Artvee
  • Browse
    • Abstract
    • Figurative
    • Landscape
    • Illustration
    • Posters
    • Religion
    • Mythology
    • Drawings
    • Still Life
    • Animals
    • Botanical
    • Asian Art
  • Books
  • Artists
  • Explore
    • Topics
    • Culture
    • Movements
  • Highlights
  • Collections
  • Galleries
  • Artvee Pro
Login
Artvee
Menu
Paul J. Pelz - Side view of building

Side view of building (1865-1918)

Paul J. Pelz (American, 1841 – 1918)
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Favourite
Collect

Standard, 1800 x 1114px JPG, Size: 1.76 MB

Download

Max Size, 5302 x 3282px JPG, Size: 13.72 MB

Download
License: All public domain files can be freely used for personal and commercial projects.
Why is this image in the public domain?
The Artist died in 1918 so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries where the copyright term is the Artist's life plus 70 years or fewer. It is in the public domain in the United States because it was published or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office before Jan 1, 1926
Paul J. Pelz

Paul Johannes Pelz was a German-American architect, best known as the main architect of the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

Pelz was born November 18, 1841, in Seitendorf (now Poniatów), in Waldenburg, Silesia, now part of Poland. His father, Eduard Pelz, was elected as a representative of Silesia to the Frankfurt Parliament in 1848. Subsequent political repression led him to emigrate to the U.S. in 1851 while the rest of the family temporarily stayed in Breslau, where Paul studied at the colleges of St. Elizabeth and Holy Spirit.

In 1858, Paul Pelz joined his father in New York City, and served there as apprentice to architect Detlef Lienau. In 1864, he was employed as chief draftsman by Jewish architect Henry Fernbach, who designed the Central Synagogue in New York City. In 1866, Pelz became a member of the American Institute of Architects.

In 1867, he moved to Washington, D.C., and was engaged as a civil engineer for the United States Lighthouse Board, where from 1872 to 1877 he served as chief draftsman. His work won a prize for the Lighthouse Board at the 1873 Universal Exhibition in Vienna.

In 1873, Pelz and John L. Smithmeyer, another Washington, D.C.-based architect, together won the competition for the architectural plans for the Library of Congress. Their winning design proposal was partly based on notes Pelz had taken on prominent public libraries when he traveled to Europe to collect the prize in Vienna. In the ensuing years Pelz also partnered with Smithmeyer on other projects. The difficulties experienced on the Library of Congress project, with many delays for congressional dithering, eventually strained their collaboration. In 1888 Pelz became the lead architect for the Library of Congress as Smithmeyer was dismissed; Pelz in turn was dismissed in 1892 and succeeded by Edward Pearce Casey. Pelz had the main role in the design of the building and the execution of its exterior, while Smithmeyer was instrumental in securing the commission and Casey supervised most of the interior finishings.

Pelz's offices were in the Corcoran Building on 15th and F Street NW, which hosted several prominent architecture firms, now the site of the Hotel W near the US Treasury Building. He designed churches, public buildings, private houses and commercial buildings, and also participated in key debates of the time on Washington's urban design. In 1887, while still in partnership with Smithmeyer, he proposed an exuberant neo-medieval design for a new memorial bridge across the Potomac in honor of Ulysses S. Grant, a predecessor plan to the Arlington Memorial Bridge which was eventually built in the 1930s. In 1898, at the request of socialite Mary Foote Henderson, he proposed designs for a new Executive Mansion to replace the White House on what is now Meridian Hill Park. Pelz was a prominent participant in the 1900 Convention of the American Institute of Architects and presented a plan there for the remodeling of the National Mall which was a key source of the McMillan Plan the following year.

Pelz's first wife, Louise Dorothea Kipp, died in 1894. In 1895, he remarried with Mary Eastbourne (Ritter) Meem (1849–1914).

On 30 March 1918, he died in Washington, D.C. He is buried together with his second wife in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

You may also like

Landscape with Cattle

Landscape with Cattle (1830)

Rev. James Bulwer (English, 1794-1879)
Autumn

Autumn (1861-1897)

Alfred Thompson Bricher (American, 1837-1908)
View over the Tiber to the Aventine, Rome

View over the Tiber to the Aventine, Rome

Gustaf Söderberg (Swedish, 1799-1875)
Boulevard Héloïse

Boulevard Héloïse (Argenteuil_1872)

Alfred Sisley (French, 1840-1899)
On the Shores of Loing

On the Shores of Loing (1896)

Alfred Sisley (French, 1840-1899)
Vaagakallen. Study from Lofoten

Vaagakallen. Study from Lofoten (1901)

Anna Boberg (Swedish, 1864 – 1935)
The Loire

The Loire (1896)

Alfred Sisley (French, 1840-1899)
Piazza San Marco in Venice

Piazza San Marco in Venice

Giacomo Guardi (Italian, 1764 - 1835)
View in the Stables of the Villa of Maecenas, Tivoli

View in the Stables of the Villa of Maecenas, Tivoli (ca. 1805–10)

François-Marius Granet (French, 1775 - 1849)
The River Ångermanälven

The River Ångermanälven (1930)

Helmer Osslund (Swedish, 1866 – 1938)
Italian Landscape with the Aurelian Wall

Italian Landscape with the Aurelian Wall (c. 1650 - 1660)

Bartholomeus Breenbergh (Dutch, 1598 - 1657)
View of Cuernavaca

View of Cuernavaca

Henry Otto Wix (German, 1866–1922)
Landscape with Soldiers and Peasants

Landscape with Soldiers and Peasants

Andrea Locatelli (Italian, 1695-1741)
River Landscape with Boats and Fishermen

River Landscape with Boats and Fishermen

Anonymous
Women on the Beach at Berck

Women on the Beach at Berck (1881)

Eugène Boudin (French, 1824-1898)

0 Artworks
Follow
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Favourite
Collect

Standard, JPG, Size:

Download

Max Size, JPG, Size:

Download
License: All public domain files can be freely used for personal and commercial projects. .
Why is this image in the public domain?
  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Contact us
Artvee.com 2024 All Rights Reserved
We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. By browsing this website, you agree to our use of cookies.
More info Accept
  • Sign in
  • Browse
    • Abstract
    • Figurative
    • Landscape
    • Illustration
    • Posters
    • Religion
    • Mythology
    • Drawings
    • Still Life
    • Animals
    • Botanical
    • Asian Art
  • Artists
  • Books
  • Explore
    • Topics
    • Culture
    • Movements
  • Highlights
  • Collections
  • Galleries
  • Artvee Pro