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The Gothic Spirit of John
Taylor Arms
May 8 - November 27, 2011
The astonishing dexterity
and passion for detail of American printmaker John Taylor Arms (1887-1953)
is revealed in the first exhibition of his works at the National Gallery
of Art in Washington, DC. On view in the West Building from May 8 to November
27, 2011, The Gothic Spirit of John Taylor Arms features some 60
prints, drawings, and copperplates that span the artist's career, from his
early New York series to his finest images of cathedrals.
"While some American artists of the period (such as
John Sloan and Edward Hopper) advocated a gritty realism and others (including
John Marin and Stuart Davis) explored the possibilities offered by modernist
abstraction, John Taylor Arms paid homage to the past," said Earl A.
Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. He added, "We are delighted
to present these works from our collection paired with promised gifts as
well as with other works on loan."
The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of
Art.
Exhibition and Artist Background
Born in Washington, DC, Arms began his career as an architect
in New York, but by 1919 he had dedicated himself solely to printmaking.
He adapted 
the meticulous drafting
skills required for his architectural practice to the execution of finely
wrought prints. Arms devoted many years of European travel and study to
rendering architecture and is best known for his print series based on particular
places or subjects, including gargoyles, French churches, New York, England,
and Italy. Organized thematically, The Gothic Spirit of John Taylor Arms
features selections from his major series of prints along with independently
conceived works. (right: John Taylor Arms, Black and White, Trébrivan,
1953, etching and drypoint in black on wove paper, plate: 7.62 x 5.08 cm
(3 x 2 inches) sheet: 15.56 x 12.86 cm (6 1/8 x 5 1/16 inches). National
Gallery of Art, Gift of David F. Wright)
Gothic art and architecture stirred the imagination of
Arms, whose earliest Gothic subjects were stone gargoyles that he admired
while traveling in France. They are seen in Guardians of the Spire (1921)
and A Devil of Notre Dame (1929). Not all of his prints depict Gothic
subjects, but all reflect the spirit of an artist whose intense devotion
to craftsmanship echoed an association with medieval artisans. Arms would
often share his own creative process through technical demonstrations and
lectures, and numerous works in the exhibition offer insight into his practice.
Drawings and tracings are juxtaposed with associated prints that not only
reveal his masterful handling of line but also document the intricate and
painstaking craft Arms employed.
Arms began his New York Series in 1916, when he was still
a practicing architect in the city, and he continued to work on it after
his return from WW I. The series reflects his rapid development as a draftsman,
moving from a loose, sketchy style to the polished refinement for which
he became known. For subjects he gravitated toward structures whose style
and ornamentation were expressions of Gothic revival, such as the Woolworth
Building and the Brooklyn Bridge, seen in An American Cathedral (1921)
and The Gates of the City (1922).
A frequent visitor to France, Arms undertook the ambitious
plan to document the country's churches and cathedrals. He worked on the
series for nearly 30 years, from 1924 to 1953, producing a total of 55 prints.
They represent some of the largest and most dramatic images of his career,
such as Lace in Stone, Rouen Cathedral (1927), as well as some of
the tiniest and most intimate, as in the miniature Black and White, Trébrivan
(1953).
Between 1925 and 1935, Arms made a series of etchings of
subjects he observed during his trips to Italy. With its medieval buildings
and variations on Gothic architecture, Venice provided ample inspiration,
and Arms' enthusiasm for the city sparked some of the most successful works
of his career, including Venetian Mirror (1935). The prints in the
English Series were created between 1937 and 1952. They focus on rural settings
and feature picturesque villages and parish churches, as in the church seen
in Lavenham, England (1939).
A sailor during World War I, Arms retained a great love
of the sea and ships. His suite of four etchings depicting naval warships
was commissioned by the Bureau of Ships in Washington and sold on navy bases
during and after World War II. Destroyers in Wet Basin (1943) features
the USS Radnor, USS Quick, and USS Mervine in the construction
pool of the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in South Kearny, New
Jersey.
At the time of the artist's death in October 1953, the
copper etching plate "La Trinité," Vendôme was
a work in progress. According to Arms' records, he spent nearly 220 hours
scratching the design through an acid-resistant hardground with a fine-gauge
sewing needle set into a wooden handle. Although the image was catalogued
as the final work in the artist's French Church Series, no prints from the
plate have been discovered to date.
Arms' studio guest book is also on view. It was signed
by such visitors as Helen Keller and the artists Reginald Marsh and F. Luis
Mora. The book includes many drawings. Among those being shown are a cartoon
figure by Robert Lawson; a sketch of George Washington pointing to John
Taylor Arms by Kerr Eby; and Samuel Chamberlain's drawing of buildings and
wine bottles. Prints by Chamberlain, Eby, and Gerald Geerlings, who also
signed the guest book, are exhibited as well.
The Collection of John Taylor Arms at the National Gallery
of Art
The Gallery's first prints and drawings by Arms came as
part of founding benefactor Lessing J. Rosenwald's donation of works in
1943. Subsequent donations were made by Addie Burr Clark, John Davis Hatch,
and Mrs. Robert A. Hauslohner. Three of Arms' greatest prints, The Gates
of the City, Venetian Filigree (Ca' d'Oro Venetia), and Venetian
Mirror, along with corresponding drawings, are partial and promised
gifts to the Gallery from Judy and Leo Zickler. A key work, West Forty-Second
Street, Night, was acquired for the Gallery by the Donald and Nancy
de Laski Fund. Other gifts of prints by Arms have come as a bequest from
the artist's grandson, John Taylor Arms IV; as part of the Reba and Dave
Williams Collection; and as gifts and promised gifts from David F. Wright.
(above: John Taylor Arms, French Lace, 1949, etching
in black on wove paper, plate: 20.32 x 12.07 cm (8 x 4 3/4 inches) sheet:
27.46 x 20.16 cm (10 13/16 x 7 15/16 inches). National Gallery of Art, Rosenwald
Collection)
(above: John Taylor Arms, In Memoriam, 1939, etched
copper plate with gold plating, plate (approx.): 37.15 x 30.48 cm (14 5/8
x 12 inches). National Gallery of Art, Gift of John Taylor Arms IV)
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