The Life and Legacy of Mel Stark

The Life and Legacy of Mel Stark

Written by Hayley Schaffer

Being in the auction business offers the unique privilege of sharing people's stories through their collections and art. At Alderfer Auction, we are especially proud to tell the story of Mel Stark (1903- 1987), a highly influential landscape artist whose contributions to the appreciation and preservation of art continue to resonate. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Stark was both a student and admirer of several prominent Pennsylvania Impressionists, including Walter Baum. Although his career began after the peak of the Pennsylvania Impressionist movement, Stark nonetheless became a trailblazer in the art community. His career, which spanned more than six decades, was defined by an unwavering passion for practicing his art on a daily basis, as his son, David Stark, recalls: “He advocated painting every day.” Beyond his own work, Mel Stark was also a dedicated teacher, sharing his love of painting with anyone eager to learn. To honor his father's legacy, David Stark graciously sat down with us for an exclusive interview, offering insight into Mel Stark’s remarkable career and the many achievements he made.

Melville F. Stark was born in 1903 in Honesdale (Seelyville), Pennsylvania. Driving along Route 6 to the Stark family homestead, through picturesque mountain roads, it’s easy to see how Stark’s hometown clearly influenced his later work as a landscape artist. Just north of the Pocono Mountains, the area is inspiring as well as breathtaking. Being born in an area such as Honesdale gives a person a distinct connection and appreciation to the outdoors. As a boy, Stark belonged to the first boy Scout troop in America, the “Dan Beard Troop Number 1” of Honesdale, PA. He was an avid fisherman and outdoorsman, traits that sharpened his eye for the natural world and would later influence his artistic work.

 He was also a competitive athlete, competing in the varsity football and basketball teams during high school. After graduating, Stark enrolled at Stroudsburg State College as a physical education major. He later remarked that he "fell into painting sort of by accident" (Remaley, 1973). David Stark provided further insight into his father’s artistic discovery. According to David and a newspaper interview with Sally Remaley, while in college, Stark took a coaching job but returned to school to earn additional credits. To fulfill the requirements, he needed to take a course in dramatic arts. As it turned out, acting wasn’t his passion, but he enjoyed painting the scenery for productions. His classmates quickly recognized his natural artistic talent. Encouraged by their praise and the advice of his teachers, Stark decided to embrace this newfound passion and pursue painting more seriously. Stark went on to study painting at the Museum College of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, the University of Syracuse, and the University of Pennsylvania. He also became a student of Cullen Yates, an American Impressionist, studying under him in New York City. According to David, it was this mentorship that truly opened the doors to the broader art community for his father. Yates, more than thirty years older than Stark, saw great potential in the young artist and encouraged him to further his studies in Paris. Yates even took the step of writing personal letters on Stark’s behalf, helping him forge valuable connections in the city. While in Paris, Stark befriended many other young, aspiring artists, expanding his network and deepening his immersion in the art world.

After spending several formative years in Paris, Stark returned to the states around the 1930’s and settled in the Allentown area. He used his physical education degree for a time and started the first physical education program in the Allentown school district. While living in the area, Stark took classes at the newly opened Baum School of Art which, at the time, was just two rooms located in a firehouse. He developed a friendship with Walter Baum and eventually Baum invited him to become an instructor, (they taught together for 35 years). Baum and Stark became close colleagues and friends and Baum was very influential in shaping Stark’s style of painting. David reminisced about how their two families often spent time together. Baum’s son, Edgar was even their family doctor. 

Baum belonged to the Pennsylvania Impressionists who Stark was an admirer of. Two artists who greatly inspired Baum’s work were Edward Redfield and Walter Schofield. Their influence can be seen in examples of both Walter Baum and Mel Stark. John E. Berninger was also a fellow teacher at the Baum School of Art while Mel Stark taught there. The two formed a friendship and were both part of the Allentown Circulating Picture Club. Stark traveled throughout Pennsylvania in search of subject matters. He often painted from the tailgate of his Oldsmobile Station Wagon, stopping anywhere that sparked his eye. Through his association with Walter Baum, Stark’s style of painting had evolved to echo the popular techniques of the Pennsylvania Impressionists. He painted in the “plein air” tradition and his landscapes often focused on rural settings with streams, small towns, and various examples of Pennsylvania colonial architecture. He traveled up the East coast, eventually falling in love with the small coastal town of Rockport, Massachusetts. There was a thriving art community there and Stark set up a studio and spent his summers teaching. When Stark first arrived in Rockport, he was entranced by the coastal scenes scattered with fishing boats. David shared that his father’s love of rural landscapes was overshadowed by his love of painting the wharves of New England. He had originated as a landscape artist and fell comfortably into that niche but when he finally saw the ocean for the first time, his focus changed. 

Around the 1940’s, Stark was invited to work at Cedar Crest College and develop the art department there. He eagerly jumped at the opportunity and went full-time into art. He ran the art department at Cedar Crest with his sister, Jessie, who was a ceramics artist and also did enamel work and silversmithing. His sister also taught art history at the college until her retirement. It was about this time that Stark also helped organize the Allentown Art Museum, one of the first public art collections available in the area. It started as just an adjoining room in the firehouse where the Baum School of Art was held but eventually moved to N. 5th Street in Allentown. Stark, along with Percy Ruhe, Walter Baum, Sam Wolf, and O.D. Havard opened the museum with just a small collection of local art. It was a pivotal moment in his career, and today, Stark and his colleagues can be credited with helping to cultivate and expand the arts in the Lehigh Valley. Part of the large permanent collection of paintings that are in the Allentown Art Museum today are due to Mel Stark. Stark read about a wealthy businessman and philanthropist, Samuel Kress who was looking to donate parts of his vast art collection to local museums. Kress agreed to Stark’s proposal of donating a selection to the Allentown Art Museum. Stark visited Samuel Kress at his Fifth Avenue apartment in New York City to finalize the arrangements. Kress allowed Stark to select thirty-six paintings to be gifted to the museum, which are still part of the permanent collection today. Through this connection, Stark would later become acquainted with Stephen Pichetto, the conservator of the Kress Collection. Pichetto was a master restorer and Stark often commented on how helpful it was to work with Pichetto. Besides creating his own works of art, Stark was keenly interested in art restoration and learned some of his skills in the practice from Pichetto. Stark did many painting restorations for private collectors and museums during his lifetime.

After the death of Walter Baum in 1956, Stark was elected director of the Allentown Art Museum. Stark remained director for a short time at the museum. According to David, his father became frustrated with the board and felt that the museum’s focus was no longer about art appreciation and more about social climbing. Many of the members at the time who were making decisions about the museum had no artistic background and this was upsetting to Stark. He moved on from the director position with the intention of focusing on his art. Stark made connections everywhere he went. He became close friends with the artist, Albert Jean Adolphé. Adolphé had returned to the Philadelphia area after spending time in Paris. According to David: “Adolphé had become a recluse and lamented that he could no longer paint outside as he did not own a car and was unable to drive.” He then told how his father would drive to Philadelphia on many occasions to take Adolphé out so they could paint together. Adolphé gifted Stark a few paintings, one of which was a Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) painting. Adolphé and Toulouse-Lautrec had become friends in Paris. David also shared that “[David’s] father was responsible for arranging the large sale of Adolphé’s paintings to the Allentown art collector Phil Berman, many of which Berman later donated to Ursinus College” in Collegeville, Pa. Stark became acquainted with the Bermans when Muriel Berman took a painting class at the Baum School of Art. The Bermans had made their fortune through a trucking business and later expanded their wealth with the acquisition of Hess’s department stores. Over time, the Starks and Bermans grew close, with the Bermans becoming devoted patrons of Stark’s work. They collected many of his paintings, which were also later donated to Ursinus College as part of the Berman Museum of Art.

Mel Stark met his wife, Ann Gomery while teaching at the Baum School of Art. Ann was a student there for a time. The two married in 1936 and built a life together with Stark supporting them through his art. They settled on a farm in Zionsville, PA where Stark turned the barn into his art studio. David spoke proudly of his father’s creativity and hard work as an artist. He was given the opportunity to join his in-law’s wholesale business but declined in order to focus on his artistic endeavors. He was able to comfortably support his family through his art which is a rare accomplishment for any artist. At one point, Stark held the top four art jobs in Allentown: He was the director of the Allentown Art Museum, Director of the Baum School of Art, Chairman of the art department at Muhlenberg College and co-ran the art department at Cedar Crest College. Through all of these positions, Stark’s passion for painting never wavered. During his lifetime, he produced an impressive number of works, but as David notes, we'll never truly know the full extent because he sold so many of his paintings. Stark firmly believed in painting every day, comparing it to the daily practice of a concert pianist honing their craft. He didn’t believe in painting from photographs, and according to David, his father could easily tell if a landscape had been painted from a photo. Stark felt that working from photographs distorted the painting. Even in winter or during bad weather, Mel would paint outdoors, though he typically worked on smaller canvases. At times, he would do charcoal sketches outside, later completing larger paintings in his studio, using the sketches as reference. David explained that his father had his own system for capturing the light values in a landscape, which helped him remember the specific shading effects he wanted to recreate in his studio. It was like a personalized map key, with a special coding system only he would recognize.

 Stark traveled extensively, driving to Rockport, Massachusetts and also to Longboat Key, Florida. David recalled how his father “traveled like a gypsy” in his Oldsmobile station wagon, the back piled high with canvases and the ashtray stashed with charcoal and pencils. Later in his career, Stark accepted a position at the Longboat Key Art Center where he spent his winters. He still continued his studio in Rockport where he spent many summers and maintained his home in Pennsylvania.

Stark left a lasting impact on his students, the local art community, and the school of Pennsylvania Impressionism. While he developed his own unique style, he remained true to the techniques and traditions passed down to him by fellow artists and mentors. Stark was a strong advocate for the preservation and appreciation of art, often connecting people to help build permanent collections that could be admired by future generations. According to David, his father genuinely enjoyed selling his paintings to those who truly appreciated his work. He didn’t paint for financial gain; his passion was rooted in the art itself and in sharing it with others. David summed up our conversation by saying, “My father was extremely responsible with the things he felt were important, one of those being the promotion of art.” Mel Stark was an artist with integrity. 

 Alderfer Auction is proud to promote Mel Stark’s art and help preserve his memory through future upcoming auctions. Selections of Stark’s work is already represented in The Reading Art Museum, Allentown Art Museum, Lehigh University, Muhlenberg College, Cedar Crest College, Moravian College, Kutztown State Teachers College, Perkiomen School, Bethlehem School District, Allentown School District, the Collection of U.S. Senator Jennings Randolph, the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Berman, Lehigh County Courthouse, City of Allentown City Hall, Ursinus College and many other private collections.

References

Folk, T. C. (2002). Mel Stark: Preserving a Landscape Tradition. American Art Review, XIV (No. 1), 120–127.

Remaley, Sally. (1973, June 3). Interview with Mel Stark. Schaffer, H.

(2024, October 9). Interview with David Stark including newspaper clippings and letters collected by Stark. personal

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