Edwin H. Blashfield

In the early years of the 20th century, Edwin H. Blashfield was a major figure in American art. In that era, he was considered the nation's most respected muralist and his works were designed and painted for state capitols, churches and couthouses - even the rotunda of the Great Reading Room of the Library of Congress, the jewel of the American Renaissance. Because of the breadth of his knowledge and erudition, Blashfield was a popular lecturer and an accomplished author and editor. Unfortunately, with a few notable exceptions, the names of the artists who have created the murals that decorate hundreds of civic buildings across the United States are little known today - even by those who work in the buildings that house the decorations or those who visit them with regularity. So, with the exception of art historians or the small number of people with a scholarly interest in mural painting, the name of Edwin Blashfield has faded into obscurity.

My interest in the artist began long ago, as the classically trained painter that I studied with, Theodore N. Lukits (1897-1992), had known Blashfield and would often cite his work and his opinions. Now that many of the great civic buildings of the Gilded Age are undergoing renovation and the murals that decorate them are being restored, it is time once again to elevate our noted muralists to the pantheon of American art.