to us that the line was dark and water threw a shadow on the rock. He would lie on his back for hours studying the light coming through the eaves of a red maple. At that time of year the color was fine. He succeeded in making a very effective sketch; the undertone was fine and the cool, grey lights were very effective.”
10. Moses wrote, “At this time, Tryon was very much in love with a schoolteacher in Haverhill, Massachusetts, whose name was Hattie. He promised to write her every day and she had promised to reciprocate. So we spent the evening writing letters to our dear ones.”
Tryon’s relationship with Hattie was announced earlier that summer in the “Salt Lake Herald.” On June 18, 1884, the newspaper reported, “Henry C. Tryon, the scenic artist, wrote from Haverhill, Mass., that he is about to perpetuate matrimony, and he sends a photo of the beautiful lady whom he designates as the victim. In gazing at the picture and thinking of Henry, we wonder how he was able to “work the act” (page 8).
In 1920 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Early in June I went to Fox
Lake to see about tearing down the club houses and moving them to another place…
I go up to Fox Lake every Saturday, looking after the house and I hope to complete
it on time.”
The Palette & Chisel Club House at Fox Lake.
Moses was back at Sosman & Landis after two tumultuous
years of working for New York Studios and Chicago Studios. He was constantly suffering from headaches
much of the time and had all but six teeth extracted. Yet he made time to visit
and work on the Palette & Chisel Club’s house on Fox Lake. In two years, he
would lose interest and begin focusing on the west coast.
In 1904, Moses became a member of the Salmagundi Club in New
York, sponsored by R. M. Shurtleff. Moses
joined the Palette & Chisel Club when he was 50 years old in 1906.
Founded in 1895, the Palette & Chisel Club was an
association of artists and craftsmen for the purpose of work and study. The
organization’s members were reported to be “all wage-workers, busy during the
week with pencil, brush or chisel, doing work to please other people” (Inland
Printer, 1896). But on Sunday mornings, they assembled for five hours to paint
for themselves.
In 1905, the members of the Palette and Chisel Club
established a seasonal camp at Fox Lake, Illinois.
In 1906 Moses wrote, “I joined the Palette and Chisel Club
at the Chicago Society of Artists. I
don’t know why, as I had so little time to give to pictures, but I live in
hopes of doing something someday, that is what I have lived on for years, Hope,
and how little we realize from our dreams of hope. As the years roll by, I think one’s whole
life is one continuous dream, unless we are wonderfully gifted and fame drops
on us while we sleep.”
The year that Moses joined the Palette and Chisel Club, the
group consisted of sixty local painters, illustrators, and sculptors. The
Chicago Tribune reported that it was “primarily a working club, being the
oldest organization in the west” (Chicago Tribune, 6 Jan. 1906, page 2). That
year, the club’s new enterprise was the maintenance of a permanent exhibition
in the clubrooms on the seventh floor of the Athenæum building.
In the beginning it was quite rustic. Of the camping
experience, Moses wrote, “June 1st, I made my first trip to the
Palette and Chisel Club camp at Fox Lake, Ill.
Helped to put up the tent. A new
experience for me, but I enjoyed it. I
slept well on a cot. Made a few
sketches. A very interesting place. I don’t like the cooking in the tent and
there should be a floor in the tent. I
saw a great many improvements that could be made in the outfit and I started
something very soon.” The Palette and Chisel Club camp drew a variety of
artists during the summer months. An
artistic community was formed along the shores of Fox Lake, providing a haven
far away from the hustle and bustle of work in Chicago. There were many Sosman
& Landis employees who also became members of the Palette & Chisel
Club, escaping to Fox Lake whenever they could.
In 1908, Moses wrote, “I bought the portable house that we
built years ago and at that time we received $300.00 for it. I finally got it for $50.00, some
bargain. It cost $25.00 to remove it and
we will put it up at Fox Lake in the Spring.
It has been used in Forest Park all summer to show “The Day in the
Alps.”
By 1909, Moses wrote, “As we had
put up the portable house in Fox Lake, I was better contented to go up. I gave the camp a portable kitchen and it was
some class. I felt sure I would manage
to get a camp outfit worth while and the boys all fell in line with me.” Moses
enjoyed his scenic retreats to Fox Lake, escaping from the hard grind of the
studio whenever he could during the summer. He painted numerous landscapes of
Fox Lake and the Palette & Chisel camp house over the years, including on that
I own from 1909. “
Painting of Fox Lake by Thomas G. Moses. Back side. Painting of Fox Lake by Thomas G. Moses.
In 1910, Moses wrote, “Fox Lake
appealed to me all summer. I went up as
much as possible and made good use of my time.
How I wished in vain for time and money to spend all summer
sketching. I know I could do something
worthwhile.” Regardless of his own opinion, Moses was making progress in the
eyes of Palette and Chisel Club members. By 1912 the Palette and Chisel Club
honored Thomas G. Moses by giving him a big dinner and a new nickname – “Uncle
Tom” of the Club.
By 1913, Moses was still
spending time at Fox Lake, writing, “I enjoyed the summer at Fox Lake, as the
motorboat kept us busy and I enjoyed the water.
I also did quite a number of sketches, a few very good, balance rather
doubtful.” That same year, he wrote,
“The Palette and Chisel Club boys wanted me to give an exhibit at the
club. I always refused, claiming that I
am not in the picture game, and paint pictures for pleasure only. September 3rd, a committee came to
the house and insisted on going to the studio, I had over three hundred
pictures in the studio; some very good but the other 275 were not as good, but
the boys seemed to think I had at least 250 good ones, which was quite
flattering.” That year, Moses also commented, “The Palette and Chisel Club were
anxious to buy a lot near the lake, but we found it would cost too much.” Yet
the search for a new home continued the following year.
In 1914, Moses wrote, “Early in
April a number of Palette and Chisel Club boys, including myself, went to Fox
Lake to look for a new site. We didn’t
find anything worthwhile, so we will remain where we are for another season… Miss
Maude Oliver, Art Critic of the Herald, wanted to see the animals fed and
housed, so she went to Fox Lake to the camp.
She requested that we all act perfectly natural and not put on any
frills and do nothing out of the ordinary to entertain her. I never saw a bunch act worse. It was awful.
I think she got plenty of local color and artistic atmosphere for her
article in the Sunday Herald the next week – convinced me that she had drunk a
glass full of camp life…I am not very regular at Fox Lake this year and I miss
sketching. I also miss my rocks and
running brooks. I have to go some
distance for that kind of a motive.”
By 1915, Moses commented about
the Palette and Chisel Club’s new site on Fox Lake, “April 17th a
crowd of us went to Fox Lake and took down the old house and moved it to our
new site south of the track on a very high hill, overlooking Pistakee Bay. Got the carpenter and lumberyard men together
and we arranged for credit and ordered the material for a new house 22 x 50, was
soon ready for members. We certainly got
great sport in assisting the carpenter.
Pretty hard work for an artist, but they all did very well.”
The next few years include only
a few sporadic entries in Moses’ memoirs. In 1917, Moses wrote, “I went to Fox
Lake on Decoration Day, official opening.
I had a new cot sent up and it was certainly and improvement over the
old one. I actually rest now and enjoy
going up.” In 1918, Moses wrote, “I have not been out to Fox Lake this year,
the first I have missed in twelve years.
The business is in such an upset condition that I felt I should stick to
it.” In 1919, Moses and his son Rupert made several trips to Fox Lake where he
made a few sketches. He wrote, “It is
very nice to make the trip in a car, as we made it in three hours. The roads were not any too good.”
By 1922, Moses wrote, “I made one trip to Fox Lake
Camp. It is not the same, and I am very
sorry to say that I have lost interest in it, besides I feel that all the good
sketching had been worked to death.” He did not write about Fox Lake again.
During the spring of 1918, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “My
fingers itch to get back on special scenery.
This awful grind of stock scenery is and has been almost impossible.”
In 1918, many touring shows still contracted agreements that
required theatres to provide stock scenery and props. Moses mentioned stock
scenery in an article that he wrote for the Palette & Chisel Club
Newsletter in 1927. It was part of a previously written article that Moses
titled “Stage Scenery 1918.” Here is what he wrote:
“Thirty years ago most
of the scenery was painted in the theatre, a room or paint bridge being
arranged on the stage of adjoining room for that purpose. Each theatre
furnished the necessary sets for the traveling company, which was headed by
some big star. In the larger cities, the theatre employed a scenic artist and
an assistant to keep regular stock scenery in good condition and to supply and
special scene needed. While the regular stock scenery in each theatre was
nearly complete there was always a call for some scene not to be found in
stock. As the scene plot was sent ahead and turned over to the scenic artist,
the required scene was built and painted. Often the scene was painted on an old
drop, or over old framed wings.”
An 1894 catalogue
listed various options for stock scenery delivered by Sosman & Landis.
Moses painted stock scenery collections for theaters and opera houses nationwide.
In 1895 alone, he was credited with painting stock scenery for the Valentine
Theatre in Toledo, Ohio; the
Lowell Opera House in Massachusetts; the Avenue Theatre in Pittsburg; the Broad
Ripple Theatre in Indianapolis; the Hillsboro Theatre in Waterbury,
Connecticut; and the Opera House in Racine, Wisconsin. By 1918, Moses
was an old hand at stock scenery, and it must have seen mundane. After all, how
many kitchen parlors or prisons does one ever want to paint.
Stock scenery ordered by the Elks Opera House (Tabor Opera House) in 1902. This set was manufactured by Sosman & Landis, a subcontractor for Kansas City Scenic Co. at the time.h
The demand for stock scenery
remained constant from the late nineteenth century to early twentieth century. The
1894-1895 Sosman & Landis catalogue divided stock scenery installations
into three categories: traveling combinations, small opera houses and halls,
and ordinary halls. Although I posted this information a few years back. Here
are the descriptions.
Set No. 1 was for traveling
combinations. These would be the larger
performance venues that booked headliners and large-scale productions. Stock scenery for these stages included a
drop curtain and at least eight backdrops depicting a fancy parlor scene, plain
chamber scene, prison scene, wood scene, garden scene, street scene, rocky pass
scene, and ocean view scene. In addition
to the drops, there were 4 parlor wings, 4 kitchen wings, 6 wood wings, 2 front
wings (tormentors), 1 grand drapery border, 3 sky borders, 3 set rocks, 3 set
waters and 1 set cottage. In some cases, the parlor scene and kitchen settings
were delivered as an interior box set; 4×8 flats that were lashed together with
cord and cleats. Occasionally the interior flats were double-painted with a
fancy interior on one side and a rustic interior on the backside.
1894 Sosman and Landis Scene Painting Studio catalogue from the Waszut-Barrett Theatre Collection, private.
There is need to clarify a few other
terms detailed in the 1894-1895 Sosman & Landis catalogue too. Tormentor
wings depicted painted columns with an “elaborate base and rich drapery at the
top and side.” These wings were
stationary ones that were set three or four feet back of, and parallel with,
the drop curtain. The grand drapery
border was painted to represent rich and massive drapery that matched the
drapery on the tormentor wings.
Set No. 2 was for smaller venues,
such as 200-500 seat opera houses and halls.
Their stock settings included 1 drop curtain and five drops: parlor
scene, kitchen scene, street scene, prison scene, and wood scene. In addition to the backdrops, there were 4
parlor wings, 4 kitchen wings, 4 wood wings, 2 front wings (tormentors), 1
grand drapery border, 2 sky borders, 3 set rocks, 3 set waters and 1 set
cottage.
Set No. 3 was intended for limited
spaces, such as an ordinary meeting hall for a social or fraternal
organization. This option included 1
drop curtain and following drops: parlor scene, kitchen scene, street scene,
and wood scene. In addition to the
drops, there were 4 interior wings, 4 exterior wings, 2 front wings
(tormentors), 1 grand drapery border, 2 front borders, and 2 sky borders.
The catalogue noted that the scenery
was created with “extra heavy material painted in bright durable colors, by the
best skilled Scenic Painters, and are warranted strictly first-class in every
particular.” By 1894, Sosman & Landis advertised, “Over 4,000 places of
amusement are to-day using scenery made by our firm.”
1894 Sosman and Landis Scene Painting Studio catalogue from the Waszut-Barrett Theatre Collection, private.1894 Sosman and Landis Scene Painting Studio catalogue from the Waszut-Barrett Theatre Collection, private.Center door fancy painted by Sosman & Landis for the Elks Opera House (now Tabor Opera House) in 1902.City building flats to accompany street scene, produced by the Kansas City Scenic Co. in 1902.City building flats to accompany street scene, produced by the Kansas City Scenic Co. in 1902.
In 1917, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “I went to Fox Lake on
Decoration Day, official opening. I had
a new cot sent up and it was certainly an improvement over the old one. I actually rest now and enjoy going up.”
Decoration Day honored the deceased, with soldiers decorating the graves of their fallen comrades; flowers, flags and wreaths ornamented headstones. The day became known as Memorial Day. This also became the official opener for summer, marking travel to summer homes, cabins and resorts.
The Palette & Chisel Club’s summer home was on Fox Lake.
Only 55 miles northwest of Chicago, the picturesque area provided artists with
a retreat to escape the summer heat in Chicago.
The day set apart for commemorating the deeds of the nation’s
honored dead loses none of its patriotic significance as the years come and go.
While it is becoming less of a day of mourning than in the years when the grief
over the losses of the civil war was still fresh, its patriotic scope is
widening. Another war has also intervened and left its quota of new graves to
be decorated reverently with flowers and hags. Far off, in the Philippines
there are rows of mounds that will be draped today with the Stars and Stripes
and the day will be observed in Cuba and Porto Rico. By strewing upon the water
it is proposed the part played by the navy in fighting the battles of the
nation. There is an added impressiveness in the thought that the Memorial day
exercises are being observed simultaneously not only from one side of the
continent to the other, but also in islands of the sea on opposite sides of the
globe.
Chicago has always paid especial attention to Memorial day,
and today the usual impressive parade will be seen, with the civil war veterans
and their time-honored flags in the place of honor at the van. There is
inspiration as well as sadness in the sight of this dwindling band of old
soldiers in each city and town as they go forth each year to decorate the
graves of the comrades who fell in battle so many years ago. But as their ranks
grow thinner there are stronger escorts of the younger generation to take up
the old banners and defend the things for which the others fought.
One of the most valuable features of the Memorial day
exercises is the part connected with the public schools. Patriotic Speeches,
tableaux, and the singing of national anthems in all the Chicago schools
yesterday ushered in the present holiday. The impulses of patriotism stirred in
eager young minds by these exercises are worth more for securing the future
safety and perpetuity of the union than a great standing army. When it is
remembered that the same spirit of devotion to the flag now animates the South
as well as the North, there is every reason to look forward with high hope and
confidence to the great future before the nation. While Memorial day is a time
for a backward glance it is also a day for a hopeful and confident outlook upon
the future.”
In 1916, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “A new kitchen and dining
room at the camp adds a little more worry and expense to the financial
committee, but we are all very happy over the fact that the club really owns
the home in the woods.” Moses was referring to the Fox Lake Camp used by
members of the Palette & Chisel Club during the hot summer months. The
group had started out with large tent in 1906. Moses personally donated a small
structure for the land, effectively replacing the tent.
The camp tent at Fox Lake for Palette & Chisel Club members.The structure that replaced tent camping for Palette & Chisel Club artists at Fox Lake.
There is a point when “roughing it” loses a certain appeal;
much has to do with one’s comfort and ability to sleep on the ground. When my
husband and I were first married, we went on family canoeing trips to the
Boundary Waters in Minnesota. We portaged from lake to lake with our canoes and
gear, setting up camp in a designated spot and cooking the fish we caught over
a fire. During one trip, we joked that my dad had brought along a foam pad to
sleep on. As active twenty-something, we didn’t find any discomfort sleeping on
the ground, complete with all its branches and rocks. My dad was in his sixties
and I look back in amazement that he was willing to sleep on the ground at all,
even with a one-inch foam pad; heartier stock, I guess.
Moses had “roughed it” quite a bit in his youth, but in 1916
he was sixty years old, and camping in a tent was less appealing. It’s not that
he had never camped outdoors or “roughed it” in the wilderness; he had on
multiple sketching trips during his youth. In 1884, Moses and three other
scenic artists traveled to the Rocky Mountains with minimal supplies, finding
shelter wherever they could on their sketching trip. At the time he was twenty-eight
years old and had never seen the mountains; it was all a big adventure. His traveling companions were John H. Young (26
yrs.),
Edward A. Morange (19 yrs.), and Hardy C. Maratta (20 yrs.). The four artists travelled to
Breckenridge and Moses recalled, “On our return trip we looked like a bunch
of tramps, happy and ready for our old work.”
Of
the camping near Breckenridge, Moses wrote, “We had the tent pitched
very quickly, some pine boughs cut and laid for our spring bed, over which we
laid our four army blankets, two over and two under us. The delicate odor from
the pine was very refreshing. We must
have made a mistake in cutting the boughs and twigs, for they were more like
branches and trunks…
As I was the fat one in my party I had more grooves in my back and arms, from
the so-called pine twigs that composed our springs, than anyone in the party.”
Over
two decades later Moses participated in early camping adventures with the
Palette & Chisel club at Fox Lake. By 1906 “tent camping” was already
losing its appeal. Moses wrote, “June 1st, I made my first
trip to the Palette and Chisel Club camp at Fox Lake, Ill. Helped to put up the tent. A new experience for me, but I enjoyed it. I slept well on a cot. Made a few sketches. A very interesting place. I don’t like the cooking in the tent and
there should be a floor in the tent. I
saw a great many improvements that could be made in the outfit and I started
something very soon.” By 1908, Moses wrote, “I bought the portable house that
we built years ago and at that time we received $300.00 for it. I finally got it for $50.00, some
bargain. It cost $25.00 to remove it and
we will put it up at Fox Lake in the spring.
It has been used in Forest Park all summer to show “The Day in the
Alps.” The next year Moses wrote, “As we had put up the portable house in Fox
Lake, I was better contented to go up. I
gave the camp a portable kitchen and it was some class. I felt sure I would manage to get a camp
outfit worth while and the boys all fell in line with me.”
So by 1916, when Moses wrote, “A new kitchen and dining room
at the camp adds a little more worry and expense to the financial committee,
but we are all very happy over the fact that the club really owns the home in
the woods.” By this time, it was no longer camping; they were staying at a lake
home. Understandably so, as Moses was
now 60 years old, he had entered the same decade when my dad decided to use a
foam pad while camping. I know that at this point in my life I have no
intention of sleeping on the ground.
Maybe I have become a little soft, too used to the modern luxuries of
camping cots, air mattresses, and memory foam.
In 1915, Thomas G. Moses wrote,
“April 17th a crowd of us went to Fox Lake and took down the old
house and moved it to our new site south of the track on a very high hill,
overlooking Pistakee Bay. Got the
carpenter and lumberyard men together and we arranged for credit and ordered
the material for a new house 22 x 50, was soon ready for members. We certainly got great sport in assisting the
carpenter. Pretty hard work for an
artist, but they all did very well.”
The Palette & Chisel Club camp on Fox Lake, pictured in the “Chicago Tribune,” 5 June 1921, page 79.
Fox Lake was the summer home for Palette & Chisel Club
members, drawing a variety of artists during the hot months. An artistic community was formed along the
shores of Fox Lake, providing a haven far away from the hustle and bustle of
work in Chicago. There were many Sosman & Landis employees who also became
members of the Palette & Chisel Club, escaping to Fox Lake whenever they
could.
An illustration of the same Palette and Chisel Club house on Fox Lake. This clipping was pasted in the scrapbook of Thomas G. Moses.
In 1906 Moses joined the Palette and Chisel Club at the
Chicago Society of Artists. Of his
membership, he wrote, “I don’t know why, as I had so little time to give to
pictures, but I live in hopes of doing something some day, that is what I have
lived on for years, Hope, and how little we realize from our dreams of
hope. As the years roll by, I think
one’s whole life is one continuous dream, unless we are wonderfully gifted and
fame drops on us while we sleep.” The year that Moses joined the group, the
Palette and Chisel Club consisted of sixty local painters, illustrators, and
sculptors. The Chicago Tribune commented that the group was “primarily a
working club, being the oldest organization in the west” (Chicago Tribune, 6
Jan. 1906, page 2).
Founded in 1895, the Palette & Chisel Club was an
association of artists and craftsmen for the purpose of both work and study. Members
were reported to be “all wage-workers” who were “busy during the week with
pencil, brush or chisel” (“Inland Printer,” 1896). On Sunday mornings they
gathered, spending five hours to paint just for themselves.
By 1905 the members of the Palette and Chisel Club
established a seasonal camp at Fox Lake, Illinois. At first it was quite rustic
with a communal tent. Of the camping experience at Fox Lake Moses wrote, “June
1st, I made my first trip to the Palette and Chisel Club camp at Fox
Lake, Ill. Helped to put up the
tent. A new experience for me, but I
enjoyed it. I slept well on a cot. Made a few sketches. A very interesting place. I don’t like the cooking in the tent and
there should be a floor in the tent. I
saw a great many improvements that could be made in the outfit and I started
something very soon.”
In 1908, Moses wrote, “I bought the portable house that we
built years ago and at that time we received $300.00 for it. I finally got it for $50.00, some
bargain. It cost $25.00 to remove it and
we will put it up at Fox Lake in the Spring.
It has been used in Forest Park all summer to show ‘The Day in the
Alps.’ Moses was 52 years old that year. The next summer Moses added, “As we
had put up the portable house in Fox Lake, I was better contented to go
up. I gave the camp a portable kitchen
and it was some class. I felt sure I
would manage to get a camp outfit worth while and the boys all fell in line
with me.”
Painting of Fox Lake by Thomas G. Moses, 1909.Back of painting by Thomas G. Moses.
It was this portable house that Moses mentioned moving
during the summer of 1915.
In his scrapbook, Moses pasted a small clipping about the
Palette & Chisel Clubhouse – “Coals To Newcastle.” Here it is:
“One of our neophytes recently called at the S & L
scenic studios on business which had to be taken up with a gentleman of such
genial and artistic manner as to make him obviously desirable for a club
member. So the neophyte, fired with the traditional ardor of the new broom,
strongly urged the S & L man to put in an application for membership.
‘I, a member of the Palette and Chisel Club!’ was the
rejoinder of the astonished prospect, ‘why I own the club.’
His name turned out to be Tom Moses.”
The article is likely published in the Palette & Chisel
newsletter and the use of “S & L man” says a lot. Over the years, there were many Sosman &
Landis men who joined the Palette and Chisel Club. I even discovered a map to
Fox Lake on the back of a 1909 drop delivered to Winona, Minnesota. S & L
men were friends both in an out of the shop, always sharing their love of art
and nature.
A map depicting Fox Lake drawn on the back of a scene delivered to Winona, Minnesota, in 1909.
In 1914, Thomas G. Moses wrote,
“Early in April a number of Palette and Chisel Club boys, including myself,
went to Fox Lake to look for a new site.
We didn’t find anything worthwhile, so we will remain where we are for
another season… I am not very regular at Fox Lake this year and I miss
sketching. I also miss my rocks and
running brooks. I have to go some
distance for that kind of a motive… Miss Maude Oliver, Art Critic of the
Herald, wanted to see the animals fed and housed, so she went to Fox Lake to
the camp. She requested that we all act
perfectly natural and not put on any frills and do nothing out of the ordinary
to entertain her. I never saw a bunch
act worse. It was awful. I think she got plenty of local color and
artistic atmosphere for her article in the Sunday Herald the next week –
convinced me that she had drunk a glass full of camp life.”
The Palette & Chisel club
made the news on multiple fronts during 1914. In January, John B. Woodruff was
elected the Club’s new president (Inter Ocean, 9 Jan. 1914, page 3). In March, Club
members and Sosman & Landis artist, Victor Higgins, received the gold medal
in the annual exhibit. Higgins had recently returned from studying abroad in
Paris (Chicago Tribune, 27 March 914, page 10). In July, the son of a past Club
president, poster artist Walter Colonel Foerster, eloped with well-known
heiress Marietta Hawthorne (Oakland Tribune, 3 July 1914, page 5). Club members
were active and in the news across the country.
Of the art critic at Fox Lake, Moses
was referring to Maude Isabella G. Oliver. Oliver was an artist, art critic and
author. Born on May 10, 1872, in Rock Island, Illinois, she was the daughter of
commercial salesman Garrett H. Oliver and teacher Katie A. Spear. The couple
was married a few months after Maude’s birth, tying the knot on August 8, 1872.
The newly married couple and their new born lived with their extended family in
the beginning. But the marriage did not last and the couple soon divorced, with
Garrett remarrying and starting a second family. Until the age of 9 years old,
Maude enjoyed the comfort of mother’s family in Davenport, Iowa. Mother and
daughter moved to Chicago where the two would continue to live together until
her mother’s passing in 1922.
Oliver worked as an art critic
for the “Chicago Herald” and as an editor of the “Bulletin of the Art Institute
of Chicago.” She resigned from the Art
Institute’s publication in 1918 to enter war work and later became a correspondent
for the “Studio,” of London. She was also a member of the Illinois Women’s
Press Association, even becoming the treasurer of the organization.
1920 publication by art critic and artist, Maude I. G. Oliver.
Maude I. G. Oliver was one of two illustrators for the 1936 book, “Which Am I?”Maude I. G. Oliver was one of two illustrators for the 1936 book, “Which Am I?”Art critic and artist, Maude I. G. Oliver was one of two illustrators for the 1936 book, “Which Am I?” Oliver was well known for her portraiture of children’s silhouettes.Art critic and artist, Maude I. G. Oliver was one of two illustrators for the 1936 book, “Which Am I?” Oliver was well known for her portraiture of children’s silhouettes.Art critic and artist, Maude I. G. Oliver was one of two illustrators for the 1936 book, “Which Am I?” Oliver was well known for her portraiture of children’s silhouettes.
Oliver remained single her entire
life, passing away in a nursing home on February 17, 1958. She was survived
only by two cousins Thilo G. Knappe of Davenport and Mrs. Eunice Eddy Rickman
of Homewood, Illinois (Quad City Times, 19 Feb. 1958, page 5).
Every once
in a while I am compelled to include a side story because it is so touching. These posts are often simple memorials to those
who came before me and should not be forgotten. In 1907, Thomas G. Moses wrote
about Otto Armbrusters death by suicide (see past post 573). He wrote, “August
16th, heard of Otto Armbruster’s death by suicide. It was an awful shock as we were such close
friends. The German way of getting out
of trouble, but he had no trouble, plenty of money and a good business. No one seems to know just what the cause of
the rash act was.”
In 1913, another colleague of Moses’ committed suicide in
Chicago when his eyesight failed.
This one
broke my heart as I first read it. It concerns one of the founders, and the
first president, of the Palette & Chisel Club in Chicago. His death notice
posted in the July 1913 issue of the Club’s newsletter recalled, “Fiery and at
the same time gentle in disposition, Carl Mauch was invincible in his adherence
to what he felt was right. In his death, the Club loses a father, and the world
gives up a true artist, a brave soldier and an upright man.” A successful
commercial artist in his own right, Mauch was always searching for a divine
fire that would transcend his art to another level.
Here is the
obituary notice concerning Mauch’s death:
On June 20,
1913, “Washington Post” reported:
“LOSES
SIGHT AND KILLS SELF.
Artist Had
Just Conceived What He Thought Would Be His Masterpiece.
Special to
the Washington post.
Chicago,
June 19.- His life a parallel in many respects of that of Kipling’s her in ‘The
Light That Failed,’ Carl Mauch, an artist, 63 years old, committed suicide by
swallowing poison today. Mr. Mauch’s sight began to fail just after he
conceived a work which he believed would be the greatest of his life.
‘There is
nothing left for me,’ Mr. Mauch said, a few days ago, to a fellow member of the
Palette and Chisel Club. ‘The inspiration of my life has come and my eyes are
all but gone. Never again shall I put a brush to canvas.’”
To put the
Kipling book in context, his “the Light that Failed,” follows the life
of artist Dick Heldar. He who goes blind, and struggles with his unrequited
love for fellow orphan and childhood playmate, Maisie. Heldar’s journey to
despair and helplessness is due to the loss of his ability to work, resulting
in his abandonment by Maisie. In the end, his loneliness is summed up in the
statement,”…it is better to remain alone and suffer only the misery of
being alone, so long as it is possible to find distraction in daily work. When
that resource goes the man is to be pitied and left alone.” Mauch ended his
life when he could no longer work and sought eternal solitude.
Other
newspaper articles reported Mauch’s suicide:
“Despondent
Artist Takes his Own Life.
Chicago,
June 19 – Despondent because his eyes failed him just when he conceived after
years of dreaming the picture he hoped would make him famous, Carl Mauch, an
artist, took poison and died from its effects yesterday. He was 68 years old
and rapidly losing his sight.
Recently
Mauch told a fellow member of the Palette and Chisel Club that the inspiration
of his life had come to him and he bemoaned the fact his eyes were failing him
and that he never again would touch a brush to canvas.” There is some
controversy in newspaper accounts concerning the age of the artist, yet his
tombstone lists Mauch’s birthdate as 1854, not 1850 or 1844. Most records list
Mauch as 58 at the time of his death. The article continues, “Mauch was born in
Wurttemberg, Germany, and his club fellows tell a story of how, when a boy, he
whipped the future king of that province. According to them it was the rule at
the school, which Mauch attended that the prince should always be the winner of
any game. When he saw his friends contriving that the prince should be the
victor he flew into a rage and attacked the young majesty.”
Mauch died at his home on 2651 Mildred Avenue, poisoning himself
with cyanide of potassium, and leaving behind a wife and two grown daughters, Fanny,
Melanea and Ella.
Mauch was born on Jan. 7, 1854 in Stuttgart, Stadkreis
Stuttgart, Baden-Württenberg, Germany. He studied at the Stuttgart Academy with
Karl Theodor von Piloty, Heinrich Franz Gaudenz von Rustige and Karl Albert
Buehr. Art history books note that his early artistic studies were interrupted
he was conscripted in the German army during the Franco-Prussian War. At the
time he was just sixteen years old. Following his military service, Mauch
returned to painting and continued his studies in Munich and Paris, before emigrating
in 1870. He soon married in 1872. He and his wife Fanny witnessed the birth of
four children, two who survived to adulthood.
In 1893, Mauch was listed as one of 302 artists in “The
Years Art as Recorded in The Quarterly Illustrator” (Published by Harry C.
Jones, 92, 94, and 96th Fifth Avenue, New York). The publication
listed, “Carl Mauch is one of the successful foreign artists who have made the
United States their permanent home. Mr. Mauch has lived here ever since the
Franco Prussian War.”
At the time
of his passing, Mauch was well-known as a Chicago illustrator, Impressionist
painter, and member of the Palette & Chisel Club. Mauch is buried at
Graceland cemetery on June 20, 1913.
From “The Year’s Art,” in “The Quarterly Illustrator,” Vol. 1, page 283
A decade
before his passing, “The Inland Printer” included a photograph of Carl Mauch in
an article about the Palette & Chisel Club (June 1896, page 315).. It seems
appropriate to add to today’s post as a positive remembrance to Mauch’s life. Here
is the article in its entirety:
“THE
PALETTE AND CHISEL CLUB.
An
association of artists and craftsman for the purpose of work and study – such
is the Palette and Chisel Clun of Chicago, some of the members of which have
appear in the half-tone upon the opposite page, engraved from a photograph by
Carl Mauch [image missing]. The organization is unique in that its members are
all wage-workers and busy during the week with pencil, brush or chisel doing
work to please other people. But on Sunday mornings, at 9 o’clock, they
assemble in the studio of Lorado Taft, in the Atheneum building, and for five
hours each amuses himself by working in his chosen medium, to suit himself.
From the “Inland Printer,” June 1896, page 315
The article continues, “Sunday morning means a good deal to one who has worked all week, and thought of these young men placing their easels and arranging their palettes at an hour when the rest of the city is in bed or on bicycles, is sufficient proof of their earnestness. A peep into the studio would show the men all work using all kinds of mediums, oil and water color, wash, pen and ink, charcoal, clay and modeling wax, and each busy as a boy with a jackknife. And the conversation while the model rests deals not so much with “impressionism” and “realism,” or the tendency and mode of artistic revelation as wit the best methods of drawing for reproduction of the discussion of technicalities in the sculptor’s or decorator’s arts.
The work of
the club has so far been more for study than exhibition, but there can me no
doubt that such a movement among men actually engaged in illustration and
decoration and kindred arts appealing directly to the people must result in
improving the standard of their work. The impression that a “real artist” is
incapable of doing “for the trade” is less erroneous that the idea that an
artist earning his living by practical application of his talents may not be
the artist worthy of his name. The painter may lack the technical training
necessary to the successful illustrator, but an experience in designing or
illustration often develops qualities in a man who is prevented from attempting
the higher branches of art by lack of time or opportunity, which when his chance
comes, gives him an advantage over the mere painter.
Two-thirds
of the members are students in the “life class” at the Art Institute night
school, and a desire for opportunity to study from the model in daylight, so
that color might be used, led to the organization of the club. The time at
their disposal is too short to spend bothering with officers or by-laws, so the
only formality is the payment of monthly dues to the treasurer, Curtis Gandy
who settles the rent and pays the models. The following is a list of the club’s
membership: Charles J. Mulligan, David Hunter and W. J. Hutchinson, sculptors;
Ray Brown, chief of the “Times-Herald” art department, and F. Holme, of the
“Evening Post;” Henry Hutt, illustrator and designer for J. Manz & Co.’
Carl Mauch of the Werner Company’s art staff; Will Carquerville, poster
designer and lithographer; Curtis Gandy, Capel Rowley, Richard Boehm and Edward
Loewenhelm, designers and illustrators; L. Pearson, F. J. Thwing and H. L.
Bredtschneider, fresco painters and decorators; Fred Mulhaupt, display
advertiser; Ansel Cook, scenic artist; A. Sterba and W. H. Irvine, portrait
artists; Arthur Carr, H. Wagner, L. M. Coakley and J. S. Shippen, art students.
Fred Larseon is a “proofer,” and the printer’s trade is represented by W. A.
Randall.
The
treasurer’s report shows a comfortable balance of cash in hand, and, while the
Sunday meetings will soon be temporarily discontinued on account of the hot
weather, the dues will run on just the same, so that when the club assembles in
the fall it will be with every promise of a good and successful career.”
The
statement “Sunday meetings will soon be temporarily discontinued on account of
the hot weather” explains why the club purchased a summer home on Fox Lake in
1906, as it gave artists a cooler place to continue their studies.
In 1913 Moses wrote, “The
Palette and Chisel Club boys wanted me to give an exhibit at the club. I always refused, claiming that I am not in
the picture game, and paint pictures for pleasure only. September 3rd, a committee came to
the house and insisted on going to the studio, I had over three hundred
pictures in the studio; some very good but the other 275 were not as good, but
the boys seemed to think I had at least 250 good ones, which was quite
flattering… November 3rd, I got all my framed pictures; oil, watercolor,
pen and ink and lead pencil. While we
were hanging the show, Father McCann dropped in a bought one canvas for $200.00
and another for $100.00, starting the sale in good shape.
Thomas G. Moses in his Oak Park studio, located on the attic level of his home.
An announcement in the “Oak Park Leaves” on Nov. 8, 1913, appeared under the heading, “Palette and Chisel Club Exhibits Sixty Paintings of Oak Park Man.” The article reported, “There is an exhibition of pictures by Thomas G. Moses, of 233 Euclid South, now on view at the Palette and Chisel club, 59 East Van Buren Street, Chicago. The opening-reception, which inaugurated the exhibition, was held Wednesday evening and the pictures may be seen until November 22. On weekdays the exhibition will be open from 10 to 7 o’clock, and on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday evenings until 9 o’clock.” The article cited an excerpt from “The Cow Bell,” the Palette and Chisel club newsletter: “November 4 should is a great day for the club, as it does the Tom Moses exhibition. Uncle Tom, as he always will be to the camp contingent, has to be rooted out of his Oak Park residence like a poor retired badger, before Mac-Combs could get at the spoils. Tom has shied consistently at one-man shows and Mr. Moses had to put on blinders before Mac hitched him up for November 4. Mac says the painting Tom has done while jogging around these United Railways of America passes belief and also promises some rare treats to those who know him only as a painter of scenery to the crowned heads of Thespia.”
Painting by Thomas G. Moses (1856-1934).Painting by Thomas G. Moses (1856-1934).Painting by Thomas G. Moses (1856-1934).
The formal exhibition announcement stated, ‘There is not one
of our members of whom we are more proud. There is probably not another painter
in Chicago who has sought out and painted so many of the beauty spots of our
own country. From a thousand sketches and paintings sixty have been selected, and
are hung in our club to give our members and their friends an opportunity of
seeing a representative collection of the works of Thomas G. Moses” (page 5).
Painting by Thomas G. Moses (1856-1934).Painting by Thomas G. Moses (1856-1934).
Of the fall art exhibition,
Moses wrote, “I sold 20 pictures; some very cheap to artist members. The whole sale netted only $675.00 which was
not so bad for a scene painter.” Keep in
mind that $675.00 in 1913 is approximately $17,546.32 today.
Moses’ continued, “A great many
of the members didn’t expect to see so many or as good pictures as I had the
pleasure of showing there. The amount of
the sale went far ahead of what I thought it would. It was pretty good for me, and up to this
date it was the most ever sold at the one show.
I had 77 pictures on the walls, oil, water, temper, pen and ink, and
pencil. Maine to California. That made it quite interesting. I received some very flattering newspaper
notices. Mama and Rupert were
responsible for the show, as I would have never gotten it up myself. We opened with a reception, which was well
attended.” Rupert was Moses’ youngest son, and the one who would follow him in
theatre work.
A few months later, Moses was mentioned again in the “Oak
Park Leaves.” An article reported, “Mr.
Moses presented this—a delightful little September landscape, painted in the
neighborhood of Fox Lake, to the parochial guild, and the men folk at once
showed their appreciation of his compliment by clubbing together and purchasing
it for the new rector, Rev. F. R. Godolphin. A very handsome sum will be
realized by the organization” (Saturday, December 06, 1913, page 38).
Painting by Thomas G. Moses (1856-1934).
To conclude 1913, Moses wrote,
“Pitt and the family were with us again this Christmas and we always enjoy them
as the years fly along, and I think at the close of each that during the next,
I will certainly make some progress in pictures and get nearer the goal for
which I have been striving for so many years.
But the everlasting grind and hustling for the mighty dollar has just
about knocked all the ambition out of me and side tracked my picture game. My show this year has given me a lot of
encouragement. I hope to make another
some day. The [Palette & Chisel] boys
want me to do one each year, but that is impossible. I should like to do a whole year’s sketching
and I know at the end I would have something.
The few weeks I get in a year don’t really mean much. I can hardly get started before I have to go. No vacation this year, and I regret it very
much, as I think we are entitled to one each year.”
Thomas G. Moses painting on the Oakland docks in California.
