Ascending
Artist reached new heights with murals for staircase at Carnegie Museums
John White Alexander painted people of the Gilded Age, inspired Mark Twain with tales of his journey down the Ohio River and created vivid murals for the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
His greatest work, “The Apotheosis of Pittsburgh,” is a series of murals that adorn a three-story marble staircase connecting the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History in Oakland. In March, Architectural Digest named it one of “8 of the Most Beautiful Museum Staircases in the World.”
Artistic ability, a winning personality and natural leadership skills took Alexander from poverty in Pittsburgh’s North Side to the height of influence in the art world. But by the early 20th century, his work had fallen out of favor, supplanted by the rise of the cubism of Pablo Picasso, George Braque and other stars of a 1913 New York Armory show.
Alexander died at age 59 in 1915, but collectors and museums are rediscovering him, and a new biography beautifully illustrates his legacy.
Despite his impressive name, John White Alexander was a poor orphan who at age 5 was living with his maternal grandparents in Allegheny City, now the North Side. He quit school to become a messenger for Pacific & Atlantic Telegraph Co., where his artistic talent revealed itself in an unexpected fashion. When a customer left without giving his name, the teenager made a sketch to identify the man. The likeness impressed company treasurer Edward Jay Allen, who became the boy’s guardian.