From the top down, the Larkin Center offers up the Event Center on the 8th floor for social gatherings and large scale corporate seminars. 

The 6th floor offers the scaled down Founders Conference Center, named for the original Larkin Company execs. overlooking the space suitable for networking events, company holiday parties, monthly town hall meetings, our upcoming Mix and Mingle and even press conferences. 

Computers For Children launched Mission Ignite, enhancing educational opportunities and enriching lives through technology.

The 6th floor also provides an efficient way to maintain your health. Larkin Fitness will occupy you with bikes, ellipticals, stair climbers, free weights and several weight machines to meet your needs. At just $20 a month, and no need to drive to the gym afterwork, Larkin Fitness is the ideal solution.

Have a small meeting and your conference room is booked? No problem, the Larkin Idea Conference Room can host a quick conference call or a day long presentation. 

The family owned and operated Larkin Street Cafe offers up hot coffee, ready to go egg sandwiches and a full breakfast menu. Traditional american entrees, subs, pizza, soups and salads provide a wealth of options for the lunch time hour. Take out and in-office catering are also available.

Kiddie Corner child care center joined the Larkin Center this past spring and has been exponentially growing month by month. Caring for children 6 weeks to 12 years old provides another added convenience for working parents in Larkinville.

The Larkin Gallery opened this past June to feature the rich history behind 701 Seneca Street and the greater Larkin District. The Larkin Soap Company, founded by John D. Larkin initiated the manufacturing, distribution and retail district in the late 1800's. 

The Larkin Gallery kicked off construction of the retail corridor at the corner of Seneca and Van Rensselaer. Eckl's @ Larkin is nearing completion and beginning preparation to serve Larkinville its famous Beef on Weck. Negotiations for additional eateries and a convenience store are also underway. When all is said and done, the Larkin Center could host over 50,000 square feet of retail operations.

Interested in learning more about available amenities? Seeking a new location for you retail operation? Contact us today!

    

The other error was about Levy's second wife, Edna.  I misunderstood Jon's telling me that Edna and Levy had been estranged at the time of Levy's death.  I mentioned that this conflicted with information I had gleaned from records at Forest Lawn Cemetary which reflected that Levy had died at home at the address that he and his wife shared and at which Edna continued to reside after his death. 

Sharon Osgood

The records listed Edna as his Wife and the tombstone included her name on it.  Records show Edna was buried in the plot along with his first wife, Mayme. What Jon had intended to communicate to me was that he did not know much about the end of Levy's years because his Father, Allan, had been alienated from his stepmother, Edna, so not a lot of information about Levy, especially after Mayme's death, had been passed down to Jonathan, who had not even been born when Levy died. 

 

As I wrote in last month's article, I was disturbed by the turmoil Levy seems to have generated within the art community over abstract art which was penetrating the art world.  As President of the Buffalo Society of Artists, he had taken a decidedly harsh position against the movement, creating a schism within the organization that led to members leaving and creating a new organization, the Patteran Society.  Levy was characterized by many then and since, as being an angry, outspoken and dogmatic person.

 

While Levy's angry performance on that issue has probably been accurately reported in the art annals of Buffalo, was that his personality in other matters as well?  Till now, I had little information.  What I did know from Rob Rohrbach, Charles' grandson, was that the two men liked each other.  Levy had even given Charles a working draft of the painting, "Monkey Island," inscribed on the back to his friend, Charles.

 

Charles had been hired by LSC in 1922 (or perhaps even earlier) to work in the Art Department under its Director, Levy.  Nine years later , in 1931, Charles presented Levy with a landscape painting (now in the collection of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center. On the back is the inscription, "To Alex O. Levy, as a token of friendship and appreciation."

 

Since the business records of L.S.C. are long gone, and so far I have not been able to locate any documents or contemporaneous writings to answer the question of when  Levy left the company,  my hypothesis has been that he left in the late 1920's or early 1930's. 

	Burchfield Penney Art Center

It was likely then that Charles was promoted  to the Director position (not in 1922 as mentioned in a Meibohm Fine Art blurb published in connection with a recent exhibit at that respected Gallery in East Aurora.)  My conjecture now is that Charles presented the painting to Levy as a retirement gift, and is further evidence of the affection between the two men.

 

In any event, the fun personality of Levy is reflected in an article in the Christmas, 1919 issue of "Ourselves" entitled "Mr. Levy as Host."  It tells of an excursion of the advertising staff to tour and to find out how Levy spent his leisure hours. Levy showed them a few hundred finished paintings done in his 'off' time which led to the inquiry of how he found the time to 'linger' at the (Larkin) Men's Club many afternoons.  One guest said he "could not understand how a man who played pool like Alex could paint such remarkable pictures."  The group then smoked, sang tavern songs and drank 'Prohibition Punch.'  Toasts were exchanged.  The author concluded, "It was a remarkable gathering.  Good fellowship reigned supreme and we're ready, Alex, for more."

 

The last page of that issue of "Ourselves" was a full page drawing by Levy of beautiful women entwined around a wreath, the entire scene superimposed over an etching of  the interior of the Administration Building.  In side the wreath is written, "It is in the joyous spirit of friendship and cooperation reflected in the artistic touch that our mutual friend and co-worker, Mr. Levy, has given to this page, that 'Ourselves' wished one and all of the good people it is privileged to serve, 'a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.'"

 

That Levy had appreciation for the ethos of the L.S.C. is reflected in an article he wrote for the January, 1920 issue of "Ourselves."  He told how Harold Esty, a Trustee of the company, had asked him to prepare a decorative scheme for an auditorium to be located in a renovated former church building next door to the Administration Building. Levy noted that such a design needs to be inspired by a big idea or motive.  "The reason for the auditorium," Levy wrote, "was the welfare of the employees and the consideration of the visitors which was a good thought for a foundation.  The motive of inspiration that prompted me to paint this decoration...was to take the company's good thought and beautify it."  Levy felt that the essence of L.S.C.'s success was 'cooperation.'  "The cooperation  of employer and employee, and cooperation of the company and public." He named the large lunette shaped mural that hung over the stage, "The Spirit of Cooperation Welcomes You."  The figures in the painting were of young and old, plain and fancy people and were based on the themes of  athletics, drama, education and industry.

 

The mural was huge.  Some figures in the foreground were nine and a half feet tall, while other figures in the background were much smaller.  All bore detailed bodies and clothing.  Levy could not actually see how all the pieces fit together on this massive  work  of art till it was finally hung - and he found it beautiful.  Levy credited two people in particular who helped him - the man who built the huge arched frame on which the mural was mounted, and "Ben Hurst, who had me shaking in my boots while he was engineering the task of putting it in place.."

 

Meibohm Fine Arts

Levy's successor as Art Director, as mentioned previously, was Charles Rohrbach, (CR) a young man, who like Levy had been born in Europe (i.e., Switzerland), in 1892. He had emigrated at first to England at age 18, then to Canada.  At age 23 in 1915, C.R. came to the U.S., settling the next year in W.N.Y.  After a year in Buffalo he settled permanently in East Aurora.  His home there is now occupied by his grandson, Rob, who has become a passionate advocate for C.R.'s legacy.

 

While biographical information about C.R. on  Grace Meibohm's  web site  indicates that C.R. was employed in 1922 as Art Director of L.S.C., this writer finds that unlikely for a couple of reasons.  Most importantly, Levy was not likely demoted from his position as director of the Art Department years before he left the company, with supervision over him given to an inexperienced 23 year old.  Levy, three years later, was clearly  John D. Larkin, Sr.'s "go to man" for the especially important projects for the 50^th anniversary year of the company, 1925.  It was Levy who was charged with designing the anniversary issue of the catalog, the original art  for which hangs in our Larkin Gallery, gifted to it by Levy's grandson, Jonathan.  It was that year also that Larkin charged Levy with the project of creating a huge music-themed mural to be placed on the fifth floor balcony wall in the Administration Building, beneath the gold-gilt pipes of the organ which J.D.L., Sr. had installed as a gift to the employees.

Even more compelling are the words of Charles himself, as quoted in the Meibohm bio blurb: "Mr. Levy's friendship and unfailing interest proved of the greatest value in my work.  He showed me many of the shortcuts to improvement in drawing and painting."  He clearly acknowledged Levy as his mentor.  And the inscriptions on both pieces of art work given to the other surely signified the affection and respect that the two felt for each other.

 

A piece of evidence that Charles was hired before 1922 is found on the cover of the August 1, 1919 issue of "Ourselves."  The cover is in C.R.'s easily recognized style and bears the block-like initials, "CJR" which he frequently used throughout his career.  It is likely that C.R. was hired soon after arriving in WNY in 1916.

 

C.R.'s style in his illustrations was a lot less detailed than Levy's Art Deco influenced-style.  Faces are idealized, fewer colors are used.  His work reflects a wholesome freshness  and practicality that would make a customer feel confidant about the products being sold and the premiums being offered.  Orange, yellow and blue predominate. Like Levy, C.R.'s work encompassed catalogs, the company's other publications, slingers, advertising cards and the like.

 

Interestingly, he followed Levy's lead in also developing his fine art talents through painting on the side.  Undoubtedly with Levy's encouragement, C.R. involved himself in the WNY art community.  He was accepted into the juried membership of the Buffalo Society of Artists in 1925, the year that Levy became President of B.S.A., remaining a member till 1944.

He was an early member of the East Aurora Society of Artists, then known as the Paint and Varnish Club. His work drew critical acclaim in such exhibits as the "Wayward Muse" at the Albright- Knox Gallery in 1987, "The Larkin Way,  A Retrospective Exhibit" at the Amherst Museum in  1990 (an Exhibit that both my Gallery cohort, Jerry Puma, and I assisted in creating, by the way), and the "Comprehensive Artist: Charles Rohrbach" at the Buffalo History Museum in 2012.  Meibohm Fine Arts has had numerous shows of his work.  Rohrbach paintings are also in the permanent collection of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center.

 

Charles was influenced by Levy in his opinion of 'modern art,' though he was not as aggressive in his disapproval of it as was his mentor.  Meibohm quotes him as having said in an interview for the Courier-Express newspaper of January 25, 1931, "Modern Art is indeed stimulating, but sooner or later, there will undoubtedly be a reaction against its extremities.  When the painters go too far into the abstract, the public will lose interest.

 

Charles was "devastated" according to Rob, when his grandfather left L.S.C.  By 1943 the company was struggling financially.  Advertising had decreased and what was produced had to be done with only one color on black and white because of the expense of color.  Increasingly, work was farmed out to ad agencies.

 

After he left L.S.C., Charles was employed in the Courier-Express Rotogravure Department, followed by jobs with ad agencies.

Upon his retirement,  C.R. continued his passion for painting.  Rob mentioned to me that his little sister refused to go for rides with her grandfather because he always took his art supplies with him.  If he saw something that he wanted to paint. He would stop the car, set up his equipment and paint for sometimes several hours to the child's great dismay.

 

Rob's father, Bill and his cousin, Carl, were the only children of Charles and his wife, Josephine Eichorn.  Bill and Carl had both attended college in Michigan in an aeronautic engineering program.  Bill returned to Buffalo after college.  It was here he met his wife, married and worked at General Mills as head of its engineering department.

 

Rob pointed out to me that the cover of the Sept. 1930 issue of the "Larkin Idea" shows two boys drawn by Charles.  His models?  Bill and Carl.

 

Charles died in either 1962 at age 70 or in 1967 at the age of 75, depending on the source of information that one looks at on the internet.

        

~From the Desk of Sharon Osgood