Charles Green Shaw
Charles Green Shaw | |
---|---|
Born | May 1, 1892 New York City, New York, US |
Died | April 2, 1974 New York City, New York, US |
Alma mater | Yale University |
Occupation(s) | Artist, writer, poet, illustrator |
Years active | 1919 - 1974 writing 1932 - 1974 art |
Organization | American Abstract Artists |
Known for | Geometric-biomorphic abstraction Witty writings about New York City in the 1920s |
Style | Concretionist Montage Abstract Expressionism. |
Movement | Modern Art, Abstract Art |
Charles Green Shaw (May 1, 1892 – April 2, 1974) was an American painter, poet, writer, and illustrator.
Before turning to art in 1932, Shaw was a prominent writer for The New Yorker and Vanity Fair.[3][7] He was also a poet, with more than 1,200 published poems.[2]
Early life
Shaw was born in New York City to Eva (née Morris) and Charles Green Shaw, a merchant.[2] This was a wealthy family connected to the F. W. Woolworth Company fortune.[6] However, Shaw was orphaned at a young age—his mother died when he was just three.[5][6] As a result, he and his twin brother were raised by their uncle, Frank D. Shaw.[8] He grew up spending summers in Newport, Rhode Island and Christmas at Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt's balls.[9][5] He began drawing when he was six; he wrote and illustrated his first book, The Costumes of Nations, when he was nine.[8][5]
Shaw attended the Friends Seminary and Berkley School.[5] He graduated from Yale University in 1914.[6] While at Yale, he befriended Cole Porter, joined St. Anthony Hall, and contributed artwork to campus humor magazine, The Yale Record.[5][10] He studied architecture at Columbia University from 1914 to 1915.[6][2]
Shaw was a Lieutenant in World War I, first receiving an assignment as a supply officer stationed in England.[9][5] Then, he was assigned to the Army Air Force at Kelly Airfield in Texas.[5] Over the course of eighteen months in the service, he never saw active duty.[5] After the war, Shaw tried to follow the business model set by his family, and soon found he was ill-suited for selling real estate in New York City.[9][5]
Writer
Shaw started his career as a writer by the early 1920s.[9] He worked as a freelance writer for magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, The New Yorker, The Smart Set, and Vanity Fair, focusing on theater and café society.[6][11] Shaw was "the master of the bon mot, the glib remark, the clever definition."[5] He frequently created illustrations to go with his articles.[5] Along with "his witty and insightful articles," Shaw was a journalist and a novelist.[6] His articles were published in magazines such as Antiques, Connoisseur, House & Garden, and Life.[2] He interviewed Adele Astaire, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis, George Jean Nathan, Michael Strange.[5] One of his books with "lasting merit" is The Lowdown, a collection celebrity character sketches.[11]
In April 1936, Shaw decided to write and illustrate books for children.[12] In May 1939, he finally found an editor interested in his ideas—Margaret Wise Brown, who would go on to write the children's classic Goodnight Moon.[12] Shaw published dozens of books for children, including It Looked Like Spilt Milk in 1947.[2][11] He also illustrated books for Brown.[2]
In 1952 when he was 62 years old, Shaw started writing poetry and had some 1,200 poems published in Literary Review, the New York Tribune, Poetry Digest, and Trace.[2] He also released four poetry collections.[2]
Art
As an artist, Shaw was "essentially self-taught."[13] In 1927, he enrolled in Thomas Hart Benton's class at the Art Students League of New York.[13][5] He also studied privately with George Luks from 1926 to 1928.[5][13] In 1929, he lived in Paris for a month, visiting museums and meeting artists.[3][5] He found a great deal of inspiration in London, going to the park and sketching every day.[9][5] Shaw "considered himself a painter" when he returned to New York City in 1932.[5]
In 1933, he started a series of works called Plastic Polygon, working on this series of abstracted architectural paintings for about seven years.[6][3] Plastic Polygon included "architectural forms of the New York City skyline" and helped establish his reputation.[6] Shaw called his style of modern art "concretionist" because he painted "concrete objects" rather than abstractions.[5]
In 1934, Shaw had a solo exhibition at Valentine Gallery in New York City.[6] From May to October 1935, he also had a show at Gallery of Living Art that was organized by Albert Gallatin.[6][13] This was the first one-man show at the Gallery of Living Art; Gallatin said he broke his own rule because "Mr. Shaw is doing the most important abstract painting in America today."[13] The next year, Gallatin curated a show at Reinhardt Gallery called American Concretionists, which included Shaw's works and those of others.[6] Also in 1936, Shaw was a founding member of the American Abstract Artists and participated in their first annual exhibition.[6][14] This group was established "at a time when abstract art was met with strong critical resistance," and many such artists struggled to find galleries willing to display their work.[14]
In the 1940s and moving forward, Shaw shifted from the strict geometrical format of the polygon paintings, focusing on abstract expressionism.[6][4] He softened the color palette for some of his paintings.[6] He also explored another medium, making montages by mountings antique items related to games on fabric, such as game boards and antique playing and tarot cards.[6] In addition, he designed posters, book covers, and illustrated picture books.[2]
A significant figure in American abstract art, Shaw was the only American artist to have two solo exhibitions at Guggenheim Museum in his lifetime.[3] In total, he had thirty one-man shows in galleries, museums and traveling exhibitions in America, Europe, and Japan.[2]
Affiliations
Shaw was a member of
Awards
Shaw won the Michael Strange Poetry Award in 1954.[7]
The Nantucket Art Association gave Shaw the Nantucket Art Association Award in 1958, and first prize in 1960.[2][7]
Personal
Shaw was a noted collector of
When he was 81 years old, Shaw died at his home at 340 East 57th Street in New York City on April 2, 1974[1] He bequeathed fifty boxes of archival materials to the Smithsonian's American Art Museum.[5][6] His papers include correspondence with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Clarence Darrow, Anita Loos, H. L. Mencken, and Cole Porter.[5]
Publications
Books
- Shaw, Charles G. (1927). Heart in a Hurricane. Illustrations by Ralph Barton New York: Brenton's.[2]
- — (1930) Nightlife, Day. New York: Day[2]
- — (1930) The Low-Down. New York: Henry Holt.[2]
- — (1931) Lady by Chance. New York: Macaulay.[2]
- — (1938) New York—Oddly Enough. New York: Farrar, Rinehart[2]
- — (1940). The Giant of Centra Park. New York: William R. Scott[2]
Children's books
- — (1941) The Guess Book. New York: William R. Scott, Inc.[2]
- — (1942) The Blue Guess Book (and illustrator) New York: William R. Scott[2]
- — (1947) It Looked Like Spilt Milk. New York: Harper.[2]
Poetry collections
- — (1959) Into the Light, Fine Editions[2]
- — (1962) Image of Life. Poets of America Publishing Co.[2]
- — (1966) Time Has No Edge: A Poetry Collection. William-Frederick[2]
- — (1969) Moment of the Now: A Poetry Collection. Profile Press[2]
Essays and reporting
- — (February 21, 1925). "From the opinions of a New Yorker". The Theatre. The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 1. p. 14.
- — (February 21, 1925). "The Painted Lily : a portrait". The Theatre. The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 1. p. 14.
- — (February 21, 1925). "Magic a la mode". The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 1. p. 15.
- — (February 28, 1925). "Speaking of the theatre". The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 2. p. 28.
- — (March 14, 1925). "From the last row on a first night". The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 4. p. 16.
- — (March 14, 1925). "I go on a diet, and —". The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 4. p. 19.
- — (March 21, 1925). "A young man-about-town". New York, Etc. The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 5. p. 24.
- — (March 21, 1925). "What's in a name?". Books. The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 5. p. 29.
- — (April 4, 1925). "Pick-ups here and there". The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 7. p. 28.
- — (April 18, 1925). "Familiar portraits". The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 9. p. 22.
- — (April 25, 1925). "Speaking of Europe". The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 10. p. 28.
- — (May 2, 1925). "A season's recollection". The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 11. p. 20.
- — (May 2, 1925). "Why is it that when I plan to pass a quiet evening alone that—". The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 11. p. 28.
- — (May 16, 1925). "From the diary of a would-be pedestrian". The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 13. p. 20.
- — (May 30, 1925). "On the wire". The New Yorker. Vol. 1, no. 15. p. 23.
Illustrator
- Brown, Margaret Wise (1944) Black and White. Illustrations by Charles G. Shaw. New York: Harper & Brothers.[2]
- — (1947) Winter Noisy Book. Illustrations by Charles G. Shaw. New York: W. R. Scott.[2]
- Felton, Harold W. (1971) James Weldon Johnson. Illustrations by Charles G. Shaw. New York: Dodd.[2]
- McCullough, John G. (1947) Dark is Dark. Illustrations by Charles G. Shaw. New York: W. R. Scott.[2]
- Pedersen, Elsa (1968) House Upon a Rock. Illustrations by Charles G. Shaw. New York: Atheneum[2]
- Scott, William Rufus (1951) The Apple that Jack Ate. Illustrations by Charles G. Shaw. New York: W. R. Scott.
- — (1944) This Is The Milk That Jack Drank. Illustrations by Charles G. Shaw. New York: W. R. Scott.[2]
- — (1950) This Is the Water That Jack Drank. Illustrations by Charles G. Shaw. New York: W. R. Scott.[2]
Exhibition catalogs
- New York Cubists: works by A.E. Gallatin, George L.K. Morris, and Charles G. Shaw from the thirties and forties, January 16-February 27, 1988. New York: Hirschl & Adler Galleries. 1987.
References
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah “Charles (Green) Shaw.” May 22, 2020. CA Online, January. via Gale. Accessed March 9, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "Charles Green Shaw". Weinstein Gallery. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ a b "Charles Green Shaw - Biography". Ask Art. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Pennington, Buck. “The ‘Floating World’ in the Twenties: The Jazz Age and Charles Green Shaw.” Archives of American Art Journal 20, no. 4 (1980): 17–24. via JSTOR. Accessed March 9, 2022.https://www.jstor.org/stable/1557337
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Charles Shaw | Smithsonian American Art Museum". americanart.si.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ a b c "Charles G. Shaw Papers An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University". library.syr.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ a b "A Finding Aid to the Charles Green Shaw papers, 1833-1979, bulk 1909-1974 | Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution". www.aaa.si.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ a b c d e "Charles Green Shaw (1892-1974)". Sullivan Goss: An American Gallery. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ Oral history interview with Charles Green Shaw, 1968 April 15, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
- ^ a b c Adams, Henry. “Mother Booze's Nursery Rhymes." Archives of American Art Journal 52, no. 3/4 (2013): 4–9. via JSTOR. Accessed March 10, 2022.
- ^ a b Marcus, Leonard S. “Looking-Class Modernist: Charles Green Shaw and the Making of ‘No Such Animal.’” Archives of American Art Journal 48, no. 3/4 (2009): 4–15. via JSTOR, accessed March 9, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Stavitsky, Gail. 1993. “A Landmark Exhibition: Five Contemporary American Concretionist, March 1936.” Archives of American Art Journal 33 (2): 2–10. via EBSCO, accessed March 10, 2022.
- ^ a b "History At A Glance | American Abstract Artists". Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ "History". New York Artists Equity Association. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- newspapers.com.
Other sources
- Staff report (April 3, 1974). Charles G. Shaw, 81, Abstract Painter. The New York Times
- Russell, John (January 3, 1976). Art: The American Idiom of Charles Shaw. The New York Times