| Calvert Vaux | |
 Calvert Vaux
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| Born | December 20, 1824 London |
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| Died | November 19, 1895 (aged 70) |
| Occupation | Architect |
Calvert Vaux (December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895), was an architect and landscape designer. Events 69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor. Year 1824 ( MDCCCXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Events 1095 - The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land Year 1895 ( MDCCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year He is best remembered as the co-designer (with Frederick Law Olmsted), of New York's Central Park. Frederick Law Olmsted ( April 25, 1822 &ndash August 28, 1903) was an American landscape designer and father of American Central Park is a large public Urban park in New York City, with about twenty-five million visitors annually
Little is known about Vaux's childhood and upbringing. He was born in London in 1824, and his father was a doctor. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Due to this social standing, his father was able to provide a comfortable income for his family.
Vaux (rhymes with hawks) attended a private primary school until the age of nine. He then trained as an apprentice under London architect Lewis Nockalls Cottingham. Lewis Nockalls Cottingham ( 1787 - 13 October 1847) was a British architect who pioneered the study of Medieval Gothic architecture Cottingham was a leader of the Gothic Revival movement. The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement which began He trained Vaux until the age of twenty-six, and as a result, Vaux became a very skilled draftsman.
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Landscapes
In 1850, Vaux exhibited in London a collection of landscape watercolors made on a tour to the Continent, and it was this gallery that captured the attention of the American landscape designer and writer Andrew Jackson Downing. For the game see 1850 (board game. 1850 ( MDCCCL) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link Andrew Jackson Downing ( October 30, 1815 &ndash July 28, 1852) was an American Landscape designer and Writer, a prominent Downing had traveled to London in search of an architect that would complement his vision of what a landscape should be. Downing believed that architecture should be visually integrated into the surrounding landscape, and he wanted to work with someone who had as deep an appreciation of art as he did. Vaux readily accepted the job and moved to the United States.
Downing and Vaux worked together for two years, and during those two years, he made Vaux a partner. Together they designed many significant projects, such as the grounds in the White House and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. Vaux’s work on the Smithsonian inspired an article he wrote for The Horticulturalist, of which Downing was the editor, in which he stated his view that it was time the government should recognize and support the arts. See also Executive Office of the President of the United States The White House, formerly known as the Executive Mansion, is the Official residence The Smithsonian Institution (smɪθsoʊnɪən is an educational and research institute and associated Museum complex administered and funded by the Government of Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Shortly after writing this in 1852, Downing died during a fire in a steamboat accident. Year 1852 ( MDCCCLII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving a Propeller Vaux took over the partnership, and his later work in Central Park was a fitting memorial to his late partner. Central Park is a large public Urban park in New York City, with about twenty-five million visitors annually
In 1854, he married Mary McEntee, of Kingston, New York, the sister of Jervis McEntee, a Hudson River School painter; they had two sons and two daughters. Year 1854 ( MDCCCLIV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Kingston is a City in Ulster County, New York, United States. Jervis McEntee ( July 14 1828 &ndash January 27 1891) was an American painter of the Hudson River School. The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by In 1856, he gained US citizenship and became identified with the city’s artistic community, “the guild,” joining the National Academy of Design, as well as the Century Club. Year 1856 ( MDCCCLVI) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year The National Academy of Design, in New York City, now called simply The National Academy is an honorary association of American Artists with a Museum In 1857, he became one of the founding members of the American Institute of Architects. Click here for Indian Rebellion of 1857 Year 1857 ( MDCCCLVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the The American Institute of Architects (AIA is a professional organization for Architects in the United States. Also in 1857, Vaux published Villas and Cottages, which was an influential pattern book that determined the standards for “Victorian Gothic” architecture. These particular writings revealed his acknowledgment and tribute to Ruskin and Ralph Waldo Emerson, as well as to his former partner Downing. John Ruskin (8 February 1819 &ndash 20 January 1900 is best known for his work as an Art critic, sage writer, and Social critic, but is remembered Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25 1803 &ndash April 27 1882 was an American essayist philosopher poet and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early 19th century These people, among others, influenced him intellectually and in his design path.
Parks
In 1858, he made a smart political move and collaborated with Olmsted designing Central Park. Year 1858 ( MDCCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Frederick Law Olmsted ( April 25, 1822 &ndash August 28, 1903) was an American landscape designer and father of American Central Park is a large public Urban park in New York City, with about twenty-five million visitors annually Their plan was named “Greensward,” and they were able to obtain the commission through an excellent presentation that capitalized on Vaux's talents in landscape drawing and the inclusion of before-and-after sketches of the site. Together, they fought many political battles to make sure their original design remained intact and was carried out.
In 1865, Vaux called upon Olmsted and they decided to create a partnership. Albert Levy is a French photographer active in the 1870's-1890's As Olmsted, Vaux and Company, they designed Prospect Park and Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn, and Morningside Park in Manhattan. Prospect Park is a 585 acre (24 km² public Park in the New York City borough of Brooklyn located between Park Slope, Fort Greene Park is a municipal Park in Brooklyn, New York, comprising 30 Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. Morningside Park is a New York City public Park in the northern portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York In Chicago they planned one of the first suburbs, called the Riverside Improvement Society in 1868. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Riverside is an affluent suburban village in Cook County, Illinois, a significant portion of which is included in Riverside Landscape Architecture District They were also commissioned to design a major park project in Buffalo, New York, which included The Parade (now Martin Luther King Jr. Buffalo (ˈbʌfəloʊ is the second largest city in New York State. Park), The Park (now the Delaware Park), and The Front (now simply Front Park). Delaware Park is located in Buffalo, New York, USA. It was designed as part of a coordinated system of Parks Parkways and Traffic Vaux designed many structures to beautify the parks, but most of these have been demolished. In 1871, the partners designed the grounds of the New York State Hospital for the Insane in Buffalo and the Hudson River State Hospital for the Insane in Poughkeepsie. HH Richardson Complex is a recently-coined name for the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, a large Medina red sandstone and brick hospital that stands on the grounds The Hudson River State Hospital, is a former New York state Psychiatric hospital whose main building has been designated a National Historic Landmark due Poughkeepsie is a Town in Dutchess County, New York, United States.
In 1872, Vaux dissolved the partnership and went on to form an architectural partnership with George Kent Radford and Samuel Parsons, Jr. Year 1872 ( MDCCCLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Samuel H Parsons Jr ( 1844 - February 3, 1923) Parsons was a well-known American landscape architect remembered primarily for his "Beaux-Arts" He returned to working with Olmsted in 1889 to design the City of Newburgh's Downing Park as a memorial to their mentor. Downing Park is the largest of several parks in the city of Newburgh, New York, USA. It would be the pair's last collaboration. On a foggy November 19, 1895, he drowned in an accident while he was visiting his son, Downing Vaux, in Brooklyn. Events 1095 - The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land Year 1895 ( MDCCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City.
Throughout his lifetime, Vaux, while on his own and through various partnerships, designed and created dozens of parks across the country. He introduced new ideas about the significance of public parks in America during a hectic time of urbanization. A park is a protected area of Land and Water, usually in its natural or semi-natural (landscaped state and set aside for some purpose often to do with human Urbanizationn (also spelled urbanisation) is the physical growth of Urban areas into rural or natural land as a result of population in-migration to an existing This industrialization of the cityscape inspired him to focus on an integration of buildings, bridges and other forms of architecture into their natural surroundings. is a process of social and economic change whereby a human group is transformed from a Pre-industrial society into an industrial one A cityscape is the urban equivalent of a Landscape. Townscape is roughly synonymous with cityscape though it of course implies the same difference in urban He favored naturalistic, rustic and curvilinear lines in his designs, and his design statements contributed much to today’s landscape and architecture.
Other famous New York City buildings Vaux designed are the Jefferson Market Courthouse, the Samuel J. Tilden House, and the original Ruskinian Gothic buildings, now largely invisible from exterior view, of the American Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The City of New York The Jefferson Market Branch New York Public Library, still familiar to New Yorkers as Jefferson Market Courthouse, is located at 425 6th Avenue (near W 10th The Samuel J Tilden House was the home of Samuel J Tilden, former governor of the U The American Museum of Natural History ( AMNH) located on the Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York, USA is one of the largest and most The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City,
Vaux is buried in Kingston, New York's Montrepose Cemetery. In 1998, the City of New York named a park looking onto Gravesend Bay as Calvert Vaux Park. Gravesend (pronounced "GRAVES end" not "grave SEND" is a neighborhood in the south-central section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn [1]
References
- ^ Calvert Vaux Park, new York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation (colloquially the Parks Department) is the department of government of the City of New York responsible for Accessed September 8, 2007. Events 70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem. 1264 - The Statute of Kalisz Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
Sources
- Rosenzweig, Roy, and Elizabeth Blackmar. The Park and the People: A History of Central Park. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8014-9751-5.
External links
- Short biography of Calvert Vaux
- Calvert Vaux - A Chronology of Important Events in His Life
- An article about Calvert Vaux
- Short biography of Calvert Vaux
- The Central Park Designers
- Central Park History: Who's who - Calvert Vaux
- New York Architecture - information about Calvert Vaux
- Gothic Arch #27 Bridge (Central Park) in the Structurae database
- Bow Bridge (Central Park) in the Structurae database
- Fort Greene Park
- Calvert Vaux's Gravesite
- Silent Partner: Calvert Vaux
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