Decades ago, Westport artist Stevan Dohanos painted this Thanksgiving scene:
He often used Westport places — and people — as models.
Does anyone know the back story to this one?
But whether you’re a Westport native who remembers Dohanos personally, or you are celebrating your 1st Thanksgiving here: Enjoy the holiday.
We’re thankful you’re here!
Today is Veterans Day. Westporters — those who served our country, and those who simply wished to honor them — gathered in the Town Hall auditorium, for an 11 a.m. 11/11 ceremony.
Back in the day — the World Wars I and II, Korean and Vietnam Wars day — Town Hall was located on the Post Road. It was a small, handsome building next to what was then the Fine Arts Theater.
Today the old Town Hall is next door to Restoration Hardware — and it’s where you’ll find the Rothbard Ale + Larder restaurant.
There’s another reason it’s appropriate to run this photo today. Stevan Dohanos’ December 1943 Saturday Evening Post cover showed our town’s Honor Roll. It celebrated all our citizens serving in the armed forces that year — quite a while after the above photo was taken.
This was the 1st of Dohanos’ 136 covers for the magazine.
Today the Honor Roll is part of Veterans Green, opposite the current Town Hall on Myrtle Avenue.
Of course, there are many more names now than when Dohanos made Westport’s Town Hall famous, nationwide.
In the fall of 1946, Westport artist Stevan Dohanos invited 5 students from the 40-member Staples High School band — led by John Ohanian — to be models. Dohanos was creating a Saturday Evening Post cover, and needed musicians.
The quintet — Ed Capasse, Bob Nash, Evelyn Bennett, Steve Sefsik and Robert Barker — came to his studio. He paid them $30 each — over $400 today — to sit still for 30 minutes, as if playing their brass instruments. The cover ran on October 19, 1946.
Ed Capasse was in the upper left of Stevan Dohanos’ painting. He went on to become a noted Westport lawyer. Here’s his yearbook photo and writeup.
In 2001, Staples Players director David Roth selected “The Music Man” as a mainstage production. His promotional poster was a takeoff on Dohanos’ iconic painting. Cast members Jonathan Adler, Trey Skinner, Samantha Marpe, Steven Fuertes and Hayden Moskowitz modeled.
Staples Players’ 2001 poster.
This year, “The Music Man” returns. So does the poster. This time Julien Zeman, Tucker Ewing, Maggie Foley, Nick Rossi and Colin McKechnie sat for a photo. (You can see Jacob Leaf — who plays Harold Hill — in the sousaphone reflection.)
…and the 2016 version.
Now – in honor of the upcoming performances of “The Music Man” — Dohanos’ painting is back in a position of honor.
In 1946, the artist donated the original to the Westport schools. For decades it hung in the Staples band room. Later it could be seen in the principal’s office, then outside the first selectman’s office in Town Hall.
Now a treasured masterpiece of the Westport Public Art Collections Committee, in 2014 the organization raised funds to have the painting conserved and returned to full brilliance.
Westport illustrator Stevan Dohanos’ 1946 Saturday Evening Post cover.
Yesterday, it was unveiled and hung in its new position of honor: the Staples auditorium lobby. On hand were Players co-directors Roth and Kerry Long; First Selectman Marpe (whose daughter posed for the 2001 poster), and principal James D’Amico.
“Music Man” audiences this weekend and next will enjoy the restored painting (along with the other posters). So will theatergoers for years to come.
“The Music Man” posters in the Staples lobby.
But now anyone can enjoy the painting in their own home. Recently, Art Collections Committee members found a trove of prints that Ann Sheffer made for a fundraiser in the late 1980s.
They’re on sale again, as a fundraiser for 3 worthy organizations: Friends of Westport Public Art Collections, Collections, Staples Music Parents Association and the Westport Historical Society.
Sales take place at “Music Man” performances this weekend and next, as well as online. Just click here to own a piece of Westport (and musical) history.
(“The Music Man” performances are Friday and Saturday, November 11, 12, 18 and 19 at 7:30 p.m., with 3 p.m. matinees on Sunday, November 13 and Saturday, November 19. Click here for tickets. They’re also available 30 minutes prior to the performance in the Staples High School lobby, as available.)
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Comments Off on Legendary Painting Restored; Prints On Sale Now
Posted in Arts, Entertainment, People, Staples HS, Teenagers
Tagged "The Music Man", John Ohanian, Kerry Long, Staples Players, Stevan Dohanos
Exactly 70 years ago today — on October 19, 1946 — the Saturday Evening Post cover showed 5 high school band musicians.
As many “06880” readers know, Westport artist Stevan Dohanos used 5 Staples High School students as models. Seven decades later the painting hangs in Town Hall, right outside the first selectman’s office.
Westport illustrator Stevan Dohanos’ 1946 Saturday Evening Post cover.
In 2001, David Roth was in his 2nd year as director of Staples Players. To promote their production of “The Music Man,” Roth asked graphic arts teacher Alan Dodd to recreate the iconic artwork — this time using 5 actors from the upcoming show.
There’s one girl in the painting. Roth chose Samantha Marpe to pose. In “The Music Man,” Samantha played Zaneeta — River City’s mayor’s daughter. In an amazing coincidence, Samantha’s father — Jim Marpe — is now Westport’s first selectman (mayor).
The 2001 poster is also on the wall, next to Marpe’s office. Every day at work, he sees his daughter’s image.
Staples Players’ 2001 poster…
Fifteen years later, Players is once again staging “The Music Man.” Once again, Roth is using Dohanos’ painting as inspiration for the publicity poster.
There are some differences between the 2001 and 2016 versions, of course. Dodd has retired; this year’s photo was taken by co-director Kerry Long, and created by graphic arts instructor Carla Eichler.
A decade and a half after the first poster, she’s able to do much more with special effects. For example, in Dohanos’ original painting the football team was reflected in the sousaphone. That was tough to recreate in 2001, so the reflection showed only the 5 musicians.
This time, Eichler reflected Jacob Leaf — who plays Harold Hill, the “music man” — in the sousaphone.
…and the 2016 version.
Speaking of which: simply finding a brass sousaphone for Long to photograph was a herculean task. These days, they’re all fiberglass.
Roth put out a townwide call. Finally, he found one. It’s owned by Shari Levy. In another great coincidence, her son Jon was part of the quartet in the 2001 production. She lent it to Roth for the photo shoot — and the show.
Across America, people know “The Music Man” for its 76 trombones.
In Westport, it’s all about Stevan Dohanos — and David Roth’s — 5 musicians.
That’s no shipoopi.
(Staples Players present “The Music Man” on Friday and Saturday, November 11, 12, 18 and 19 at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, November 13 and Saturday, November 19 at 3 p.m. Tickets go on sale this weekend at http://www.StaplesPlayers.com.)
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Click here for “06880+”: The easy way to publicize upcoming events, sell items, find or advertise your service, ask questions, etc. It’s the “06880” community bulletin board!
Posted in Arts, Entertainment, Local politics, Looking back, People, Staples HS, Teenagers
Tagged " Saturday Evening Post, David Roth, Jim Marpe, Staples Players, Stevan Dohanos
For a town that celebrates arts in every way, our Town Hall has been a bit art-free.
Until now.
For the past few weeks, Sue O’Hara’s English 3A students have worked on a multi-disciplinary project. All year long, the Staples High School juniors studied the intersection of literature, art and life. Now they’ve put their knowledge, insights and research skills to the test.
Noah Staffa, Daniel Perez Elorza, Graham Gudis, senior intern Ale Benjamin and English teacher Sue O’Hara describe the research and writing process. The “Westport scenes” shown behind them are located just inside the entrance to Town Hall.
They scoured the town’s vast art database for intriguing paintings, drawings and photographs. They plucked their favorite pieces from wherever they were — storage, private offices, whatever — and installed them in Town Hall corridors.
But that’s not all. They dug deep, to learn about each artist and piece of art. They delved into history, culture and social development. They figured out which works would be appropriate where. And they designed multimedia effects — narrations, poems, songs, sound effects — to go along with each, via QR codes.
Liam Abourezk, BK Browne and Jack Sila, with superintendent of schools Dr. Elliott Landon, using QR codes on their smartphones to access more information on the artwork outside the educator’s office.
For example, the Town School Offices on the 3rd floor are now graced by 2 Stevan Dohanos Saturday Evening Post covers — both drawn in Westport, one of the 1946 Staples High School band — as well as a number of photos showing children playing.
Two 1946 illustrations by Stevan Dohanos — both using Westport models — hang on the 3rd floor of Town Hall. “Star Pitcher” shows a gang of boys waiting for their friend to finish mowing, so they can play baseball. “Big Game of the Season” shows the Staples band in action. Both were Saturday Evening Post covers.
Around the corner on the 3rd floor, outside the town’s Finance Department, the art is different. “Westport is about politics, culture and money,” say students in the group overseeing this section — and the art there shows it.
Of course, Town Hall was not totally artless before yesterday. Several large murals already hung above the auditorium, and outside the first selectman’s office and Westport Community Theater.
O’Hara’s students researched each mural, and wrote in depth about what those murals mean to Westport.
Thanks to the Stapleites, Town Hall looks a lot jazzier today than it did before.
And that’s fitting. The nerve center of town — housing not only our chief politicians and educators but also planning directors, engineers, election clerks and the tree warden, among others — was not always municipal offices.
For decades it was Bedford Elementary — a school.
[UPDATE: As Thomas Greene notes in the “Comments” below, he was the boy mowing the lawn in the Stevan Dohanos illustration. All the boys used as models were 6th graders at Bedford Elementary School. So that piece of art now hangs in the building where it began.]
Posted in Arts, Education, Teenagers
Tagged Dr. Elliott Landon, Stevan Dohanos, Sue O'Hara
As the 50th anniversary of November 22, 1963 draws near, America will be awash in memories of the assassination of President Kennedy.
The date will be poignant for many. It’s already being recalled by Anthony Dohanos.
Stevan Dohanos at work.
He hasn’t lived in Westport for 40 years — he’s been far away, on Hawaii’s Big Island — but his father, Stevan Dohanos, spent several decades as one of our town’s most famous illustrators.
He was well known for his Saturday Evening Post covers. But he had a side gig: stamp designing.Working with 7 presidents — starting with FDR — and 9 postmasters general, Dohanos created 46 US stamps.
In the 1960s he was named chairman of the National Stamp Advisory Committee. He had a big office in Washington, Anthony recalls, with a chauffeured limo decorated with the US Post Office logo.
A few months before JFK was killed, Anthony accompanied his father to the State Department. The president spoke. “I was 13 years old,” Anthony says. “I don’t remember much, but he seemed larger than life.”
Four years after Dallas, Dohanos designed a stamp honoring the late president. In the weeks ahead, it will surface often as a favored illustration.
Dohanos lived far longer than Kennedy. In 1984, the Postal Service’s Hall of Stamps was dedicated in his name. Dohanos died in 1994, age 87, of pneumonia.
Posted in Arts, History, People
Tagged Anthony Dohanos, John F. Kennedy, National Stamp Advisory Committee, Stevan Dohanos
Reports of the death of Westport as an artists’ colony are greatly exaggerated.
Over 1500 paintings, photos and etchings comprise the Westport Schools Permanent Art Collection. They hang in every school, Town Hall, the library — even the fire station.
Until now, though, all they’ve done is hang.
Since February, 2 sophomore Honors English classes have given life and meaning to nearly 4 dozen pieces. They’ve culled their favorites, researched the art and artists, learned how galleries work, written in-depth analyses — even recorded audio commentary, downloadable with smartphone apps.
The result is a remarkable show that sprawls through 3 Staples High School floors. It’s a superb example of kids making connections between many disciplines. And of teenagers understanding the rich history of the art they never realized surrounded them all around town.
(From left) Kathie Bennewitz, town art curator; English teacher Susan O’Hara, and illustrator Leonard Everett Fisher are eager to tour the show.
Susan O’Hara — who teaches the 2 classes that dove into this project — wanted her students to realize the importance of writing about and for their community.
Their work was intense. They explored over 400 works of art in the Permanent Collection. They visited the Yale University Art Gallery and Yale Center for British Art. They met with museum educators.
They organized their final 47 selections into 11 thematic groups. Before writing they interviewed artists, researched scenes they recognized, delved into town history, uncovered documentaries made about local artists, even interviewed art teachers to learn about techniques.
Katharine Ross and Miggs Burroughs — 2 of the artists featured at Staples High School.
Some artists’ names were vaguely familiar to students when they started. Others were completely unknown. Now they are intimate parts of the teens’ lives: Lynsey Addario, Ward Brackett, Miggs Burroughs, Burt Chernow, Ann Chernow, Stevan Dohanos, Leonard Everett Fisher, Isabel Gordon, Robert Lambdin, Howard Munce, Katherine Ross, Tracy Sugarman, Al Willmott, Lucia Nebel White.
Yesterday, many of those artists attended an opening reception for “Strokes of Genius.” They toured the halls, and admired the walls.
They peered in to read what the students had written. Monique Medina, for example, noted that Dohanos’ downtown scene was called “Crisis on Main Street” not only because a little girl’s ice cream cone was dripping; more ominously, World War II loomed.
Amy Perelberg described Willmott’s drawing of the Compo Beach playground as conveying not just the relaxing, light spirit of the shore, but also representing colors that make our entire town brighter.
90-year-old Lucia Nebel White and Linda Gramatky Smith — daughter of the “Little Toot” artist — admire Al Willmott’s Compo Beach playground painting.
In our security-conscious world, Westporters can’t just stroll into Staples to see this great show. However, in October — as part of the 20th anniversary of the Westport Art Awards — the public can tour it.
An online version is being developed, so the project will live on once the show closes in December.
Just as — thanks in part to Susan O’Hara and her multi-dimensional sophomore students — Westport’s arts heritage continues to live.
Staples principal John Dodig uses his iPhone’s QR code reader to listen to audio commentary on Stevan Dohanos’ “Crisis on Main Street.”
Westporters flocking to “42” are inspired by the story of the man who broke baseball’s color barrier.
But 3 years after Jackie Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers, the sport still grappled with integration — not on the field, but in the stands. An intriguing incident involved 1 Westporter — and 2 others, 60 years later.
The Saturday Evening Post cover of April 22, 1950 shows fans in the Polo Grounds — the New York Giants’ fabled home. Their hands stretch skyward, reaching for a foul ball.
It’s an iconic scene — a classic, feel-good, All-American illustration.
But — according to a letter written in 2000 by illustrator Austin Briggs’ son — there’s a bit of back story.
The son — who shares his father’s name — says that his father’s painting showed Fannie Drain, a black woman who worked for his family and was loved by all.
“When the Giants were playing, she and my father — whose studio was at home –would follow the radio broadcasts avidly and vocally; her pride and pleasure in being included in the cover painting were deep,” Briggs wrote.
The Post editors told Briggs he would have to paint her out of the picture.
“He broke the painting, on a gesso panel, over his knee and walked out,” the son said. “The financial sacrifice was great, but he never regretted his act or repented his fury.”
Stevan Dohanos
The illustration was redone by Stevan Dohanos, a noted Westport illustrator and frequent Saturday Evening Post contributor. He used many of the same models, but replaced Fannie Drain (near the bottom left) with a large white man wearing a handkerchief.
Dohanos’ original hung in the Baseball Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown, New York. And that was that — until last year.
Sarah Wunsch — a 1965 Staples High School grad, now a staff attorney for the ACLU of Massachusetts — chatted about the story with classmate Tom Allen, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame President’s Advisory Board.
She wrote the Hall, in Cooperstown. She soon received a reply from Erik Strohl, director of exhibitions and collections in Cooperstown.
“I was unaware of the details behind this painting and I find the story very fascinating,” he said.
The details truly provide a picture of life in the 1950s, which may seem foreign to us now. I tell our visitors all the time that we can learn much about ourselves as Americans through the lens of baseball, and this painting surely fits that bill.
He promised to find a way to add the information to the exhibit. He said it would “provide a much wider context on the full story of the painting, including what it teaches us about race relations, both in baseball and in popular magazines.”
Posted in Arts, Looking back, Organizations, People, Sports, Staples HS
Tagged "42", Austin Briggs, Baseball Hall of Fame, Jackie Robinson, Sarah Wunsch, Stevan Dohanos
George Washington really did sleep here.
But that’s not what today’s we-missed-President’s Day-by-a-day post is about.
It’s about the famous “Washington Crossing the Delaware” painting — and what famed (and cited-just-Sunday-on-“06880”) Westport illustrator Stevan Dohanos did with it.
This is the Saturday Evening Post cover of February 24, 1951. It comes courtesy of former Westporter Bill Banks, who posted it on Facebook.
And here’s the back story, courtesy of the Saturday Evening Post webpage. (Believe it or not, they’re still publishing. Who knew?)
It is daunting to consider the work realist painter Stevan Dohanos put into this painting. Reproducing images of over a dozen students (and their teacher) with meticulous detail should have been artistic challenge enough, but duplicating Emanuel Leutze’s famous 1850 painting is mind-boggling.
Much has been criticized about Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware: “The crossing was at night (not daytime)”; “That particular version of the flag came later”; and “Washington was only in his 40s and not the elderly man we see here”; to name a few.
While the historical inconsistencies are worth noting, the huge 21-by-12-foot painting of that 1776 Christmas night is still a magnificent accomplishment and a tribute to a critical turning point in American history. The painting today is part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
From 1942 to 1958 Dohanos painted 123 Post covers, which can be viewed in our online gallery or at art.com.
Happy birthday, George! (It’s Friday).
And congratulations, Stevan. Your work lives on.
Alert “06880” readers Charlie and Sandie Cole — longtime Westporters, now living in Virginia — write:
Since your recent postings have included Westport service stations and artist Stevan Dohanos, we thought we would combine the two for you.
The picture is the cover of the Socony Mobil 1956 Annual Report. It depicts their conversion from one logo to another.
The inside page of the Annual Report says that the station was leased by Ben Sheehan on the “Boston Post Road” in Westport.
But as the painting progressed, Dohanos added other bits of Westport life.
The house in the background would be a view you would see while standing on Main Street in front of what is now Westport Pizzeria, and looking above the gas station there.
Sandie volunteered at the Mobil archives when the original painting was sent to the official ExxonMobil archives at the University of Texas around 2000, and she sent a copy to the Westport Library.
Does anyone have any recollections of where this gas station was, exactly? Could it actually have been the Mobil station on Main Street? Do you recognize any folks in the illustration? Or the dog?! Click “Comments” to share your memories.
Posted in Arts, Downtown, Library, Local business, Looking back, People
Tagged Charlie Cole, Mobilgas, Sandie Cole, Stevan Dohanos
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