Search Results

Painter:

Sully, Thomas 1783-1872  Search this

Medium:

Oil

Type:

Paintings

Topic:

Figure--Child  Search this

Architecture exterior--Detail--Window  Search this

Control number:

IAP 8G380007

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_481161

Painter:

Sully, Thomas 1783-1872  Search this

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Culture:

Roma  Search this

Type:

Paintings

Owner/Location:

Los Angeles County Museum of Art 5905 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles California 90036 Accession Number: M.82.161

Date:

1839

Topic:

Figure female--Waist length  Search this

Ethnic  Search this

Dress--Accessory--Jewelry  Search this

Dress--Accessory--Hat  Search this

Landscape  Search this

Control number:

IAP 83421975

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_207737

Painter:

Sully, Thomas 1783-1872  Search this

Medium:

Oil

Culture:

Roma  Search this

Type:

Paintings

Owner/Location:

Unlocated

Date:

Aug. 11, 1828

Topic:

Figure group--Female & Child  Search this

Ethnic  Search this

Control number:

IAP 83421976

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_207738

Painter:

Sully, Thomas 1783-1872  Search this

Medium:

Oil

Culture:

Roma  Search this

Type:

Paintings-Replica

Paintings

Owner/Location:

Unlocated

Date:

July 18, 1854

Topic:

Figure  Search this

Ethnic  Search this

Control number:

IAP 83421977

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_207739

Painter:

Sully, Thomas 1783-1872  Search this

de Silver, Robert (copy after)  Search this

Medium:

Oil

Culture:

Roma  Search this

Type:

Paintings-Copy

Paintings

Owner/Location:

Wilstach Collection Fairmount Park Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Date:

Feb. 14, 1859

Topic:

Figure  Search this

Ethnic  Search this

Control number:

IAP 83421978

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_207740

Painter:

Sully, Thomas 1783-1872  Search this

Medium:

Oil

Culture:

Roma  Search this

Type:

Paintings-Replica

Paintings

Owner/Location:

Unlocated

Date:

Aug. 5, 1861

Topic:

Figure  Search this

Ethnic  Search this

Control number:

IAP 83421979

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_207741

Painter:

Sully, Thomas 1783-1872  Search this

Medium:

Oil

Culture:

Roma  Search this

Type:

Paintings-Replica

Paintings

Owner/Location:

Unlocated

Date:

July 23, 1866

Topic:

Figure  Search this

Ethnic  Search this

Control number:

IAP 83421980

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_207742

Painter:

Sully, Thomas 1783-1872  Search this

Medium:

Oil

Culture:

Roma  Search this

Type:

Paintings-Replica

Paintings

Owner/Location:

Unlocated

Date:

June 22, 1868

Topic:

Figure  Search this

Ethnic  Search this

Performing Arts--Music--Tambourine  Search this

Control number:

IAP 83421981

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_207743

Painter:

Sully, Thomas 1783-1872  Search this

Medium:

Oil

Culture:

Roma  Search this

Type:

Paintings

Owner/Location:

Unlocated

Date:

Aug. 24, 1868

Topic:

Figure  Search this

Ethnic  Search this

Control number:

IAP 83421982

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_207744

Painter:

Sully, Thomas 1783-1872  Search this

Murillo, Bartolome Esteban 1617-1682 (copy after)  Search this

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Culture:

Roma  Search this

Type:

Paintings-Copy

Paintings

Owner/Location:

Philadelphia Museum of Art 26th Street & Benjamin Franklin Parkway Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19130 Accession Number: 93-1-107

Date:

1859

Topic:

Figure group--Female & Child  Search this

Ethnic  Search this

Control number:

IAP 46170273

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_58349

Painter:

Sully, Thomas 1783-1872  Search this

Subject:

Wetherill  Search this

Medium:

Oil on canvas laid on board

Type:

Paintings

Owner/Location:

Smithsonian American Art Museum 8th & G Streets, N.W Washington District of Columbia 20560 Accession Number: 2021.100

Date:

1854

Topic:

Portrait group--Family  Search this

Portrait  Search this

Control number:

IAP 71000070

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_135559

Creator:

Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872  Search this

Subject:

Carroll, Charles, 1702-1782  Search this

Citation:

Thomas Sully letters, 1827 and [undated]. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Portrait painting, American  Search this

Theme:

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9502

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211700

AAA_collcode_sullthom

Theme:

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211700

Creator:

Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872  Search this

Citation:

Thomas Sully papers, 1792-1871. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Prints -- Technique  Search this

Prints -- 19th century  Search this

Theme:

Diaries  Search this

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)13439

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212408

AAA_collcode_sullthom2

Theme:

Diaries

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_212408

Creator:

Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872  Search this

Subject:

Mercur, Rodney Augustus  Search this

Sully, Thomas  Search this

Citation:

Thomas Sully letters, 1831-1870. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Portrait painting -- 19th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Theme:

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)10333

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213539

AAA_collcode_sullthol

Theme:

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213539

Creator:

Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872  Search this

Citation:

Private memorandum / Thomas Sully, 1837-1859, bulk 1837-1839. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Sculptors -- United States -- Interviews  Search this

Theme:

Research and writing about art  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)10787

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)214428

AAA_collcode_sullthopm

Theme:

Research and writing about art

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_214428

Creator:

Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872  Search this

Subject:

Wallace, Susan Binney  Search this

Citation:

Thomas Sully letter to Susan Binney Wallace, 1839 May 5. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Theme:

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)10907

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)214684

AAA_collcode_sullthow

Theme:

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_214684

Creator:

Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872  Search this

Subject:

Victoria, Queen of Great Britain  Search this

Society of the Sons of St. George  Search this

Citation:

[Case brief] Society of the Sons of St. George vs. Thomas Sully, 1839 Mar. 11. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Theme:

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)10928

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)214705

AAA_collcode_sullthcb

Theme:

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_214705

Collector:

Zalesch, Saul E.  Search this

Names:

Brooklyn Art Association  Search this

Society of American Artists  Search this

Baldridge, C. LeRoy  Search this

Bearden, Romare, 1911-1988  Search this

Bellows, George, 1882-1925  Search this

Benton, Thomas Hart, 1889-1975  Search this

Betts, Louis, 1873-1961  Search this

Bishop, Isabel, 1902-1988  Search this

Champney, James Wells, 1843-1903  Search this

Church, Frederic Edwin, 1826-1900  Search this

Church, Frederick S. (Frederick Stuart), 1842-1924  Search this

Doughty, Thomas, 1793-1856  Search this

Duveneck, Frank, 1848-1919  Search this

Duveneck, Josephine W. (Josephine Whitney), 1891-1978  Search this

Fenollosa, Ernest Francisco, 1853-1908  Search this

Foster, Ben, 1852-1926  Search this

Gardner, Isabella Stewart, 1840-1924  Search this

Gropper, William, 1897-1977  Search this

Hassam, Childe, 1859-1935  Search this

Henri, Robert, 1865-1929  Search this

Indiana, Robert, 1928-2018  Search this

La Farge, John, 1835-1910  Search this

La Farge, John, 1835-1910  Search this

Lage, William Potter  Search this

Lichtenstein, Roy, 1923-1997  Search this

Lippold, Richard, 1915-2002  Search this

Martin, Homer Dodge, 1836-1897  Search this

Merry, C. M.  Search this

Millet, Francis Davis, 1846-1912  Search this

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937  Search this

Pennell, Joseph, 1857-1926  Search this

Redfield, Edward Willis, 1869-1965  Search this

Rogers, John, 1829-1904  Search this

Sargent, John Singer, 1856-1925  Search this

Stankiewicz, Richard, 1922-1983  Search this

Story, Franklin H.  Search this

Story, William Wetmore, 1819-1895  Search this

Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872  Search this

Teal, William P.  Search this

Vedder, Elihu, 1836-1923  Search this

Weir, Julian Alden, 1852-1919  Search this

Williams, Gluyas, 1888-  Search this

Extent:

58 Items ((portions microfilmed on 1 reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1834-1973

Scope and Contents:

Artists' letters and documents collected by Zalesch and letters written to him in response to inquiries concnering autographs and biographical information.

REEL 3097: Twenty-six letters (1845-1973) written by George Bellows, Thomas Hart Benton, Isabel Bishop, Frederick Stuart Church, Thomas Doughty, Ernest Fenollosa, Ben Foster, Isabella Stewart Gardner, Childe Hassam, Robert Henri, John La Farge, Homer Dodge Martin, Joseph Pennell, Edward Willis Redfield, John Rogers, John Singer Sargent, Richard Stankiewicz, Thomas Sully, and Elihu Vedder. Also included are a Harvard University bond for William Wetmore Story's tuition signed by Franklin H. Story (1834) and a biographical questionnaire completed by John La Farge for The Cyclopedia of American Biography (1925).

UNMICROFILMED: Letters written by Roy Lichtenstein, William Gropper, Gluyas Williams, Ordway Partridge, Frederick Burr Opper, James Wells Champney, C. Gray Parker, Ben Foster, Louis Betts, Cyrus Le Roy Baldridge, Richard Lippold, Romare Bearden, Isabel Bishop, Thomas Hart Benton, Richard Stankiewicz, and others; a brochure for a work of art by Robert Indiana; a certificate from The Brooklyn Art Association for one share of capital stock in the name of William Potter Lage; one page of correspondence documenting a decision made for the Society of American Artists containing a note from Francis D. Millet to J. Alden Weir, followed by a note from Weir to Frederic Church, signed "O.K." by Church.

Vol. XXVI, no. 5, Feb. 1924 periodical, Old Hughes, published by the students of Hughes High school in Cincinnati, Ohio containing a published exchange of letters between principal C. M. Merry and Josephine W. Duveneck, daughter-in-law of painter Frank Duveneck about the Hughes High School purchasing a painting by Duveneck, and a reminiscence of Duveneck by William P. Teal, head of the art department at Hughes High School.

Biographical / Historical:

Saul Zalesch, an art historian, began collecting artists' letters around 1981.

Provenance:

This collection of letters was lent for microfilming by Zalesch in 1984 (reel 3097). Zalesch donated an additional three letters in 1993, twenty-five in 1999, one letter in 2008, and a publication in 2009.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Occupation:

Painters -- United States  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.zalesaul

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw944fc0c8c-cd38-4b95-87d2-9a809479294d

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-zalesaul

Creator:

Spark, Victor D. (Victor David), 1898-1991  Search this

Names:

San Diego Arts Society  Search this

Berliner, Jacob, 1849-1918  Search this

Clonney, James Goodwyn, 1812-1867  Search this

Copley, John Singleton, 1738-1815  Search this

Engelhard, Charles W., Jr., 1917-1971  Search this

Frankenstein, Alfred V. (Alfred Victor), 1906-1981  Search this

Grigaut, Hubert L.  Search this

Hardy, Charlotte  Search this

Hardy, Jeremiah Pearson, 1800-1889  Search this

Heade, Martin Johnson, 1819-1904  Search this

Lehman, Robert, 1892-1969  Search this

Medina, Leon  Search this

Moran, Ruth B.  Search this

Moran, Thomas, 1837-1926  Search this

Peale, Rembrandt, 1778-1860  Search this

Prendergast, Maurice Brazil, 1858-1924  Search this

Shinn, Everett, 1876-1953  Search this

Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872  Search this

Extent:

22.2 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

circa 1830-1983

bulk 1930-1970

Summary:

The Victor D. Spark papers measure 22.2 linear feet and date from circa 1830 to 1983, with the bulk of the material from 1930 to 1970. The papers document Spark's career as a New York City art dealer and appraiser who was most active from World War II through the 1970s, focusing on Old Masters paintings and 19th and early 20th century American art. Found within the papers are biographical materials, artist files, client files, financial records, legal records, printed material, and photographs.

Scope and Contents:

The Victor D. Spark papers measure 22.2 linear feet and date from circa 1830 to 1983, with the bulk of the material from 1930 to 1970. The papers document Spark's career as a New York City art dealer and appraiser who was most active during World War II up through the 1970s with a focus on Old Masters paintings as well as 19th and early 20th century American art. Found within the papers are biographical materials, artist files, client files, financial records, legal records, printed material, and photographs.

Biographical materials contain greeting cards and post cards, annotated appointment calendars, miscellaneous notes and lists, and an apartment lease.

Artists' files include photographs of artwork, artist biographies, printed materials, and some correspondence with and about the artist. Many of the photographs are annotated. Files are found for Old Masters and American artists, including James G. Clonney, Jon Singleton Copley, Jeremiah P. Hardy, Martin Johnson Heade, Rembrandt Peale, Maurice Prendergast, Everett Shinn, Thomas Sully, and many others. There is also a letter written in 1924 by Ruth Moran along with a photograph of a painting by the artist Thomas Moran, signed by him on the verso.

Extensive client files include notes, correspondence, bills, receipts, and clippings regarding sales and appraisals. Spark's clients included museums, collectors, art dealers, most of which are represented in the files. Notable clients and colleagues include Jacob S. Berliner, Charles W. Engelhard, Alfred V. Frankenstein, Hubert L. Grigaut, Charlotte W. Hardy, Robert Lehman, and Leon Medina. There are also files for many universities, businesses, museums, and galleries.

Financial records comprise the largest series in the collection and include ledgers, stock books, consignment records, scattered banking records, bills, tax documents, auction price lists, check stubs, and cancelled checks.

A small amount of legal records document two legal cases: Rauch v. IRS and Kaufman v. Phoenix (Travelers) Insurance Company for which Spark provided testimony.

Printed materials include clippings, exhibition and auction catalogs, newsletters, bulletins, a membership roster for the San Diego Arts Society, and several 19th century printed items.

Two black and white photographs are of a steam locomotive and an unidentified portraitist in his studio.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged as 7 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1906, 1948-1981 (1.7 linear feet; Box 1-2)

Series 2: Artist Files, 1905-1983 (4 linear feet; Box 2-6, 22)

Series 3: Client Files, 1904, 1927-1981 (7.1 linear feet; Box 6-13)

Series 4: Financial Records, 1930-1981 (8.7 linear feet; Box 13-20, 22-29)

Series 5: Legal Records, 1970-1972 (0.2 linear feet; Box 20)

Series 6: Printed Materials, circa 1830-1872, 1948-1982 (0.2 linear feet; Box 20-22)

Series 7: Photographs, circa 1898-circa 1940 (0.1 linear feet; Box 21)

Biographical / Historical:

Victor D. Spark (1898-1991) was a prominent New York City appraiser and art dealer who specialized in Old Masters paintings as well as 19th and early 20th century art.

Spark was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1898. When he was two years old, the Spark family moved to Harlem. His father worked in the hotel business and owned hotels in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Europe. Spark briefly attended the City College of New York before transferring to New York University, where he studied for half a year, then enlisted in the Marines Corps during World War I and served overseas for 2 years. After his discharge, Spark returned to NYU where he majored in French, an interest he acquired during his military service. After graduation, Spark married Nina and went to Europe to help his father manage a summer hotel. There, he became interested in art.

Spark returned to the U.S., continuing to work for his father until 1929. Spark was involved with decorating and furnishing the hotels and often purchased antiques, artwork, and furniture, furthering his arts interests and knowledge. He began working in a gallery, acquiring works of art and dividing the sales profits with the gallery owners. Spark had no formal art education and his taste and eye for art was gained primarily through his travels in Europe. He also had a good business sense about what might sell for profit in the U.S.

Spark made frequent art buying trips across the United States to cities such as Boston and Philadelphia and returned to New York with paintings that he sold. Spark never owned a gallery, but he occasionally held exhibits, such as one titled "101 American Painters," inside the apartment. Although Spark specialized in 19th to early 20th century American art, he also sold European art work acquired during trips to Europe following World War II.

Spark continued his work selling paintings to museums, collectors, and other art dealers, until the 1970s. He was most active from the 1930s through World War II. As a prominent dealer for over four decades, Spark came to know many luminaries of the New York art scene, such as art dealer and gallery owner Edith Halpert. Spark died in 1991.

Related Materials:

The Archives of American Art also holds an oral history interview of Victor D. Spark conducted August 5, 1975 by Paul Cummings.

The National Gallery of Art maintains 12,000 photographs and negatives of artwork in their Victor D. Spark photograph collection.

Provenance:

The Victor D. Spark papers were acquired between 1954 and 1996. The first accession of 19th century printed materials and a letter by Ruth Moran was donated by Spark in 1954. The bulk of the collection was purchased jointly by the Archives of American Art and the National Gallery of Art at auction in July 1987. Subsequently, photographs of works of art documenting the collections of the National Gallery of Art were separated and retained by the National Gallery of Art. The papers remained at the Archives of American Art; three letters were later transferred to the Archives from the National Gallery of Art in 1996.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Occupation:

Art appraisers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Art, Modern -- 19th century -- United States  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Citation:

Victor D. Spark papers, circa 1830-1983, bulk 1930-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation

Identifier:

AAA.sparvict

See more items in:

Victor D. Spark papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9a7df6e43-9a79-481a-88b3-5014c296d51d

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-sparvict

Creator:

Catlin, George, 1796-1872  Search this

Names:

Clay, Henry, 1777-1852  Search this

Seward, William Henry, 1801-1872  Search this

Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872  Search this

Extent:

2.3 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photogravures

Date:

undated

1821-1904

Summary:

The collection comprises 2.3 feet of papers concerning George Catlin's creation and promotion of his famed "Indian Gallery" of paintings, drawings, and artifacts of North American Indians. Dating from 1821 through 1904, with one item dated 1946, the papers include letters, notebooks and journals, receipt books and loose receipts, printed materials, and other documentation. The bulk of the collection focuses on Catlin's efforts to promote the sale of his gallery to the United States government through tours, including London and Paris, and petitions to various governments to purchase the Gallery. Among the rare printed catalogs and petitions in the collection are exhibition catalogs for the U.S., London, and Paris tours, the earliest dating from 1837. Letters and other documents include letters dating from the 1830s from Henry Clay, Thomas Sully, and William Henry Seward commending Catlin's work, as well as Catlin family correspondence and papers dating from 1821 through the 1870s.

Scope and Contents note:

The collection comprises 2.3 feet of papers concerning George Catlin's creation and promotion of his famed "Indian Gallery" of paintings, drawings, and artifacts of North American Indians. Dating from 1821 through 1904, with one item dated 1946, the papers include letters, notebooks and journals, receipt books and loose receipts, printed materials, and other documentation. The bulk of the collection focuses on Catlin's efforts to promote the sale of his gallery to the United States government through tours, including London and Paris, and petitions to various governments to purchase the Gallery. Among the rare printed catalogs and petitions in the collection are exhibition catalogs for the U.S., London, and Paris tours, the earliest dating from 1837. Letters and other documents include letters dating from the 1830s from Henry Clay, Thomas Sully, and William Henry Seward commending Catlin's work, as well as Catlin family correspondence and papers dating from 1821 through the 1870s.

Of particular interest in the collection are letters to and from Catlin, including two written by Catlin during his early travels to the west in the 1830s. Other letters include ones from Henry Clay, John Adams Dix, Ralph Randolph Gurley, James Hall, William Henry Seward, Thomas Sully (illustrated), and Baron Friederich von Humbolt, among others. Most wish Catlin well and offer support in his endeavors to sell his collection.

Also found within the collection are several notebooks and notes describing Native American ceremonies, name translations, customs, and other information pertinent to Catlin's catalog, two volume book, and exhibitions of the "Indian Gallery." There are also numerous loose receipts and account and receipt books documenting the 1840s London and Paris venues of the "Indian Gallery" exhibition. The collection also houses printed catalogs for the exhibitions, including a rare 1837 catalog for the first show in New York.

Additional materials include certificates of authenticity testifying to the authenticity of Catlin's paintings from life of Native American sitters, announcements relating to exhibition openings, printed memorials and petitions to Congress, printed letters of support, envelopes and name cards, and handwritten tickets to Catlin lectures. Also found are a handwritten journal of Theodore B. Catlin, photogravures of Catlin, obituaries for Catlin, and printed reviews of the exhibitions.

Arrangement note:

The George Catlin papers are arranged into five series based primarily on document type. Within each series, materials are arranged in chronological order.

Missing Title

Series 1: Correspondence, 1821-1885 (Boxes 1, 6; Reel 5824; 12 folders)

Series 2: Writings, 1825-circa 1872 (Boxes 1, 6; Reel 5824; 9 folders)

Series 3: Financial Records, 1826-1848 (Boxes 2, 6; Reels 5824-5825; 13 folders, 3 bound volumes)

Series 4: Catalogs, 1837-1871 (Boxes 3-5; Reel 5825; 1 linear foot)

Series 5: Ephemera and Miscellaneous Printed Material, 1832-1904, 1946 (Boxes 5-6, OV 7; Reel 5825; 14 folders)

Biographical/Historical note:

George Catlin was born in 1796 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Although trained as a lawyer, Catlin quit his law practice and moved to Philadelphia in 1823 to begin a career as a portrait painter. He gained membership in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1824, but his career in formal portraiture met with little success. In 1830, Catlin embarked upon his lifetime achievement of documenting the lives, customs, and culture of the declining native American population of the Plains. He spent the next six years traveling, drawing, painting, and writing about the Plains Indians. By 1837, he had amassed enough documentation to hold a major exhibition in New York of Catlin's Indian Gallery of Portraits, Landscapes, Manners and Customs, Costumes, etc. The same exhibition, with an added live show, traveled to London in 1842 and Paris in 1845, where it was met with rave reviews.

Catlin spent the remainder of his life gathering support for the sale of the Indian Gallery to the U.S. Congress. Between 1841 and 1842, at his own expense, Catlin wrote and published his two volume set Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians. He also wrote numerous petitions and "memorials" to Congress, often including statements from national and international reputable supporters, such as Daniel Webster, General Lewis Cass, the Joint Committee on the Library (of Congress), and the American Ambassador to France. The Smithsonian Institution's first Secretary Joseph Henry strongly supported congressional acquisition of Catlin's work and even provided Catlin with a small studio in the Castle building. All of the appeals to the government for the purchase of the collection were, in the end, unsuccessful and Catlin died almost penniless in 1872.

Related Archival Materials note:

The Archives holds several related collections of differing provenances related to George Catlin, including a small collection of manuscripts and drawings microfilmed on reel 1191 related to Catlin's work in marine art and documentation. A microfilmed loan of circa 500 items is also available on reel 3277 of letters between Catlin and Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1840-1860, writings by Catlin and material on Catlin's Indian Gallery, including clippings, catalogs, handbills, invitations, drawings and portrait sketches of native Americans, and printed material; a watercolor sketchbook; a list of paintings; and miscellany. Also found within the Archives is one undated letter microfilmed on reel D8 from Catlin, and a collection of art historian William Truettner's research papers on George Catlin.

Provenance:

The papers of George Catlin were transferred to the Archives of American Art by the Library of the Smithsonian's National Collection of Fine Arts, now the Smithsonian's American Art Museum. Accession records indicate that the papers were once maintained by the Smithsonian's Bureau of Ethnology and were probably part of the orginal 1879 acquisition of Catlin's Indian Gallery by the Smithsonian. Businessman Joseph Harrison rescued the "Indian Gallery" from Catlin's creditors in the 1850s and stored the collection in a Philadelphia warehouse, where it suffered damage from at least two fires before Harrison's widow donated the collection to the Smithsonian.

Restrictions:

A digitized version of the microfilm of this collection is available online via the Archives of American Art website.

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Occupation:

Portrait painters  Search this

Painters  Search this

Illustrators  Search this

Ethnological painters  Search this

Topic:

Miniature painters  Search this

Indians of North America -- Portraits  Search this

Ethnological illustrators  Search this

Art and race  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photogravures

Citation:

George Catlin papers, 1821-1946. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the digitization of the microfilm of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Identifier:

AAA.catlgeor

See more items in:

George Catlin papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw901da216a-4af5-4fb1-921e-380885df19ae

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-catlgeor