Celebrating ....

CELEBRATING The PJ's 48th YEAR! * www.junto.blogspot.com * Dr Franklin's Diary * Contact @ PhiladelphiaJunto@ymail.com * Join us at Facebook and @philabooksarts *Meeting @ Philadelphia * Empowered by WritersClearinghouse.

Sunday 3 March 2024

DISCUSS

TOP FIVE 'UNIVERSIAL' MUSEUMS
IN THE UNITED STATES

1. Metropolitan Museum, New York

2. National Gallery, Washington

3. Art Institute, Chicago

4. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

4. Philadelphia Museum of Art

5. Cleveland Museum of Art

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Monday 11 December 2023

PARIS: 1967

JE ME SOUVIENS
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Friday 1 December 2023

Season's Greetings

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Thursday 30 November 2023

BAHAMIAN GALLERY: A SONG OF NASSAU 1.

Dedicated to Marion B. Carreño, Ralph J. Carreño, Roberta E. Carreño Bernard, and Stafford Morrison 2

Limbo, Limbo Like Me

You Can't Go Home Again 

The way they were. (Top and below)

Functioning?
The way they are.

The "old" John Bull, Ltd., then across from Rawson Square.

Thursday 16 November 2023

On the Road with Justin: SAN MARINO

DRIVE-BY COUNTRY
Europe's Gun Capital?

By Justin T. Carreño

It's not often you can view an entire country from a car window. Before heading to Rome and Vatican City, I made a point of visiting the 5th smallest country in the world, San Marino, as part of my quest to visit the six European microstates. And, yes, you can see it (mostly) through a car window. The country is a landlocked Republic, situated in northern Italy, about 10 miles from the nearest significant population center, Rimini, on the Adriatic coast. It's less than half the size of Washington, DC, 24 square miles, with a population of about 33,000 people. 

Although there's a small commercial airport in Rimini, the best airport connected to the real world to get to San Marino is Bologna, where I originated from -- an hour's train ride north from Rimini. 

San Marino is a vestige city-state, which became a political refuge for supporters of the Italian unification in the late 19th century, including the leader of Italian independence, Giuseppe Garibaldi. The country survived the onslaught of occupiers, including Napoleon, throughout the ages, largely through diplomatic engagements, and the fact it wasn't desirable land. The leaders, in keeping with the country's diplomatic prowess, extended solidarity during the American Civil War, by reaching out to President Abraham Lincoln, where they wrote a letter saying from one Republic to another, to stay strong, and granted Lincoln honorary citizenship. Lincoln replied, "It has by its [San Marino] experience demonstrated the truth, so full of encouragement to the friends of Humanity, that government founded on Republican principles is capable of being so administered as to be secure and enduring." 

Guns, guns. guns
Back in the USA? Guns, guns, guns

My impression during my day trip there was that it is an enigma and even maybe an anomaly. The main historic "old city" is perched on Monte Titano, with three ancient watchtowers that define the San Marino skyline, rising above the republic’s central Apennine peak. From the towers, you can view several of the villages situated in the nine municipalities along the nation's hilly flanks, known as "castelli" or castles. 

Wednesday 21 December 2022

PHILADELPHIA TRIVIA


The question: In his classic Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia, Penn sociologist E. Digby Baltzell — the chronicler of the ways of the elite who introduced the acronym "WASP" (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) into the language — noted with some lament that Philadelphia's old-money families didn't support its local universities, most notably Penn, of course.

However, some of Philadelphia's new money did go all-out for a school in another city: Harvard, whose main library is named for the would-have-been scion of one new-money family. Who was this person, and why was the library named for him?

Bonus question: Another member of this same family did devote his life to supporting local higher education. One of the schools on whose boards of trustees he served renamed itself in 1972 in honor of his family. Name that descendant.

The answer(s): Harry Elkins Widener. The bibliophile grandson of streetcar magnate Peter A.B. Widener, the 1907 Harvard grad perished along with his father, businessman George D. Widener, when the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage in 1912. His mother, Eleanor Elkins Widener, donated Harry's large library to Harvard, which named its main library for him in return.

Bonus question:  Fitz Eugene Dixon. Better known as the man who brought "Dr. J" to town when he owned the Philadelphia 76ers, he also served on the board of the Pennsylvania Military College and its civilian sibling, Penn Morton College, in Chester for four decades, including serving as its chair.   An unverified local legend has it that his contributions to the school saved it from closing in the 1970s, leading the board to rename it in honor of his mother's mother, Eleanor Elkins Widener — Harry's mom. Another fun fact: were it not for him, LOVE Park wouldn't be LOVE Park: When the city couldn't come up with the purchase price sculptor Robert Indiana wanted for his iconic work, Dixon bought it from Indiana and donated it to the city. 


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Wednesday 14 December 2022

W R I T E R S C L E A R I N G H O U S E * Philadelphia

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS




Sunday 7 August 2022

John O'Hara Weighs in

ARSE-inine?

https://www.thesteepletimes.com/movers-shakers/arse-ass-difference/

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Saturday 18 June 2022

McFADDEN GOES TO CAMBRIDGE

Clare College @ Cambridge University
Book Notes from All Over


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Friday 4 March 2022

ƒ ON UKRAINIAN REFUGEES ƒ

Whether Black, White, or Brown,

THEY LOOK LIKE US



By Justin T. Carreño

Anyone complaining that we don't give the same outreach and attention
to the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Vietnam, Libya, Iraq, Yemen,
Afghanistan, Kashmir, Rohingya, North Korea, etc., is not considering
culture, genetics, and politics. The issues with these peoples is
perennial oppression embedded in their non-Western cultures that can't
be mitigated by standard government levers. It has nothing to do with
racism nor xenophobia.

It's not that we don't care, it's just that they are way too far gone
to do anything about on a systemic, national level using conventional
means. Ukraine, on the other hand, is an acute attack, and is not only
a Western country, which makes it closer to other Western cultures,
including the US, it is also very close to being saved. As an EMT (which I am), you
have to triage during a mass casualty incident. Save the ones you can!

Other oppressed nations are culturally distant from the Western world,
which makes it more difficult to relate, not to mention oppression and
devastation are part of what makes them the countries they are.
Ukraine is us and we are Ukraine -- they look like Americans, they act
like Americans, they dress like Americans, and they embody the same
Western ideals.

These other people are in a totally different situation. It doesn’t
mean we don’t care. It just means it's not relatable.

Sunday 27 February 2022

LONG LIVE A FREE UKRAINE!



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Sunday 6 February 2022

Whose Worse?

JOHNSON OR TRUMP?

It's all here! Click below:


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Tuesday 25 January 2022

DO YOU?

I LIKE IT

January 20, 2022

By Don Merlot/Ron Alonzo
 
Well, I know what they say about good intentions, and since last summer I have been trying to get myself up to date on wines since COVID invaded my world as it has changed my modus operani and I do not recognize myself anymore. Wait a minute, I realize that I will be 80 years old this next June and not only has time and COVID  changed me, but I too am also changing, transitioning, and have changed in many ways too. I love the old Spanish expression— Todo Cambia, Nada Cambia; so here I am following an old paradigm. It seems as if my prime objective is to survive and keep dreaming in silk and then I ask the question, survive what? Staying healthy means several things to me:  eat correctly, drink wines I like in moderation and correctly, exercise correctly; socialize correctly, seeing the Drs that are monitoring my health; track my Apnea and Parkinson’s and walk with a cane to keep my balance with my replaced hip and avoid situations that will alter my little safe world, not much to ask for a bionic man.
 
My intention today is to dive into the contemporary wine world of Don Merlot as I have been tasting new, contemporary wines and saving comments on index cards with tasting notes to see what my palate tells me and review my life journey in what  I call my Marco Polo jaunt since leaving my birthplace of Mexico City in 1958. I am focusing on what I like and what pleases my palate and not trying to sell anybody anything. It is the old story of seeing the similarities but also appreciating the differences.

Acknowledging my perspectives and respecting the perspectives of others because mine are different than others – mine are mine and not absolutely correct just my perspective.
 
In visiting several local wine shops and or ordering wine at local restaurant for my study of contemporary wines,  I notice several changes to cost controls. There is less selection choices: Customer  have to know something about what their wine preferences are or there may be disappointment and expectations will not be met.
 

Wednesday 1 December 2021

The Corner House...


















Letter from Latvia

A HOUSE OF HORRORS

By Justin T. Carreño

On a recent foray to Riga, I visited what is referred to as “the
Corner House” – the former headquarters of the Soviet KGB secret
police in Latvia, also known as Cheka. I thought this was going to be
another exhibit and tour of spy gadgetry and historical operations
much like the Spy Museum in Washington, DC, but this was nothing of
the sort. Rather it was a poignant and emotional look into the horror
of totalitarianism and repression.


We entered the imposing structure that blended in just like any other
art nouveau building in Riga. It could be an apartment house, or an
office building, or anything else. Built in 1912, it, in fact, was
originally an apartment building, but the interior was modified into a
veritable dungeon.


As I entered it appeared to be an abandoned building inside. There was
no heat, and so cold I, along with my friend, and the others on the
tour, continued to wear our jackets, scarves, and gloves through the
visit. We bought our tickets for 10,00€ each from a young woman behind
a window. She said the (English-language) guided tour started at 11am,
and we had about 30 minutes, so she suggested we look at the exhibits
in the main hall during our wait.

Wednesday 20 October 2021

Past Favs


MIND THE GAP

By Richard Carreño
[WritersClearinghouse News Service] Posted 7 August 2014

San Francisco
San Francisco is well known for many things: Steve McQueen's blistering car chase in Bullitt. For the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and huffing and puffing up (and down) Telegraph Hill. Its user-friendly public transportation system (refurbished, retired trolleys and, of course, its hokey cable cars). An odd comestible known as Rice-A-Roni (and its catchy 'San Francisco Treat' ad jingle). Levis are of course synonymous with the city, and so are the 49ers who wore them. And who can forget the still wet-behind the ears Michael Douglas debuting in the TV series The Streets of San Francisco? 
 
But I knew I was in for a different kind of 'treat' as I settled in with my cabin mates for my flight from Philly to SFO. The surrounding businessmen were clearly representatives of a new, evolving San Francisco, and one I hadn't known before. And my last visit was only five years ago. Sporting iPads, iPhones, laptops, ear-plugs, and headsets, these New-Age 49ers where hardly Rice-A-Roni types. My heavily-wired companions, of course, were newly-minted Silicon Valley standard-bearers, and I doubt they were iTuned to Tony Bennett waxing lyrical about leaving his heart in the 'City by the Bay.'

Welcome to San Francisco's corporate world of Google, PayPal, and Facebook -- and generic billion-dollar 'Googlers' from Instagram, Yelp, HubPages, Dropbox, Pinterest, Twitter, and dozens of other Internet sensations. If there were any Levis in sight, they were skinny jean versions, matched with shortie jackets, skinny ties, rectangular-shaped eyeglass frames, and other accouterments pinched from the pages of a recent J. Crew catalogue. Or, rather, this being San Francisco, Gap Inc and Banana Republic, also headquartered here.

Sunday 3 October 2021

SPANISH RIDING SCHOOL


 

VIENNA

Click below


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Thursday 30 September 2021


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Friday 17 September 2021

PROMOTIONAL COVER

AVAILABLE IN 2022 FROM PHILABOOKS|PRESS


The PJ depends on reader support. Please help us by contributing financially or by contributing editorial content via PhiladelphiaJunto@ymail.com. Empowered by WritersClearinghouse | S.P.Q.R. 1976 Richard Carreño, Editor Copyright MMXXI. All Rights Reserved.

Friday 3 September 2021

Liverpool Learned Society Praises New Book on Local Art Collector John H. McFadden

Richard Carreño 304pp.19 black and white illustrations. Camino Books, Philadelphia, 2021. Available from Amazon £18.69 hardback. ISBN: 978-1680980394.

I consider myself a reasonably well-read amateur Liverpool historian but confess that, until recently, I had never heard of John H McFadden. And, I suspect, neither had any of my fellow local history friends. This despite the fact that he and brother George headed up the biggest firm of cotton dealers not just in Liverpool during the late Victorian and early Edwardian era when the city was indisputably “King Cotton”, but on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Like John Howard McFadden’s life itself, this is a book of two halves covering his early and later years in Philadelphia and his two decades or so in Liverpool when he was at the height of his cotton dealing powers. In spite of his business success and the great wealth that went with it, McFadden largely lived his life under the radar. So, it is thanks to Carreño that he has managed to tease out so much of the detail of his life. Aside from dealing in cotton futures, McFadden had three main passions, and the money to indulge them: medical research (of which Liverpool was a major beneficiary), polar exploration (and in particular Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton) and assembling an outstanding private collection of 18th and 19th century British paintings by the great masters, including one by Liverpool horse painter George Stubbs. 

Thursday 26 August 2021

LIVERPOOL'S LITTLE-KNOWN ART WORLD




THE TOFF OF LIVERPOOL

John H. McFadden and His Age
By Richard Carreño
Camino Press (2021)

BOOK'S STARTLING REVELATIONS
GET ACCLAIM FROM LOCAL AUTHOR

By Ron Jones
Amazon.com

This is no hagiography. Where there are skeletons in the cupboard (and there are), Richard Carreño relishes dragging them out into the light of day. I consider myself a reasonably well-read amateur Liverpool historian, but confess that I had never heard of John H. McFadden. And neither had any of my fellow local history buffs, despite the fact that he and brother George headed up the biggest firm of cotton dealers not just in Liverpool during the late Victorian and early Edwardian era when the city was indisputably “King Cotton”, but on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Like John Howard McFadden's life itself, this is a book of two halves covering his early and later years in Philadelphia and his two decades or so in Liverpool when he was at the height of his cotton dealing powers. In spite of his business success and the great wealth that went with it, McFadden largely lived his life under the radar. So, it is thanks to Carreño that he has managed to tease out so much of the detail of his life. Aside from dealing in cotton futures, McFadden had three main passions, and the money to indulge them: medical research (of which Liverpool was a major beneficiary), polar exploration (and in particular Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton), and assembling an outstanding private collection of 18th and 19th century British paintings by the great masters.

 

Whilst McFadden largely amassed his fortune during his days in Liverpool, it was his birthplace of Philadelphia that was the main recipient of his largesse. Having spent the greater part of his life buying British masterpieces, what to do with them with life drawing to a close? The answer was to donate them to his hometown. But the canny McFadden had one stipulation: the “City of Brotherly Love” must first build a fitting gallery in which to display them…and build it within a challenging timespan. Hence the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Carreño has undertaken impressive research into this whole saga, which rightly takes up a goodly part of the book.

In other hands this biography might have resulted in a worthy but rather dull account of an extraordinary man leading a fairly ordinary life, but in Carreño’s hands it comes to life, mainly because it is so well-researched and entertainingly written.

Ron Jones is a journalist based in Liverpool. He is the author of The American Connection: The Story of Liverpool's Links with America from Christopher Columbus to The Beatles. 

Friday 20 August 2021

MOUNTAIN HIGH








The Author


By Justin T. Carreño
Spent a few days exploring Zugspitze in the Bavarian Alps -- the highest point in Germany, straddling the border, so, once on the summit, we crossed into, and descended into Tyrol, Austria. 

One of the most beautiful climbs I've done, including the approach through the Höllentalklamm (Hell's Valley Gorge). We decided to take the more technical, Höllental route, which uses via ferrata (Italian for "by iron") or the German, klettersteig, which are fixed cables you clip into, used as protection on highest angle sections. 

We were the only Americans on the mountain, so it was great to learn German climbing terms, although "Stein!" is not one you want to learn on fly...

The PJ depends on reader support. Please help us by contributing financially or by contributing editorial content via PhiladelphiaJunto@ymail.com. Empowered by WritersClearinghouse | S.P.Q.R. 1976 Richard Carreño, Editor Copyright MMXXI. All Rights Reserved.

Tuesday 17 August 2021

PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE RAVES!

SERIOUS McFADDEN BIO
ALSO ROLLICKING FUN READ

Take it from Sandy Hingston at Philadelphia Magazine and you, too, might spend a couple of reading days rollicking with Richard Carreno's bio of John H. McFadden, the Philadelphia 19th century millionaire, art collector, and founder of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Click below:



The PJ depends on reader support. Please help us by contributing financially or by contributing editorial content via PhiladelphiaJunto@ymail.com. Empowered by WritersClearinghouse | S.P.Q.R. 1976 Richard Carreño, Editor Copyright MMXXI. All Rights Reserved.

Friday 13 August 2021

GENERATION GAP? SPECIAL REPORT BY MATTHEW DAVIS


SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS 

UVA Professor's Students Disagree with 
His Analysis of a John O'Hara Short Story. 

Are They Right? 

Professor Matthew Davis Explains:

What does it mean when three hundred bright college students disagree with your interpretation of a story? Or rather, what does it mean when you teach a story to three hundred students over the course of sixteen semesters and those students come up with all sorts of interesting ideas about the story, but not a single one of them comes up with the set of ideas that seems most plausible to you? 

Those are questions I’ve been asking myself recently -- because these things have happened to me. In English classes at the University of Virginia, I often teach a short story by John O’Hara called “Straight Pool,” and, over the years, my students have floated a wide range of interesting ideas about this story, but none of them have interpreted the story in quite the way I interpret it. 

 “Straight Pool” is a four-page story that I usually teach as an example of a dramatic monologue. It was originally published in The New Yorker in December of 1933 and has been reprinted in a few anthologies over the years, including Points of View, edited by James Moffett and Kenneth McElheny. 

 In the story we overhear a man speaking to a buddy while the two of them are shooting pool in a pool hall. The narrator sometimes discusses the action on the billiards table, but mostly he talks about his wife, Mae, who has been having crying spells and acting erratically recently. He is completely puzzled by his wife’s crying spells. He doesn’t understand why they occur. He doesn’t understand why they begin or why they end. Sometimes Mae cries. Sometimes she stops crying and just stares at him -- and he can’t understand why. Recently Mae has stopped cooking breakfast and doing the dishes, and she’s taken to getting drunk at night. The narrator says that he took Mae to a doctor, but the doctor found nothing physically wrong with her. 

He tries to stay with her and comfort her, but he can only stand so much of the crying and odd behavior, and eventually, when he can’t stand it anymore, he evacuates to the pool hall, where he delivers his monologue. There’s one more thing about the husband’s monologue that seems like it might be important to mention: the husband tells his buddy – whose name is Jack McMorrow -- that Mae spends a lot of time talking about . . . Jack McMorrow.

It seems Mae has been telling her husband not to go to the pool hall. She says she doesn’t want him to go there and talk to Jack McMorrow about her. The husband says he won’t. She says she doesn’t believe him. She thinks he will go to the pool hall and talk to McMorrow. And in fact he does end up going to the pool hall and talking to McMorrow, so it seems she was right to worry about that. McMorrow and the narrator continue to play pool for awhile while the narrator goes on venting about his wife and her crying spells and the staring and the boozing. 

At the end of the story, the narrator tells McMorrow that he and Mae have just had a big fight: Yesterday she didn't get up for breakfast, and last night when I came home from work she wouldn't say a word. And then tonight when I came home, the same story over again. Cockeyed [drunk] again. "What's the idea?" I said, and we had it out hot and heavy, but she didn't want me to leave, so I said I'd leave all right, and she was lucky if I came back. I got the hell out of the house as sore as a boil. I guess I oughtn't to be talking about her like this, especially to you, because you're the one she thinks is always talking about her, but I have to talk to somebody. I think I'll go to Brooklyn and get drunk. How about it? . . . What's the matter? You quitting? ... Oh! If I'd of known you had a date, we could of made it twenty-five points. You're ahead anyhow, and I don't feel like shooting much. Guess I'll go to Brooklyn. My brother just got a gallon of apple .... And that his how the story ends – mid sentence. 

When I teach “Straight Pool,” I always begin by asking my students what they think might be wrong with Mae. Responses vary, but I usually don’t have to call on more than four students before someone says, “I think Mae is having an affair with Jack McMorrow.” Usually several other students immediately chime in to agree with this idea. However, there is always a second group of students who are skeptical or unconvinced by this theory. This is almost always the first major interpretative disagreement about the story that surfaces, and I like to diagram the disagreement on the chalkboard as a fork in a road, where each fork indicates a possible “path of interpretation.” 

Thursday 12 August 2021

FOOD & WINE — AND OTHER OBSERVATIONS

MARCO POLO AKA DON MERLOT

Fly on the wall – by Don Merlot aka – Ron Alonzo Notes & thoughts on food and wine from Ron Alonzo aka Don Merlot[1]

 In June I traveled out of town and left New Orleans for the first time since COVID hit in 2020, and we left on my birthday (and Paul McCartney’s birthday too) – June 18 (1942) – he born in Britain, and I born in Mexico, so we were both 79 on this day; and I say since he was born first that he got first dibs on everything, but as I look back, I cannot complain I have had a great life, great family, great experiences, traveled the world – became a Marco Polo & a Renaissance Man, so no complaints.

We took I-10 and here I was escaping COVID captivity; traveling East to Florida, and on the first day we went as far as Tallahassee. We are on our way to spend some time in Florida: see friends and Denise has a family reunion and I am working and thinking on how to go forward with my wine journey – Fly on the Wall - and taking a 2021 perspective. But first let’s comment on my birthday: we found an OUTBACK in Tallahassee and had some Aussie wine and beef steak from the barbie. 

The drinks menu was presented, and my experience of wine from my visits to Australia made me think of my Wine paradigm: and I looked at the wine offering to make the selection: a glass of Chardonnay, a glass of Medium red – Shiraz & a glass of Moscato – which went with dessert, an excellent chocolate cake dessert. It was a good repast & birthday celebration. (This is an escape after the hip replacement, rehabilitation, & physical therapy: re learning how to walk - avoiding a Parkinson’s gait I developed and get out of our COVID stalag encampment, so rather than just flying – ( I flew for 43 years, and now I try to avoid flying & we decided to rent a car and drive to see old chums along the way. “This was easier said than done”… n’est pas? - Cars for rentals are very scarce because rental companies sold their car stock because one could not travel & their useless autos were not rentable; because of the covid shutdown; the foodservice outlets are not at full staff so there is a labor shortage either; but as my famous historical line goes, “other than that Mrs. Lincoln did you enjoy the play?” We laughed it up & muddled through everything… 

Friday 11 June 2021

NEW FOR SUMMER FROM CAMINO BOOKS



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Edward Jutkowitz

215-413-1917, ejutkowitz@caminobooks.com

THE UNTOLD STORY OF HOW JOHN H. MCFADDEN “WILLED” THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART INTO EXISTENCE.

In a city permeated by Benjamin Franklin’s legacy, it is easy to believe that the Philadelphia Museum of Art is another of Philadelphia’s ancient and legendary cultural institutions. But the museum, in its current iteration, is actually a relative youngblood. Now, on the 100th anniversary of John H. McFadden’s death, JOHN H. MCFADDEN AND HIS AGE: Cotton and Culture in Philadelphia ($29.95, Hardcover, Camino Books, July 6th 2021) not only weaves together the tale of McFadden’s international legacy, but puts it in context of the fascinating history of events and people behind the founding of Philadelphia’s great museum.

John H. McFadden (1850–1921) was America’s “Cotton King,” overseeing a multimillion-dollar empire of cotton, from its baling in Memphis to its immensely lucrative sales in Liverpool. In his native Philadelphia, he was the city’s undisputed “cultural czar.” In his spare time, he was a museum administrator and hospital trustee, a property developer and a philanthropist, and he even financed an exploration of the Antarctic. Then McFadden got serious—

His collection of English art, the largest of his age outside of the British realm, situated

McFadden as a key player in the founding of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The John Howard McFadden Memorial Collection was offered as a tantalizing donation to the city of Philadelphia, with one major caveat: that a building must be constructed to hold it. This provision ensured that the museum in progress would indeed open to the public.

Ranging from sweaty sales rooms in Memphis to posh sales offices in Liverpool, from the life of luxury and high culture in London to the domestic life of Philadelphia’s rich and privileged, this book explores McFadden’s world in fascinating detail.

John H. McFadden and His Age, the first full-length biography of the Philadelphia cultural titan, adds McFadden’s often-forgotten name to the pantheon of great nineteenth-century art collectors.

In every way, John H. McFadden was a “Proper Philadelphian”—from his silk top hat and his ivory-handled walking stick to his mansion on Rittenhouse Square. But he was also among the most beguiling improper Philadelphians as well.

-over-

PRAISE FOR JOHN H. MCFADDEN AND HIS AGE:

"In this contemporary moment, when impact feels so transient, Richard Carreño's John H. McFadden and His Age reveals the inside story of the creation of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and how through guile, vision, insistence and persistence, McFadden, Philadelphia's 'cultural czar,' literally willed the place into existence. Through McFadden's story, meticulously researched and narrated, Carreño has focused a much needed lens on a cast of characters whose cultural and social impact remains yet dominant today."

Sam Katz

Executive producer of History Making Productions and a former candidate for mayor of Philadelphia

“Finally, through Richard Carreño's engaging book, John H. McFadden is transformed from a credit line on the walls of the British galleries at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to a three-dimensional portrait of a major art and rare book collector, philanthropist, and international businessman.”

- David R. Brigham, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Richard Carreño is a longtime art critic in England and the United States. For many years, he was a journalist and university lecturer in London. He lives in Philadelphia.

To obtain a complimentary copy or to schedule an interview with the author, contact Edward Jutkowitz, 215-413-1917; ejutkowitz@caminobooks.com

Available at bookstores or directly from the publisher, Camino Books, Inc., P.O. Box 59026, Philadelphia, PA 19102, www.caminobooks.com. $35.90 postpaid.

JOHN H. MCFADDEN AND HIS AGE:

Cotton and Culture in Philadelphia

Pages 320

6 inches x 9 inches

Hardcover $29.95

23 b/w photographs

ISBN 978-1-68098-039-4

ISBN (ebook) 978-1-68098-040-0