The Beaux-Arts Medal in America

The medal's obverse bears standing female in gap between two half-walls, left arm resting on wall, right arm holding painter's pallet.Around top, THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

The reverse bears oak and laurel branches before view of Art Institute building. Around top, THE NORMAN WAIT HARRIS PRIZE; across center, AWARDED TO / CLIFFORD ADDAMS / 1926; signed at bottom, V·D·Brenner Sc.

The medal was awarded for best painting by an American artist. This medal's recipient, Clifford Addams (1876-1942), was an American painter and printmaker who studied at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, where he won the coveted Cresson Scholarship to study abroad. He went to France where he became a student of James McNeill Whistler and married fellow artist Inez Bate. He volunteered for service in the Royal Navy during World War I and returned to the U.S.in 1920. He became a prominent etcher and practiced his art in New York City.  He died in his studio in Greenwich Village in 1942.

The medal's obverse bears a striking resemblance in design to Hermon A. MacNeil's Standing Liberty quarter of 1916. It has been speculated that this medal inspired MacNeill's design.

The circular medal measures 70mm in diameter and was struck in silver by the Medallic Art Company of New York.

References:   Baxter 138, MACo 1909-002

References:   Baxter 140, CoF 4, Marqusee 70

This medal's obverse bears portrait of Avery facing left. Around, · PRESENTED · TO · SAMVEL · PVTNAM · AVERY · BY · HIS · FRIENDS · AND · THE · ARCHITECTS · OF · NEW · YORK; signed over shoulder at right, V D BRENNER / 1914

The reverse bears view of building facade framed by trees and shrubs. Above, THE AVERY LIBRARY; below, framed by two wreaths, · FOVNDED · BY · / · SAMVEL · PVTNAM · AVERY · / · AND · MARY · OGDEN · AVERY · / · 1890 · / · COMPLETED · BY · / · SAMVEL · PVTNAM · AVERY · / · THEIR · SON · / · 1912 ·

The edge is marked TIFFANY & CO. FINE SILVER

The Avery Library is named for Henry Ogden Avery, one of late nineteenth century New York's promising young architects and a friend of William Robert Ware, who founded the Department of Architecture at Columbia in 1881. A few weeks after Avery's premature death in 1890, his parents, Samuel Putnam Avery and Mary Ogden Avery, established the library as a memorial to their son. They offered 2,000 of his books, mostly in architecture, archaeology, and the decorative arts, many of his original drawings, funds to round out the book collection, and an endowment to assure the continuous growth of the library.

The medal measures 64mm in diameter and was struck in silver by Tiffany & Company of New York City.

References:   Baxter 141

This medal's obverse bears conjoined busts of Warner and Swasey facing left. Around edge, WORCESTER REED WARNER · AMBROSE SWASEY; in exergue, 1880 · 1920; signed in exergue under truncation, V.D.BRENNER

The reverse bears large telescope in observatory with two men seated to left and one standing on raised platform at ocular, and one at top of telescope mount. Around edge, THE WARNER & SWASEY CO. / CLEVELAND OHIO. U.S.A. / LICK TELESCOPE

The medal celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Warner & Swasey Company of Cleveland, Ohio. Warner and Swasey had worked together at Pratt & Whitney and cofounded their eponymous company in 1880 in Chicago. in 1881 they moved to Cleveland to be located closer to one of their major customers.

The company manufactured lathes and other metal working machines and existed as a subsidiary of Giddings & Lewis until 1992 when it was shut down. Before that it had been acquired by the Bendix Corporation in 1980, Cross & Trecker in 1984 and finally Giddings & Lewis in 1991.

A different version of this medal was issued ten years later, after Brenner's death. On that version, the year was updated and Warner's lifespan was added to the left of his portrait.

The medal measures 77mm in diameter and was struck in bronze. While the mintage is not reported and neither production records nor dies exist any more, a person who wishes to remain anonymous has done extensive research on this medal. He tracked all available auction sales and reports that no medal with a serial number higher than 297 has ever been sold. This provides a definitive lower bound and probably also a fairly reliable upper bound of ca. 300 for the mintage.

References:   Baxter 142, MACo 1920-028

References:   Baxter 144, Marqusee 142

The uniface medal's obverse depicts a young woman sketching. Around, SCHOOL ART LEAG-UE OF NEW YORK CITY; on foot rest, FOR MERIT; in exergue, 19 (JF monogram) 15

The edge bears maker's mark MEDALLIC ART CO. N.Y.

The medal is also known as the John W. Alexander Medal. Alexander (1856-1915) was a painter and illustrator who died in 1915 and was commemorated by this medal.

The medal measures 68mm in diameter and was struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York. Its mintage is not reported.

References:   Baxter 155, MACo 1915-002, Marqusee 154

The uniface medallion's obverse bears a frontal bust of Walt Whitman wearing hat and large, unruly beard. Around top, WALT WHITMAN; over shoulder at left MCM XVI / (JF monogram) / MCM XIX

The edge is hallmarked with MEDALLIC ART CO NY BRONZE

Walter "Walt" Whitman (1819-1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. The medallion commemorates the centenary of his birth.

The medallion measures 82.2mm in diameter and was struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York. Its mintage is not reported.

References:   Baxter 156, MACo 1938-033, Marqusee 157

The medal's obverse bears portrait of Joseph Pennel, facing right. Around top, JOSEPH · PENNELL; signed and dated at right, SEPTE (JF monogram) MBER / MCMXIX

The reverse bears a coat of arms surrounded by belt with Philadelphia Water Color Club written on it. Around, IOSEPH · PENNELL · MEMORIAL · MEDAL

In the autumn of 1900, a group of dedicated painters founded the Philadelphia Water Color Club to raise the esteem of watercolor in the art world.  At the time, oils and sculpture tended to dominate art exhibitions. Over the decades, the club developed a distinguished collection of works by such greats as Maxfield Parrish, John Singer Sargent, and Pablo Picasso.  In 2000 the club changed its name to "Philadelphia Water Color Society" to reflect its changed nature and scope.

Joseph Pennell was a native Philadelphia artist who created many etchings and posters.  He is probably best-known for having created the poster for the fourth Liberty Loans campaign in 1918.   It shows New York City's harbor under heavy bombardment with the Statue of Liberty partly destroyed.

The circular medal measures 76mm in diameter and was first manufactured by the U.S. Mint. In 1949 it turned the dies over to the Medallic Art Company of New York and later medals were struck there. No mintages are reported.

References:   Baxter 159, MACo 1949-008

The obverse bears portrait of Edward, Prince of Wales, in uniform, facing right. Around, EDWARD PRINCE OF WALES; at bottom right, heraldic badge over circled (JF monogram).

The reverse displays allegorical female figure flanked by two vertical oak branches. To left of figure, COMMEMORATING / THE VISIT OF / HRH THE PRINCE / OF WALES / TO THE / UNITED STATES / NOVEMBER / MCMXIX / A N S (with oak leaves).

This was the 41st medal overall and the fourth medal issued by the American Numismatic Society (ANS) in 1919, a very productive year for the Society as far as medals were concerned. J. Sanford Saltus, the great benefactor of American Medallic Art, provided not only funds covering the costs of design and die creation, but also enough money to strike one copy in gold. That copy was presented to the Prince of Wales during a ceremony on board the battleship Renown. In addition to ANS members, the privilege of subscribing to the medal was extended to the Pilgrims of the United States.

The medal measures 63.3mm in diameter and was struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York. The reported mintage is 1 piece in gold, 145 in silver, 227 in bronze, and 1 in brass (made for the British Museum).

References:   ANS 41, Baxter 160, MACo 1919-009, Marqusee 156

The obverse bears an elegant beauty, one hand toying with string of pearls; above, APHRODITE; in lower right, MCM (circled JF monogram) XXXII.

The reverse bears a relay runner passing the torch to another. In upper left, SWIFT RUN- / NERS; in exergue, JF © Sc.

Flanagan's career had peaked at this point and he reused older works for his medal. The obverse is based on a 1904 marble medallion which graced August Belmont's Knickerbocker Hotel in Manhattan. The reverse was originally created for a clock that was installed in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress in 1902.

This medal was chosen as the 6th issue of the prestigious Society of Medalists series. It measures 73mm in diameter and was struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York. The reported mintage is 1,494 pieces in bronze and 125 in silver. The bronzes exist in many patina variants and even the silvers exist in two variants: one from the original silver run in the 1970's and one from a telemarketing promotion in 1993.

References:   Baxter 163, MACo 1930-001-006, Marqusee 155, SoM 6