With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Frederick Vanderbilt Field
Patronage, Journalism/Non-Fiction
1905 – 2000
In the 1930s, Field was a visionary in his twenties pursuing a career as a liberal socialist writer. He hired the Swiss-born architect William Lescaze to design Sun Terrace/Field House in New Hartford, built between 1929 and 1932. It is regarded as the first International style country house built in the United States.
- Biography/Description of Work
Frederick Vanderbilt Field (1905–2000) was a contemporary of Chick Austin with an interest in modern arts and ideas (Adams 2010). Born in 1905, he was an heir to both the Marshall Field and Vanderbilt dynasties, through his father and mother respectively. His father was a descendant of Samuel Osgood, the first postmaster general in this country, and Cyrus Field, who was responsible for laying the first trans-Atlantic cable. After graduating from the Hotchkiss School in 1923, he entered Harvard University. While there he became the editor of The Crimson and a member of the Hasty Pudding social club. After graduation in 1927, Field attended the London School of Economics where he became enamored with socialist ideas. Upon his return to the United States, Field attempted to become involved in the Democratic Party, but was discouraged by his inability to influence party policy, and turned to the Socialist Party. His other affiliations in the 1940s and 1950s included the Institute of Pacific Relations, a federation that included ten national councils working to solve the problems of the Pacific area, and believed to be sympathetic to Communist beliefs, the American Peace Mobilization, dedicated to keeping the United States from entering World War II, and the Civil Rights Congress. In 1951, he was sentenced to jail for contempt of court after refusing to name those who had put up bond money for four Communists who jumped bail. After serving his sentence in jail, he moved to Mexico in 1953 for thirty years before returning to the States in 1938. Married four times, his last wife, Nieves Orozco, was said to have been one of Diego’ Rivera’s favorite models. Throughout his life, Field wrote articles on Socialism and Communism for publications such as The New Masses and The Daily Worker, and penned his memoir in 1983.
- Sources view
- Adams, Virginia et al. 2010 Mid-Twentieth-Century Modern Residences in Connecticut, 1930 – 1979. National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form. National Park Service.
Field, Frederick Vanderbilt, obituary. 2/07/2000. New York Times. Accessed 9/30/2015 at [ http://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/07/us/frederick-vanderbilt-field-wealthy-leftist-dies-at-94.html ]. - Associated Resource(s)