Tony Sarg and assistants painting a parade balloon, 1930s, Published by Fotograms News Photo Service, Inc., New York, Nantucket Historical Association, PH8-104-1.
By Carly Timpson
NANTUCKETT, MASS. — Best known for his role as the designer of the original Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons, the artistic talents of Anthony Frederick Sarg (1880-1942) were diverse; among his creations were pictorial maps, decoupage, illustrations for wallpaper, children’s books and toys, puzzles and animated figures for store advertisement displays.
Following its 2023 debut at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., “Tony Sarg: Genius at Play” is moving to the Nantucket Historical Association’s (NHA) Nantucket Whaling Museum this summer. As the first comprehensive exhibition exploring the life and career of puppeteer, illustrator and entrepreneur Tony Sarg, the exhibition’s stop in Nantucket will be reinvigorated by items from NHA’s extensive collection, which were unavailable at the time of its curation for the Norman Rockwell Museum.
Declaring 2024 the “Summer of Sarg,” Deborah Sorensen, the Robyn & John Davis curator of Exhibitions at the Nantucket Historical Association, shared that two other NHA properties will run concurrent exhibitions focusing on specific elements of Sarg’s career. The Whitney Gallery at the NHA Research Library will present a closer look at Sarg’s books and illustrations with “Sarg as Storyteller,” while the Hadwen House Map Gallery will celebrate creative cartography with “Eye Spy: Pictorial Maps from Tony Sarg and Others.”
“The New York 1939 Official World’s Fair Pictorial Map” created by Tony Sarg, 1939, published by Pace Press, N.Y., Souvenir maps. Courtesy of George F. Korn. Tony Sarg was commissioned to produce a set of official maps for the 1939 New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens. Printed in saturated color on quality paper stock, the finished guidebook contained six large maps of the fair’s different zones.
Previous focused exhibitions of Sarg’s work had a narrower scope of the artist’s repertoire. Presented all in one space, side-by-side, visitors will have a new understanding of Sarg as a pivotal character in modern illustration and animation. The exhibition invites visitors to see Sarg as not just an artist who had diverse outlets, but as an entrepreneur whose creative pursuits overlapped and propelled each other — that he mastered the art of existing in multiple spaces at once through the interconnected nature of his work, whether that was puppeteering or map-making.
As Sorensen said, “Sarg would channel success in one field and leverage that success into launching another endeavor. For example, he would make puppets but would not travel to perform in those shows, so he would create an animation using the same name which would then in turn promote the touring puppet company and generate new work and relationships or sponsorships.”
While many of the original exhibition objects were on loan from NHA, the opening of “Genius at Play” on the island will mark the most comprehensive exploration of Sarg as an artist and entrepreneur. The exhibition is divided into thematic sections: some exploring the influence specific geographic locations had on Sarg’s life and career and several others dedicated to his diverse range of creative pursuits.
Tony Sarg with illustrations from Tony Sarg’s Book for Children (1924). Graphic design by Helen Riegle, HER Design, Images from the NHA Tony Sarg Collection.
As Sarg was born in Guatemala and spent his childhood there and in Germany, “Genius at Play” adopts the same natural beginning with the inclusion of photographs of Sarg’s family and other influential subjects, childhood drawings, early paintings and portraits of young Sarg. After resigning from his German military post in his mid-20s, the artist moved to London. This period of Sarg’s life was marked by his entrance into the art world as an occupation rather than a hobby. In London, Sarg took work as an illustrator, sketching caricatures and cartoons for newspapers and designing advertisements for various established companies. It was also during this time that Sarg developed an interest in puppetry, especially marionette theater. Following his time in London, Sarg’s career flourished in New York City and allowed him to retreat to the Massachusetts island community of Nantucket.
A home away from home, the island art community appears as a character of place in much of Sarg’s work and was the location of his first Tony Sarg Shop. “Nantucket was very much a beloved place within his life; it only makes sense that the collection would come back to the island and bring more people to visit and see what was so lovely in his eyes. We hold the largest collection of art and artifacts documenting Tony Sarg’s life, career and creative pursuits. In 1983, Sarg’s daughter, Mary Sarg Murphy, donated a large group of his art and memorabilia to the Nantucket Cottage Hospital, where Phillip Murray purchased it and donated it to the Nantucket Historical Association…In many ways, this exhibition is a celebration of the last 40 years of this collection providing a basis for studying and providing research of Sarg’s work,” shared Sorensen.
Tingley Circus toy marionettes, by Tony Sarg, 1934, Manufactured by the Madame Alexander Doll Company. Courtesy of Rodney L. Waller, Arlington Texas. In 1934, the New York-based Madame Alexander Doll Company invited Tony Sarg to partner in creating a line of toy marionettes inspired by his work. The Tingley Circus set included Percival, The Riding Master; Frances, The Acrobatic Dancer; and Cyrus, The Performing Horse.
As Sarg is credited with reviving marionette theater in the United States, the section “A Passion for Puppetry” will delve into Sarg’s various pursuits within that category, including his early experimental marionettes, films and animations, the formation of his touring company and his work with large-scale parade balloons. Images of Sarg behind the scenes of stages, posters promoting his shows and concept sketches will help situate visitors into the world of Sarg’s puppetry.
These experiences all funnel into “Commercial Whimsy: The Sarg Brand,” highlighting Sarg’s expansion into other endeavors such as his shops, endorsements, books and other commercial products. Exhibition text in this section notes that “Sarg circulated his art on whimsical commercial products that have become the stuff of popular culture, with elephants a clear favorite among his playful animal figures.” Sarg’s penchant for creating reproducible designs helped him create wallpapers, linens and carpets, as well as patterns for items such as clocks, decoupage boxes, ceramics and puzzles.
An entire section of the exhibition will focus on Sarg’s involvement in four World’s Fairs: Chicago in 1933, Dallas in 1936, Cleveland in 1937 and New York in 1939. His projects and contributions to these events included pictorial maps, souvenirs, marionette shows and public art installations, among others.
Animals at Play fabric, 1930s, printed cotton. Nantucket Historical Association, RL2007.110. With a penchant for reproducible designs, Sarg ingeniously marketed his creations on whimsical commercial products from decoupage storage boxes, clocks, ceramics, wallpapers and textiles.
The exhibition closes with a closer look at all of Sarg’s accomplishments and explores his lasting legacy, especially in the way that he was able to create a personal brand identity and pave the way for others to do the same. The exhibit especially celebrates “the degree to which he was successful in engineering a brand identity at a time without mass media.” And, as Sorensen noted, “20 years ahead of Walt Disney, Sarg was really forward-thinking in that regard.”
“It will surprise visitors to see such creative entrepreneurship in the 1920s and to recognize the significance of his brand identity and how he was able to stream all the different work into one singular voice — to know there was an individual who paved the way for the success of multidisciplinary or multitalented artists working across fields.”
“Tony Sarg: Genius at Play” is on view through December 30, the concurrent NHA exhibitions will be ongoing. The Nantucket Whaling Museum is at 13 Broad Street. For information, 508-228-1894 or www.nha.org.
