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    • Saltillo, Mexico

    While living in Mexico, Charles made many watercolors and drawings recording the places and people he saw. This watercolor of the St. James Cathedral in Saltillo, Coahuila, highlights the lively shaded plaza surrounding the bell tower and outer wall of the church. Upon returning home, Charles gifted the small work on paper to his brother-in-law, Vincent Franks, who had presided over his marriage to Catherine five years earlier. Charles was reunited with his family in St. Louis and was able to reestablish his architectural business. With his partner, Robert Walsh, he designed at least six buildings between 1935 and 1938, including two churches in Arkansas.

    The watercolor is signed “TO VINCENT, CHARLES O. EAMES ’34” in the bottom left corner and “SALTILLO — MEXICO” is written on mounting paper.

    Artifact
    2019.1.52
    Material
    Watercolor on paper
    Artist / Designer
    Charles Eames
    Dimensions
    11 ¼ × 8 ½ in
    28.6 × 21.6 cm
    Date
    1934

    Charles’s focus on architecture is evident in the paintings and watercolors done during his time in Mexico, where the toils of the American Depression could be momentarily left behind. This straightforward yet lyrical rendering of the noted Baroque Catholic cathedral, situated in the historic center of the city of Saltillo, highlights the bell tower and surrounding shady public plaza. Upon returning home, Charles re-established his architectural business and successfully exhibited the works from his so called “Mexican diary” in Virginia and New York. Just a few short years after painting the Saltillo cathedral, Charles would go on to design two churches in Arkansas, including the church of St. Mary in Helena. For this Roman Catholic church, he also designed elaborate brickwork, interior fittings, vestments, and vessels, which was in alignment with Gesamtkunstwerk principles that encouraged a focus on the totality of a given project.

    Rachael Blackburn Cozad