The SenTry - Sag Harbor Historical Society
Transcription
The SenTry - Sag Harbor Historical Society
SAG HARBOR ORICAL SOCIETY HIST The Sentry 174 MAIN STREET Vol. 26, No. 1 Spring 2011 Appreciating Heritage—Encouraging Preservation 2011 Exhibit Opens May 28 “The Many Aliases of Cappy Amundsen” Cappy—The Life and Art of C. Hjalmar Amundsen News ➤ Cappy Amundsen Exhibit ➤ Gala 2011 Announcement ➤ Presidents Message ➤ Annual Meeting May 28 Time 3:00 p.m. ➤ Annual Fund Preview ➤ Upcoming Events ➤ In Memoriam History ➤ Annie’s Shed by Terry Wallace In the summer of 2011 we celebrate the one hundredth birthday of local painting legend, C. Hjalmar “Cappy” Amundsen. Festivities include art exhibits at the Sag Harbor Historical Society and the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum. At the Annie Cooper Boyd House, the Sag Harbor Historical Society is hosting The Many Aliases of Cappy Amundsen. This is an extensive exhibit surrounding the many assumed names that Cappy used during his lifetime. At the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum, a retrospective features the paintings that made Amundsen famous: dock scenes and historical views representative of the whaling era. The exhibit also includes a small selection of photographs of the artist taken during his last days in Sag Harbor. These events will be accompanied by a birthday party for the artist at the American Hotel on June 9, 2011. Casper Hjalmar Amundsen was born in New York City on June 9, 1911 as Casper Hjalmar Emerson, III. Since he was a third generation family member Continued on page 2 Cappy 1961 Save the Date–July 9 GALA 2011— • Join us in celebrating our historic village with neighbors & friends • This year’s fund-raising gala will be a village party held in the garden of Whitney & Peter Hansen’s home on Rogers Street. • Toasting the past, present and future of our village. Featuring surprising local history, including film footage of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard set in Sag Harbor. • In addition to a wonderful cocktail buffet and live music, silent auction prizes include an I Pod Touch from Twin Peaks Geeks, a Gurney’s Getaway, premier tickets to the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Giants and Jets, golf at two top Hampton courses, lunch at the American Hotel and more. • Tickets are available at $150 each. Contact Society headquarters for your reservation and additional information. 631-725-5092 E-mail: [email protected] H SAG HARBOR ICAL SOCIET ISTOR Y FOUNDED 1985 Mailing Address Sag Harbor Historical Society PO Box 1709 Sag Harbor, NY 11963 Location 174 Main Street, Sag Harbor, NY The Annie Cooper Boyd House & Museum (631) 725-5092 www.sagharborhistoricalsociety.org [email protected] Officers President: Nancy French Achenbach Vice President: Tucker Burns Roth Recording Secretary: Peter Hansen Treasurer: Robert Espach, Esq. Parliamentarian: James D. Tripp Trustees Nancy French Achenbach Frank Ahimaz John Bjornen David Bray Robert Espach Muriel Hanson Falborn Peter Hansen Jean Held Martha Potter Tucker Burns Roth Diane Schiavoni James Tripp Jack Youngs Dorothy Zaykowski Priscilla Ciccariello, emeritus Joan Bates Tripp, emeritus Jean Vielbig, emeritus Welcome New Trustee, 2011 Muriel Hanson Falborn The SHHS Sentry Published Spring and Fall In Memoriam David Haug Cory Olin Miller Edwards lll Robert Schwartz From Our President Moving forward from our last Sentry, there is much for which we can be thankful. During our very cold and harsh winter, Annie’s house was buzzing. We had a very festive Holiday Tea. Alexandra Eames, a devoted member, gave a talk and slide presentation based on her publication, Sag Harbor Historical Society—The First Twenty-Five Years, followed by an informative Q&A. The decorated house was brimming with visitors and the season’s spirit. If you pass Annie’s house at nighttime, you will notice that the porch is fully illuminated contributing to safety and letting everyone know we are there. We are constructing shelving and reorganizing the kitchen to give us overflow office storage and more efficient work space. We have added a new Mac and printer to the office. We have been able to make these improvements with the financial help of very loyal SHHS supporters. I have thanked each donor but the Trustees would like to join me in another THANK YOU for your incredible generosity in enabling these necessary improvements. Opening on May 28, we have scheduled an exhibit in conjunction with the Whaling Museum. It is the celebration of the one hundredth birthday of local painting legend C. Hjalmar “Cappy” Amundsen. Our part of the exhibit will be titled “The Many Aliases of Cappy Amundsen” featuring the paintings under the many assumed names Cappy used during his lifetime. Terry Wallace of the Wallace Gallery in East Hampton will be curating this exhibit and giving several talks. We are anticipating successful Fridays on the Porch again this summer, and talks by authors of books on local history. It stands to be a lively, informative and pleasant summer at Annie’s House. We are looking forward with great excitement to a very festive GALA to be held at a private residence in the village. SAVE THE DATE—JULY 9, 2011. Do join us for our Annual Meeting and opening exhibit on Sat., MAY 28, 2011. See you then. The old jail will also be open May 28-29 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. —Nancy French Achenbach, President Cappy—Continued from page 1 with the given name of Casper, he became known from birth simply as “Cappy.” Cappy’s father, Casper Emerson, Jr. (1878-1948) was an important artist. He began to make a name for himself in 1902 creating The Emerson Girl for the Broadway Magazine in the New York Herald-Tribune. Working for publishers, he illustrated numerous books including The Arabian Nights. In 1918, Emerson won third place in a World War I poster competition, making the artist a household name. Despite these accomplishments, Emerson became involved in one of the most publicized marriage scandals in America. News coverage about the affair continued from 1907 to 1934. As a young boy, Cappy spent many hours in his father’s studio, learning first Cappy, 1966 Sag Harbor Historical Society ➤ The Sentry ➤ Spring 2011 ➤ Page 2 hand the basics of drawing and painting. After graduating from high school, Cappy attended the Grand Central School of Art where he observed other perspectives in the techniques of illustration and painting. In the spring of 1932, Cappy founded the Washington Square Outdoor Art Show in New York City with Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Beaufort Delaney and others. Exhibiting there for over thirty years, he was awarded first place in show many times. In 1934, Cappy participated in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He exhibited a caricature of Adolf Hitler entitled His Best Foot. Cappy portrayed the German Dictator as half human and half devil. After a strong objection by the German Chancellor’s wife, the Metropolitan Museum removed the cartoon from the exhibition. This brought strong protest of censorship by artists. Controversial news articles about the caricature appeared in Time magazine and daily newspapers throughout the country. For the next seven or eight years, Cappy traveled along the eastern seaboard in a 33-foot yawl. Unable to make a living as an artist, he worked as a commercial fisherman. During this time, he lived in Gloucester and Provincetown where he became an active member of the famous Beachcombers Club. Becoming a skilled marine artist, he signed his earliest paintings Hjalmar. By the late 1930s, Cappy used another pseudonym, A. Emerson. Sometime in 1943, Emery Blum & Co. of New York published a portfolio of prints under the name of Hjalmar Emerson Amundsen. This extensive folio of U.S. Navy ships was meticulously executed detailing every aspect of a ship’s construc- Passing Culloden tion. The portfolio became a popular collectible during the war selling thousands of editions. Cappy’s naval themes continued to be popular with the public. In 1944, he illustrated scenes inspired by the U.S. Navy for two covers of Motor Boating magazine. Paintings used for these illustrations were signed Hjalmar Amundsen, while the byline inside the publication credited C. Hjalmar Amundsen. Cappy moved from New York City to Sag Harbor in early 1946. He legally changed his name from Casper Hjalmar Emerson, III to C. Hjalmar Amundsen the same year. At this time, he signed his paintings with another alias, J. J. Enwright. He became a highly respected and popular figure in the small waterfront village. One of his accomplishments was the founding of the first Outboard Racing Regatta which became a forerunner of Old Whalers Festival. In the late 1940s, Cappy established two art schools in the village. He became a licensed U. S. Coast Guard Captain and an almost unbeatable sailor in racing competition. As a member of the Sag Harbor Recreational Committee, he helped obtain a Charter from the Boy Scouts of America, establishing the Sea Scouts. During the Pelican tragedy in Montauk, he reported to the National Geographic Wire Service. As a Curator, he assisted Ralph Carpentier in a popular exhibition at Guild Hall Museum which led to the formation of the East Hampton Town Marine Museum. Cappy made contributions to numerous local groups and participated in other positive endeavors during his lifetime. His paintings can still be found throughout town in many commercial buildings: the Wharf Shop, Apple Bank, Barons Cove Marina, the old Sandbar, now the Blue Sky Restaurant, Yardley & Pino Funeral Home and other public places. From the mid 1940s to the 1960s, Cappy signed Point his paintings with various aliases. William Ward, Jr., F.H. McKay, H. Nansen, J. C. Bennett, Sven Sagg, J.C. Tarbox and John Dunne were some of the names Cappy used before his death in 2001. SHHS Annual Meeting Featuring a talk by Terry Wallace Curator of our exhibit on the paintings and life of Cappy Amundsen Sat., May 28, 2011, 3:00 p.m. Place: The Annie Cooper Boyd House & Museum, 174 Main Street, Sag Harbor Please join us for the season opening of Annie’s House and Amundsen exhibit, and the election of officers and trustees. Tea and refreshments will be served. $ Membership & Gift Memberships Sag Harbor Historical Society PO Box 1709, Sag Harbor, NY 11963 Your Membership and Donations maintain the Annie Cooper Boyd House Museum and its programs and our efforts to support the preservation of Sag Harbor’s historic character. Donations and Memberships are tax deductible. NAME(S) Mailing address e-mail phone £ IndividuaL: $25 £ Family: $35 £ Senior Citizen: $15 £ Business or Organization: $50 £ Sponsor: $100 or more £ Donation $ £ Check if this is a gift Sag Harbor Historical Society ➤ The Sentry ➤ Spring 2011 ➤ Page 3 Upcoming Events “The Making and Remaking of Sag Harbor’s Maycroft” June 11, 12:30 p.m. Luncheon and Talk, $45 Place: American Hotel Reservations: Call 631-725-5092 Architect Jim Merrell and writer Susan Merrell will discuss their book on the Maycroft Estate, the remarkable Aldrich family that built it, what the building can teach us about the times in which they lived, and how it relates to home design today. Return of the Popular Fridays on the Porch Six Fridays beginning Friday, July 22, 5:00-6:30 p.m. Wine and cheese socials— Some Fridays include informal talks of historical interest. Friday, July 22 Carolyn Oldenbusch, author of Anchor to Windward, will give an informal reading with Q & A. July 29 & Fridays in August Alex Eames will talk on SHHS’s 25 yr. history. Joe Zaykowski will give tours of Annie’s house, reveal interesting construction features, and talk about dating elements within old houses. Dates of talks will be announced. Annual Fund Preview! This year the Historical Society will launch its first ever Annual Fund. We are most grateful to those of you who have been so generous in the past, and we hope you will support the Society by making a special donation this year. We need your help to keep our doors open, to cover basic maintenance, and to sustain future and ongoing projects. It is important to all of us who treasure our gem of a village, that the Historical Society be able to continue the work of historic preservation, research and education. We are a lean not-for-profit organization and we have accomplished a lot on a shoestring due to the exceptional efforts of stalwart volunteers and contributions from our membership and loyal friends: saving and preserving the Umbrella House, the Municipal Building, the Broken Mast Monument, the 1916 jail to name a few. The Historical Society played a significant role in the expansion of the Historic District and in placing it on the New York State Register and National Register of Historic Places. 700 houses have been listed in The National List of Historic Houses. We are all the beneficiaries of these achievements. Our next project, with your help, is the restoration of the tool shed behind the Annie Cooper Boyd House & Museum. When complete, it will be a wonderful educational “tool” and whaling industry exhibit space for the children and adults of the community. An accompanying book of tools with photos is already in progress. Why is the building in Annie Cooper Boyd’s 1893 photo important to our shed project? The building Annie described as the “Shop of Sacred Memory,” was the whaleboat-construction shop belonging to her grandfather William Cooper (1785-1858) and passed on to her father William H. Cooper (1817-1894). The shop, pictured, may have been pre-existing, or built by Grandfather Cooper after 1818 when he purchased the lot which is adjacent to the Annie Cooper Boyd House and Museum. Grandfather Cooper built his family homestead on this lot, and used the shop for his business. In 1897, Annie looked to the ancient timbers and nails of the “wreckage of the dear shop” to construct a shed to shelter coal and wood for use in her bungalow. Now, 114 years after Annie built the Shop of Sacred shed, it is our objective Memory to restore her deteriorated shed, salvage some of those timbers and nails, and rebuild the structure for the exhibit of Cooper’s tools used during Sag Harbor’s whaling era. PO Box 1709 Sag Harbor, NY 11963 Sag Harbor Historical Society 174 MAIN STREET SAG HARBOR ORICAL SOCIETY HIST Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Sag Harbor, NY 11963 Permit No. 21