Saluto a tutti!
Here’s our capsule annual “Society Report to Members,” recapping a busy 2022.
WEBSITE
The Society launched its public website in January 2021, In its inaugural year, we hosted over 2,700 visitors from 35 U.S. states, and 23 foreign countries.
In 2022, visits to the website ticked up to 2,800, we added 4 new states (pushing the total to 39), and our global reach expanded to 31 foreign countries. Our cumulative 2021-2022 page view total now surpasses 11,000 views. When we first launched this website, we honestly expected a few hundred visitors. We’re still a bit in awe at the response.
In 2022, the U.S. kept its spot as the country most frequently clicking onto the website. But Italy moved ahead of Canada to take second place; the United Kingdom bumped France into 6th place; and Switzerland moved up to 5th place. Notable new country surprises included visitors from Yemen, Seychelles, and Madagascar. How on earth did people in those countries discover Montici mosaics? I’ll bet there’s some interesting human stories behind that.
Richard Blow exported and sold most of his Florentine mosaic artworks to the United States, but Italians also collected his works. We were pleased to host site visitors from 18 different Italian cities in 2022, led by Firenze, Turin, and Napoli. (Rome fell to 7th place).
Ponte Vecchio Bridge, Firenze, Italia.
Within the U.S, the click brigade was led by Montici appassionati from Texas, Virginia, New York, Ohio, Utah, California, and Florida, in that order.
CATALOGUED ARTWORKS
In 2022, we added 9 new pieces to our database of catalogued Richard Blow art. It now stands at 345 artworks.
NOTABLE CORRESPONDENCE
Brooklyn Bridge, New York City. Photo credit: LiteraryYard.com
In May, 2022, George R. Blow, the great-nephew of Richard Blow, contacted us, kindly sharing family stories on his famous artist uncle. “I remember one funny story my late father told me about Uncle Dick. He apparently had the audacity to fly his propeller plane underneath the Brooklyn Bridge (or one of the bridges connecting Manhattan to the other boroughs). Also, Dad says he invited him to fly in this plane, but it caught fire as they were starting it up:) I vaguely remember meeting the aging artist once when I was a very young boy at our home in NW D.C. Also met his son David when I was a little older. George PS I'm going to copy my siblings on this email since they will enjoy the website ,and perhaps have some stories of their own they can share. Nice to know his work is being appreciated. I think he was very good at what he did, and liked his paintings as well.”
In addition, George R Blow’s sister, Mary Prevost, shared some of her recollections of Richard Blow and Richard’s two late sons, David and Richard Marco. “… My Uncle Dick frequently visited our home on Kalorama Road where George, Wendel and I grew up. I am the oldest so perhaps I have a few more memories…. Uncle Dick's nickname was Kokomo Joe. You may already be aware of this. …Uncle Dick was a larger than life man. He was unique and complex. As you are aware he had two sons- Mark and David. David was very close to my parents and our family at one time spending a number of weeks with us while recovering from a bout of depression. He was the son of Marya Mannes as I am sure you are aware. We stayed as a family in her home one summer during the Watergate hearings! David was kind and gentle. Towards the later years of his life, he was content and happy. David and Mark grew up mostly apart from each other. The story goes that Mark's Italian mother (a princess as the story went) was shot and killed by her lover and footman.” (Editor’s note: See the “Illustrated Biography” of Richard Blow on the website Home Page for details). “Uncle Dick was not an attentive father to either child as they grew up and at one time saw my father on a cruise ship and promptly gave him David to care for while he continued his travels. Mark distanced himself from the Blow family and we never met him nor had any contact from him. At one point my father was contacted by the consulate in Uruguay and notified that Mark had died. (Editor’s note: Mark had moved to South America sometime after college). They were not able to find any other family- Italian nor American- and my father- having not seen Mark since he was a young child- paid for Mark's proper and respectful burial in Uruguay. I never had the chance to visit my Uncle Dick in Manhattan but my father did. I was a bit entranced with my Uncle Dick and I have always loved his work and hearing about his unique life. I wish I had had more time with him. Thank you for your efforts- David would be SO pleased. As you know David put together a small book of his father's work.”
Thomas Gardner, a cousin of Richard Blow through his mother, added a few additional thoughts about Richard’s son David: “Sorry to hear about David, knew he had moved to Kentucky and lost touch sometime after that. I think having two high powered parents, the divorce and no siblings except the estranged half-brother, wounded him for life. He was always painfully shy.” (Editor’s note: see Michael’s Blog, 11/11/20 “David Jeremy Blow R.I.P.” )