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.
Austin Purves, Jr.
Education/Curation, Painting/Drawing, Sculpture
1900 – 1977
Austin Purves, Jr. was a mid-20th century artist well known for his mosaics and frescoes. Some of his more unique commissions were the aluminum bas-reliefs made for the S.S. America and the S.S. United States, ocean liners. He also taught art classes.
- Biography/Description of Work
Austin Purves, Jr. was born in 1900 in Pennsylvania, the son of a wealthy businessman. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and worked at Tiffany Foundation before traveling to Europe. There, he studied fresco painting at Fontainebleau and in Italy. In 1931, he became Director of the Cooper Union School of Art in New York City, a position he held until 1938. During this time, he helped improve the School of Art curriculum and their acceptance process. After Cooper Union, Purves taught at Yale University and Bennington College. During the 1930s, he became good friends with Ernest Howe, a student of his from East Litchfield. It was because of Howe that Purves and his family purchased a house on Wheeler Road. He became involved with the town and was one of the founders of the East Litchfield Fire Company. Purves designed their logo which is still in use today. He is most known for his mosaics and fresco paintings, however, he also practiced sculpture and charcoal drawings. In the 1930s and 1940s, he designed aluminum bas reliefs and sculptures for cruise liners that were later converted into war ships during World War II. Some of his most notable works include the bas reliefs for the S.S. America and the S.S. United States, converted for troop transport during World War II, and the mosaic located in the east apse of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. completed in the 1960s. Austin Purves, Jr. died in 1977 at the age of 76.
- Sources view
- Carley, Rachel, 2014, Roswell McNeil Homestead: 78 Wheeler Road, Litchfield Historic Resources Survey, IF195, State Historic Preservation Office. “Art Study Revised By Cooper Union.” New York Times (1923-Current file). May 8, 1932. Accessed January 8, 2016 http://search.proquest.com/docview/99570890?accountid=47114. “Austin Purves Jr. Dies; Mosaicist.” The Hartford Courant (1923-1990). March 16, 1977. Accessed January 8, 2016 http://search.proquest.com/docview/544921885?accountid=10341. Archives of American Art. “Austin Purves papers, 1939-1961.” Smithsonian Institution. Accessed January 8, 2016 http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/austin-purves-papers-8788.
- Associated Resource(s)