National Society of Mural Painters

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Portrait sculpture of Benito Mussolini, by Nancy Cox-McCormack, exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, 1925. Nancy Cox-McCormack 1925 Benito Mussolini.jpg
Portrait sculpture of Benito Mussolini, by Nancy Cox-McCormack, exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, 1925.

The National Society of Mural Painters (NSMP) is an American artists' organization originally known as The Mural Painters. The charter of the society is to advance the techniques and standards for the design and execution of mural art for the enrichment of architecture in the United States.

Contents

Background

The NSMP was founded in 1895, in an era of Beaux-Arts architecture in America, a time when public architecture was integrated with murals, sculpture, mosaics and other artwork, coordinated and themed to assert the identity of the building. Parallel organizations associated with the same principles of integrated public art include the National Sculpture Society, which originally included a large percentage of architectural sculptors, and the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, founded in 1916 as the teaching wing of the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects.

Beaux-Arts architecture Expresses the academic neoclassical architectural style

Beaux-Artsarchitecture was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporated Gothic and Renaissance elements, and used modern materials, such as iron and glass. It was an important style in France until the end of the 19th century. It also had a strong influence on architecture in the United States, because of the many prominent American architects who studied at the Beaux-Arts, including Henry Hobson Richardson, John Galen Howard, Daniel Burnham, and Louis Sullivan.

Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members included several renowned architects. The founding members included such well known figures of the day as Daniel Chester French, Augustus St. Gaudens, Richard Morris Hunt, and Stanford White as well as sculptors less familiar today, such as Herbert Adams, Paul W. Bartlett, Karl Bitter, J. Massey Rhind, Attilio Piccirilli, and John Quincy Adams Ward—who served as the first president for the society.

Beaux-Arts Institute of Design art and architectural school at 304 East 44th Street in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, in New York City

The Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (BAID) was an art and architectural school at 304 East 44th Street in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, in New York City. It was founded in 1916 by Lloyd Warren for the training of American architects, sculptors and mural painters consistent with the educational agenda of the French École des Beaux-Arts.

Still in existence after more than a hundred years, the society presents exhibitions and organizes competitions. The NSMP is a member of the Fine Arts Federation of New York.

Past presidents of the Society include

Frederic Crowninshield American painter

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John La Farge American artist

John La Farge was an American painter, muralist, stained glass window maker, decorator, and writer.

Charles Yardley Turner American artist

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Notable members

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