Richard Blossom Farley
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Richard Blossom Farley was a Philadelphia painter who created the murals in the lobby of the L. W. Rogers Building, headquarters of the Theosophical Society in America with the sponsorship of Georgine Wetherill Smith. He preferred to be called Blossom.
Early life and education
Farley was born at Poultney, Vermont on October 24, 1875, to teacher Dickerson Harvey Farley and Freberne Lucia Blossom. The young family has relocated to Trenton, New Jersey by 1880, and two more sons were born: Marcus and LeRoy. The father became an instructor and then professor in the State Normal School. All three boys lived with their parents throughout their schooling. The eldest attended various art schools; Marcus trained as a civil engineer; and LeRoy became a dentist.
Richard Blossom Farley was trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia when Cecilia Beaux and William H. Chase were instructors in portraiture. After the academy awarded him an $800 European Traveling Scholarship, he went to Paris and studied under James McNeill Whistler in 1898-1899.[1] He also spent time in England, Belgium, and Brittany.
By 1914, Blossom Farley was a well-established artist, with many exhibitions and prizes to his name. He married Abigail Rosenthal, and they set up a household.[2] A son was born on December 3, 1918 and named after his father. A daughter, Abigail Freberne Farley was born on August 3, 1920. After Mrs. Abigail Farley died on January 2, 1926, the girl was sent to live with her aunt Miriam who was married to a wealthy Pittsburgh steel manufacturer, Samuel Heppenstall.[3] The outcome of Richard Blossom Farley Jr. is unknown.
Artistic career
Blossom Farley worked steadily as a prolific and successful studio artists, painting landscapes for sale at exhibitions and portraits on commission. During World War I, he worked for the U. S. Shipping Board as a "camoufleur," painting ships in camouflage designs to protect them from attack.[4]
The artist was featured in numerous exhibitions such as these:
- 1906 – Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts
- 1911 - Peabody Institute, Baltimore
- 1912 – Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
- 1913 – Art Club of Philadelphia
- 1913 – MacDowell Club Gallery, New York City
- 1915 – Silver Medal, Panama Pacific Exhibit in San Francisco
- 1916 – Arlington Galleries, New York City
- 1921 - Carnegie Library, Fort Worth
- 1922 – National Academy of Design, New York City
- 1925 – Trenton Fair Art Club
He artist received significant prizes and awards:
- 1897 – Charles Toppan Prize, as student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
- 1898 – European Traveling Scholarship Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts ($800)
- 1910 – Fellowship Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts ($100)
- 1912 – Fellowship, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts ($100)
- 1913 – Gold Medal, Philadelphia Arts Club Exhibition
- 1914 – Fourth W. A. Clark Prize ($500) and Honorable Mention, at Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, D.C., in an exhibition of contemporary American oil paintings
- 1915 – Silver Medal Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco
His works are represented in the permanent collections of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts with "Morning Mists;" the Reading, Pennsylvania Museum with "The Passing Cloud;" and at the Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, D. C. with "Fog" and "Blue and Gold." Well-known subjects of his portraits include Trenton Mayor Frederick William Donnelly, Miss Sarah Y. Ely, and Professor Austin Apgar. A portrait of Christine Wetherill Stevenson can be seen at the Philadelphia Art Alliance.
Murals include:
- “The Peace Treaty with the Indians” for the New Jersey State Normal School at Trenton.
- Decorations of the dining room and music room at the Arts Alliance Building, 251 S. 18th Street, Philadelphia, which Mrs. Shillard-Smith described as "exquisite" and "notable for their delicacy of color and beauty of workmanship."[5]
- Dining room of the New University Club.
- Lobby of the L. W. Rogers Building, headquarters of the Theosophical Society in America.
Philadelphia Sketch Club
The Philadelphia Sketch Club remembers him this way:
In our membership files are the decaying sketches of Richard Blossom Farley. His works languish in museums, not being exhibited at the Allentown Art Museum, the State Museum of Pennsylvania, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Reading Museum of Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Born in Poultney, Vermont the 24th October 1875, he joined our fair institution in 1896 and remained a member until his death. Nor was he merely a member in name, but was quite active, being involved in decorating many of the Club's affairs, a frequent exhibitor and indulger and singer in the Club's Epicurean revels, and a member of the Grub Club... In 1914, Blossom gave the after dinner talk at one of the Club's monthly meetings, his subject landscape painting.
Fortunately, we can see his work. His landscapes of the New Jersey shore are, at least for now, to be found at the Schwarz Gallery. His portrait of remarkable Christine Wetherill Stevenson, actress, playwright, and philanthropist, can be seen at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, which she founded.
Blossom was also known for his murals. He did murals for the dining room of what was the new University Club in 1930, for which the architect was Grant Miles Simon, another member of our Club. Another mural was for the New Jersey State Normal School in Trenton, now the University of New Jersey. Blossom fulfilled yet another commission to decorate the four walls of the two-story reception hall of the Rogers Building at the Theosophical Society's Olcott Center in Wheaton, Illinois. But Blossom abandoned pointing murals, complaining that housepainters were making more.
It should be remarked upon that Blossom joined other Club members in helping the military during the Great War. At the request of fellow Club member Brigadier General Charles T. Cresswell, they painted twenty-six "Landscape Targets" (3 1/2 feet by 14 feet each) to be used at Camp Meade. Blossom was also among the Club members who served the Camouflage Section of the U. S. Shipping Board, preparing the designs and superintending the painting of various ships.
Richard Blossom Farley was a slender man with a well-trimmed beard. Dying in 1954, he had lived long enough to be remembered by our William H. Campbell. In a letter that Bill wrote to me about Blossom, "He dressed like a gentleman of the early 1900's with a derby, rolled up umbrella, high top shoes, etc. One day he came to lunch and was delighted to report that he was now the last living student of Whistler, since he had read that the only other living student had just died."[6]
Theosophical Society involvement
Olcott Murals
According to Georgine Wetherill Smith,
He worked at the Academy of Natural Science, studying nature's many patterns and his murals record the results of rich experience.[7]
Later years
Notes
- ↑ Georgine Wetherill Smith, "Life Aspiring through the Ages," World Theosophy 1:9 (September, 1931), 707-708.
- ↑ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951, marriage license 313268.
- ↑ U.S. Census, 1930.
- ↑ U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.
- ↑ Mrs. G. Shillard-Smith, "Headquarters Decorations" The Theosophical Messenger 18.12 (December, 1930), 267.
- ↑ Bruce H. Bentzman, "Past Members of Note: Richard Blossom Farley," Philadelphia Sketch Club web page.
- ↑ Georgine Wetherill Smith, "Life Aspiring through the Ages," World Theosophy 1:9 (September, 1931), 707-708.
Additional resources
- Peter Hastings Falk, Who Was Who in American Art, Sound View Press, p. 1995.
- Robert Wilson Torchia, New Jersey Remembered, Schwartz Gallery, Philadelphia, pp. 58-59.