“Through the network of wires: Portsmouth Abbey, Richard Lippold, and Postwar Syncretism”

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Notes

1. See Cage (1961: 6–7). See also Joseph (1997: 85–7). Joseph discusses the influence of Cage’s early interest in Zen philosophy and of his reading of the work of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy in particular.

2. See, among other sources, Sandler (1970). For Cage and the Abstract Expressionists, see Joseph (1997: 80–104), and Jones (1993: 643–7). The best analysis of John Cage and Zen Buddhism is by Larson (2012).

3. There is a growing literature on postwar religion and modern architecture: see, for example, essays by Timothy Parker, Robert Proctor, and Richard Kieckhefer, in Kulic et al. (2014); Lion (2010: 109–26); Proctor (2014); Michael (2013); and note 25 below.

4. The chapel, officially known as the Church of St. Gregory the Great, was beautifully restored by Northeast Collaborative Architects in 2010, and has won a number of historic preservation awards. For the history of the project, see Clausen (1994: 226–33); and passim, and Clausen (1992: 17–28). See the summary history in Esperdy and Kingsley. See also Jordy (2004: 500–502). The initial concept for the monastery and school was published in Architectural Record, December 1954, 131–56; see also “Church and Monastery for Portsmouth Abbey,” Architectural Record, July 1959, 148–53; and “Belluschi Designs a Church and Monastery for Portsmouth Priory,” Architectural Record, June 1961, 116–21; and Yarnall (2004: 31–2).

5. See Graham (1963). Graham’s extraordinary syncretic contributions to postwar Catholic thought have not been subjected to serious study. Through his teaching and writing about topics ranging from Eastern religion to LSD and the hippies (as documented in Graham (1968)), Graham functioned as a significant liberal presence in American Catholicism both before and after Vatican II. For further discussion of Graham’s work, see Jonas (2006).

6. Lippold’s sculpture was recently restored by Newman’s Ltd.: see Kahn (2009) and http://www.newmansltd.com/PALSslideshows/PALSIntroductorySlideshowV2.15.swf. For the details of the prize-winning project, see Faith and Form (2014: 12–13), and Morgan (2009: 42–6). The restoration was overseen by Dom Joseph Byron.

7. The label was coined by Lewis Mumford (1947). For Mumford, see Fenske (1997: 37–85).

8. See Mumford (1947: 110).

9. See Clausen (1992: 17–19) and Clausen (1994: 159). See Mock (1944); Giedion (1958); and “What is Happening to Modern Architecture?” (1948: 3). See also Ockman (2007: 30–61). For trends in postwar modernism see Friedman (2010: Introduction).

10. See Solomon (2009), especially the discussion of Belluschi in Chapter 2.

11. Before entering the monastery, Dom Hilary Martin had studied at MIT and planned to be an architect: see Macguire (2014: 101–17).

12. For correspondence between Merton and Graham, see http://merton.org/Research/Correspondence/y1.aspx?id=797.

13. See Clausen (1994: 241). Of particular interest is Belluschi’s early reading of Samuel Newsome, Japanese Garden Construction (1939).

14. See Drexler (1955).

15. For Nakashima, see Mira Nakashima (2003).

16. See Nakashima (1955: 26–33).

17. See Clausen (1992: 27).

18. For Bertoia’s work at MIT and its postwar context, see Friedman (2010: Chapter 5).

19. See Tillich (1955: 3–9) and Grubiak (2007: 1–14).

20. See Belluschi (1953: 7). See also Clausen (1994: Chapter 7) and Clausen (1992: 21–28).

21. See Morgan (2009: 42).

22. The best overview of religious and other institutional responses to the modernist call for a “synthesis of the arts” is Pearson (2010: esp. Chapter 3). See also Von Moos (2009: Chapter 7). For modern religious architecture in Germany, see James-Chakraborty (2000). See also Poitier (2001: 60–1).

23. For the expansion of religious communities and institutions in the postwar years see Ellwood (1999: Introduction) and Wuthnow (1989).

24. For an overview of this movement, see Clausen (1992: 17–28). For postwar synagogues, see Siry (2011). Further information about the best known of these projects, Percival Goodman’s 1951 Congregation B’nai Israel, Millburn New Jersey, with decorations by Motherwell, Gottlieb and Ferber, was brought together in an exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York in 2010. See also Buggeln (n.d.).

25. See Young (2014). See also Thimmesh (2011).

26. For Lippold, see Carter et al. (1990) and Burnham (1968). Lippold’s later work is discussed in Tomkins (1963: 47–107).

27. See Marter (1994, 1945–59) and Louchheim (1953).

28. See transcript of Paul Cummings (1971). A chronology of Lippold’s life and career from 1915 to 1967 is also in the Lippold papers, AAA, D-342, 21–2. “The Moon,” MoMA, 241.1950: the piece, made of brass rods, nickel-chromium and stainless steel wire, measures 10’ × 6’ × 6’. “The Sun,” commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1951, is being reconstructed by The Richard Lippold Foundation. See also Lippold (1973). I am grateful to Richard H. Brown for sharing the recording of this interview with me. For Lippold’s corporate work, see Friedman (n.d.). Lippold’s work has not been recognized by art historians to date, but see now Douberly (2015).

29. Among many other sources on this topic, see Lambert (2013).

30. Hilary Martin to Richard Lippold (hereafter as RL), AAA, D342: 422–3; Aelred Graham (hereafter as AG) to RL, 3 January 1959, AAA, D342: 444, RL to Shirley Burden, August 1, 1958, D342: 455; and telegram from Shirley Burden to RL, August 11, 1958, D342: 454.

31. D342: 456.

32. See letters to and from Henry Francis Taylor (whom Lippold had approached to solicit “The Sun,” commission), James Johnson Sweeney, Carlos Raul Villanueva, Welton Becket, Eero Saarinen, Jacqueline Kennedy (to enquire about the Kennedy Library project by I.M. Pei) and others, AAA.

33. ibid.: 27–8. For Black Mountain, see Harris (2002).

34. MoMA exhibition, There Will Never Be Silence: Scoring John Cage’s 4’33’’ held October 12, 2013–June 22, 2014.

35. Cummings interview, 93–4.

36. For Ray Johnson, see “How to Draw A Bunny,” 2002, directed by John W. Walter. Information on Johnson’s life and works can be found at http://www.rayjohnsonestate.com/home/. See also Cummings interview, 115, 120; Silverman (2012: 64–5, 73,120); and Silverman (1952: 78–9).

37. See Larson (2012: 209) and Katz (1999: 231–52). See also Hines (1994: 65–99).

38. Cummings interview, 93–4.

39. Seeman interview, AAA, np.

40. See Burchard (1960a, 1960b).

41. Cummings interview, 88.

42. The Harvard project has not yet been fully researched.

43. See Lippold (1956–7: 27–9).

44. D354: 461–2.

45. Pietro Belluschi to AG, AAA, D342–453.

46. The Balance, 1954, quoted in Lippold exhibition catalogue, Marion Willard Gallery, February–March, 1963, np.

47. See Graham (1963: 114).

48. ibid.: 79.

49. Richard H. Brown discovered the film of “The Sun” in storage among Lippold’s papers, drawings, and models; see Brown (2015) and http://www.centerforvisualmusic.org/CVM_TheSunFilm.html. I am grateful to Richard Brown for discussing the history of the “Sun” project with me and for sharing his knowledge of the archives.

50. See Vanel (2008: 1, 94–108). The 1958 Philips Pavilion, designed for the Brussels World’s Fair by Le Corbusier, Varèse and Xenakis, is a related project in the early history of multi-media installation.

51. Lippold Papers, AAA, Microfilm N69–24, 61.

52. AAA, D342: 837–8.

53. See Foster (1994: 81–97) and Gaffey (1984: 45–73).

54. See Kramer (1968).

55. Although Lippold was briefly discussed by Rosalind Krauss (1977: 173) in her foundational Passages in Modern Sculpture, he remains virtually invisible in art historical writing.

56. See Smith (2010).

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Notes on contributors

Alice T. Friedman

Alice T. Friedman is the Grace Slack McNeil Professor of the History of American Art at Wellesley College. A specialist on the history of architecture with an emphasis on gender, sexuality, and culture, she is the author of numerous books and articles, including Women and the Making of the Modern House: A Social and Cultural History (Abrams, 1998) and American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture (Yale, 2010).

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