Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-02-19
The CAP|T0l'S ARTIST
Name is MOberly and He is A
Very Versatile Man
CDn Restore n Brurnidi-prcsco or Make
n Grant Map OF n UDrbor for n
Courrcssman. ms Occasion De-
m8nds.
(By Frederic j. Haskin)

know as the designer OF Nhe bureau of
painting. under Elliott Woods. who has
charge of all the governments buildings
and grounds in the district.
This artist, Mr.. Moberly, is u versatile
man. and he has TO be. Everything that
anyone connected with the Capitol wants
done in the way Of art, design or paint
ing it devolves upon Moberly to do. His
duties range from such difficult artistic
feats as restoring one of the famous
Brumidi frescoes, when it had been prac-
tically destroyed by fire, to the making Of
a giant map of ~ harbor for some con-
gresham TO use on the floor of the House
in pressing his claim for an appropria-
ton .
Moborly made an appointment the other
day TO meet i reporter opposite the room
of the Joint committee on printing, wher
he was painting n panel, but when the
time came he was not there. lie had left
directions that lie would he in his shop
In the basement. There he was found eX-
ecutinC a realistic likeness of an automo-
bile license for some clerk who had lost
his. In about five minutes he did a life
size portrait of a district license tag,
which would have fooled any cop in the
country. He was rewarded with a hand
full of cigars. which he shared with his
AAA'1' 80 f,h " itf W. 49, ~
is not only q versatile artist, hut also u
generous and obliCing one.
The greater part of Moherly's work con-
lsists in caring for all of the painted deco
~rations in the Capitol building. The mag
nitudc and variety of this job you would
never realize unless you could accompany
Moberly on a tour Of the building. Not
only are there a great many oil paintings
huns in the building. but allnost every
! square yard of every wall on every floor
above tho basement is in some way dec
oratcd-eithcr with n design or n mural
I painting or q gilt molding. 1t is prob
ably no eXaEEeration TO say that there are
acres of decorations in the Capitol build
ing, all of which are more or less sub
1cct to injury by time, moisture, or Vio-
lence. For example. when, n few years
ago. some crank set off a bomb in one of
tho corridors and wrecked q couple Of
walls. the principal thing that he accom-
plished was the destruction of 100 or so
square yards of valuable mural painting
by Brumidi. which it took Moberly many
weeks to replace. II is a striking proof
of his familiarity with every inch of this
/ great building that hc was able to repro
ducc the Brumidi pictures from memory
in such u way that a very close inspec-
'tion is necessary to detect where Brumidis
work ends and Mohcrly's begins. He be-
lieves that the duty Of a r~estorcr is not
10 express his own ideas, but to put him.
self in the mental boots Of the original
artist and to try to do what that artist
was trying to do-a feat which requires
imagination and sympathy aS well as ar
tIstiC skill.
Moherly is peculiarly qualified for his
job both by training and by ambition. He
- IL
His father and his ather's father followed
both of these professions. and he has
followed both. He describes himself as a
painter taught in the old school. He ex-
plains that IN the old days a man who
expected to live by painting could not
afford to specialize as the modern artist
does, but had to be capable of doing all
sorts of jobs. He also had to be able To
mix and grind his own colors, and had 70
understand the chemistry of his pigments.
In this school of versatility Noberly was
trained, and the training has been invalu-
able 10 him in his work at the Capitol,
For the frescocs and mural paintings OF
that building arc don by no less than
three different methods. Some of them
are lime paintings, so called. in which
the color is put upon wet plaster, and al
lowed 10 soak in; some are water colors
and some are oils. y knowledge of the
chemistry of these three different meth.
DDS is naturally indispensable to the mar
who has 10 keen rho paintinps in rood
order.
When he was nine wears old. Moberly
came TO Washington. and he saw the
great Italian artist. Brurnidi at work ir
the CapitoI. He was IMPRESSED Nv, the
hnoness of his work. and bv the rreatnes.
of the Canitol as a national, monument
and he made mn his mind IN cot , ioh as
Canitol artist. He worked for a tir,e wifi
his father and then went away and he.
came a decorator. He worked in New
York and PENNSYLVANIA at tho time wher
men we're making orea, and sudden for
tunes in rho oil busincss and MANY in.
teriors of snIendid residences did he dec.
CRATE for newlv-made uiuionairas ON,
of his iohe was the decorating of = nrivat,
car which COST s6i Nn and which III,
president of tbc Lake Erie railroad hat
made fo,. b,s wife
Whom ba had finished HE nnrerticcshin
he camc back IN w.sbingtop worked q,
tho mural docor,+iors IN tho library M
Conrross ond thon 90. ,ba ,,ans in III,
ConitoI u.htoh no hoe no,, ba1d sor % years
nnrirg th.t nariod bo hoe NOT only lion
al or tho donnra +iors ia aond shana bn
no has himself naintcd designs on th,
walls ard cnilings of MANY rooms vhic,
vere meyer heforo decorated ot all. On.
~ tbaso is tho oe;ca of wi,liau -rvle,
poe c,arL Of ,bo IIo,so wbo :. on al,
schoo, farou. 90 toho,Iy ,nd yho no
.an his oa,,,ioo In 49, ran;toI &c . n.e,
many vcars AGO Noherlv has mad,