WENDELL JONES
1899 - 1956
Wendell Jones was widely recognized among American
artists, both as a muralist and as an easel painter.
Of his work as a muralist, Edward Bruce, Chief of
the United States Government Section of Fine Arts,
said in a personal letter:
I have been neglecting my work all day
looking at the photograph you sent of (your
mural of the) barn-raising for the Rome, New
York, Pest Office. The more I look at it,
the more it fascinates me, and the more cer-
tain I am that it has the universal quality of
fine art which makes it a permanent contribution
which will enrich the lives of any comunity of
people who have the good fortune of possessing
it.
It is a distinguished work of art and I hope
you will have the pleasure of realizing that
you have created something for a simple Post
Office which will be a permanent contribution
to the art of this country.
In Johnson City, Tennessee: in Granville, Ohio; in
Cairo, Illinois, there are other murals by Wendell
Jones, and whoever has seen them will understand the
sense of excitement in this letter. The large walls
he loved are swept incredibly into life, covered with
bustling people, their faces rapt in joy or pain or
surprise; they are full of movement, light, color,
shape, almost sound.
In his easel painting he was an American artist in the
best sense; his work is characterized by a warm
sensitivity to nature and to people. He was exhibited
in the Metropolitan and the Corcoran Art Gallery; in
the Whitney Museum and the Chicago Art Institute; in
the Carnegie International and the Pennsylvania Academy
of Fine Arts, and in many important national and inter
ti 1 hibiti Hi k i t d i
na ona ex ons. s wor s represen e n
books, such as Paintin and Sculptors in Modern America
and American Paintin éoda ; his statements of artisti
principles Eave appeared in various publications and
in The Magazine of Art.
These were his measurable achievements What we cannot
measure, because they were intangible, because they
were manifold, because they were so intimate to our
WENDELL JONES (Continued)
lives at Vassar, were his achievements as a teacher
and as a man. It is only possible to try to define
their quality.
On hearing of his death, one of the students
said:
Mr. Jones was so much more than a good teacher.
He was able to see beautifully, in a way that
turned the commonplace into a work of art; and
he gave freely of himself so that we around him
might find our ways to share his wonderful
insights.
He had a way of his own in working with students; he
was full of liveliness, and he had an infinite capacity
for taking pains; he was always available to students
who sought his help, not only in their work but in
their personal problems. But was so self-effacing;
his manner was so gentle; his intuition so subtle, that
to the student it scarcely seemed a matter of teaching
at all. It was only afterwards that she would realize
how very much she had learned, and by what fine
indirections. He had an imaginative sense of each
student's needs, and was always quick to point out
the best section of a painting or drawing; he would
immediately out a mat to dramatize it, or mask it
tentatively with his startling fluid hands. He would
save the city for one righteous man.
Yet his achievements as an artist and as a teacher were
but manifestations of his essential quality as a man,
reflections of his humor, his humility, his deep and
abiding humanity. He was a shy person at heart,
instinctively gracious, and unaffectedly self-effacing.
You found out about his reputation as an artist, about
his published work, only by happenstance; you heard
him express some sharp insight, some astonishingly
original and illuminating perception in a modestly
apologetic voice, as though he were the rankest
beginner of an artist, venturing something not very
important. And you saw his characteristic gesture, a
hand put up to his mouth, hesitatingly. His dnrm was
immediate upon acquaintance; but to know him longer
was to find, beneath that charm, the keenest intel-
ligence and a profound capacity for love; to experience
a deeper and deeper admiration for his instinctive
taste, his delicacy of feeling, his uncommon under-
standing of human beings and human problems; to under-
stand, finally, what a rare and immensely valuable
person sheltered in him.
WENDELL JONES (Continued)
We cannot measure our sense of loss in the death of
Wendell Jones; we can only record it here. And perhaps
we can best express our gratitude for what he gave to
the community of Vassar College, students and faculty
alike, by reflecting, each in his own fashion, on these
words which he wrote during the Second World War.
So the artist, at a moment in history when
men's spiritual problems are practically
reduced to a fear of starvation and murder,
has a superhuman problem. What abiding
goodness can possibly be found which can
restore himself and mankind to a faith in
something besides power?
The artist must, I think, find the abiding
goodness he can believe in. The design (of
his art) can then be read as his concern
over its permanence, the struggle he has in
keeping his faith in it as he weaves its
environment.
Agnes Claflin
Lewis Rubenstein
Howard Green
Perrin Lowrey
XIV - l48-149