Last week’s “Friday Flashback” featured a group photo of artists, writers and photographers from the Famous Schools of the same name. Starting for a couple of decades in the 1950s, they were headquartered on Wilton Road.
I identified 3: Stevan Dohanos, Norman Rockwell and Rod Serling.
Eagle-eyed readers spotted a few others: Alfred Eisenstaedt, Whitney Darrow, Harold von Schmidt, Al Capp and Red Smith.
Max Shulman was indeed there, but in a different spot.
Jules Pfeiffer and Bernie Fuchs were not in the photo, though readers thought they were.
How do we know all this?
Robert Cohen send along a cheat sheet. The entire Famous group was identified in the Westport Weston Arts Council book “A Community of Artists: 1900-1985.” It was written by Dorothy and John Tarrant, and designed by Howard Munce.
Here is the photo — it was cropped from the full version.
And here is the full version …
… with all the names. Hover over, or click on, to enlarge.
Robert adds: “We are looking for people interested in funding a history project about this unique period in Westport’s history” (from after World War I on).
To learn more about this project, email R@RobertCohenArchitect.com.
Our mid-century history project for which we are seeking funding is intended to support the relevance of an emerging community asset, the Blau House & Gardens. The history will document the unique synergies between artist and business leaders, Jews and Christians, cultural insiders and the new immigrants who transformed Westport and its surrounding towns from a small farming community into an “Avant Garde” cultural center. We will write a magazine article, develop a short video in collaboration with a cultural non-profit partner to present an exhibition highlighting the legacy of Westport’s talented and creative artistic community. The Blau House & Gardens are representative of this legacy.