100 Years of Illustration

The Dwiggins Marionettes

There is so much in this big, heavy book, so handsomely produced, that I can't even begin to describe the many beautifully carved and painted marionettes. If the fingers in my right hand weren't so numb from carpal tunnel syndrome (surgery scheduled for next month) I might try --- but even then I couldn't possibly do them all justice. So if you really care about marionettes, look for copies among out-of-print booksellers or at the links posted below.

Click on images to enlarge them.

Assorted heads of Dwiggins' distinctive characters.

Miser by Dwiggins.

Dancer by Dwiggins. I thought you would like her.

William A. Dwiggins, type designer and creative genius

Photo taken in 1955 at the age of 75, a year before his death. Click on all images to enlarge them.

William Addison Dwiggins was born on 19 June 1880 in Martinsville, Ohio. He had his own print shop in Cambridge OH from 1903 to 1904 when he left for Hingham, Massachusetts, to study with the eminent type designer Frederic Goudy. Dwiggins stayed behind in Hingham -- with his wife Mabel for the rest of his life -- when Goudy left for New York City the following year. From 1905 through 1916 he worked as what was called a "commercial artist" until he became the director of the Harvard University Press during World War I from 1917 to 1918. In 1919 he founded the Society of Calligraphers in Boston and was its sole member as well as president.

In 1922 Dwiggins was the first commercial artist to describe himself as a graphic designer. In his lifetime he designed and produced 300 book covers for his publisher friend and giant of the industry Alfred A. Knopf.

In 1928 Bill Dwiggins or "Dwig" began his first type designs for Mergenthaler-Linotype. Above is his design for Electra, introduced in 1934.

This is Caledonia, probably his most popular face, designed in 1938.

The Hingham (MA) historical society describes him as a "renowned type designer, calligrapher, illustrator and writer" whose talents did not stop there. He was "a gentle, modest, and sensitive person, with numerous whimsical talents [who] designed and constructed furniture, painted murals, made lampshades and woodcarvings, stencilled draperies, and contrived a weathervane to register on an indoor compass. He acted as architect for the remodeling of his home and his studio [and] experimented for many years with a small marionette theatre, serving as artist, craftsman, playwright and director."

Above is a scan of one of the tickets he designed and printed for his theatre from the excellent book about his marionettes and theatre published by Henry N. Abrams and now out-of-print. (Copies are still available at abebooks.com and amazon.com. His associate Dorothy Abbe wrote and collected material for this extraordinary book. It's still expensive but well worth the cost for anyone interested in Dwiggins and unique marionette theatre.

Photos of the puppet maker at work taken by Randall W. Abbott for the book, "Dwiggins & the Puppeteers: 1942."

Dwiggins with a puppet of himself, by Randall W. Abbott.

Next: some of Dwiggins' puppets.

The National Museum of American Illustration

We visited the Matisse chapel in Vence on the French Riviera fifty years ago. It is an extraordinary achievement and one of the artistic wonders of the world, if I'm allowed such hyperbole. Well, it's an opinion. Henri Matisse has always been a favorite of mine and I remember saying that to David McCullough when he told me he was considering writing a book about Picasso. Later he said he found that the more he learned about Pablo Picasso, the less he liked the prospect of writing about him. Please forgive the name dropping but I'm trying to make a point.

We had tried to visit the Matisse chapel two years earlier in 1955 but found that we were there on the wrong day, sandwiched in between the two correct days to visit. It's a small chapel and since that's its true function it's understandable that visitiing days were then few and far between.

Last Thursday we decided to test out our new Garmin c530 GPS Auto Pilot (for cars) by navigating through Rhode Island -- always a challenge -- to Newport where there is a museum which calls itself the National Museum of American Illustration.

Click on images to enlarge them.

We were astonished to behold a huge beautiful chateau in the French style as might be found in the Loire but surrounded by a high gilded ornate wrought iron fence and closed gate. There was a small notice board advising that the museum is open by reservations only except for Fridays from 10 to 4. We were there on Thursday, as I said, so I took these photos and we drove back home.

The visit to Newport was pleasurable, with a very good lunch at the Brick Alley Pub on Thames Street.

Once home, I Googled the museum and found that had it been open it would have cost us $22 each for senior tickets.

Just two years ago we visited two excellent museums dedicated to American illustrators: The Brandywine River Museum at Chadds Ford, PA which is open every day of the year except Christmas from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM where tickets cost $8 for adults and $5 for seniors, children free; and the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington DE where adults pay $10, seniors $8 and children under 6 are admitted free of charge.

According to admission information posted on the Internet, children under 12 are not admitted to the Newport chateau.