Current Exhibition

 

April 7 to May 30, 2008
Dorothy W. & F. Otto Haas Gallery
 The Athenĉum of Philadelphia, East Washington Square 
Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm; Admission is free

The work of John Harbeson and John Blatteau reminds us how very important the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and its influence has been in American architectural education.  In 1903 when many schools of architecture in the United States were importing teachers from the Ecole, Paul P. Cret was persuaded to move to Philadelphia and become a Professor of Design at the University of Pennsylvania. In this position he trained many of the students graduating from the University's Department of Architecture and acted as patron of the T-Square Club Atelier. The Beaux-Arts stamp could be seen on the work of those students long after they had graduated. Beginning in 1922, Cret’s student and partner John Harbeson wrote a series of articles on the Beaux-Arts method which appeared in Pencil Points magazine. By 1926 The Study of Architectural Design gathered these articles and presented a step-by-step approach to the design studio method. This exhibition, designed to mark the reprint of Harbeson’s seminal text, combines the work of John F. Harbeson with that of John Blatteau, a modern-day practitioner of the Beaux-Arts style.

Group tours may be arranged by calling Eileen Magee at 215-925-2688.


Copyright 2008 The Athenĉum of Philadelphia