AN ONLINE EXHIBITION
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
THE SOCIETY OF THE FOUR ARTS
BOCA RATON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
MIZNER LIBRARY FOUNDATION
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PALM BEACH COUNTY
CURATOR
AUGUSTUS MAYHEW
VI. PALM BEACH
Boca Raton Historical Society – The Society of the Four Arts
The Historical Society of Palm Beach County
Playa Riente, 1923
Boca Raton Historical Society – Historical Society of Palm Beach County
Playa Riente, 1928
Boca Raton Historical Society – Historical Society of Palm Beach County
VII. RESOURCES
Addison Mizner Collection
The Society of the Four Arts {SOFA]
On May 12, 1940, seven years after Addison Mizner’s death, columnist Emilie Keyes wrote an item in the Palm Beach Post describing what was then believed to be the origination and the organization of Addison Mizner’s scrapbooks, donated by Amy Phipps Guest to The Society of the Four Arts. After a careful review of the available materials and considering the Mizner Library Foundation holds Mizner scrapbook materials, there are aspects of Keyes’ explanation of the process that cannot be documented or are contrary to fact. For example, Mizner’s mother died in April 1915 while living at Addison Mizner’s house in Port Washington, New York. And since Mizner did not move to Palm Beach until 1918, Keyes’ version is illogical.
The highlighted section (pictured below) states Mizner personally supervised the scrapbook project during a time when it was widely reported he spent summers at his Carmel Valley house.
Additionally, there are irregularities that question whether Mizner participated in any of the scrapbooks as they exist today. I find it difficult to believe Mizner would have wiped out his design diary (c. 1906-1917) from his New York years by pasting magazine cutouts over his handwritten entries. In the volume labeled “United States” if you scroll to page 214 and turn the page upside down, you will see Mizner’s handwritten heading: “Elmhurst, John S. Hyde Residence, Bath, Maine.” At the time, it was regarded as the largest mansion in Maine, built 1913-1914 and designed by architect John Calvin Stevens. Mizner is credited as the project’s interior designer, as detailed on several pages in this volume. For the most part these pages have been obscured by magazine cutouts. If you continue to look at the book upside-down and from the back-to-front, there are notations for other Mizner interior design projects, making for a detailed record of Mizner’s New York years as an interior designer for prominent clients, albeit now concealed or completely lost.
In May 1940, Keyes reported the scrapbook collection consisted of 21 volumes. The following year, in February 1941, The Post reported 15 volumes were said to make-up the collection. The difference could be explained by the manner of assessment, considering the Central America set is composed of two-volumes of Edward P. Fox photographs The Spain volumes consist of three separate scrapbooks. The Gothic heading description is also ascribed to three separate volumes.
The scrapbooks are primarily made up of printed and graphic publications and images published from the late 19th-century until the early 1930s. Once organized by volume numbers, the scrapbooks have been recategorized into headings according to their subject matter and content:
I. Travel: Settings & Sites
Central America – Egypt and the Far East – England – Italy, Rome & Venice – Spain – Spain & the Colonies – Spain & the Provinces – United States
II. Style: Architectural Designs & Motifs
Aztec Primitive – Byzantine & Romanesque – Cloisters – Gothic – English Gothic – French Gothic – Grecian-Roman & Italian – Moorish & Near East-Romanesque – Modern
III. Structure: Components & Muses
Ceilings, Murals, Paneling & Doors – Costumes – Fireplaces & Chimneys – Furniture – Ironworks & Fixtures -Portraits – Textiles
Many of the Addison Mizner scrapbooks can be perused at this link:
Selections SOFA Mizner Scrapbook Collection at Internet Archive
Reynolds Clark Collection
Boca Raton Historical Society [BRHS]
“An eight-year fairy tale … truly a dream job,” recalled architectural designer Robert Reynolds Clark, describing his eight years of working for Addison Mizner Inc. Clark first worked as a junior draftsman for Mizner’s atelier on Palm Beach at the age of 17, continuing until the architect’s death in 1933. Among Clark’s tasks was to prepare the detailed drawings for cast stone and woodwork at the Cloister Inn in Boca Raton.
After Addison Mizner died, Clark helped Madena Galloway, Mizner’s secretary, sort through the architect’s drafting room located at his Worth Avenue offices. There Clark secured sketches and detailed drawings he knew to be Mizner’s, according to the Boca Raton Historical Society. In 1984 BRHS acquired Clark’s collection of Mizner sketches and drawings as well as photographs.
Mizner Library Foundation [MLF]
Coral Gables
Established by Coral Gables lawyer Richard Daniels, the Mizner Library Foundation includes what is considered “the other half” of the collection that The Society of Four Arts houses, including scrapbooks, correspondence between Mizner and Paris Singer, photographs, Mizner’s Alaska diary, and the Mizner family’s personal library, comprised of several hundred books owned by the Mizner family.
Addison Mizner Collection
Historical Society of Palm Beach County [HSPBC]
The Historical Society houses more than 165 commissions by Addison Mizner, making for several thousand architectural drawings consisting of elevations as well as mechanical, plumbing, and structural engineering section plans. Stored in tubes and Hollinger boxes, these records are enhanced by extensive photographic files on Mizner’s Palm Beach houses and buildings. In addition, the HSPBC maintains the records and photographs for Mizner Industries. These files contain Mizner’s sketches for furniture, building materials, architectural details, and manufactured accessories.
Acknowledgments
Betse Gori. King Library, The Society of the Four Arts.
Susan Gillis. Curator, Boca Raton Historical Society.
Rose Guerrero. Research Director, Historical Society of Palm Beach County.
