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Papers of landscape architect and artist Charles Downing Lay.
More
than 350 items, including 237 letters (most addressed to Lay), 6 landscape architecture
designs by Lay’s firm, 4 lectures or essays on landscape architecture, 39 watercolors and
engravings by Lay, 15 photographs, and more; condition generally strong.
Vp, 1913-66
[1,200/1,800]
Charles Downing Lay (1877-1956) was an important landscape architect in the early 20th century.
He was based in Stratford, CT but was best known for his work on several New York City parks.
This collection includes his original landscape or planting plans for Lordship Community Church
Stratford, CT, 1950; Krider Nurseries Rock Garden, Horticultural Exhibition, New York World’s
Fair, [1939?]; and a set of 4 for a Bendix Aviation plant in Sidney, NY, 1940. It also includes some
professional correspondence, most notably two long letters from master planner Robert Moses on park
development in the metropolitan area. Lay was also a committed amateur artist, and much of the
much of the correspondence is with artists, often in the context of his membership in New York’s
exclusive Century Association. Correspondents include fellow landscape architects Frederick Law
Olmsted Jr. and John C. Olmsted, noteworthy artists Charles Dana Gibson, Charles Hopkinson,
Thornton Oakley, and Rudolf Ruzicka, as well as patrons of the arts Royal Cortissoz and Harrison
Tweed. The last of the four Gibson letters was written a week before his death in 1944. A large file is
dedicated to letters from and related to architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue,1919-29. Several letters
are to or from August Vincent Tack, including some from artist Joseph Lindon Smith to Tack. Also
includes are two sign-in sheets for Allen Tucker memorial exhibitions, 1961 and 1966, signed by
Edward Hopper (twice), Louis Auchincloss, and Mrs. Charles D. Lay.
The lot also includes a large group of Lay’s artwork, including 31 watercolors (mostly landscapes and
still-lifes with a few portraits) and 8 small-format engravings, 1925-34. Provenance: sold by the estate
of Lay’s business partner Jeannette Minturn (1908-circa 1991) to the consignor. A more detailed
inventory is available upon request.