Art Deco was popular only for a few decades in the early and middle twentieth century, and it never became a very popular style for cemetery monuments. But among the wealthy residents of the Homewood Cemetery, a restrained and tasteful Art Deco was quite fashionable in the years from roughly 1930 to 1950. In many cases it takes the form of a streamlining and radical simplification of classical and Gothic styles. Some of these monuments look like pieces of sets from the world’s most somber RKO musical.
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Art Deco in the Homewood Cemetery
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Steenson-McCreery Monument, Homewood Cemetery
This is the very attractive result of modernizing an obelisk by applying Art Deco style to it. The earliest burial in this plot seems to be from 1925, which is probably about the date of the monument.
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Edwin Ruud Mausoleum, Homewood Cemetery
A Gothic Moderne design unique in Pittsburgh, as far as old Pa Pitt knows. The mausoleum is hard to photograph unless the light is exactly right; in sunlight, the polished white stone reflects so brightly that a digital camera simply registers a blank white pentagon. You never have to think about turning on the hot water in your house, and that is because of Edwin Ruud, a friend of George Westinghouse, who invented the automatic water heater.
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John E. Cook Stele, South Side Cemetery
Pure Art Deco is relatively rare in our cemeteries, but here is a fine example from the 1930s. The best Art Deco is as pure and balanced in form as the best classical architecture, and Father Pitt would rate this monument as very good Art Deco indeed.
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Bald Mausoleum, Homewood Cemetery
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA An Art Deco construction that reminds Father Pitt more than a little of the style he calls “American Fascist,” which was more usually applied to federal office buildings than to private mausoleums.
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