Visitations from History: Nicolas Tesla (1846-1943)

Nicolas Tesla was an inventor and engineer. He made several important discoveries including AC current and the Tesla Coil. The unit for measuring magnetic induction is called the tesla in his honor. He did some of his research in New York. He worked with x-rays on Fifth Avenue and mechanical resonance on Houston street. He did his radio wave research on 27th street. He lived at the Waldorf Astoria. He died at the New Yorker Hotel which, ironically, ran on DC current at the time. Tesla's adversary, Thomas Edison was a promoter of DC current and fought something referred to as the War of Current with George Westinghouse who was pushing AC with Tesla. They had a contract which would have made Tesla the world's first billionaire, but he tore it up. He didn't care about money and died penniless, with debts.

I have had a hard time with Tesla. There is so much information about him and very few images. Apparently he didn't like to sit for portraits so this is the picture that appears most often.

I tried working with it because he looks kind of handsome in a period sort of way. But the pose is so awkward, the jacket buttons in a strange way, and I had a horrible time with his hair. This was a few weeks ago when I was exploring drawing. I would spend all day working from this picture. I hated everything I drew. I don't know why I needed to relive the drawing vs. photography polemic at this time in my life but there you have it. Meanwhile, I continued sifting through the information on Tesla, finally coming to the conclusion that he was pretty crazy. He had obsessive-compulsive disorder. He was celibate even though the ladies of the day thought he was quite a catch. He had a deep love of pigeons, especially a white one which he claimed to love like a wife. Personally, I truly dislike pigeons with their stupid faces and ugly beaks. They always seem to have some horrible disfigurement from living in the city, like a missing claw. While I was struggling with Tesla's picture, I would walk the streets and the pigeons would wobble around me, cooing and mocking me. Finally a friend suggested I try a different picture which is how I ended up with the image at the top of the post. I drew in the lines missing from the low res image and added a little color. I like how he looks a little like George Clooney and I love the lines on the high frequency transformer.

I went out last Saturday to hang the pictures of Tesla. The morning light was excellent and the wind was not too strong.

I made a mistake looking for Tesla's South Fifth Avenue laboratory. The address was where West Broadway is today. I put his picture on regular Fifth Avenue. On the bright side, he might have strolled up that way back in the day. And considering a fire destroyed his Fifth Avenue laboratory along with his research on x-rays, he might have preferred a place with better memories.

It was very pretty by 10th Street with all the trees in bloom. I do not think it is so nice on West Broadway.

The lab where Tesla worked on Houston Street is gone, an ugly modern building with a Bank of America is there. Across the street is the Puck building which was there when Tesla's mechanical resonance experiments were disturbing the neighbors.

He had to smash the electromechanical ocillators with a sledgehammer when those experiments got out of control. I guess that didn't help his reputation for madness.

I think that Tesla would have liked all the modern changes to the city.

There is a commemorative plaque to Tesla at the Radio Wave Building which was called the Hotel Gerlach when he lived there. I did not really search out the plaque, but it is visible on the lower left, behind the tattered strapping tape on the pole.