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Nicola D'Ascenzo (1871-1954)
Born in Italy, Nicola D'Ascenzo immigrated to the U.S. in 1892. He attended
the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts where he studied painting. He was an
instructor in mural painting at the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial
Art until he resigned in 1892 to open his own studio. Eventually D'Ascenzo
would make his art as a church decorator, muralist and most notably a stained
glass artist. His studio was prolific creating stained glass windows throughout
the U.S. and even Europe. His accomplishments were recognized with a variety
of prestigious awards including the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, medalist,
1893; The Architectural League of New York, gold medalist 1925 and many others.
 Stained
glass artist, muralist, painter. Taught Mural Decoration, 1892-93, 1894. Married
Myrtle Dell Goodwin, a PMSIA alumna who joined the faculty as a teacher of
applied design in 1886 (source: PMSIA Annual Report for the Year Ending December
31, 1886, p. 9) and stayed until 1894 (PMSIA Annual Report for the Year Ending
December 31, 1894).
D'Ascenzo attended the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art
(PMSIA) during the years 1891-92 and 1892-93. He also studied at the Pennsylvania
Academy of the Fine Arts. Although D'Ascenzo's name does not appear in any
annual reports or commencement programs for having earned any of the certificates
offered by the school, he appears in the Roll of Students, 1891-92 in the
PMSIA catalog for 1892-93, and in the Roll of Students, 1892-93 in the PMSIA
catalog for 1893-94.
"Through the co-operation [sic] of the Philadelphia Association of Master
Painters and Decorators, which as appointed a permanent advisory committee
to assist us, an Evening School of Decorative Painting was established on
the 1st of October [1892]. Mr. Nicola D'Ascenzo, a decorator of much ability
and who had been educated in our own School, was appointed instructor, and
room was found for the new class to begin its work in the building on Buttonwood
Street.
The class proved to be very popular, and twenty-nine pupils were enrolled
soon after the announcement, so that the need of larger quarters is now more
urgent in the case of this class than of that of any other in the School."
Source: Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. Seventeenth Annual
Report for the Year Ending December 31, 1892, page 13. It is noted on page
19 of the 19th annual report for the year ending December 31, 1894, that D'Ascenzo
has resigned to spend some years abroad (as has Miss Goodwin), and Maxfield
Parrish will take over D'Ascenzo's position in the class of Mural Decoration.
In the catalog for 1897-98 a "Partial List of Former Students of the School
with Their Occupations" appears in the back, listing D'Ascenzo as "Decorator
and Designer, Philadelphia."
This listing for D'Ascenzo is maintained through the 1906-07 catalog.
With the 1907-08 catalog, the alumni were listed under their professions instead
of alphabetically, and D'Ascenzo is listed under "Interior Decorators." This
listing is the same for him through the 1921-22 catalog, the last year that
alumni and their professions were listed in the catalog.
D'Ascenzo's stained glass work can be seen in the Washington Memorial
Chapel, Valley Forge, PA; the Folger- Shakespeare Library and the Washington
National Cathedral, Washington, DC; Riverside Church, New York, NY; and several
college and university chapels, including Yale and Princeton. But for Philadelphians
(as well as anyone crossing the Delaware River on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge)
perhaps the most familiar work is the "Nipper" window in one of the old RCA-Victor
buildings in Camden, NJ, now refurbished as a luxury apartment building, The
Victor.
For more information on D'Ascenzo please consult the following sources.
D'Ascenzo : The Art of Stained Glass from the Collection of Stanley Switlik.
Rider College, Trenton, N.J.
Student Center Gallery, September 20 to October 24, 1973.
Stained Glass : A Guide to Information Sources / Darlene A. Brady, William
Serban.
Detroit : Gale Research, c1980.
Who's Who in American Art : A Biographical Directory of Selected Contemporary
American Artists... / Alice Coe McLaughlin, editor. Volume II, 1938-39. Published
November 15, 1937, by the American Federation of Arts, Washington, D. C.,
U. S. A.
Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975 : 400 Years of Artists in America
/ editor-in-chief Peter Hastings Falk. Madison, CT : Sound View Press, 1999.
Who's Who and Who Was Who show that D'Ascenzo was a member of numerous
art clubs and organizations in Philadelphia and in Massachusetts, where he
spent his summers. Those organizations included: Fairmount Park Art Association;
Philadelphia Society of Etchers; National Society of Mural Painters; Philadelphia
Art Alliance; Rockport Art Association; Arts and Crafts Guild of Philadelphia;
and the Alumni Association of PMSIA.
A good online source is D'Ascenzo's entry in the Philadelphia Architects
and Buildings Web site (an excellent site for Philadelphia architectural research!).
Within the site search by architect for D'Ascenzo and you will find D'Ascenzo
himself and a separate entry for D'Ascenzo Studios. The Athenaeum of Philadelphia
has the archives of the D'Ascenzo Studios. The Athenaeum of Philadelphia Library
requires that you make advance appointments for research. Please contact them
directly; writing a letter outlining what you already know and what you'd
like to know is best. Primary designer, D'Ascenzo, was a member of USG. He
was internationally renowned for both religious and secular windows; among
works are Valley Forge Chapel; Cathedral of St. John the Divine, NY; National
Cathedral, DC; Folger-Shakespeare Library, DC.
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