September Open House and Raymond Lecture Series

September 7, 2019 1pm-5pm, Lecture at 2:30 pm and House Tour at 4:00pm

Join us for our September Open House where RFC Executive Director, John DeFazio, presents part three of the Raymond lecture series on the ideas and teachings of art educator and artist Arthur Wesley Dow.

Arthur Wesley Dow: Principles of Japanese Design & the Formation of Modern Art and Architecture

Perhaps no other person has had a more profound influence on the art, craft, and design work of architect/designer Noémi Pernessin Raymond than distinguished arts educator Arthur Wesley Dow, her professor and mentor at Columbia University. From the tail end of the 1800s through the early 1900’s, Arthur Dow was perhaps the most significant advocate for self expression in art. He asserted that in lieu of copying nature,individuals should create art through elements of composition, such as line, mass, and color. He saw that “art is a living force for all in everyday life, not as a sort of traditional ornament for the few.” Dow’s prestigious students included painter/photographer Max Weber, woodblock print artist Ethel Mars, artist Georgia O’Keeffe, and many others. Dow’s ideas, writings, and teaching went on to influence the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and Piet Mondrian, and through them, became a cornerstone in the foundation of abstract Modern Art.

Join us for this presentation by John DeFazio AIA, architect, adjunct professor at Drexel University and New York Institute of Technology in architecture and theory, and Executive Director of the Raymond Farm Center.

Image: Imperial Palace Moat, Tokyo, Woodblock Print, C. 1920’s, 9 3/4”x 15”, Noémi Pernessin Raymond