New Britain herald., 1929-07-20
RUSSIAN DESIGNER
 GREAT ARCHITECT
Joseph Wells Helped Lead Way
 From Victorian Banalifes

the dtallS1Gan Wn0 drew the lHtef'
 for details of the New Britain city
 hall building when that structure
 was designed as the "'sswin hote!
 is the subject of an article writer
 by C. Howard Walker in the current
 issue of the Architectural Record fol
 July. MT. Wells was a prominent
 member of an architectural firm ol
 which Stanford White was mem
 Der at the time of the construction
 of the Russwin building.
 The article states:
 The proverb "Poeta nascitur nor
 tit' can be applied to some arclli-
 tccts as well as to poets, and to such
 Inc license of vers fibre, and of batl-
 lnents raisonncs has little charm
 These men have an intuitive percep-
 ton of the most distinguished qual-
 ties of their art which is only en-
 hanced by training, and which Is ln-
 herent in all their work even Tn It's
 adolescent stages. Their discrimina-
 tive choice of subjects for inspiration
 is always of the best, and while oth-
 CTS are gradually acquiring good
 taste, they have possed it as birth
 llght. Such men are rare. ana usu-
 ally of unique personality, not al ways com prehended by methodlcal learners. Especially is this the case when the prevailing trend ot the times is to eXtol small gods so nu- merouG that they shroud the great
 masters.
 Of this rare cotcrc of men was
 Joseph Wells, working in a time Ahen Victorian banalities were a fashion, and were honestly consider cd to have at least a picturesque merit and honorable anteccdents. He had no foreign training. in fact only went abroad for the first time near the end of his too short life.
 He attended the Allen school at West Newton, Mass, and later lived in Roxbury where he studied arch!- lecture with Clarence Luce who was designing somewhat cratic country houses. His parents were musical: lis brother was Prof. Webster Wells of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When I first came to >now him we'll he was peculiarly lonesome for paninnship, for his personality was shy, intense and in irrespective, and he had little in com mon with the young men of his own age. Neither the social life nor the athletics of his contemporaries claimed rim, partly l think because he felt that, he would not shine in either-and he wished to do well anything he undertool--bu more because his enjoyments were those of music, literature and the arts. to all of which he was eNqIisitely sensi- live.
 At ! university he might have formed one of a group, especially at oxford, but architectural draughts- men as e rule were not of his kid hey. He would have been an impos- sible Bunthorne had he never be- come an acsthete, for his humor was keen and caustic and he had an al most fatal ability 10 sec through sAans. He had much of Heine in him and would undoubtedly have pleased Bernard Shaw, though l louht if Shaw would have pleased hm. At the time 1 vas in John Sur sis office he was with Peabody anl StcaTns. Both of US were fed upon the Nictorians of the seventies-Edis, md Burgcs and J. K. Ceiling, and neither of us liked it and in that re- spcct had bond in common. But did not know what l Wanted-- Wells did. He had habit of drop | ping into my room of an evening in | his absent minded way One had to force him to sit for he would stand l near the door with a dripping um brella in his hand, as if intending 10 ! dodge out ct the slightest alarm. For d few minutes there would be per- ccptible silence, then, like crops ol water, hesltl;ting words Wonl1 form | into stream of conversation which i was a delight to mo. He must have 1 felt my enjoyment, yet suddenly h" | would apologize for talking and | withdraw into d silence which could | hesitating words. It was not only | ~hyness, it was genuine modesty.
 Made Beautiful Elevations
 One night an amazing thing hap | r2nrd. He appeared with two large . ioCls under his arm, quietly undid . them, and we tackled them on the wall. Two beautifully rendered large scale elevations of the l'alszzo Can aHllcria and palaz2o Ft,rnese. l'p to this time no large renderlnGs had been made in AmCrca. They were light in tone, fine in line. l had never seen anything like them. asked Did you make those, Joe?" ''l cs, that IS ;rchitecture.' So little had he trend of the time influenced his knowledge.
 1 went to Asia Minor and Greece and Italy and after three years came back. l had found what Wells had always known. He was with Mckin, Mead and White, and they appreci- 'tcd the callbre Of the man. Mckim told me once that Wells had inn ,ellcd him to study Italy and Greece, hough Wells had seen nethc'
 Wells mad bloGsomed out into an ,miable cynic. q lover of Noltaire, rubbing ils hands with mischievous .lce when he lnpaled q sham. lie vas fond of mordant cpi2rams, tut like Whistler, he had ne Of the kindest hearts and more han friendship for all sincerity. He Vas merciless in his judgment of men who played to the gallery, and nis explanatory definitions of their motives were unique. Among thes he gain the reputation of having a ma icious tongue, but no man gave norc praise to distinguished work, lr to5terCd t mere. He was blood rothCr of the great l'lorentin"s, and lpon his first visit to Florence his enthusiasm Vas shown in letter arittcn home, in wEich he cuotod 5roWnings S motto of Queen Mary, Open my heart and you shall see ,raved inside of it Italy"