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.
Kenneth Lynch
Architecture/Design, Sculpture
1906 – 1989
Lynch directed repairs on the Statue of Liberty in the late 1920s and twice restored the weather vane on Boston’s Old North Church. He was known for his metal work which included the Art Deco steel doors for the Chrysler Building, iron baptistery gates for St. Patrick’s Cathedral and a bronze lamp made for Louis Comfort Tiffany. He was a peer of the great metalworker Samuel Yellin, sculptor Paul Manship, and others. He was also an avid collector of blacksmith’s tools, hardware, military artifacts, arms and armor. His collection was mostly sold at auction in 1985 with the proceeds going to St. Francis Xavier High School in Manhattan. Lynch made props for more than a dozen movies and among his other works are the stainless steel eagles crowning the Chrysler Building and the astronomical rings held aloft by Atlas at Rockefeller Center.
- Biography/Description of Work
According to the introduction to a catalog of the Kenneth Lynch tool collection (c.1975), Lynch first learned to work with metal as a farrier, and served in the Cavalry division of the US Army. During years spent in Europe after World War I, he also learned to make armor. Upon his return to the US, Lynch carried on the ironwork trade, establishing his firm in 1927 with a shop initially in Manhattan, then in Long Island City, New York. He collaborated with Robert Moses, NYC Planner and Parks Commissioner to design and fabricate benches for the 1939 World’s Fair; he provided iron ornaments for several exhibitions within the fair as well. When that work was completed, in 1938, he moved his business to Wilton. In the 1950s, Lynch collected European limestone ornaments, and began to reproduce them in cast stone for the general public in the 1950s. His fascination with hand tools led to a lifetime collecting them; he acquired tools from European workshops and from American silver companies. The collection was displayed at the Craft Center Museum at the Wilton property in the 1970s. From the 1960’s to 1980’s Lynch continued to guide the company and work with various designers, architects and sculptors until his decline in health and death in 1989. His son Timothy took over the business in 1988.
- Sources view
- Kenneth Lynch Obituary - New York Times - 1989-5-9, http://connecticuthistory.org/a-metal-giant-in-wilton/, http://www.davistownmuseum.org/bioLynch.htm https://klynchandsons.com/our-history/
- Associated Resource(s)