Gustav Stickley
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Gustav Stickley (March 9, 1858 – April 15, 1942) was an American furniture manufacturer, design leader, publisher, and a leading voice in the American
Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...
. Stickley's design philosophy was a major influence on
American Craftsman American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. ...
architecture.


Early life

One of eleven children of German émigrés Leopold and Barbara Schlager Stoeckel, Gustav Stickley was born Gustavus Stoeckel on March 9, 1858, in
Osceola, Wisconsin Osceola ( ) is a village in Polk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,765 at the 2020 census. Located mostly within the Town of Osceola, the village sits on the border with Minnesota, separated by the St. Croix River. It is ...
. The eldest surviving son, Stickley experienced the rigors of life growing up on a small Midwestern farm, forgoing his formal education in 1870 to continue work in his father's field of stonemasonry and help support his struggling family. By early 1876, Stickley's mother and siblings moved to Brandt, Pennsylvania, where Gustav worked in his uncle's chair factory – his first formal training in the furniture industry.


Early career

With his brothers Charles and Albert, Gustav formed Stickley Brothers & Company in 1883, the same year he married Eda Ann Simmons. Within five years, the company was dissolved and Stickley's ambitions led him to partner with Elgin Simonds, a salesman in the furniture trade, to form the firm Stickley & Simonds in
Binghamton, New York Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the c ...
. During the 1890s, Stickley divided his efforts between his new enterprise and the Auburn State Prison. At the prison, he and his brother Leopold served as a foremen of furniture operations. In 1898, he orchestrated the removal of his business partner and formed the Gustave Stickley Company (he dropped the use of the "e" from his first name in 1903). In the summer of 1900, he worked with Henry Wilkinson and, possibly, LaMont A. Warner (soon his first staff designer) to create his first Arts and Crafts works in an experimental line called the New Furniture. In 1901, he changed the name of his firm to the United Crafts, issued a new catalogue written by
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
professor Irene Sargent, and began to offer middle class consumers a host of progressive furniture designs in ammonia fumed quartersawn white
oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
, as well as chestnut, mahogany, maple and other woods.


The Craftsman

In October 1901, Stickley published the first issue of '' The Craftsman'' magazine, an important vehicle for promoting Arts and Crafts philosophy as well as the products of his factory within the context of articles, reviews, and advertisements for a range of products of interest to the homemaker. Lead articles in the first two issues paid tribute to two influencers of Stickley and Sargent's design philosophies:
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...
and
John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...
. Nearly all of the first three issues of ''The Craftsman'' were written by Sargent, who thereafter wrote each issue's lead article, acted as the managing editor and designed the magazine's layouts.Zipf, Catherine W. ''Professional Pursuits: Women and the American Arts and Crafts Movement''. Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press, 2007, pp. 143–148. The magazine also featured articles by libertarian socialists.


Furniture design

Stickley's new furniture reflected his ideals of simplicity, honesty in construction, and truth to materials. Unadorned, plain surfaces were enlivened by the careful application of colorants so as not to obscure the grain of the wood. Mortise and tenon joinery was exposed to emphasize the structural qualities of the works. Hammered metal hardware, in armor-bright polished iron or patinated copper emphasized the handmade qualities of furniture which was fabricated using both hand working techniques and modern woodworking machinery within Stickley's Eastwood, New York, factory (now a part of
Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...
). Dyed leather, canvas, terry cloth and other upholstery materials complemented the designs. Those ideals – simplicity, honesty, truth – were reflected in his trademark, which includes the Flemish phrase ''Als Ik Kan'' inside a joiner's compass. The phrase is generally translated 'to the best of my ability.' His firm's work, both nostalgic in its evocation of handicraft and the pre-industrial era and proto-modern in its functional simplicity, was popularly referred to as being in the Mission style, though Stickley despised the term as misleading. In 1903, he changed the name of his company again, to the Craftsman Workshops, and began a concerted effort to market his works – by then including furniture as well as textiles, lighting, and metalwork – as Craftsman products. Ultimately, over 100 retailers across the United States represented the Craftsman Workshops. In 1902, the later world-renowned sculptor Jerome Connor was hired to head up Stickley's metal work department. Architect E. G. W. Dietrich contributed his design and accompanying essay titled "The Cottage Quality" to the February and April 1903 editions of ''The Craftsman'' magazine. Then in May 1903, the magazine published the first "Craftsman House" designed by Dietrich in cooperation with Stickley. The article featured a house design and drawings by Dietrich including an exterior view, floor plans, and detailed interior views showcasing Stickley furniture. In May 1903, Stickley hired Rochester architect
Harvey Ellis Harvey Ellis (October 17, 1852, Rochester, New York – January 2, 1904, Syracuse, New York) was an American architect, perspective renderer, Painting, painter and Furniture, furniture designer. He worked in Rochester, New York; Utica, New York; ...
. Although Ellis died only a few months later, in January 1904, he had an immediate and profound effect upon design of ''The Craftsman'' magazine, its architectural offerings, and the furnishings Stickley was producing, reinforcing the connections between Stickley's work and that of English and Glaswegian designers. During this year, Stickley's furniture evolved from solid, monumental forms to lighter shapes, relieved by arches, tapering legs, and – in a new experimental line – inlay as decoration. Within a year the inlay designs would be all but dropped from production save special orders, but the broader emphasis on less massive forms would remain. In keeping with this new emphasis, Stickley also began offering furniture in willow to complement the heavier oak designs. Furthering the development of his concept of the Craftsman home, in late 1903 he announced the formation of the Craftsman Home Builders Club to provide architectural plans from ''The Craftsman'' to its subscribers. The homes were offered in a number of archetypes familiar to American public – the farmhouse, town house, cottage, and bungalow, among others. Natural materials and soft colors predominated and interiors were invariably prescribed to include simplified moldings, stained wood, and characteristic features such as built-in cabinets and fireplaces with inglenooks for seating. Although these homes were only rarely innovative in terms of progressive style, designs reflected current approaches to open floor plans, economy of function, and use of novel materials for walls, roofs, and surface treatments.


Craftsman Farms

Stickley moved his headquarters to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 1905. By 1907, he began to acquire property to establish a boarding school for boys in
Morris Plains, New Jersey Morris Plains is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,153, an increase of 621 (+11.2%) from the 2010 census count of 5,532, which in turn reflected a ...
(what is now Parsippany, New Jersey). Craftsman Farms was designed to include vegetable gardens, orchards, dairy cows and chickens. The main house was constructed from
chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...
logs and stone sourced on the property, beneath a green Ludowici tile roof. As he wrote in ''The Craftsman'':
There are elements of intrinsic beauty in the simplification of a house built on the log cabin idea. First, there is the bare beauty of the logs themselves with their long lines and firm curves. Then there is the open charm felt of the structural features which are not hidden under plaster and ornament, but are clearly revealed, a charm felt in Japanese architecture. ... The quiet rhythmic monotone of the wall of logs fills one with the rustic peace of a secluded nook in the woods.
Although the main house at Craftsman Farms was initially conceived of as a clubhouse for students, lack of interest in the school prompted Stickley to live there with his family instead. The planned school never became a reality. By 1913, changing tastes and the financial strain of his new twelve-story Craftsman Building in Manhattan, conceived as a department store, began to take their toll; in 1915 he filed for
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
, stopping publication of ''The Craftsman'' in December 1916 and selling Craftsman Farms in 1917.


Legacy

Gustav Stickley died on April 21, 1942. He is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, New York. In recent decades, Stickley and his work have become popularly recognized once again. It is particularly his early furniture, produced between 1900 and 1904, that is often seen as appealing to collectors. In 1988,
Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...
paid $363,000 for a Stickley
sideboard A sideboard, also called a buffet, is an item of furniture traditionally used in the dining room for serving food, for displaying serving dishes, and for storage. It usually consists of a set of cabinets, or cupboards, and one or more drawers ...
from the Gustav Stickley House in Syracuse. An article written by the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
stated that "Streisand's telephone bid on the 1903 sideboard set a record for a Stickley piece and for a single piece of American Arts and Crafts movement furniture." During an auction in 1999, Streisand sold that same sideboard for $540,000 to a then-unnamed buyer; the sideboard subsequently appeared within the collection of the Two Red Roses Foundation. An article written by
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
stated that "the winning bid set a uctionrecord for a piece of furniture from the Arts and Crafts movement." Magazines such as ''Style 1900'' (out of print as of January 2013) and ''American Bungalow'' cater to those interested in the
Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...
. A major touring exhibition organized by the Dallas Museum of Art, ''Gustav Stickley and the American Arts & Crafts Movement'', opened at the Newark Museum on September 15, 2010. The exhibition then opened at the Dallas Museum of Art on February 18, 2011, and remained on view until May 8, 2011, before opening at the
San Diego Museum of Art The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine art museum in Balboa Park in San Diego, California, that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. It opened as the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego on February 28, 1926, and changed ...
on June 18, 2011, subsequently closing on September 11, 2011. Gustav's brothers Leopold Stickley (Lee), Albert Stickley, Charles Stickley and John George Stickley also produced Arts and Crafts furniture. Albert Stickley and John George Stickley founded the ''Stickley Brothers Furniture Company of
Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...
'' in 1891. The Grand Rapids company ceased production in the 1950s. Although no longer held by the Stickley family, the successor firm to the L. & J. G. Stickley Company continues to operate in Manlius, New York, producing a variety of styles, including many original Gustav Stickley Arts and Crafts designs. The Company operates a museum, located in the original L & J. G. factory building. It features the work of the Stickley brothers and is located near its current factory site.Stickley Museum website


See also

*
Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...
* Craftsman Farms, Parsippany, New Jersey * Gustav Stickley House, Syracuse, New York


References


Further reading

* Cathers, David M. (1981). ''Furniture of the American Arts and Crafts Movement''. The New American Library, Inc. . * Cathers, David M. (2003). ''Gustav Stickley''. Phaidon Press. . * Hewitt, Mark Alan. (2001). ''Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Farms: The Quest for an Arts and Crafts Utopia''. Syracuse University Press. . * Smith, Mary Ann. (1992). ''Gustav Stickley: The Craftsman''. Dover Publications. . * Stubblebine, Ray. (2006). ''Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Homes: Plans, Drawing, Photographs.'' Gibbs Smith. . * Tucker, Kevin W. (2010). ''Gustav Stickley and the American Arts & Crafts Movement''. Yale University Press.


External links


"Gustav Stickley and the Craftsman Home"


* ttp://www.stickleymuseum.org/ The Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms
Findagrave: Gustav Stickley

Craftsman Style

Gustav Stickley and the Morris chair
*
The Craftsman (1901–1916).
': Presented here is a full-text digital facsimile of ''The Craftsman (1901–1916).'' The monthly journal was dedicated to the products, ideals and philosophy of the Arts and Crafts movement. ''The Craftsman'' espoused the ideal of simple, functional design and the "necessity of producing good art as a means to improve public morals and further public happiness" (Foreword from version 2, no. 3, 1902). *
Craftsman homes.
' Stickley, Gustav, 1858–1942. New York, New York: Craftsman Publishing Company, 1909. *

'' Overview of the collection on Gustav Stickley.
Craftsman Homes
Updates to the book ''Stickley's Craftsman Homes: Plans, Drawings, Photographs'' and further information related to Gustav Stickley and his Craftsman Homes
Complete list of Furniture
Items from the 1910 Gustav Stickley catalog.
Craftsman Architects drawings, 1904–1915, held by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stickley, Gustav 1858 births 1942 deaths American cabinetmakers American furniture designers American woodworkers American Craftsman architecture Organic architecture Businesspeople from Syracuse, New York People from Morris Plains, New Jersey People from Osceola, Wisconsin Arts and Crafts movement artists People from Binghamton, New York Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Syracuse, New York) Magazine publishers (people)