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Alexis J. Fournier, a Barbizon style painter

At the Roycroft Inn and in the Roycroft Copper Shop you can find paintings by Alexis J. Fournier.

Fournier was the " Roycroft Court Painter"  for over forty years. His house and studio is a private home is East Aurora just behind the Roycroft Campus. He is often referred to as a Barbizon-style artist.

The Barbizon school (cirica 1830-1870) of painters is named after the village of Barbizon near Fontainebleau Forest, France.  The Barbizon painters were part of a movement towards realism. 

Image: Meibohm Fine Art

Alexis Jean Fournier

(American, 1865-1948)

Untitled-'Landscape'

7-3/8 x 11

Oil on Canvas Board

Signed lower right

2300.00 (sold)

We invite you to come visit both places located on South Grove Street in East Aurora, NY.  Docents at the Inn and Campus can tell you more about Alex Fournier paintings and murals. 

Julie

For Roycroft Men Art is a Matter of Haircut

   Artists have always liked long hair - as Ali Baba's quote here (Elbert's, actually) indicates. My guess is that the artist with the curls on the right is Dard Hunter - see his photo below for comparison. Dard was extremely talented; working in graphic and book design, stained glass, copper, furniture, pottery and iron. This caricature to the left and photo of Dard, below, are from the book Head, Heart & Hand, published for the 1995 Roycroft exhibit by the same name. The book - now in reprint - is available in soft cover at the Roycroft Copper Shop.

You can see Dard Hunter's designs at the Roycroft Copper Shop Museum (31 South Grove St., East Aurora) and reproductions of several of his light fixtures are hanging in the Inn across the street as well as the window designs.

  - Sue

A Roycrofter from Ireland

In acknowledgment of St. Patrick’s Day we tip our hat to Roycrofter sculptor Jerome Connor. Born in Annascul, County Kerry, Ireland, he came to the United States as a boy with his parents. When a young man, he heard of Elbert Hubbard through a mutual friend. Once at the Roycroft, he helped build buildings, designed books, worked in wrought iron and sculpted - the Chapel’s North Wind Face is attributed to him. “St. Gerome” - as he was known to Roycrofters - left in 1902 to head up Gustav Stickley’s metal work department in Syracuse. Later he went on to become a well known sculptor in his native Ireland. In 1926 Jerome was contacted by the Roycroft and asked to sculpt a statue of Elbert Hubbard.

Money was raised from subscribers all over the country and the statue was unveiled in 1930. It stands today on the lawn of East Aurora’s Middle School which is across the street from the Roycroft Chapel building (and the North Wind Face) on Main Street. Come visit the Campus to see “St. Gerome’s” work in East Aurora, NY. The photograph and information about Jerome Connor is presented here with the permission of Kitty Turgeon from her book, The Roycroft Campus by Robert Rust and Kitty Turgeon, published by Arcadia Publishing and is available for purchase at the Roycroft Copper Shop, 31 South Grove Street, East Aurora, NY.

- Sue

Holiday Memories of the Roycroft

        'Tis the season for making memories and remembering Christmases past. Memories are fleeting and many special moments are lost if the stories are not shared with the next generation. Luckily we have people like Rachelle Moyer Francis and the Young Yorkers Club of Eggert Elementary to thank for capturing memories of Aurora and the Roycroft through interviews with Aurora's elders. The following quotes are Christmas memories of individuals who either were Roycrofters themselves or children of Roycrofters.These are short excerpts of many longer interviews covering many topics and can be read in their entirety in the book Talk Less, Listen More, Visiting With Aurora's Elders by the Young Yorkers Club of Eggert Elementary and published by Rachelle Moyer Francis.

". . .they had a big Christmas tree in the court at the Inn and it was all decorated with mittens and sweaters and scarves and all kinds of things that people could use."

- Muriel Jennings Case, memories of circa 1908

".  . .those were hand-made Roycroft boxes, about two foot long by a foot square and at one time Mr. Hubbard would fill these at Christmas time and give them to each one of his workers. And I have never seen a filled one, but I understand sometimes there would be a turkey in the box, along with some maple syrup and pecan patties, and other things that the Roycroft kitchens might have produced."

- Edward Godfrey, memories of circa 1915

". . .the only time I was at the Roycroft, was either to play down there as a child, that would have been on the outside, or for the Christmas party, I told about that I caught whooping cough from the child next to me and almost died. The Roycroft had a Christmas party for the employees, I remember the ice cream, I remember the presents, . . . I think I do remember her (his mother)telling me about the child coughing in the booth next to me and I caught the whooping cough from her."

- Charles Lee, memories of circa 1917

"It was a congenial bunch, we always had many good times, and it was more like a family affair than it was a working crowd. . . I remember we had Christmas parties, dances, and for Christmas presents, he (Elbert II) always gave the men gloves."

- Mary Lefler Bailey, memories of circa 1918

"At Christmas time, we always had a Christmas dinner, always at the inn. Turkey dinner. That was our big event."

- Bessie Fox, memories of circa 1927

        Make some Roycroft memories of your own this holiday season. Come to the Inn for Jazz Friday evenings or have a holiday meal there with your guests from out of town. Tour the Campus - always picture postcard pretty in the snow - or come into the Copper Shop (31 South Grove Street) with your youngster to make copper wire Christmas ornaments (Dec. 2, 9, and 16th from noon - 3pm) and pick up a hand made memento to remember this holiday season by.

-Sue

Alexis Jean Fournier, the Last American Barbizon

          The career of Alexis Jean Fournier left its mark on East Aurora perhaps as much as any other original Roycrofter.  His murals in the salon of the Roycroft Inn are without a doubt the most familiar of his work to the Inn visitor.  The son of Canadian parents, Isaie and Annie Marie Mathilde Fournier, Alexis was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1865.  His career would take him from sign painter to one of the widely recognized fine artists of his time.  He traveled to Europe seven times in his career including London, Paris, Rome and Venice, studying and exhibiting his work and, for a while, making his home in France.   At Elbert Hubbard's invitation in 1903 he moved to East Aurora and became artist-in-residence at the Roycroft.  He built his own home adjacent to the Roycroft Campus a year later.

          The victim of a stroke, a slip on an icy walk, Alexis Fournier died in 1948.

          Visit the Roycroft Campus to see the works of Fournier, at the Roycroft Inn, the Hubbard/Roycroft Museum and as well at the East Aurora Public Library.

          Remember the Roycroft Campus, become a supporting member, applications for membership are in every FRA magazine.

        Oh, What's a Barbizon painter?  Guess you'll have to wait another day for that.

            

Alexis Jean Fournier, Roycroft Artist, Creater of Roycroft Inn Murals Selected Burial Site

          With the recent visit to Sicily by Roycroft Inn Guide Linda, to the site of one of Alexis Fournier's murals for the Roycroft Inn, there has been renewed discussion about him, where he was from, and his background.  Being one of those perfect spring days for which we've waited too long, I decided to walk to the Oakwood Cemetery here in East Aurora to visit again the site Fournier selected for his final resting place. Near the southwest edge of the cemetery where it drops off precipitously to Cazenovia Creek,  its bright blue water clearly visible below, through the still bare branches on this rare spring day.

         

          The Fournier natural stone marker sets it apart from the more formal monuments that surround it.  A plaque stating simply "To the Memory of Emma M. Fournier 1867-1921 and Alexis Jean Fournier 1865-1948"

          He certainly selected a perfect spot.  An easy walk from the Roycroft Campus and a peaceful location to add to your visit to Elbert Hubbard's Roycroft Campus.

Site of Alexis Fournier's Roycroft Inn Murals Revisited in the 21st Century

          The site of this portion of Alexis Fournier's restored murals at the Roycroft Inn, was recently visited by Roycroft Inn guide, and Roycroft aficionado, Linda.  Linda shared this photograph with one of the locals on her recent visit to Sicily, the site of Agrigento, explaining (without native language skills) that this painting was in a New York restaurant. 

          Through this communication she had herself photographed at the site in the following photographs. 

          Thanks to Linda for the photographs and her story of that adventure.

          This should lay to rest all those stories that this mural was the Parthenon.......NO, NO, Greek ruins in Sicily, Agrigento. 

          Linda can often be found guiding at the Roycroft Inn.  She is happy to share her adventures.   Will she move on to Temple Elephanta in Mumbai, India next?

Come to the Inn and cross the street to visit the Roycroft Campus in the early stages of total restoration.  Be a part of it.

www.roycroftcampuscorporation.com 

      

Original Roycroft Leather Artisan George ScheideMantel Learned a Lesson

          Long before George ScheideMantel became the head of the Leather Shop on the Roycroft Campus he started as a bell hop and desk clerk at the Roycroft Inn.  One of the colorful stories Elbert Hubbard would tell of George's early days at the Roycroft relates to that first job. 

          This is how Charles Hamilton relates the story in his Little Journeys to the Homes of Roycrofters:  "One day an important guest and his wife checked in at the Inn and George, with room key in hand, was leading the guests through the dining room on the way to their room upstairs.  This was a normal situation except for two things--the guests were carrying their own bags as they followed George, and Elbert was having dinner as the procession happened by!  Hubbard, as he told it later, sprang to his feet and insisted upon carrying the bags for his guests.  At this, George is said to have handed the room key to Mr. Hubbard and said, 'Since you are going up, Mr. Hubbard, you had better have the key!'

          George learned a lesson about hotel management and also that he was working for an understanding employer, as he still had a job.

          George would grow out of those inexperienced days to become one of the many talented artists who helped make the name Roycroft famous.

          Charles Hamilton's book, Little Journeys to the Homes of Roycrofters  is one of several he wrote about the Roycroft and its people.  Available at the Elbert Hubbard-Roycroft Museum and, of course, at the Roycroft Campus Copper Shop. Open 10-5pm daily. 

         

George Scheidemantel Head of Roycroft Leather Shop

          George Scheidemantel, one of the original Roycrofters, came to work for Elbert Hubbard in a round-about way.  As a teenager he left his home in Butler County,PA to pursue a career on the stage and appeared in a production of Ben Hur at the Star Theater in Buffalo.  When that closed he joined a circus as a ring assistant.  While in Detroit, the circus manager absconded with the payroll, leaving George nothing but a 'ticket home'.  Having read a copy of Elbert Hubbard's little magazine  The Philistine, he took this opportunity to travel to East Aurora to find work, of any kind, with Mr. Hubbard. 

          George worked for a short while as a bellhop at the Inn for $10 a week, $7 being taken for room and board.  He left for a few years to work for the Pennsylvania Railroad but returned to the Roycroft.  By 1915, after training under Fred Krantz specialist in modelled leather, he became head of Roycroft Leather shop where he supervised a staff 8 or 10 people.

          The Roycroft Arts & Crafts bungalow, built for George and his wife Gladys, today is the home of the Elbert Hubbard-Roycroft Museum.  The museum, with regular hours during summer months is open by appointment in the off season by calling 716-652-4735.

          Several colorful stories of George and his wife Gladys will follow....or get your own copy of Charles Hamilton's Little Journeys to the homes of Roycrofters  on sale at the Roycroft Campus Copper Shop.  Open daily 10-5pm

          The Museum is a short stroll, a block and a half from the Roycroft Campus.

Henry Unverdorf, Early Roycroft Copper Spinner

          In 1979 a few members of the Aurora Historical Society taped interviews with some older residents of East Aurora, including some Roycrofters.   One such interview took place on Ridge Avenue at the home of Mrs. Lida Unverdorf on April 6, 1979.  Her husband Henry worked 25 years in the Copper Shop of the Roycroft.  Here are a few excerpts from that interview:

          "There was 20 some men worked in that copper shop. (she shows pictures) .....He was in the shop like that; they all worked it with copper.  Henry became what we called a spinner.  Most people don't know what a spinner is, what they do. At first he used to do planishing......That's these marks, and modeling is making these designs.  When he became a spinner, he worked on the lathes.  Then they had chucks, or molds, and they'd make these bowls and vases on the lathe and they called that spinning.  They spun that around.  He got great big, oh, the tools he used were about that big around, and about that long, and then the tool on the end of that, that he used under his arm to get pressure on that copper......He got so his hands were so accustomed to it.  He knew when he was spinning one of these bowl, he could tell just where that copper was.  And then he'd bring it back, or bring it over; it's what I think they call a lost art now.  I don't think too many people know what it is to begin with, nor do it.  One of the things about the Roycroft too, we were all, you can see how many there were in that picture, but it was a nice place to work, and when they had special people over at the Inn we were invited, and very often the whole group would go over to the Inn.  Like Carrie Jacobs Bond, and they used to have the Winnipeg Band over, and different things like that were special."

          More of this interview and others can be found in the bound volume Talk Less, Listen More, Visiting with Aurora's Elders compiled by the Young Yorkers Club of Eggert Elementary School.