Only the chemist can tell, and not always the chemist,
What will result from compounding
Fluids or solids.
And who can tell
How men and women will interact
On each other, or what children will result?
There were Benjamin Pantier and his wife,
Good in themselves, but evil toward each other:
He oxygen, she hydrogen,
Their son, a devastating fire.
I Trainor, the druggist, a mixer of chemicals,
Killed while making an experiment,
Lived unwedded.
- Trainor, The Druggist in Spoon River Anthology
One interpretation of this excerpt is how two different fields of subject matter, such as the scientific study of chemistry and the interpersonal relationships of human beings, can have a lot more in common than one would typically think. Several comparisons can also be drawn between art and chemistry, even though these two subjects seem entirely different at first glance as well. Artists form a type of creative bond with whoever they collaborate. This is quite similar to how chemicals compound with each other. Both artists and chemists create or invent their work so that it will be what they are remembered for and potentially last well beyond their own lifetimes. Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology examines the past lives of deceased fictional characters who once lived in the town of Spoon River and how they ended up dead. Each individual character’s story is told through a poem which shares the thoughts and feelings they have towards one another and themselves. Trainor, the druggist did not seem to be very popular considering nobody talked about him except for himself and he dies unexpectantly just like the talented young artist George R.M. Heppenstall who is buried in The Homewood Cemetery. It is important for artists who are not as well-known to be recognized and to have their stories told because they can be just as talented if not more than the popular artists.
George R.M. Heppenstall was born June 7th, 1901 and died in 1923. The prolific George R.M. Heppenstall’s artwork is classified as ‘orientalism’/ art deco style. He started painting as a teenager and attended Peabody High School where he was trained by Jean Thoburn (Heppenstall). By 1919 George finished a three-year course at the New York Academy of Fine and Applied Art in only six months and became an instructor at the institution. Shortly after, he designed fashion and costumes for Broadway and theater from 1919 through 1922. George even designed Miss Sarah Mellon’s gown for the debutante ball. George wanted to become a book illustrator and several of his watercolors were influenced by mythology, legend, and poetry. In 1922, George became an instructor at Carnegie Institute of Technology where his art students were his own age and he was a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh. There were a number of exhibitions that displayed his work when he was alive (Kienzel 12-14). George unexpectantly died of pneumonia at the young age of twenty-one. There are more ways of treating pneumonia nowadays, but in the early 1900’s pneumonia was a lot more life-threatening because the medical field was not as advanced as it is now. George’s massive collection of artworks stayed in the family and his parents refused any requests to buy his work (Benford Personal Interview).
An earlier member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh who is also buried in The Homewood Cemetery is George Hetzel. George Hetzel is more famous than George R.M. Heppenstall mainly because Hetzel was able to live a longer life and he knew the right people. George Hetzel was a famous portrait and landscape painter. Hetzel was born January 17th, 1826 in Alsace, France. His family moved to Pittsburgh when he was two years old. The first artistic training he received was painting houses and signs and he earned money by painting interior decorations on riverboats, cafes and the Western Penitentiary. Hetzel trained at Dusseldorf and stood out because he was trained abroad. He also rallied up a group of artists to paint the sylvan terrain at Scalp Level, Pennsylvania. George Hetzel’s first big sale was one of his small still life paintings which was purchased by Mrs. Abraham Lincoln and it was hung in the White House during the Lincoln administration. He also painted “Landscape with River” which was the piece of art purchased by Henry Clay Frick. “Landscape with River” is still hanging in The Frick museum. George Hetzel and his family lived in Edgewood, PA until 1898 when they decided to move to Somerset, PA. Mr. Hetzel died in Somerset at the age of seventy-three in 1899. Mr. Hetzel is buried next to his wife Marie Louise Siegrist and their daughter Lila Hetzel who happens to be an artist as well (Hetzel 6). He made a good living but was not wealthy. The Gravestone is on the border of another family. The more money someone has the further the space is between people (Benford Personal Interview).
John Lupher Porter was more of a supporter of the arts. He came from a higher social status which allowed him to obtain art and donate it to places that could not normally afford them. John was originally from Oil City, Pennsylvania before he moved to Pittsburgh. He worked at an oil company and eventually became President of The Union Storage Company of Pittsburgh for thirty-five years. Porter was then elected to the Board of Trustees for The Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1916. In the same year he founded 100 Friends of Pittsburgh Art which was 100 people who would pledge $10 a year towards the purchasing of artwork from the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh annual exhibition that would be donated to the Pittsburgh Public Schools. In 1928 John Porter was also elected to the Board of Managers of The Homewood Cemetery and served in that capacity for nine years. This was only one of several trustee and board positions from which he resigned in 1936. Porter died from poor health on August 11, 1937. The 100 Friends of Art is now known as The Friends of Art and still remains active. The Pittsburgh Public Schools have custody of roughly 1000 works that are displayed in schools throughout the city. Porter and his wife, Augusta, rest in a small Art Deco/Gothic Revival mausoleum in The Homewood Cemetery (Benford 4-6).
The Homewood Cemetery as a space can be discussed in reference to Edward Soja’s “The Trialectics of Spatiality”. The first space is Perceived (what a space looks like), which is a lawn cemetery built in 1878, a park with grass-covered hills, pathways and many varieties of trees. The second space is Conceived (the imaginary space). In this space The Homewood Cemetery becomes a place of reflection – a quiet spot in a natural setting to reflect upon one’s life and death, a place to talk with God, a place to visit and honor the memory of loved ones. The third space is Lived (how we use space in our life and how space affects our life). As a child I would ride my bike and sled ride with friends, not realizing the historical significance of this place and the interesting people who are interred there. As an adult I enjoy the beauty of this place; I admire the stained-glass windows in the mausoleums, the sculpture throughout the cemetery. It has become a place where I can retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city and be in nature. By learning about the lives of Heppenstall, Hetzel, and Porter, I have discovered the historical significance of a place that I have enjoyed since childhood (Soja 53-70).
Works Cited
Benford, Jennie. “1934 Board of Managers of the Homewood Cemetery.” The Homewood, Homewood Cemetery Historical Fund, Spring 2019, pp. 4-6.
Benford, Jennie. Director of Programming for The Homewood Cemetery Historical Fund. Personal Interview. September 2019.
“GEORGE R.M. HEPPENSTALL (AMERICAN 1901-1923) 'SWAMP MAIDEN' OIL ON C... LOT 1463.” Worthpoint, www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/george-m-heppenstall-american-1901-1725662617. Accessed 1 Dec. 2019.
“George Hetzel.” The Homewood Cemetery: Self Guided Walking Tour. The Homewood Cemetery, 23 Oct. 2010, pp. 6.
Kienzel, Connie. “Genius out of the past.” Pittsburgh Press Roto, 25 Apr. 1971, pp. 12-14, Newspapers.com. Accessed 1 Dec. 2019.
Masters, Edgar L. “Trainor, the Druggist.” Spoon River Anthology. Macmillan Co, New York, 1915.
Soja, Edward. Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places. Cambridge MA: Blackwell Publishing Inc., 1996. pp. 53-70.