| Edward Simmons (1852--1931) was one of the most prolific and respected mural painters of the American Renaissance (1876--1917). As an easel painter Simmons was competent, versatile, and associated with the most significant group identified with American Impressionism, the Ten American Painters. However, mural commissions absorbed most of his time and attention, and it is his decorative career that is the focus of this dissertation.;Nearly all of his generation of American artists went to Europe, especially to Paris, to study in the academies. Simmons and many colleagues returned home with great mastery in drawing and painting the human figure and inspired by the decoration in the Renaissance and Beaux-Arts buildings they had seen. They aimed to take the best from the past and create a new era in the decorative arts, even greater than what had gone before. In addition to establishing their own careers, they stimulated a demand for public art and gave the decorative arts new status in this country.;This study looks behind the scenes at how Simmons and fellow artists, architects, and patrons advanced the profession of decorative painting in the United States. Simmons's career is traced chronologically through his murals and the archival documents that, together with his autobiography, record his experience at various sites, including the Library of Congress; the Criminal Courts Building, and Appellate Division Courthouse in New York; courthouses for Polk County, Iowa, and Mercer County, Pennsylvania; the Massachusetts, Minnesota, and South Dakota State Capitols; and several private clubs and mansions.;From his debut in the 1893 Columbian Exposition to the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Simmons was one of the most sought-after muralists for prestigious commissions, both on the East Coast and in the West. He was on the cutting edge of trends in the mural movement and among the first to shift from purely allegorical decoration and answer the call for scenes of local history. Simmons was noted for creating the perfect decoration for the site, for giving fresh interpretation to old symbols, and for exemplifying a new American spirit in public art. |
