[Article]

The Wrought Iron Artistry of Cyril Colnik

By Virginia Jones Maher

The decorative wrought ironwork of Cyril Colnik still graces the city of Milwaukee with old-world craft and charm nearly a century after it was created. Colnik, who was born in Europe and trained there as a blacksmith, hand-forged rugged and inflexible iron into elegant, architectural ornament for public buildings and private residences in his adopted city for more than sixty years. Hundreds of examples of Colnik's work --- fences, gates, window grills, doors, railings, balconies, and lanterns --- can be seen throughout the Milwaukee area. Nationally recognized for his accomplished design and master craftsmanship, Colnik was commissioned to create iron work for the Milwaukee City Hall, movie sets in Hollywood, the Insull and Ryerson homes in Chicago, and the Ringling museum in Sarasota, Florida.

Born in Triebein, Austria, in 1871, Colnik was introduced to blacksmithing at a young age, when he learned to forge nails for a doghouse he was building. His interest in smithing continued, and in his teens Colnik apprenticed as a mechanical assistant and student of ironwork in Vienna. Colnik's artistic style was shaped during a four-year apprenticeship in Austria and refined in his travels as a journeyman ironworker in Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany.

Early in his career, Colnik incorporated the crisp, curled and veined leaves, cartouches, S-scrolls, rosettes, and diagonal trellis straps of the German rococo into his repertoire. In his formative years, he was strongly influenced by beaux arts, the fashionable, conservative European style inspired by classical architecture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and art nouveau, an avant-garde style which advocated the use of iron framework, supports, and ornamental ironwork in building interiors.

Colnik came to the United States in 1893 to set up a German ironwork exhibition at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Reminiscing years later about the impressive wrought iron frieze he exhibited at the World's Fair, Colnik said, "I won what was to have been the Gold Medal, but those were depression days in 1893 and the Fair lost money, went bankrupt. I got a blue ribbon instead." Colnik's award-winning Master Piece is a sampler of ironworking forms and techniques. The panel, which measures 48 1/2 x 35 1/4 inches, is composed in a spiral motif, juxtaposing graceful foliage with a strange, winged beast. Lush intertwining acanthus leaves, vine tendrils, and flowers encircle the heart of the composition, a grotesque figure representing Vulcan, the ancient Roman god of fire and patron of metalworkers.

After the Columbian Exposition, Colnik moved to Milwaukee and established an ornamental iron shop on North Eighth Street, where he produced "artistic iron, brass, [and] bronze" until his retirement in 1955. Local lore has it that Colnik was encouraged to locate in Milwaukee by beer baron Captain Frederick Pabst, another exhibitor and sponsor of an authentic nineteenth-century beer garden and pavilion at the Columbian Exposition. At the time, Milwaukee --- a center of German art and culture --- was experiencing a boom in new home building. It proved opportune for Colnik, inasmuch as prominent Milwaukee industrialists and businessmen were comwtissioning the finest public buildings and private homes. Although the rest of the country was in financial collapse, "Milwaukee was prospering, a city that needed craftsmen and mechanics. Many Milwaukee families [such as the Pabsts . . .] liked to display their newly acquired wealth by decorating their homes with ornate wrought iron work, such as was seen on the homes of wealthy Europeans." (Peterson)

In a few short years the talented and classically trained Colnik had established a thriving ornamental metal goods business. A 1903 Milwaukee city directory lists Colnik's shop as "Manufacturers of high grade artistic gas and electric chande-   [p. 17]  

Entrance door, North Lake Drive, Milwaukee. Decorative, centuries-old "S" and "C" scrolls and German rococo curled leaf forms embellish this genteel Colnik entrance door. Courtesy The Francis Whitaker Blacksmith Foundation.

liers, candelabras, lanterns, brackets, old fashioned door fixtures, fire place goods, antique armors, hammered shields, memorial tablets, statuaries, monuments, etc."

Colnik died in 1958. His refined, classical forms provided an elegant finishing touch to mansions and fashionable homes on Milwaukee's east side --- the Charles Allis residence, Villa Terrace, and the Paula Uihlein home, among others. A veritable outdoor museum of wrought ironworking styles and techniques, Colnik's legacy can be viewed from downtown Milwaukee to Whitefish Bay --- up and down Lake Drive and its side streets --- and on the west side of the city at Wisconsin Memorial Park. In addition, the extensive wrought iron collection from Colnik's estate, including his award-winning Master Piece exhibited at the 1893 Columbian Exposition, is on display at the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum in Milwaukee.

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Gate detail, North Lake Drive, Milwaukee. Graceful and Structural wrought iron scrolls support a gate lantern. Courtesy The Francis Whitaker Blacksmith Foundation.

Gate detail. North Lake Drive, Milwaukee. Colnik was especially noted for lush, sculptural, handworked flowers and leaves.

Gate, North Lake Drive, Milwaukee. A master craftsman, Colnik turned rugged and inflexible iron into illusions of fragility and refinement.

Fence, North Lake Drive and Wahl Avenue, Milwaukee. Colnik's swirling, flame-like motif pays tribute to the importance of fire in the blacksmithing process.

Fence detail, North Lake Drive and Wahl Avenue, Milwaukee. Flames, flowers, and intertwining vine tendrils distinguish this circa 1915 Colnik fence.

Fence detail, North Lake Drive and Wahi Avenue. Milwaukee. This is another example of Colnik's rich, sculptural forms --- here a finely sculpted iron sunflower seems to grow organically from a fence rail/stem.

Fence, Newberry Boulevard, Milwaukee. Pointed spear rail-heads emphasize the verticality and linear nature of this restrained and stately circa 1915 wrought iron fence.

Fence detail, Nerberry Boulevard, Milwaukee. Colnik softened the squared rails and simple geometric shapes with a corner box decorated with scrolls, topped with a gold-leaf flower.

Fence detail, Newberry Boulevard, Milwaukee. Circular, gold-leafed cartouches, contrasting with the straight lines of the fence, add interest and a touch of elegance.

Open gates, North Lake Drive, Milwaukee. Colniks gates display the symmetry, proper balancing, and harmony of beaux arts classical forms.

Entrance door, Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, Milwaukee. Colnik chose a repeated, curvilinear motif to fill the arched entrance of this 1924 Italianate mansion.

Entrance door detail, Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, Milwaukee. A close look at Colnik's finely crafted, hand-forged iron forms.

Entrance gate, North Terrace Avenue, Milwaukee. Attributed to Colnik, this circa 1905 gate displays beaux arts forms popular in Milwaukee at the turn of the century.

Master Piece by Cyril Colnik, circa 1891-92, Intertwining vines and tendrils swirl exuberantly around a central monster figure, representing Vulcan, the ancient Roman god of fire and metalworkers. Courtesy the Francis Whitaker Blacksmith Foundation.

Floor lamp, Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, Milwaukee. Colnik floor lamp, a fanciful creation with imaginative dragon-like forms, reflects the artists vigorous imagination and creativity. Courtesy the Francis Whitaker Blacksmith Foundation.

City Hall railing, Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, Milwaukee. Colnik designed and produced iron work for Milwaukee's City Hall and for countless other Milwaukee buildings, including breweries, banks, churches, and other public and private landmarks.