Downtown in Knoxville in Knox County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Russell Briscoe
(1899-1979)
Photographed By Tom Bosse, April 15, 2023
1. Russell Briscoe Marker
Inscription.
Russell Briscoe.
Staub’s Theatre, circa 1897 (painted 1974) Oil on Canvas, 22 x 30 inches. Russell Briscoe was an unlikely artist. Raised in the Fort Sanders neighborhood, he enjoyed an idyllic childhood in a prosperous family. As might have been expected, he entered a practical and respected profession, becoming an insurance executive for the stalwart J.E. Lutz Co., Briscoe's early creative impulses seemed limited to whimsical cartooning and, in the 1930s, an earnest effort to manufacture wooden toys and miniatures with the help of his wife, Deas. It was not until age 58, when Deas surprised him with a gift of oil paints and brushes, that Briscoe began to paint., For the last 20 years of his life, Briscoe was prolific, producing an estimated 75 meticulously detailed scenes of Knoxville, inspired by both nostalgic memories and by history as passed down to him by his elders. For him painting was a personal labor of love, happily out of step with artistic trends of the modernist era. Though he sometimes used his paintings to illustrate his talks about old Knoxville, the only exhibition of his work he ever witnessed in his lifetime was in 1972, when UT's McClung Museum presented a show of his work., Referring to Briscoe's untrained style as "American primitive", Professor Kermit Ewing, a artist known for his experiments in abstract expressionism, remarked of Briscoe, "His fresh color, natural sense of design and thoroughness result in a personal expression of high artistic merit.", This scene shows Staub's Theater, built by Swiss immigrant Peter Staub on this corner in 1872, and hosted a wide variety of performers, from Lily Langtry to Sarah Bernhardt to W.C. Fields-as well as lecturer Frederick Douglass. This painting imagines it as it was on a gala night around 1897, It had become known as the Lyric before its demolition in 1956.,
Special thanks to Cathy Briscoe and East Tennessee Historical Society Downtown Art Wraps are coordinated by the Knoxville , History Project, an educational nonprofit with a mission to research and promote the history and culture of Knoxville. , Discover other Art Wraps and learn more at knoxvillehistoryproject.org., Photo: Courtesy of Tennessee Historical Society.
Staub’s Theatre, circa 1897 (painted 1974)
Oil on Canvas, 22 x 30 inches
Russell Briscoe was an unlikely artist. Raised in the Fort Sanders neighborhood, he enjoyed an idyllic childhood in a prosperous family. As might have been expected, he entered a practical and respected profession, becoming an insurance executive for the stalwart J.E. Lutz Co.
Briscoe's early creative impulses seemed limited to whimsical cartooning and, in the 1930s, an earnest effort to manufacture wooden toys and miniatures with the help of his wife, Deas. It was not until age 58, when Deas surprised him with a gift of oil paints and brushes, that Briscoe began to paint.
For the last 20 years of his life, Briscoe was prolific, producing an estimated 75 meticulously detailed scenes of Knoxville, inspired by both nostalgic memories and by history as passed down to him by his elders. For him painting was a personal labor of love, happily out of step with artistic trends of the modernist era. Though he sometimes used his paintings to illustrate his talks about old Knoxville, the only exhibition of his work he ever witnessed in his lifetime was in 1972, when UT's McClung Museum presented a show of his work.
Referring to Briscoe's untrained style as "American primitive", Professor Kermit Ewing, a artist
Click or scan to see this page online
known for his experiments in abstract expressionism, remarked of Briscoe, "His fresh color, natural sense of design and thoroughness result in a personal expression of high artistic merit."
This scene shows Staub's Theater, built by Swiss immigrant Peter Staub on this corner in 1872, and hosted a wide variety of performers, from Lily Langtry to Sarah Bernhardt to W.C. Fields-as well as lecturer Frederick Douglass. This painting imagines it as it was on a gala night around 1897, It had become known as the Lyric before its demolition in 1956.
Special thanks to Cathy Briscoe and East Tennessee Historical Society
Downtown Art Wraps are coordinated by the Knoxville
History Project, an educational nonprofit with a mission to research and promote the history and culture of Knoxville.
Discover other Art Wraps and learn more at knoxvillehistoryproject.org.
54.997′ W. Marker is in Knoxville, Tennessee, in Knox County. It is in Downtown. Marker is at the intersection of South Gay Street and Cumberland Avenue, on the right when traveling north on South Gay Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 803 S Gay St, Knoxville TN 37902, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Credits. This page was last revised on May 8, 2023. It was originally submitted on May 3, 2023, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 69 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on May 3, 2023, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.
