(Click the image to make it bigger)
This extraordinary image was left over from a recent post about Andre Duranceau
I show it here A) Because I think it’s an astonishingly confident sculpture for its young designer, and B) Because it’s such a robust expression of optimism, reflecting the mood of the 1939 World’s Fair after the USA had been through ten long years in the economic doldrums.
The sculpture was even given a featured place in the World’s Fair Poster. (Bottom Left)
And then….
Nothing.
The only work (that’s documented) that I can find of Renier’s was a few medals. Link, Link, Link, and a brief biography here, that I quote below to save you the trouble of loading the page.
Joseph E. Renier
(born Union Hill, NJ 1887 — died New York City 1966)
Joseph Renier grew up in New Jersey and studied at the Art Students League in New York. He attended art schools in Paris and Brussels, and in 1915 won the Prix de Rome to study at the American Academy. He served with the American Red Cross in Italy during World War I and in 1921 finally returned to America. He created many architectural sculptures, reliefs, and medals, which included designs for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Civil War Centennial, and the American Heart Association. In 1959, Renier was awarded the gold medal for sculpture from the American Artists Professional League.
It’s amazing how such thrusting promise can have such a brief and ebullient flowering, and then drop off the radar, emitting only a few ever diminishing bleeps on the way down to oblivion.
That’s like life, I guess.
If you know of any more of his larger sculptural works, please let us know in the comment box….
I for one would love to see them.
3 Comments
Joseph Renier was my grandfather. Interesting side note, the Speed piece was used as an Album Jacket for the Steve Miller Band
I knew I’d seen it somewhere! Thanks for the reminder, and for providing that ping from the sonar of my memory.
Do you have any record of his other works?
connollyco.comconnollyco.comHere’s a link to the album cover:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.connollyco.com/discography/steve_miller/living_hi.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.connollyco.com/discography/steve_miller/living.html&usg=__IOKkp4aoQdzfbFyWGgs0glY9I3c=&h=400&w=400&sz=73&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=v8dCzbX2z7SGSM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsteve%2Bmiller%2BLiving%2BIn%2BThe%2B20th%2BCentury%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
my mother has quite a bit (he was her father), but actual pieces, like the model for Speed, were donated to places like the Smithsonian. Unfortunately, it’s buried in their vaults somewhere.
Anything in particular you’d like to know?