Reveals new and previously unknown biographical material about an
important figure in nineteenth-century American architecture and
music.
Jacob Wrey Mould is not a name that readily comes to mind when we think
of New York City archi-tecture. Yet he was one-third of the party
responsible for the early development of the city's Central Park. To
this day, his sculptural reliefs, tile work, and structures in the Park
enthrall visitors. Mould introduced High Victorian architecture to NYC,
his fingerprint most pronounced in his striking and colorful ornamental
designs and beautiful embellishments found in the carved decorations and
mosaics at the Bethesda Terrace. Resurfacing the forgotten contributions
of Mould, Hell on Color, Sweet on Song presents a study of this
nineteenth-century American architect and musical genius.
Jacob Wrey Mould, whose personal history included a tie to Africa, was
born in London in 1825 and trained there as an architect before moving
to New York in 1852. The following year, he received the commission to
design All Souls Unitarian Church. Nicknamed "the Church of the Holy
Zebra," it was the first building in America to display the mix of
colorful materials and medieval Italian inspira-tion that was
characteristic of High Victorian Gothic architecture. In addition to
being an architect and designer, Mould was an accomplished musician and
prolific translator of opera librettos. Yet anxiety over money and
resentment over lack of appreciation of his talents soured Mould's
spirit. Unsystematic, impractical, and immune from maturity, he
displayed a singular indifference to the realities of architecture as a
commercial enterprise. Despite his personal shortcomings, he influenced
the design of some of NYC's revered landmarks, including Sheepfold, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the
City Hall Park fountain, and the Morningside Park promenade. From 1875
to 1879, he worked for Henry Meiggs, the "Yankee Pizarro," in Lima,
Peru.
Resting on the foundation of Central Park docent Lucille Gordon's heroic
efforts to raise from obscurity one of the geniuses of American
architecture and a significant contributor to the world of music in his
time, Hell on Color, Sweet on Song sheds new light on a forgotten
genius of American architecture and music.
Funding for this book was provided by: Furthermore: a program of the
J. M. Kaplan Fund