The Metalwork of Samuel Yellin

The definitive study of the works of Samuel Yellin, the metalworker unparalleled in twentieth-century America, revealing his significance and remarkable creativity.

This two-volume publication examines in depth the work of Samuel Yellin (1884–1940), a Ukrainian Jewish immigrant who became the single most important ironworker in America. It narrates his family's arrival and settling in Philadelphia and his immediate impact on the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. The rapid rise and sustained success of his business was founded on his relationships with renowned architects such as Paul Cret; Bertram Goodhue; Mellor, Meigs & Howe; George Washington Smith; and Ralph Walker. His devoted clients ranged from plutocrats Henry Clay Frick and J. P. Morgan Jr. to tastemakers Edward Bok and Edgar J. Kaufmann.

Many masterworks are displayed alongside lesser works that establish the breadth and vitality of Yellin's work. The book seeks to inspire interest in Yellin, whom curators and scholars have at times passed over because of the challenges of placing his work within art historical categories such as Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, or Modernism. Excellent new photographs bring to life many extraordinary objects. Thanks to unlimited access to the Samuel Yellin Metalworkers archives, a wealth of archival material—photographs, drawings, and business records—is published here for the first time.

Distributed for Leeds Art Foundation.