Arthur Putnam
Encyclopedia
Arthur Putnam was an American sculptor from the turn of the 20th century who is recognized for his bronzes of wild animals and public monuments. He was a well-known Californian during his days in California and enjoyed a national reputation as well. Putnam was regarded as an artistic genius in San Francisco and life was chronicled in the San Francisco and East Bay newspapers. Putnam won a Gold Medal at the 1915 San Francisco World’s Fair, known officially as the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. His works were exhibited in New York
, Chicago
, Paris
and Rome
. Putnam created a number of civic monuments; large works of sculpture that still stand in San Francisco and San Diego. His work was exhibited at the famous Armory Show in 1913.
, while his family was traveling. He was a middle child and had an older brother George, born in New Orleans and a younger sister, Clara Elizabeth, born in Mississippi. Their father Oramel Hinkley Putnam (1841–1880) was a civil engineer from Vermont. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War
. Their father worked for the railroad and so the family moved frequently in the sculptor’s early years. They settled in Omaha
, Nebraska
for an extended time, when Putnam was growing up. He enjoyed drawing animals and modeling them in clay. during his boyhood. He had a serious accident in childhood, falling forty feet out of a tree and suffering a head injury.
(1854–1926) , the creation of five monumental figures from California history and lore. He met Scripps through his brother George, who worked for Scripps secretary and so he visited the Scripps Ranch at Miramar, where the newspaperman awarded Putnam with the commission. Five works were planned in all, which were initially intended to grace the Scripps estate. Each of the works was to be approved through sketches and studies that were to approved by Scripps.
(1876–1916) and George Sterling were known to gather in the studio. He worked with progressive painters like Maynard Dixon (1875–1946), Matteo Sandona (1881–1964) and Xavier Martinez (1869–1943), to leave the San Francisco Art Association with Piazzoni and Putnam and form the California Society of Artists. The breakaway group only held a single exhibition, held at Charles Peter Neilson’s studio in 1902.
There is still much to be revealed about the history of this piece, but it is known that the writing tablet was carved by Arthur Putnam in 1903. Putnam and Jack London were good friends and the animal depicted in this sculpture is clearly "Old Buck", the resilient dog from London's major work, "The Call of the Wild". It also has become clear, from researched assisted by The Huntington Library
, that the tablet was the personal property of Jack London in 1916.
Public Monuments & Sculpture Groups=
Solo Exhibitions=:
Group Exhibitions=
Commercial Gallery Representation=
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. Putnam created a number of civic monuments; large works of sculpture that still stand in San Francisco and San Diego. His work was exhibited at the famous Armory Show in 1913.
Childhood
Arthur Putnam was born on September 6, 1873 in Waveland, MississippiMississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, while his family was traveling. He was a middle child and had an older brother George, born in New Orleans and a younger sister, Clara Elizabeth, born in Mississippi. Their father Oramel Hinkley Putnam (1841–1880) was a civil engineer from Vermont. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
. Their father worked for the railroad and so the family moved frequently in the sculptor’s early years. They settled in Omaha
Omaha
Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
for an extended time, when Putnam was growing up. He enjoyed drawing animals and modeling them in clay. during his boyhood. He had a serious accident in childhood, falling forty feet out of a tree and suffering a head injury.
Training and early career
In 1899 he married and moved permanently to San Francisco, where he worked primarily as a sculptor of architectural commissions.Scripps commission
Arthur Putnam received his first major commission from the newspaperman E. W. ScrippsE. W. Scripps
Edward Willis Scripps , was an American newspaper publisher and founder of The E. W. Scripps Company, a diversified media conglomerate, and United Press news service. It became United Press International when International News Service merged with United Press in 1958. The E. W...
(1854–1926) , the creation of five monumental figures from California history and lore. He met Scripps through his brother George, who worked for Scripps secretary and so he visited the Scripps Ranch at Miramar, where the newspaperman awarded Putnam with the commission. Five works were planned in all, which were initially intended to grace the Scripps estate. Each of the works was to be approved through sketches and studies that were to approved by Scripps.
In San Francisco from 1900 to 1905
In San Francisco Putnam was friends with artist and stained glass designer Bruce Porter (1865–1943) and the tonalist painter Gottardo Piazonni (1872–1945), friendships that would help sustain him in the future. He shared a studio with sculptor Earl Cummings (1876–1936) and Piazzoni at 8 Montgomery Street, in the “Monkey Block” building where a number of the artists and other bohemians lived. Literary figures like Jack LondonJack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
(1876–1916) and George Sterling were known to gather in the studio. He worked with progressive painters like Maynard Dixon (1875–1946), Matteo Sandona (1881–1964) and Xavier Martinez (1869–1943), to leave the San Francisco Art Association with Piazzoni and Putnam and form the California Society of Artists. The breakaway group only held a single exhibition, held at Charles Peter Neilson’s studio in 1902.
Illness and disability
Neurological problems that began in 1909 led to an operation for the removal of a brain tumor in 1911. As a result, Putnam was paralyzed on his left side and his formal perceptions were impaired.Panama-Pacific International Exposition
Putnam’s only contribution to the decorations of the fair was a mermaid that sat in the center of fountain designed by architect Arthur Brown. And, even this modest effort was not up to his standards. In Eugen Neuhaus’ book Art of the Exposition, he noted that the fair had been expected to be an opportunity for Putnam to impress the visitors, but the stoke made that impossible and he described the mermaid as not being representative of the sculptor’s earlier work. In the exhibition galleries of the fair, which was held from February 4-December 15, 1915, there was a case with a selection of Putnam’s bronzes and his bronze group “The Puma and the Snake” was on exhibit in another gallery. This work, which was in the fair's competition for honors, generated positive reviews: Neuhaus wrote that "Arthur Putnam, whose case of animal sculpture is attracting most keen attention, a man for whom the word genius hardly seems too weighty, was awarded a gold medal."The rediscovery of the Jack London Writing Tablet
One of Putnam's most interesting and personal works, the impressive Jack London Writing Tablet, had faded into obscurity after its presentation at the Children's Pet Exhibition of 1917 in San Francisco. Once lost to the world, this California Redwood sculpture was rediscovered by San Diego antique dealer Christian Chaffee in 1998.There is still much to be revealed about the history of this piece, but it is known that the writing tablet was carved by Arthur Putnam in 1903. Putnam and Jack London were good friends and the animal depicted in this sculpture is clearly "Old Buck", the resilient dog from London's major work, "The Call of the Wild". It also has become clear, from researched assisted by The Huntington Library
The Huntington Library
The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens is an educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington in San Marino, in the San Rafael Hills near Pasadena, California in the United States...
, that the tablet was the personal property of Jack London in 1916.
Collections
- The Bohemian Club, San Francisco (Primitive Man)
- Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, The M.H. De Young Museum
- Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Palace of Legion of Honor (Spreckels Collection)
- San Diego Museum of Fine Art, San Diego (Spreckels Collection)
- Boston Museum of Art, Boston (The Death)
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Snarling Tiger)
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (Coyote)
- Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon
- Mills College, (The Puma and the Footprint)
- National Museum of Wildlife Art (Puma in Combat with Serpent)
- Oakland Museum of California, Oakland (Puma and Deer and others)
- Crocker Museum, Sacramento, California (Twilight Venus Holding Staff)
- Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth University (Puma and Snakes)
Public Monuments & Sculpture Groups=
- The Indian, Presidio Park, San Diego (1905)
- Sphinx, Golden Gate State Park, San Francisco (1907)
- Nymphs and Satyrs, Plaster Reliefs, Hippodrome Theatre, San Francisco (1907)
- Decorations, Bohemian Club, San Francisco (Willis Polk
- The Padre, Presidio Park, San Diego (1908)
- Winged Angels, Marble, Unitarian Church, San Francisco (1908)
- Decorations, Bank of California, San Francisco, 1908 (Walter Danforth Bliss, Architect)
- Winning of the West, Light Standard Decoration, San Francisco (Willis Polk, Architect) (1908)
- Sloat Monument, Monterey, California (1908) (Melvin Earl Cummings, architect)
- Two Pumas, Berthold Monument, Monterey (1910)
- The Ploughman, Scripps Institute of Oceanography (1910)
- Lion, Marble, Haddon Hill Development, Oakland (1912)
- Fr. Junipero Serra, Mission Dolores Garden, San Francisco
- Decorative Ceiling, Flood Mansion, (Now Pacific Union Club), San Francisco
- Bas-Relief Decorations, San Francisco Masonic Temple
- Bas-Relief Decorations, San Francisco Examiner Building
- Bas-Relief Decorations, San Francisco Call Building
- Mountain Lions, Crocker National Bank, San Francisco (Willis Polk, Architect)
- Bronzes, Stock Exchange Club, San Francisco Stock Exchange
- Grizzly Bear Cubs, The Fountain, at the Circle, Berkeley, California (John Galen Howard, architect) (1911)
- The Sea Nymph, Fountain, Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915)
- Bas-Reliefs, Lotta’s Fountain, Kearny and Geary Streets, San Francisco (1916)
Memberships
- San Francisco Art Association, San Francisco
- California Society of Artists, San Francisco (Founding Member, 1902)
- Bohemian Club, San Francisco (1910)
- National Sculpture Society, New York (1913)
Solo Exhibitions=:
- 1923 – Arthur Putnam, Palace of Legion of Honor, San Francisco
- 1930 – Arthur Putnam Memorial Exhibition, Legion of Honor, San Francisco
- 1932 - Arthur Putnam, Legion of Honor, San Francisco
- 1940 - Arthur Putnam, Legion of Honor, San Francisco
- 1945 – Bronzes by Arthur Putnam, Legion of Honor, San Francisco
- 1956 - Arthur Putnam Memorial Exhibition, Legion of Honor, San Francisco
- 1958 - Arthur Putnam Memorial Exhibition, Legion of Honor, San Francisco
- 1978 – Arthur Putnam, Oakland Museum of Art
- 2004 - Arthur Putnam, San Francisco Airport Museum, San Francisco (Works from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)
Group Exhibitions=
- 1900 – San Francisco Press Club, San Francisco
- 1901 – San Francisco Sketch Club, San Francisco
- 1902 – 1st Annual Exhibition, California Society of Artists, Charles Neilson Studio, San Francisco
- 1903 – Spring Exhibition, Mark Hopkins Institute
- 1906 – Rome International Exposition of Fine Arts
- 1907 – Salon de Societe National des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France
- 1908 – Special Exhibition of Contemporary Art, National Arts Club, New York (Lions)
- 1908 – Bronzes by Group of American Artists, Macbeth Galleries, New York
- 1909 – 104th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (Sitting Puma)
- 1909 – Architectural Exhibition, Detroit Architecture Club & Detroit Society of Arts & Crafts, Detroit Museum of Art
- 1909 – Bronzes by American Artists Exhibition, Macbeth Galleries, New York
- 1910 - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- 1911 – Small Bronzes, Macbeth Galleries, New York
- 1912 – Inaugural Exhibition, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio (Puma)
- 1913 - International Exhibition of Modern Art (The Armory Show), New York
- 1914 – Paintings and Sculpture, Bohemian Club, San Francisco
- 1915 – Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco
- 1916 – Sam Francisco Art Association Annual Exhibition, San Francisco (The Ploughman)
- 1916 – Bohemian Club Exhibition, San Francisco
- 1916 – 29th Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture, Art Institute of Chicago (Standing Puma, Crouching Coyote, The Combat, Walking Bear, Indian and Puma Wresting, Coyote and Snake, Listening Puma)
- 1919 – Toby Rosenthal Memorial. Exhibition, California Contemporary Artists, The Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco (Puma and Deer, Standing Puma, Buffalo Hunt, Skunked Wild Cat)
- 1919 – American Bronzes, Cleveland Museum of Art, December
- 1920 – Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (Puma Lying on its Side)
- 1920 – Fourth Annual Exhibition, Greenwich Society of Artists, Greenwich, Connecticut
- 1921 – San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego
- 1923 – Exhibition of American Sculpture, National Sculpture Society
- 1930 - Palace of Legion of Honor, San Francisco
- 1935 – California-Pacific International Exposition, San Diego, California
- 1939 – Golden Gate International Exposition
Commercial Gallery Representation=
- Hegesen & Marshall, San Francisco
- Macbeth Galleries, New York
- Vickery, Atkins & Torrey, San Francisco
Book and essay references
- Eugen Neuhaus, The Art of the Exposition, 1916 (complete account of the art sections of the 1915 world’s fair)
- Rose S. Berry, The Dream City: Its Art and Symbolism, No Published Listed, San Francisco, California, 1917 (Gives list of medalist at PPIE)
- Arnold Genthe, As I Remember, John Day, 1936, Page 67-68 (Account of the extent of the artist’s injury)
- Oscar Lewis, Bay Window Bohemia: The Brilliant Artistic World of Gaslit San Francisco, Doubleday and Company, 1956, Pages 233-237 (Account of Putnam’s life)
- Harold Gilliam, The San Francisco Experience, The Wild Animals of Arthur Putnam, Doubleday, 1982, Pages 40–42 (Chapter on Arthur Putnam’s life)
- 100 Years of American Sculpture, Oakland Museum, 1982
- Donald L. Stover, American Sculpture in the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, 1982,( Pages 7, 41, 45)
- Edan Milton Hughes, Artists in California: 1786-1940, Hughes Publishing, 1986, Page 373
- Donald Hagerty, Desert Dreams: The Art and Life of Maynard Dixon, 1998 (Biography of Putnam's friend Maynard Dixon)
- Patti Carr Black, Mississippi Artists, Mississippi Historical Society, 1998 Page 185
- Nancy Dustin Wall Moure, California Art: 450 Years of Painting & Other Media, Dustin Publications, 1998, Page 113
- Peter Booth Wiley, National Trust Guide – San Francisco Guide for Architecture and History Travelers, John Wiley and Sons, 2000, Pages 157-158 (Notes on buildings and monuments that Putnam contributed to)
- Chaffee, Christian, Arthur Putnam Timeline, Jack London Tablet Website
- Jeffrey E. Morseburg, Arthur Putnam: The Trials, Tragedy and Triumphs of a California Sculptor, Essay, 2010 (Extended Biographical Essay)
Newspaper references
- Art Notes, New York Times, June 14, 1903
- Notes of the Art Galleries, New York Times, December 17, 1911 (Mentions “Puma” and “Snarling Jaguar” in Macbeth exhibition)
- Laura Bride Powers, Arthur Putnam, Genius of the West Leaves for Paris Next Week, Oakland Tribune, May 22, 1921 Page 4
Periodical references
- Mark Hopkins Review of Art, Spring Exhibition, Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, San Francisco, California, 1903, Page 18 (Reproduction of Tiger and Snake)
- J. Mayne, A Splendid Piece of Bronze Work, Granite Marble and Bronze, A. M. Hunt, Company, Boston, Massachusetts, Page 35 (Reproduction of Southern California Indian)
- J. Mayne, The Typical American Indian in Bronze: Work of a Young California Sculptor, The Craftsman, Gustav Stickley, Editor and Publisher, Syracuse, New York, Volume 9, October 1905-March, 1906, Page 251 (Article on the commission for Mr. Scripps)
- Lucy Baker Jerome, Animals Trapped in Plaster, Sunset Magazine, Southern Pacific Company, May, 1908 Pages 255-256 (Article on Putnam’s work)
- William Macbeth, Art Notes, Macbeth Gallery, New York, New York, December 1909, Pages 615-616 (Mentions visiting Putnam in California and how he does his own foundry work.)
- Arthur Putnam, Art and Decoration, May, 1915, Page 288 (Mentions the late arrival of his bronzes)
- Michael Williams, Western Art at the Exposition, Sunset Magazine, Sunset Pacific Company, August, 1915, Page 318 (Survey of the Exposition that mentions Putnam prominently)
- California Sculpture, California’s Magazine, California’s Magazine Company, San Francisco, Volume 11916, Page 42 (Extensive discussion of Putnam’s work)
- American Magazine of Art, November, 1917, Page 280 (Review of exhibition with mention of excellence of Putnam’s work)