The New Rochelle artist colony was a community of artists, actors, musicians, playwrights and writers who settled in the city of

New Rochelle New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state o ...

, New York, during the early twentieth century. By the 1920s, New Rochelle had more artists per capita than almost any city in the United States, and newspaper headlines were referring to the community as "Greenwich Village without the Greenwich." The colony included the dance team of

Vernon and Irene Castle Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers and dance teachers who appeared on Broadway and in silent films in the early 20th century. They are credited with reviving the popularity of modern dancing. Castle was a st ...

, actor Francis Wilson, writer

Augustus Thomas Augustus Thomas (January 8, 1857 – August 12, 1934) was an American playwright. Biography Born in St. Louis, Missouri and son of a doctor, Thomas worked a number of jobs including as a page in the 41st Congress, studying law, and gaining some ...

, and artists Robert I. Aitken, Edward Kemble, Rufus Zogbaum, Alton Tobey and

Julian Hawthorne Julian Hawthorne (June 22, 1846 – July 14, 1934) was an American writer and journalist, the son of novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sophia Peabody. He wrote numerous poems, novels, short stories, mysteries and detective fiction, essays, t ...

. Ellen Emmett Rand, F. Tolles Chamberlain, Alonzo Klaw, H. R. Stanton, Herman Lambden, Sophie Schuyler Day, Montague Castle, Martha B. Bintiff, and A. Phimister Proctor were some of the other lesser known artists.

Illustrators

The New Rochelle artist colony was best known for its number of prominent American illustrators. In the early 1920s more than fifty percent of the illustrations in the country's best-selling publications, and 90% of the illustrations in ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'', were produced by artists from the city.

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

was a member of the community. Clyde Forsythe, who shared

Frederic Remington Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 – December 26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in the genre of Western American Art. His works are known for depicting the Western United Stat ...

's former studio with Rockwell early on, convinced him to submit cover ideas to the ''Saturday Evening Post''. Rockwell later created over 320 covers over the course of his career. Forsythe also introduced Rockwell to his second wife, Mary Barstow, who was a nationally syndicated cartoonist. For Rockwell, living in New Rochelle in the 1920s in the presence of its many illustrators and artists encouraged his intuition that illustration was a worthy use of artistic talent. Among the most gratifying signs that he had indeed become a serious contender in the art world was the respect shown him by New Rochelle's coterie of famous illustrators. Coles Phillips, a freelance illustrator, developed a signature device, the "Fade-away Girl", that appeared in popular magazines and in advertisements. He blocked in parts of the face and figure and left the rest to the imagination.

Nell Brinkley Nell Brinkley (September 5, 1886 – October 21, 1944) was an American illustrator and comic artist who was sometimes referred to as the "Queen of Comics" during her nearly four-decade career working with New York newspapers and magazines. Sh ...

illustrated newspaper romance stories and was often called the ''Queen of Cartoons''. Her "Brinkley Girl" became the 1920s equivalent of

Charles Dana Gibson Charles Dana Gibson (September 14, 1867 – December 23, 1944) was an American illustrator. He was best known for his creation of the Gibson Girl, an iconic representation of the beautiful and independent Euro-American woman at the turn of the ...

's "

Gibson Girl The Gibson Girl was the personification of the feminine ideal of physical attractiveness as portrayed by the pen-and-ink illustrations of artist Charles Dana Gibson during a 20-year period that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries in th ...

" two decades earlier. Most of the illustrators who lived in New Rochelle were commercially successful, designing covers and illustrations for popular magazines as well as images for advertising and cartoon strips. They were national celebrities in the days before television, as print was the way people got their information and they were acquainted with these artists on a daily basis. Most were paid well enough to live comfortable suburban lifestyles. J. C. Leyendecker, creator of the

Arrow Collar Man The Arrow Collar Man was the name given to the various male models who appeared in advertisements for shirts and detachable shirt collars manufactured by Cluett Peabody & Company of Troy, New York. The original campaign ran from 1905–31, tho ...

advertising image and frequent contributor to the ''Saturday Evening Post'', lived in a large chateau and estate overlooking Long Island Sound. Syndicated political cartoonist

Clare Briggs Clare A. Briggs (August 5, 1875 – January 3, 1930) was an early American comic strip artist who rose to fame in 1904 with his strip '' A. Piker Clerk''. Briggs was best known for his later comic strips ''When a Feller Needs a Friend'', ''Ain't ...

built the

Tudor revival Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

home 'Blue Anchor', adjacent to the golf course of the Wykagyl Country Club where he was a member.

, known for his drawings and paintings of the American West, lived in one of the

gothic-revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

homes designed by

Alexander Jackson Davis Alexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis (July 24, 1803 – January 14, 1892), was an American architect, known particularly for his association with the Gothic Revival style. Education Davis was born in New York City and studied at ...

on Lather's Hill. New Rochelle's illustrators included:

New Rochelle Art Association

In 1912, a number of artists from the community organized the

New Rochelle Art Association The New Rochelle Art Association (NRAA) was founded in 1912 by artists and residents of the city of New Rochelle in Westchester County, New York. By 1912 the community had transformed into a true artists colony, home to many notable artists of the ...

. The organization set formal goals among which were to “set an educational standard in the Fine Arts and promote interest in art in the community.”. The associations founding members included Norman Rockwell, J. C. Leyendecker, F. X. Leyendecker, Ernest Albert, Frederick Dana Marsh, G. Glen Newell, Orson Lowell, Remington Schuyler, Alta West Salisbury, George T. Tobin, Lucius W. Hitchcock, Edward Penfield, and A. G. Heaton.NRAA Founders exhibit
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References

External links

Norman Rockwell, The New Rochelle Years
{{New Rochelle, New York Culture of New Rochelle, New York American artist groups and collectives Artist colonies Cultural history of the United States

Illustrators

New Rochelle Art Association

See also

References

External links