Thursday, February 16, 2012

Deaf-Mute Artist of the 19th Century

Although the Tuttle family in the 1840's felt that their firstborn son became deaf when his father discharged a shotgun near him, it is more probable that young Francis Marion was actually born deaf. Today we know that a loud noise is unlikely to cause hearing loss, and can guess that it was caused by German measles during his mother's pregnancy, or an unspecified illness that went away uneventfully. Perhaps it was even genetic, that appeared unexpectedly and disappeared just as mysteriously. 

Those times, without modern knowledge of etiologies of deafness, it was easier to admit to a father's error  rendering one's own son a
deaf-mute than admit to a "taint" in the family. The Tuttle family was prominent in Geneva with a lineage extending back almost to the Mayflower. Colonel Tuttle was the inventor of the Tuttle Saw, and his large factory manufactured the saw popular with lumberjacks and millwrights. His own father established the Geneva tavern, then Col. Tuttle rebuilt it as a cobblestone that still exists nowadays as a historic building. 
Saks Fifth Avenue and St Patricks
In 1850 there was just one school for the deaf in New York and the Tuttles' son may have begun there at age 11. This was the New York Institute for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, in Manhattan on a ten block area now occupied by Saks Fifth Avenue and St. Patrick's Cathedral. This was the school we know now as New York School for the Deaf or "Fanwood" after it moved to White Plains. Even as a boy, F.M. was referred by his initials rather than by his name Francis, a custom he continued all his life.

Professor C.W. Knudsen taught art and handicrafts at the Institute. He had his pupils draw grids on small illustrations and then redraw them larger on bigger grids, and would rigorously demand accuracy in this draftmanship. "Almost the only employments (that are) above the level of handicrafts, in which their privation will be no bar to high proficiency." was his belief. Each class did two hours a week in this practice, some also being instructed in wood engraving. Prof. Knudson said that those who showed a skill for "painting, engraving, and their kindred arts could be honorably employed and conquer a high social position."

When F.M. was sixteen, he received a certificate from the school and an award of drawing instruments for his excellence in art. The school recommended that two of their students, probably including F.M., receive further tutoring in painting but this would not happen for some time.

F.M.'s two years younger brother died that year so F.M. was not at the Institution until age 20 when he is again listed in residency at the school. This might have been for tutoring. At age 26 he married a former schoolmate, Eunice Jenner Barker, age 24. It appears that F.M. lived in New York for some time before moving with his wife to his widowed mother's house in Geneva near Seneca Lake.

Tuttle home as it appears today
F.M. began advertising his art skills in the Geneva Gazette newspaper at age 28. His relationship with the paper's editor proved to be important to his business as an artist, for the paper faithfully printed every time a painting was finished, would praise it highly, and announce where it may be seen either in F.M.'s home or in one of the store windows of the village. F.M. would drop by regularly to show a painting or to leave a gift of apples from the tree in his backyard, or just to pass on personal news. Often this would be dutifully reported in the paper, too, even praising the apples!

Hunting scene
As his artistic reputation grew, F.M. traveled to other cities in New York to show or deliver his works. He spent time hunting and fishing for sport and for tournaments, sometimes contributing his paintings as prizes for competitions. Most of his works were of the lands and waterways near his home. Although not as good a shot as his father, he painted birds and game as faithfully as he did portraits.

Due to his portraiture skill, he became acquainted with prominent people of Geneva and Ithaca and even the superintendent of the Rome school for the deaf in his later years. Painting portraits of them were far more painstaking than landscapes: each whisker, furrow and wrinkle would be reproduced so that the portraits would be praised in the newspapers as "unfailingly perfect." He was often invited to social events and was noted to have a "pleasing address" and his wife "aristocratic looking."

However, it is clear that F.M. and his wife were truly culturally Deaf in that they associated with other Deaf people and visited them at faraway places in the countryside. He bought a "fast horse" and they would ride their carriage often; sometimes his wife would ride out alone as far as Pennsylvania. Whenever Rev. Thomas Gallaudet came to Geneva to preach, F.M. and his wife would have him as a guest in their home, and they were regular attenders at Deaf church services.
Geneva village looking toward lake
Life was not always peaceful in Geneva. F.M. was annoyed by trespassers on his terraced yard cutting across to the lakeshore, even as he would himself go there to access his boat docked there. Sometimes he would be pelted with rocks thrown by village rowdies whenever he went to do business. While walking the paths of the  town parks, sometimes people on bicycles would hit his entourage. At one point they were walking with a female companion, when she was knocked down and had to be carried home, badly bruised with a sore neck. F.M. became so exasperated that he told the newspaper that he would "break the next wheel that runs him down."

Being deaf had its advantages and disadvantages in this small town where he was highly regarded in the role of "local deaf-mute artist". On four occasions he was nearly hit by trains and only his keen sense of vibration saved him. His paintings were considered extra fine because the artist had no distractions to keep him from reproducing faithfully all details, and this became part of his legend.

A hobby was boating, and F.M. captained at least two--one an ice boat that would careen speedily over the ice with his friends trusting to his skill. He may have built one of them, if one can interpret a cryptic Gazette entry about his selling one boat to "buy a paper shell and thus increase his physique."

Detail of portrait
Indeed, his training by Prof. Knudsen would be the foundation of his skill. F.M. worked from photographs, snippets of hair and occasionally items of clothing provided by grieving relatives wanting him to paint portraits of their deceased children or spouses. It did not matter how small the photographs were; he had a knack for working from memory if he knew them, or from an intuitive understanding of likenesses from their families. 


An obsessive eye for detail worked for his life portraits. These would be of his family members or older notables who had the patience to sit very long. It was exacting work, apparently, because by the time F.M. was a grandfather, he did only landscapes.

Biblical scenes were not done as often as his portraits and landscapes, but he did these brilliantly as he did the rest of his work: with an obsessive eye for detail. The story of Ahab of the Bible chapter Kings 21 was a favorite topic of his--he painted King Ahab visited by an angel and another of Elijah meeting Ahab in the garden. He also painted Elijah alone, and perhaps more Biblical scenes that are now lost in history.

Similarly, the painting Ahab and Jezebel Reproved by Elijah was lost in history for years. A mention of this large painting was found in the Rochester School for the Deaf publication Rochester Advocate, but there was no mention of it after 1885 with the limited digital editions then. No one on the campus today could recall seeing it; and the Geneva museum two years ago had no information other than it was "shown in the village stores" and of course, praised highly by the newspaper.

Tuttle exhibit    Dyer Gallery, NTID
Due to interest generated by my last blog about F.M. Tuttle, the Dyer Gallery of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester hosted an exhibition of his paintings this winter. Tuttle artwork was borrowed from the Geneva museum and Tuttle's living descendants, and then this writer was invited to give a talk about him.

Although it had been a while since researching F.M., I found more material available about him this year  thanks to additional digitization of publications by the Geneva Historical Society and the Rochester School for the Deaf. A last-minute visit to the RSD Archives office coordinated by Mrs. Mary Mowl brought new information. The painting Elijah was indeed at the school in 1885 despite not enough funds raised to buy it. An entry in the RSD publication Rochester Advocate written 29 years after Tuttle's death showed that the painting at that time was hanging in the superintendent's office!

Hoo boy! I had surmised maybe the limited funds collected could have bought one of Tuttle's smaller paintings, perhaps a landscape instead of Elijah, but here was proof that it existed on campus at one time! The 1939 Advocate also had a description: Elijah has his arm pointed at Ahab and Jezebel who are standing before a chariot with rearing horses behind them.

Could it still be on campus, perhaps in a storage area? Although I had visited the attic in one building, none of the stored pictures sounded like Elijah. Thanks to Mrs. Mowl, two men accompanied me to this attic where we searched through white-sheeted mounds for it. The third sheet-covered mound yielded a good possibility: it was a canvas, in color, and about the right size. Pulling it out and finding a nearby cabinet handle to hang it upon, we stood back and looked at it. Oh, my. It fit the description! There was Ahab, and there was Jezebel! And Elijah, too! And the horses! The colors were unexpectedly brilliant, rare because so many of Tuttle's paintings now on exhibit at Dyer were darkened with age. How? Why? In fact, so finely painted and brilliant were the colors, it would have been natural to mistake it for a modern canvas print, if not for the ripples in the painting.


Tracking its history, one can see why it is still bright: it had probably hung in the superintendent's office for 54 years, from 1885 till 1943, until the superintendent mentioned in the
Advocate retired. Its title was long  forgotten by 1939, and the superintendent that took over in 1943 probably ordered it put into storage during housecleaning of his office. There it sat forgotten, shifted around according to storage space needs, until it was found by its description this February. Probably its storage under sheets in an uninsulated, dry space for nearly 70 years helped to preserve its colors. 

Now with its history and its name rediscovered, this painting will be examined for preservation and perhaps put on permanent display where it can be appreciated for its piece of Deaf history, that of a culturally Deaf Victorian-era artist.






5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Diane,

Until I read your blogpost, I have never heard of a culturally Deaf artist named Francis Marion "FM" Tuttle. His brilliant painting, Elijah, should hang in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Can you talk into perusading the director to transfer the painting to the NGA in that I feel that FM deserves not only a national recognition but also an international recognition for his outstanding art work. I thank you for your excellent biographical blogpost.

Jean Boutcher

Dianrez said...

Thanks, Jean, will pass on your suggestion to RSD! There will be a follow-up blog to this one, so watch this space in the next few weeks.

Paul said...

Very good blog! Interesting story! Glad you took the time and energy to dig up a hidden jewel of the past Deaf history! Thank you!

Paul

Anonymous said...

Dianrez

Thank u so much for uncovering this gem of an artist for us. Who knew we had such a great talent so close by. Your presentation at NTID was great and your write up here and your previous one - perfect. Look forward to the next installment.

You and Mary have done a great service in tracking down that masterpiece.

Thank u for your commitment to uncovering this culturally Deaf chap, his Deaf wife, his artworks, his rsd connection and his Elijah.

This is very important - what you have done.

Peace
Patti

Dianrez said...

Thanks, Patti and Paul,
Copies of the presentation and notes on F.M.'s life have been given to NTID, RSD and the Geneva museum for others to use as reference. Hopefully he can take his rightful place among other Deaf notable persons.