Samuel Yellin In Context

[JHCC]

Samuel Yellin In Context by Richard J. Wattenmaker. Flint Institute of Arts, 1985. ISBN 0-939896-06-3. 35 pages

“Almost singlehandedly, Samuel Yellin achieved, during three decades of intensive work, a rebirth of ornamental ironwork parallel to, but independent of, contemporary developments in Europe.”

This little volume contains an essay written on the occasion of the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts) exhibition Samuel Yellin: Metalworker. While not a catalog, it does contain twelve pages of photographs of Yellin’s work, much of which was included in that exhibit. 

While the photographs themselves are excellent, the real value of this booklet is in the text. Neither biographer nor hagiographer, Wattenmaker places Yellin within the broader context of the revival of historical architectural styles in Europe, especially through the work of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and the neo-Gothic. He makes a convincing case for how this technical and artistic flourishing would have had a profound effect on Yellin in his apprenticeship and journeyman years in Europe, perhaps a somewhat more realistic  picture than the narrative of the sui generis genius. At the same time, he describes how Yellin generally resisted the fashions of Art Nouveau and particularly Art Deco, preferring to exercise his talents in bringing fresh life to older styles. “Comfortably established in this later, looser version of the revivals in Europe, Samuel Yellin gave free rein to his ideas within a framework of familiar traditions in which he felt as much at ease in improvising as did the architect. The eclectic architectural interpretations he was called upon to serve required of him no aesthetic adjustment whatsoever...” (p. 27).

From the extensive description of the European revivals to his overview of Yellin’s parallel careers as metalworker, teacher, and collector, Wattenmaker covers an enormous amount of ground in a very short space. By describing Yellin in this broader artistic and personal context, he not only highlights the particular character of his special talents, but also hints at other avenues of possible exploration for both smiths and scholars alike  

Highly recommended.