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Congratulations to MCHA Volunteer Marilyn Scherfen for receiving the Outstanding Anthropology Student Award at Monmouth University this year! |
|  | | The front of Covenhoven House during its restoration, around 1970-1972. The house's surviving original fish scale shingles can be seen on the left, on the west side of the house. The other shingles, made of cedar, are seen here just installed prior to painting. | |
120th Anniversary Series Growing Pains and Maturity
1968 - 1978 The end of the sixties saw the Monmouth County Historical Association with four historic houses, a main museum building, burgeoning collections, and a busy research library. The organization survived that tumultuous decade with the help of dedicated staff, hardworking trustees, and supportive members and volunteers. The 1970s would see the country celebrate 200 years of existence, while the Historical Association would commemorate not only America's Bicentennial but mark its seventy-fifth anniversary in 1973. Historic Houses As January arrived in 1968, the Association was coping with the addition of two more historic houses in addition to the two the organization already cared for. Covenhoven House, known then as Clinton's Headquarters, was purchased in 1967. Hard on the heels of that purchase came the Allen House. The Association assumed ownership of the former tavern and Shrewsbury landmark in May of 1968. Fundraising efforts included parties, special tours, lecture series, and other events in attempts to gather much needed dollars. Discussions, which had cropped up from time to time during the 1960s, regarding the addition of a new wing onto the Museum's main headquarters at 70 Court Street, were finally scrapped in 1968 when it became apparent that the focus had to be on the historic sites. Reviving a Tavern and Restoring a Landmark The Historical Association received the key to Allen House's front door on 1 May 1968. The house, which had stood on the corner of Route 35 and Sycamore Avenue since the early 1700s, was unique among the organization's historic sites. For much of its history, the structure served as a public space - first as a tavern, then a doctor's office, and later as a grocery store, antiques shop, and finally a tea room. The house was in poor condition, and the funds that its owner Mrs. Holmes had originally left for its upkeep had been spent during the years her family friend Lillie Huelson lived there. Early fundraising efforts almost immediately got underway. The Association received a $250 check from the Shrewsbury Borough School, proceeds of a candy sale the students held to help with the site's restoration. |
| | | Constantin Brancusi: The First Step (1913) |
Lost Art in a New Light Every once in a while at MCHA, a dusty box reveals a truly unexpected gem. Such was the case during an inventory of images taken by John Bartlett Kerfoot (1865 - 1927). Kerfoot was both a respected photographer and antiquarian, and in 1917 opened a prestigious antiques shop called The House with the Brick Wall in Freehold. Many illustrious collectors were regular patrons, including Robert W. DeForest, president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1913 - 1931) and founder of its American Wing in 1922. Before the days of thin, flexible cellulose film negatives, a standard medium used to produce monochromatic images was a glass plate coated in a light-sensitive emulsion, then inserted individually into the camera. Originally photographers had to coat their own plates, often resulting in uneven application and sparse edges that inadvertently bore the stamp of the photographer's thumb. Kerfoot's era produced the more convenient pre-coated dry glass plate, commonly used from the 1880s through the 1920s. In 1904, the Lumiere Bros. of France patented an exciting new developing process called Autochrome. The result was beautifully rich color images that resembled hand-tinting with a soft, ethereal quality. The highly anticipated color plates were made commercially available in 1907 to the excitement of professional and amateur photographers alike. Kerfoot used Autochrome plates to capture images of sculptor Constantin Brancusi's first solo exhibit at photographer Alfred Stieglitz's 291 art gallery in 1914. After studying for a short time under Auguste Rodin in Paris, Brancusi rose to fame at the landmark 1913 Armory Show of modern art in New York, and is now widely considered one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. Of the pieces on view at the 291 gallery, The First Step was Brancusi's first wood sculpture. Done in a primitive African style, it depicted the form of a child about to walk. The representation was avant-garde and provocative, setting the stage for Brancusi's bold contribution to modernism.
After this exhibition, Brancusi destroyed The First Step in order to repurpose the head as a new piece of art called The First Cry. Aside from Kerfoot's color image, there appear to be only two other images in which the sculpture can be seen in its original form, both taken in black and white by Stieglitz. In the Stieglitz photos, the piece looks to be made of stone. In Kerfoot's Autochrome, the warm tones of the polished wood come to life. It is the only known color image of this influential lost sculpture, and a rare glimpse into the past. Brancusi's work is currently being displayed in a special exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art through June 15th, 2019. |
Next Meeting May 18, 2019 |
If you would like to learn more about your company's matching gift program or leaving MCHA a gift in your will please contact us directly at 732-462-1466 or email dwilson@monmouthhistory.org |
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There Are Lots of Ways to Support MCHA
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Monmouth County Historical Association received an operating support grant from the
New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State. |
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