THE COVER

摘要

TWO WEEKS AFTER HIS FATHER'S DEATH IN NEW YORK AT the age of 100, Alfred Henry Maurer (1868-1932) hanged himself from the doorframe of the old man's bedroom in their home on West 43rd Street. Bom in Germany in 1832, Louis had been a commercial artist for the printmaker firm of Currier & Ives and later had his own lithography business. Alfred (or A. H. as he often signed himself), on the other hand, was hailed at the time of his death as a pioneer of American Modernism. "Long 111, He Had Despaired of Regaining Healdi After a Recent Operation. WORK WON WORLD FAME" headlined Alfred's obituary in the New York Times. Except for the years 1897 to 1914 when he lived in Paris, Alfred had always lived in his father's house. Only at age 29 did he begin his nearly two decades in Europe, and only the outbreak of war in 1914 brought him home to stay.