Arts and Letters

In the passing of John Russell Pope the American Academy of Arts and Letters has suffered the loss of a member preeminent in American Architecture and of an artist of international reputation. It has been said that death loves a shining mark and he has found it in the taking of this distinguished architect at a time of his life when he was reaching for ever higher achievements in his art, as witnessed by his final work, the designing of the new National Gallery of Art in Washington, though an adverse fate barred his carrying this work to its final completion.

John Russell Pope was born in New York City, April 24th, 1874, the son of John and Mary Avery (Loomis) Pope and a descendant of John Pope who settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1630. It was early in life that he showed a definite interest in the art of design, a tendency directly traceable to paternal influence, his father having been an artist. The boy received his education in the College of the City of New York and later spent three years in the study of architecture in Columbia University under the able guidance of Professor Ware.

Here he distinguished himself by winning two of the outstanding honors in architecture, the McKim Scholarship and the Schermerhorn Traveling Scholarship, the former giving him the opportunity to study two years as a fellow of the American Academy in Rome. He subsequently studied at the École des Beaux Arts and graduated in two years, thereby establishing a record for a foreigner. This extensive training in draftsmanship and thorough discipline in the art of architecture generally, gained during these formative years, have left their indelible mark upon all his work. This and his wealth of imagination enabled him to express himself freely and forcefully, once he got down to paper and pencil.

His was an orderly mind, capable of perceiving fully in the whole, and his work is its reflection. He was not given to smart effects in his architecture, whether of monumental, utilitarian, or intimate design. There was about him that imperturbable calm which reflects itself so well in his most important structures, such as the Scottish Rite Temple and the National Archives Building, Constitution Hall, National Christian Church, and American Pharmaceutical Building, all in Washington, the American Battle Monument at Montfaucon, France, the Addition to the British Museum to house the Parthenon Marbles and the new Sculpture Halls for the Tate Gallery in London.

One could continue with a long list of other important monumental buildings and memorials he designed and could add thereto many outstanding utilitarian buildings such as hospitals, gymnasia, and railroad stations and the more intimate structures, such as town houses and country homes and one would find upon examination that, despite the wide range, each bears the mark of a designer of distinction. Pope was no specialist in architecture, he played the whole gamut and played it extremely well. Opportunities came to him early in life, not by sheer good fortune, but chiefly through recognition of his outstanding ability. Many of his commissions were won in competition.

It having been my good fortune to have collaborated with him as a sculptor in not only some of his large public work, but also in the work of a more intimate character, this collaborative relation having lasted over a period of nearly thirty years, and until the time of his death, I am enabled to speak with understanding of his profound knowledge not alone of architecture, but of the sister arts, of sculpture and painting, interior decoration and landscape planning, as related to architecture.

It was ever a real treat to discuss with him some problem in which we were both interested and the pros and cons came thick and fast in the sifting process of ideas. He had a way of presenting a problem for discussion, a motif in sculpture, for instance, that soon convinced that it had had his very thorough consideration before he had decided upon its incorporation in the design of a building or memorial, but at all times keeping an open and receptive mind for any suggestions a fellow artist might present.

He loved to visit collaborating artists' studios, sit around and say not a word about the particular work in which he was interested, but talk about extraneous matters until he had fully made up his mind what to say about the work under consideration, and that he said with such perfect tact as to make one feel he was expressing one's own ideas. He was an ideal collaborator, sympathetic to his fellow workers and most helpful through his profound insight and analysis and his keen sense of scale and fitness.

While contributing in full measure to the development of the art of architecture in America on an ever higher plane, he also gave generously of his time and effort to public service, as a member of the National Commission of Fine Arts under President Wilson and President Harding and as a member of the Federal Board of Consulting Architects during President Hoover's administration. From 1933 until the time of his death in 1937 he was President of the American Academy in Rome.

Though conservative by nature and training, his work, through beauty and freshness of design and bigness of conception, or intimate charm, never failed in its appeal to the discerning. He remained steadfast to his high ideals in a period in art where so-called self-expression goes to amazing extremes and where novelty, however crude and shoddy, rather than character and soundness of design, seem to be the order of the day.

In John Russell Pope one can justly say that America has brought forth a talent of a most exceptional order and a personality that has left a high and lasting mark upon the architecture of his time. He was a man without pretence, a great artist and a loyal friend.