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Fotografía antigua Albert Levy.James Converse Residence 347 Beacon Street Boston. Fotografo J.H. Besarick

Esta es una de las fotografías que mas me gustan de Albert Levy. Pertenece al segundo tomo, de una serie de tres, titulada "L' Architecture Americaine".
Este es un post de 2008 que actualizo con motivo de la exposición de Edward Hopper en el Museo Thyssen,  completando los datos gracias al avance de Internet como fuente de información en estos años.



La casa se haya situada en el 347 de Beacon Street de Boston.

James Converse Residence
 
 347 Beacon was built as the home of James Wheaton Converse and his wife, Emeline (Coolidge) Converse.  They previously had lived at 43 West Newton.  James Converse is shown as the owner on the original building permit application, dated August 4, 1884, and as the owner on the 1888 and 1895 Bromley maps.  They also maintained a home in Swampsco
James Converse was a shoe, boot, and leather merchant.  He served as president of the Boston Rubber Shoe Company, of which his brother, Elisha Slade Converse, was the treasurer and chief buying and selling agent.  He also was president of the Mechanics National Bank for fifty years, and of the Boston Land Company.
James and Emeline Converse were joined at 347 Beacon by their son-in-law and daughter, Isaac William Chick and Emma Maria (Converse) Chick, who previously had lived with them at 43 West Newton.  Isaac Chick was president of John H. Pray & Company, dealers in carpets, rugs, wallpaper, and furniture
 
 
 
 

This building was designed by J.H. Besarick and was built in 1884 for James Converse.
The 1938 Bromley Atlas shows the heirs of Isaac Chick as the owners of this building

  •  Bibliografía

Houses of Boston's Back Bay: An Architectural History, 1840-1917 Au. Bainbridge Bunting

.The most elaborated if not the most succesful Romanesque house which remains in the district today is 347 Beacon Street , an edifice designed in 1884 by J.H. Besarick .......
  •  J.H. Besarick fue un famoso arquitecto de la época que diseñó numerosos eficios en Boston
City Landmarks Dorchester Home : City of Boston

 .........Prolific architect John H. Besarick designed the Milliken's house as a handsome melding of Queen Anne and Stick styles, topped with a belvedere, an open-sided tower-like structure. J.H. Besarick's buildings include numerous row houses in the Bay Bay and Mission Hill and detached houses in Roxbury and Dorchester -- with his own also on Virginia St -- St. John's Seminary in Brighton, and Windemere, a summer estate on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire listed on the National Register of Historic Places...................

  • Como vemos algunas de las obras de J.H. Besarick son Historic Landmarks ( en español el símil seria "Patrimonio Nacional")

Windermere

 ....................interior also combine elements of both styles in an exceptional state of preservation. The architect of the house, J.H. Besarick of Boston, designed the Hotel Eliot in Boston Highlands in 1874 and the Congregational Church and Chapel on Moreland Street in 1886. The Hotel Eliot, according to the American Architect and Building News (January 8, 1977), contained fifteen suites, two elevators and "all the modern conveniences." Besarick's tendency to utilize the most advanced technology of his day is seen in the water and gas systems of Windermere, which made the estate virtually self-sufficient.
Besarick's use of the Colonial Revival and Queen Anne styles reflects the fashion in the Boston suburbs in the early 1890s. The original working drawings for the house are retained by the family.........
A. Levy , coloca, en la ventana baja, un hombre que con los brazos en jarras que parece mirar a la cámara, con su bata blanca y provisto de una visera ante unos tablones de madera que hacen pensar se trata de un carpintero.

 Si ampliamos la foto podemos ver como es una persona que mira a la calle sin saber que esta siendo fotografiado.



Esta foto recuerda a los cuadros de Edward Hopper que, frecuentemente, utiliza la persona humana vista desde fuera del edificio en su labor dentro de la casa.

  • James Converse (1807-1891)
He formed Blanchard Converse and company (1836)
He organized the Boston Board of Trade in 1852 and was vice president in 1860-1863.In 1868 he was delegate in the National Board of Trade.He was chairman of the Board of State Railroad in the period 1869-1873. He organized the National Tube works in Boston.

Estamos pues ante un fotógrafo Albert Levy que se dedica a fotografiar las obras, muchas de ellas recien construidas o incluso en construcción, de grandes arquitectos y que, habitualmente, pertenecen a gente rica o importante de cada ciudad. Con esas fotos forma un repertorio de imágnes  de importantes edificios que luego  vende, caras, a los arquitectos de la época interesados en conocer la actualidad de lo que ocurre en el mundo en ese mismo momento en un lugar alejado.


La foto, como todas las de Levy tiene una gran técnica y esta muy bien conservada.
Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture. Due to these series, Albert Levy is referenced as counterpart for Alinari in the United States (13).

  • Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: Second Series, Country Dwellings. (16)
  • Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: Ninth Series, Street Fronts. (16)
  • Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: First Series, Private City Dwellings. (16)
  • Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: Fifth Series, Messrs. Vanderbilt's Mansions. (16)
  • Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: Tenth Series, Sea Shore Cottages and Country Houses. (16)
  • Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: Twelfth Series, Modern Street Architecture of Berlin, Street Fronts and Apartment Houses. (16)
  • Albert Levy's Photographic Series, the Fourteenth Series: Romanesque and Gothic Churches in the South of France (24)
  • Albert Levy's Photographic Series of Modern American Architecture: Sixteenth Series, American Private City Dwellings. (16)
  • Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series : Lévy, Albert. 1895 (16)
  • Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series:  Twenty-fourth series.(Berne, Lucerne, Zurich and other Swiss cities and towns) (21)
  • Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series : Thirty-Fifth Series, Sea Shore Cottages And Country Houses, Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, Maine : Lévy, Albert. 1895 (16)
  • Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series: Thirty-First Series, Street Fronts, Stores, Office , Etc : Lévy, Albert. c1884 (15)
  • Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series : Thirty-Sixth Series, Sea-Shore Cottages, Etc., Newport, R.I., And Long Branch, N.J : Lévy, Albert. 1895 (15)
  • Albert Levy's Photographic Series Of Modern American Architecture. : Lévy, Albert. 1883
  • Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series: 3rd series, French Gothic and Renaissance, Civil and Domestic Architecture, New York: Albert Levy, 1884. (14)
  • Albert Levy's Architectural Photographic Series: 33rd series, American City and Country Residences, etc, New York: Albert Levy, 1884. (14)
  • Architectural Photographic Series, city houses/Levy: 1 album, 38 leaves of plates: photographs 36x46 cm. New York, Albert Levy (between 1880-1895?). (20).
    • Signature by Albert Levy in "Albert Levy's Architectural photographic series"
       

      In some cases, in the Photographic series the  Photographs are titled, numbered and mounted on blue card stock. The card stock is embossed
      "Architectural & Decorative Books, Albert Levy, NY, 77, University".
      Studies/shops:
      - He had the following studies in New York

          - A study in 77 University Place, NY in 1870-1878 (23)

          - A study in 4 Bond Street, NY in 1880 (2)
          - A study in 34 1/2 Pine Street, NY in 1887 (3).
      - At the same time he also had a study in France, 19 rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin, Paris (3).
      - The Bibliothèque Nacionale de France also has another reference in 1901: "22 janvier 1901, A. Lévy, 4 av. Pinel, Asnières" (3)
      He is also referenced as bookseller (2).

      Manufacturer:
      Albert Levy is referenced as the photographer who began the manufacture of the gelatin dry plates in 1878. All references can be found in the book Photography and the American Scene. A social history (1839-1889) by Robert Taft. See (5), (6), (7) and (8) for full text.
      Albert Levy is also identified as "early competitor of Eastman, NYC" (9). This reference relates also to the book by Robert Taft (10).

      Editor:
      The Bibliothèque Nacionale the France (2) and the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library (20) own a catalogue of 2500 titles by Albert Levy as editor in New York and Paris for Architectural photography. 
      • Photographs by Levy in the Halic Collection: Art Institute Chicago 
      • Culture France
        L’assimilation du régionalisme dans l’architecture balnéaire

        L’apparition du style néo-normand est sans doute la plus précoce mais aussi la plus          ambiguë du régionalisme. D’après Claude Mignot, le créateur du type de la villa néo-normande
        semble être l’architecte caennais Jacques Baumier père. Dès 1860, celui-ci bâtit les dépendances de la villa Suzanne de Louis-Léon Paris à Houlgate et, deux ans plus tard, sur la plage de Trouville la Maison normande pour Adolphe Cordier. Elles seront suivies de trois autres réalisations sur les  hauteurs de la même station. Il faut attendre une vingtaine d’années pour voir se répandre la seconde génération de villas sur toute la côte normande, signées par de nombreux architectes comme
        Jacques Baumier fils, Edouard Papinot, Adrien Jory père et fils, E. Mauclerc, G. Pichereau

        Estudio sobre la arquitectura Balnearia. Tipos de Viviendas

        Jacques Baumier Wikipedia
      • Objetif Calvados
        Un siecle de photographie aux archives de Calvados 1850-1950
        LEVY, Albert
        (1847 – vers 1905), professionnel.
        Photographe d’architecture, Asnières.
        Actif aux Etats-Unis, 1873 – années 1880 ;
        en France, années 1880 – vers 1905.
         
       

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