
Barry Faulkner (full name: Francis Barrett Faulkner; July 12, 1881 – October 27, 1966) was an American artist primarily known for his
murals
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...
. During
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he and sculptor
Sherry Edmundson Fry organized artists for training as
camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...
specialists (called
camoufleurs
A camoufleur or camouflage officer is a person who designed and implemented military camouflage in one of the world wars of the twentieth century. The term originally meant a person serving in a First World War French military camouflage unit. In ...
), an effort that contributed to the founding of the American Camouflage Corps in 1917.
Two of Faulkner's murals are exhibited on either side of America's original founding documents in the
National Archive
National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention.
Conceptual development
From the Middle Ages i ...
s'
Rotunda of the Charters of Freedom in Washington, D.C.
Background
Faulkner was born in
Keene, New Hampshire
Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,047 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 23,409 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat and the only city in ...
. He was a cousin of the painter and naturalist
Abbott H. Thayer (sometimes called the “father of camouflage”), who lived in nearby
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
(White 1951). He was a student of Thayer,
George de Forest Brush and
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculpture, sculptor of the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. Saint-Gaudens was born in Dublin to an Iris ...
. Discouraged by his family from pursuing a career in art, he agreed to attend one year at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, where his roommate was Saint-Gaudens’ son,
Homer Saint-Gaudens
Homer Shiff Saint-Gaudens (1880–1953) was the only child of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens and his wife Augusta (née Homer). He served as the director of the Art Museum of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute and was a fou ...
. He then returned to the study of art and, in 1907, won the
Rome Prize
The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Recipients must be American citizens. Prizes have been aw ...
for travel in Europe and study at the
American Academy in Rome
The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome, Italy. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers.
History 19th century
In 1893, a group of American architect ...
.
Faulkner returned to the U.S. in 1910, and thereafter worked as a muralist from his studio in
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 ...
(Faulkner 1973). In 1926, he was elected into the
National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...
as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1931. He continued to serve as a trustee and active member of the American Academy and in 1960 received a
Rome Medal for outstanding service.
Camouflage contributions
With the outbreak of World War I, he and other New York artists anticipated the
U.S. entry in the war. With Sherry Fry (who had also studied with Augustus Saint-Gaudens), he organized dozens of artists in a civilian pre-war unit called the New York Camouflage Society. After the U.S. entered the war, the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
formed its own unit, called the
American Camouflage Corps
The American Camouflage Corps was organized in 1917 at the officers' training camp in Plattsburgh (city), New York, Plattsburgh, New York, as the first such corps in the U.S. Army. Its organizers were architect Evarts Tracy of Tracy and Swartwout, ...
, with Captain Homer Saint-Gaudens as its commanding officer (Behrens 2002; 2009, pp. 24–25). According to Faulkner’s autobiography, he and Fry, with four other artists (Laurence Grant, Henry Sutter, Harry Thrasher and “Casey” Jones), were the first enlisted camoufleurs. He spent the remainder of the war in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, attached to what was officially called Company A of the 40th Engineers (Faulkner 1973).
Murals
Throughout his life, Faulkner's main achievements were as a muralist. His earliest commissions (beginning in 1907) were for murals in the homes of prominent families (Rumrill 2007). These led in turn to commissions for murals or mosaics for (among others):
*
Washington Irving High School, New York City, 1916–19
* The
Cunard Building
The Cunard Building is a Grade II* listed building in Liverpool, England. It is located at the Pier Head and along with the neighbouring Royal Liver Building and Port of Liverpool Building is one of Liverpool's ''Three Graces'', which line the ...
, New York City
*
Eastman Theatre
Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre is the largest performance venue at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, located in downtown Rochester, New York, United States.
The theatre was established by industrialist George Eastman and ...
, Rochester, New York, 1922
* Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 1927 (now the Canadian Parliament
Wellington Building)
University of Illinois Library Urbana, Illinois, 1928
*
Mortensen Hall at Bushnell Center, Hartford, Connecticut, 1931
*
RCA Building
30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. Completed in 1933 ...
,
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...
, New York City, 1933
* Phillips Academy Andover, Andover, Massachusetts, 1934
*
National Archives Building
The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, is the headquarters of the United States National Archives and Records Administration. It is located north of the National Mall at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue (Washington, D.C.), Penn ...
(
Rotunda of the Charters of Freedom), Washington, D.C., 1936
*
Oregon State Capitol
The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the Oregon Legislative Assembly, state legislature and the offices of the Governor of Oregon, governor, Oregon Secretary of State, secretary of state, and Oregon State Treasurer, treasurer of t ...
, Salem, Oregon, 1938, including a panel in the
House chamber behind the Speaker's desk that depicts the
1843 meeting at Champoeg when Oregon formed a provisional government
* Senate Chamber,
New Hampshire State Capitol, Concord (including a panel depicting Abbott H. Thayer and his followers), 1942
*
John Hancock Building, Boston, 1949
* Keene National Bank (now Bank of America), Keene, New Hampshire, 1950
* Cheshire County Savings Bank, Keene, New Hampshire, 1955 (now at the Historical Society of Cheshire County)
The center panel of the ceiling in Mortensen Hall is the largest hand-painted ceiling mural in the United States. The work, entitled ''Drama'', is based on Greek motifs although it is an ode to American progress in the early 20th century, including aviation, architecture, cinema and dramatic arts. The mural cost $50,000 in 1929 .
Several murals in the large foyer of the Washington Irving High School auditorium depict scenes from New York state history.
In 2007, the Historical Society of
Cheshire County produced a full-color book about Faulkner's achievements as a muralist, with audio recordings of the artist talking about his life (Rumrill 2007).
References
Bibliography
*
Behrens, Roy R. (2002), ''False Colors: Art, Design and Modern Camouflage''. Dysart, Iowa: Bobolink Books. .
* ___ (2009), ''Camoupedia: A Compendium of Research on Art, Architecture and Camouflage''. Dysart, Iowa: Bobolink Books. .
* Faulkner, Barry (1973), ''Sketches from an Artist’s Life''. Dublin, New Hampshire: William Bauhan. .
* Rumrill, Alan F., and Carl B. Jacobs, Jr. (2007), ''Steps to Great Art: Barry Faulkner and the Art of the Muralist''. Keene, New Hampshire: Historical Society of Cheshire County. .
* White, Nelson C. (1951), ''Abbott H. Thayer: Painter and Naturalist''. Hartford, Connecticut: Connecticut Printers.
* ____ (1999), "The Faulkner Murals: The Barry Faulkner Murals at Washington Irving High School, History, Conservation, and Education". New York: Municipal Art Society of New York.
External links
Art and camouflage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faulkner, Barry
20th-century American painters
American male painters
American muralists
1881 births
1966 deaths
Harvard University alumni
People from Keene, New Hampshire
Artists from New Hampshire
20th-century American male artists
Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters