An interview of Adelyn Breeskin conducted 1979 June 20 and August 1 and August 14, by Julia Link Haifley, for the Archives of American Art.
Breeskin speaks of her childhood and growing up in Baltimore; attending Bryn Mawr College and Radcliffe; her art work; the influence of Katherine B. Child; the Stuart Club; travel abroad; the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Art Gallery; prints and printmaking; teaching; the Garrett Collection of prints; her experience at the 1960 Venice Biennale; the art collectors Etta and Claribel Cone; and published writings on Mary Cassatt.
Biographical / Historical:
Adelyn Dohme Breeskin (1896-1986) was an art historian and curator from Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 30 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art historians -- Maryland -- Baltimore Search this
Art museum curators -- Maryland -- Baltimore Search this
Art museum directors -- Maryland -- Baltimore Search this
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service. This interview received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative Pool.
The papers of Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington D.C. art historian and museum curator Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, measure 2.5 linear feet and date from circa 1934-1986. The papers provide scattered documentation of Breeskin's career, focusing on writings and lectures delivered in the United States and abroad, and briefly documenting her work as an art exhibition juror, as a consultant, and as a teacher of a community art course. The collection also includes papers documenting some of Breeskin's research on Loren MacIver, Mary Cassatt, and others, and is comprised of biographical material, personal and professional correspondence with artists, friends, and colleagues, manuscript and lecture notes and drafts, professional files, sound recordings, and a few photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington D.C. art historian and museum curator Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, measure 2.5 linear feet and date from circa 1934-1986. The papers provide scattered documentation of Breeskin's career, focusing on writings and lectures delivered in the United States and abroad, and briefly documenting her work as an art exhibition juror, as a consultant, and as a teacher of a community art course. The collection also includes papers documenting some of Breeskin's research on Loren MacIver, Mary Cassatt, and others, and is comprised of biographical material, personal and professional correspondence with artists, friends, and colleagues, manuscript and lecture notes and drafts, professional files, sound recordings, and a few photographs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as four series:
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1938-1986 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1, OVs 4-6)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1940-1970 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings and Lectures, circa 1934-1981 (1 linear foot; Boxes 1-2)
Series 4: Professional Files, 1945-1984 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
Biographical / Historical:
Adelyn Dohme Breeskin (1896-1986) was an art historian and museum curator in Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. She was the first woman to be named director of a major American museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Adelyn Dohme took her first museum job in the print department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she worked with Kathryn B. Child under the supervision of William Mills Ivins. She left the museum in 1920 to marry violinist Elias Breeskin, and the couple had three children before divorcing in 1930.
Following her divorce, Breeskin returned to her native Baltimore and took a position as a curator with the Baltimore Museum of Art. In 1942 she was appointed director of the museum and remained in that position until 1962. As director she gave Milton Avery and Mary Cassatt's graphics their first museum shows.
Breeskin served as commissioner for the American contingent of the Venice Biennale in 1960 and was director of the Washington Gallery of Modern Art from 1962-1964. She then became a special consultant in twentieth-century art for the Smithsonian's National Collection of Fine Art and served as the museum's curator of contemporary painting and sculpture from 1968 to 1974.
Breeskin authored two catalogue raisonnés of Mary Cassatt's work, and conducted extensive research for a monograph on Loren MacIver, although the monograph was ultimately not published. In 1985 Breeskin received the Smithsonian Institutions highest award, the Gold Medal for Exceptional Service, and at the time of her death in 1986, was senior curatorial adviser.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds oral history interviews with Adelyn Breeskin conducted by Paul Cummings in 1974, and Julie Haifley in 1979.
Provenance:
Portions of the collection were donated to the Archives of American Art in a series of gifts from Adelyn Breeskin, 1979-1985. Material relating to Loren MacIver was donated 1979-1987 by Breeskin and Robert Frash, who had possession of Breeskin's research materials on MacIver for an exhibition on MacIver he curated in California. Letters from Georgia O'Keeffe, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, and Lawrence Calcagno, an exhibition catalog for Calcagno, and the file on Milton Avery, were donated by the National Museum of American Art on January 28, 1981. The birthday book was a gift from Breeskin's daughter, Gloria Breeskin Peck, in 2015. The sound recordings were transferred from the National Museum of American Art, circa 1984.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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 museum curators -- Maryland -- Baltimore Search this
Art historians -- Maryland -- Baltimore Search this
Art museum directors -- Maryland -- Baltimore Search this
The papers of New York art collector Chester Dale measure 8.4 linear feet and date from circa 1883-2003. Dale amassed one of the world's most complete collections of nineteenth and twentieth century French art, was a collector of eighteenth century American portraitists, and a patron and collector of twentieth American artists including George Bellows and Mary Cassatt. The bulk of the collection dates from 1920 to 1970 and documents Dale's activities through biographical material, correspondence, memoirs and other writings, purchase, sales and estate records, printed material, scrapbooks, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York art collector Chester Dale measure 8.4 linear feet and date from circa 1883-2003. Dale amassed one of the world's most complete collections of nineteenth and twentieth century French art, was a collector of eighteenth century American portraitists, and a patron and collector of twentieth American artists including George Bellows and Mary Cassatt. The bulk of the collection dates from 1920 to 1970 and documents Dale's activities through biographical material, correspondence, memoirs and other writings, purchase, sales and estate records, printed material, scrapbooks, and photographs.
Biographical material comprises brief genealogical and biographical notes on Dale's father's side of the family; four pieces of miscellaneous artwork; several certificates, membership cards, and programs; circa six unidentified dictaphone recordings; and a home movie of an unidentified social event.
Correspondence provides scattered documentation of Dale's activities as a collector and benefactor, including correspondence relating to gifts to various museums such as the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as posthumous gifts to the Allentown Art Museum and Amherst College. Also documented is Dale's election as president of the National Gallery of Art in 1955. There are several letters to and from Salvador and Gala Dali, copies of two letters from Diego Rivera, and letters from other friends and business associates, including historian Georges Salles. Over one third of the correspondence consists of condolence telegrams and letters sent to Mary Dale following Dale's death. Other correspondence documents Mary Dale's work as exhibition chairman for the Parrish Museum of Art, and includes letters from Andrew, Jamie, and Nicholas Wyeth.
Writings include typed drafts of Dale's memoirs which recall the beginning of his career in banking, and include stories of his early experiences in buying art. Dale credits the highly discerning and influential eye of his first wife, Maud Dale, for guiding him in his early selections, and his memoirs recall his unconventionally direct way of doing business with the Paris art dealers. Two travel diaries record a 1904 trip to Europe, and five trips to Europe and the Caribbean between 1949 and 1953. Writings by others include several essays on Dale by various authors, several essays on art by Maud Dale, and a typed draft of a manuscript on Dale's life by Neil MacNeil.
Extensive inventories, estate appraisals, and will disbursement records document the contents of the Chester Dale collection in Series 4. Also found here are receipts for specific purchases of works by Cezanne, Cassatt, Dali, Dufy, Picasso, and others.
Printed material includes catalogs for auction sales annotated with sales prices and other purchase information; catalogs of Dale's collection; and exhibition catalogs and announcements for the Parrish Museum of Art during Mary Dale's tenure as exhibition chairman. Some of the catalogs include essays by Maud Dale. News clippings and magazine articles document press coverage of Dale's activities at home and abroad.
Scrapbooks contain additional printed material, primarily news clippings, documenting press coverage of Chester Dale's life from the 1920s until his death. One of the scrapbooks includes multiple photographs of Dale and others, including a photo of Frida Kahlo and Jose Orozco. An additional scrapbook of photographs and clippings documents Mary Dale's life before and after her marriage to Dale.
Photographs are of Dale, Mary Dale, Maud Dale, family, friends, and colleagues. There are photographs of Dale and Mary Dale with artists including George Braques, Salvador and Gala Dali, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, and Jamie and Nicholas Wyeth; and friends and associates Renee and Claire Batigne, Veronica "Rocky" Cooper and Maria Cooper, Robert Sturgis Ingersoll, Edith Hamilton with Robert Frost, Neil MacNeil, Herbert Mayes, and Paul and Timothy Mellon. There are individual photos and three photograph albums of Dale's various residences and his collection, including photographs taken shortly before his death at his Plaza Hotel apartment showing some of his favorite pictures. Photographers include Rudolph Burkhardt, Irving Cantor, Ivan Dmitri, and Dmitri Kessel. There are also many photographs of exhibition openings and museum events, especially events at the National Gallery of Art, including the presentation of Dale's gift of Dali's The Sacrament of the Last Supper to the museum in 1956, and the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II of England's visit to the museum in 1957. Photographs also include photographs of artwork in Dale's collection.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as seven series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1897-circa 1960, 2003 (Boxes 1, 7-8; FC 20; 0.45 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1911-1984 (Box 1; 0.9 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1904-1963 (Boxes 2, 8; 0.55 linear feet)
Series 4: Chester Dale Collection, circa 1930-1968 (Boxes 2-3; 1 linear foot)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1925-circa 1972 (Boxes 3-4, 8, OV 9; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 6: Scrapbooks, circa 1920s-1963 (Box 4, BVs 10-14; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, circa 1883-1972 (Boxes 4-6, 19, BVs 15-17, OV 18; 3.3 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
New York art patron and collector of French and American art Chester Dale (1883-1962), made his fortune as a banker who pioneered the sale of public utility securities. He began purchasing French paintings in the mid-1920s and retired from the investment security business in 1935 in order to focus full time on the acquisition of art.
Dale was encouraged to begin collecting art by his first wife, Maud Dale, who was an artist, a writer, and a former chairman of the Exhibition Committee of the Museum of French Art. With the benefit of his wife's knowledge, passion, and perception, Dale began to lay the foundation of his collection in 1926, and amassed circa seven hundred pictures within ten years. His collection is considered to be one of the most complete collections of nineteenth and twentieth century French art in the world, and includes some of the finest examples of works by Braque, Corot, Delacroix, Degas, Derain, Dufy, Leger, Matisse, and Renoir, as well as by artists representative of the French tradition in art including Modigliani, Picasso, Rivera, and Van Gogh.
Although primarily interested in French art, Dale also collected and encouraged American artists. He was a patron of George Bellows and Salvador Dali, and had his portrait painted by both artists. Dale presented the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art with their first Dali paintings, the latter being The Sacrament of the Last Supper. Dale also purchased works by Mary Cassatt, representative works by "the Eight," and examples of eighteenth century American portraitists John Smibert, Gilbert Stuart and Thomas Sully. In the early 1940s he visited Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Mexico, and Rivera subsequently completed a portrait of Dale in 1945.
Dale served as a trustee to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Chicago Art Institute, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He made the first of a series of gifts to the National Gallery of Art when it opened in 1941. In 1955 he was elected president of the museum, by which time his collection occupied ten of its galleries. Dale bequeathed the bulk of his remaining collection to the National Gallery in his will. This final gift included eighty of his favorite pictures, which had been located in his Manhattan apartment at the Plaza Hotel up until his death.
A year after the death of Maud Dale in 1953, Dale married Mary Towar Bullard, whom he had employed as his secretary for twenty-five years. Mary Dale oversaw the disbursement of her husband's estate, following Dale's death from a heart attack in 1962.
Related Materials:
Holdings at the Archives of American Art also include the Chester Dale papers concerning George Bellows, 1919-1956, comprising correspondence, a photograph, and invoices relating to Chester Dale's relationship with George Bellows and Dale's interest in artwork by Bellows; and the Chester Dale eulogy, consisting of one 35 minute, 9 second sound tape reel of a eulogy delivered by an unidentified speaker.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 1972 by Mary Dale, Chester Dale's second wife, and in 1985 by Mary Dale's estate.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D. C., Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copy requires advance notice.
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.
Chester Dale papers, circa 1883-2003, bulk 1920-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of the Chester Dale papers is provided by The Walton Family Foundation. Funding for the reformatting of the 16mm film reel was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.
Correspondence, 1965, between Lebwohl and Willem de Kooning regarding de Kooning's painting "The Clam Diggers" purchased by Lebwohl; and, correspondence, 1968, between Lebwohl and Adelyn D. Breeskin concerning Breeskin's research for her catalogue raisonne of the graphic work of Mary Cassatt.
Biographical / Historical:
Paper conservator, collector; Arlington, Va., Washington, D.C.
Provenance:
Donated 2002 by Murray Lebwohl.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
An interview of George Biddle conducted in 1963, by Harlan Phillips, for the Archives of American Art.
Biddle speaks of his background in Philadelphia; his Harvard education in preparation for a law career; literary acquaintances; travel; the beginning of his art career; his preoccupation with portraiture; his tragic and pleasant works; the importance of mood; his drawing techniques; drawing from nature; color experimentation; Stieglitz's circle; the susceptibility of artists to change during the 1930s; his involvement with the Public Works of Art Project; government censorship of his murals; his involvement with artists overseas during World War II; and his aesthetic philosophy. He recalls Max Weber, Maurice Sterne, George Grosz, William Zorach, Kenneth Hayes Miller, Peggy Bacon, Marsden Hartley, Charles Demuth, Edith Halpert, Boardman Robinson, Reginald Marsh, Thomas Hart Benton, Henry Billings, Ned Bruce, Holger Cahill, Philip Evergood, Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, David Siqueiros, and Rufino Tamayo.
Biographical / Historical:
George Biddle (1885-1973) was a painter and sculptor, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York.
General:
Originally recorded 3 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 9 digital wav files. Duration is 13 hr., 56 min.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
REELS N591-N597: Photographs of the Museum, Juliana Force, Herman Moore; scrapbooks on the Whitney Studio Club, Whitney Studio Galleries and the Museum, 1927-1965.
REELS N599-N604: Notebooks of Edwin W. Dickinson; photographs and provenance information for works by Philip Evergood; a catalog of information and some photographs of Chinese ink drawings and other works by Reginald Marsh; and photographs and information on Bernard Reder, Jack Tworkov, Max Weber (portions also microfilmed on reel NY59-8 (fr. 497-658), reel NY59-9 (fr. 1-51), and William Zorach.
REELS N604-N609: Exhibition catalogs, 1946-1966, for artists and groups shows at the Museum, including Robert Feke, William Rimmer, Ralph Blakelock, Albert Maurer, Albert Pinkham Ryder, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Thomas Cole, Max Weber, Arshile Gorky, Mark Tobey, John Sloan, Loren MacIver, I. Rice Pereira, George Grosz, Reginald Marsh, Charles Burchfield, Morris Graves, Theodore Roszak, John Marin, Hans Hofmann, Bradley Tomlin, Stuart Davis, Milton Avery, Lee Gatch, Jose De Creeft, Maurice Prendergast, Edward Hopper, Hyman Bloom, Robert E. Jones, Balcomb Greene, Karl Zerbe, Arthur G. Dove, William Zorach, Philip Evergood, Bernard Reder, Herbert Feber, Oliver O'Connor Barrett,Arthur B. Davies, Jose De Rivera, Paul Burlin, Joseph Stella, Jack Tworkov, Ivan Albright, Stuart Davis, Edwin Dickinson, John Quidor, and Niles Spencer.
REELS N646-N694: Artists' files on: Oliver O'Connor Barrett,William Baziotes, George Bellows, Thomas Hart Benton, Peter Blume, James Brooks, Patrick Henry Bruce, Charles Burchfield, Paul Burlin, David Burliuk, Paul Cadmus, Mary Cassatt, Thomas Cole, Glenn Coleman, Jon Corbino, John Steuart Curry, Jo Davidson, Arthur B. Davies, Jose DeCreeft, Charles Demuth, Jose De Rivera, Arthur Dove, Guy Pène du Bois, Stuart Davis, Frank Duveneck, Ralph Earl, Eastman Johnson, The Eight, Philip Evergood, Robert Feke, Lyonel Feininger, Ernest Fiene, George Fuller, Lee Gatch, William Glackens, Arshile Gorky, Balcomb Greene, Chaim Gross, George Grosz, William Harnett, Marsden Hartley, Childe Hassam, John Heliker, Robert Henri, Hans Hofmann, George Inness, Leon Kelly, Franz Kline, Karl Knaths, Leon Kroll, Walt Kuhn, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Gaston Lachaise, Robert Laurent, Ernest Lawson, Jack Levine, Seymour Lipton, George B. Luks,
Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Loren MacIver, John Marin, Reginald Marsh, Alfred Maurer, K. H. Miller, Robert Motherwell, William Mount, Jerome Myers, Louise Nevelson, Georgia O'Keeffe (portions also microfilmed on reels NY59-13 (fr. 98-115, 406-424, 586-685), reel NY59-14 (entire), and reel NY59-15 (fr. 1-140, 145-153), I. Rice Pereira, Bernard Perlin, Joseph Pollett, Jackson Pollock, Reginald Pollack, Henry V. Poor, Richard Pousette-Dart, Maurice Prendergast, Abraham Rattner, Bernard Reder, Ad Reinhardt, William Rimmer, Larry Rivers, Hugo Robus, Theodore Roszak, Mark Rothko, Concetta Scarvaglione, Henry Schnakenberg, Ben Shahn, John Sloan, David Smith, Eugene Speicher, Theodoros Stamos, Joseph Stella, Maurice Sterne, Mark Tobey, Bradley Tomlin,Trajan, Allen Tucker, John Twachtman, Jack Tworkov, Abraham Walkowitz (also on reel NY/59-15) , Max Weber, James M. Whistler, Gertrude Whitney, Grant Wood, Alexander Wyant, Mahonri Young, and William Zorach.
REELS NWH 1-NWH 7: Artist files on Charles Sheeler, Bernard Karfiol, Louis Eilshemius; scatterred records of the Whitney Studio Club and Museum, 1914-1945, including minutes, Oct. 15, 1930, and Whitney Studio ledgers, 1928-1931; catalogs of one-man shows, 1932-1945; catalogs of annual painting exhibitions, 1932-1940, sculpture, watercolor and drawing exhibitions, 1933-1945, and group exhibitions, 1932-1945; and clippings, Oct. 1935-1936.
REELS NY59/8 (fr. 256-end)-NY59/10: Files on Max Weber, including biographical material, lists of work, and miscellany. Also found (NY59/8 frames 354-383) are ca.20 letters from Weber to Abraham Walkowitz, 1907-1924.
Biographical / Historical:
Whitney Museum of American Art is an American art museum in New York, New York. Founded by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and formally opened in 1931. Previous to its opening as a museum it was known as the Whitney Studio Club (1914-28) and Whitney Studio Galleries (1928-30).
Provenance:
The Weber files on reels NY59/8-10 were lent for microfilming 1959 by the Whitney Museum of American Art; the remainder was lent 1964-1967; additional material from the Museum was lent at the same time, and subsequently donated, including the papers of Lloyd Goodrich, Juliana Force, Thomas B. Clarke, the American Art Research Council, and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney; these have each been cataloged separately. Portions of Weber, and O'Keeffe material that was microfilmed in 1959 were refilmed in 1967.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States Search this
Artists -- Exhibitions -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Correspondence with other artists, and a one page autobiographical sketch, 1936.
Correspondents include: Edmond Aman-Jean, Jeanne Baraduc, Terese R. Boissiere, Mary Cassatt, Elizabeth Champney, Frank Dicksee, Joe Evans, Armand Guillemin, Catherine A. and Thomas Janvier, Auguste Rodin, John S. Sargent, and Julian A. Weir.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, craftsperson. Born 1868, died 1952.
Provenance:
Microfilmed 1956 by the Archives of American Art with other art-related papers in the Manuscript Division of the New York Public Library. Included in the microfilming project were selected papers of the Art Division and the Prints Division.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Included are extensive memoirs of William Henry Fox director of the museum for over 25 years; scattered records of the Brooklyn Institute, 1823-1873; catalogs for Brooklyn Museum exhibits (4 1/2 reels) and for exhibits held in various galleries and museums, primarily in N.Y. (14 reels); brief records of the Dept. of Painting and Sculpture primarily relating to Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington; records of the Dept. of Prints and Drawings, mainly regarding exhibitions, including correspondence, much of it with curator Una Johnson, correspondence with art dealers, files on artists, and statistics on exhibitions, 1936-1939; and records of the Registrar's office, 1933-1936, regarding the museum's involvement in the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration, mainly the Graphic Arts Division.
Dept. of Prints & Drawings artists files relate to: Grace Albee, Josef Albers, Glen Alps, Maxil Ballinger, Leonard Baskin, Wilfred Roloff Beny, Fiske Boyd, Robert Broner, Edmond Casarella, Minna Citron, Robert Conover, Worden Day, Arthur Deshaies, Werner Drewes, Antonio Frasconi, Leon Goldin, William Gropper, Stanley William Hayter, Helen West Heller, Margo Hoff, John Paul Jones, Misch Kohn, David Lang, Ezio Martinelli, Seong Moy, Danny Pierce, Rudolph Pozzatti, Peter Sager, Louis Schanker, Karl Schrag, Susanne Suba, Maltby Sykes, Peter Takal, John Von Wicht, Sylvia Wald, Hyman Warsager, Max Weber, Toshi Yoshida, Richard Zoellner, and others.
Other correspondents of note (reels BR21-22) include John Taylor Arms, Mary Cassatt (1 letter, 1903), George Overbury "Pop" Hart, Mrs. Gaston Lachaise, Joseph Pennell (re Whistler), and a group from art dealers.
Also included are papers of and related to Austrian artist Emil Fuchs, including letters regarding commissions, a list of books and prints, and miscellany.
Biographical / Historical:
The Brooklyn Museum had its roots in the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, founded 1823. The Museum was formed in 1889.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1964-1965 by Brooklyn Museum.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Letters to Weitenkampf, mainly from artists and collectors concerning examples of their works in the library's collection.
Among the correspondents are: John Taylor Arms, Samuel Putnam Avery, John W. Beatty, George Bellows, Frank W. Benson, George Biddle, James Britton, George Elmer Browne, Mary Cassatt, Royal Cortissoz, Frederick K. Detwiller, Olin Dows, Kerr Eby, Daniel C. French, Arnold Genthe, George O. Hart, Malvina Hoffman, Edward Hopper, Daniel Huntington, Rockwell Kent, Frederick Keppel, Richard Lahey, Will H. Low, Louis Lozowick, H. Siddons Mowbray, Frank A. Nankivell, Thomas W. Nason, Joseph Pennell, Preston Powers, Henry Ward Ranger, William T. Richards, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Lessing J. Rosenwald,Peter F. Rothermel, William Sartain, George H. Smillie, James D. Smillie, Harry Sternberg, Albert Sterner, Lorado Taft, Abbott H. Thayer, Dwight W. Tryon, Douglas Volk, Olin L. Warner, John F. Weir, Julian A. Weir, Harry Wickey, Irving R. Wiles, Thomas W. Wood, Charles H. Woodbury, George H. Yewell, Mahonri M. Young, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Curator; New York City. Chief of the Prints Division, New York Public Library.
Provenance:
Microfilmed 1956 by the Archives of American Art with other art-related papers in the Manuscript Division of the New York Public Library. Included in the microfilming project were selected papers of the Art Division and the Prints Division.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Letters to Cassatt, from Cassatt, and from and to Cassatt's family and others; a typescript of a family history written by Cassatt's father, and other genealogical and biographical material; and pages from Paris Salon exhibition catalogs of 1872-1876 referencing Cassatt. The materials were primarily in the possession of Art Institute of Chicago curator Frederick Sweet at the time of microfilming; Sweet coordinated the microfilm project with the then newly formed Archives of American Art. The microfilm also identifies the owner at the time of microfilming (1955) and some of Sweet's correspondence concerning permission to microfilm from the various owners.
Among the recipients of letters from Cassatt are Cecilia Beaux, Electra Havemeyer Webb, Mrs. Potter Palmer, Theodate Pope, Mary Gardner Smith, Carroll S. Tyson, Ambroise Vollard, Harris Whittemore, her nephew Robert Kelso Cassatt and his wife Minnie Drexel Fell Cassatt; her sister-in-law Jennie (Mrs. J. Gardner Cassatt); and others. [Microfilm label: Frederick A. Sweet papers]
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming in 1955 by Frederick Sweet, author of the exhibition catalog Sargent, Whistler, and Mary Cassatt (1954) and Miss Mary Cassatt, Impressionist From Pennsylvania (1966). The owners of the letters at the time of microfilming are listed on the microfilm and the inventory. Letters and the typescript family history filmed on CI frames 1-869 were subsequently donated by their owner Mrs. John B. Thayer of Rosemont, Pa. to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1967, and letters from Cassatt to her nephew Robert Kelso Cassatt that were lent by Mr. Alexander Cassatt, Robert's brother in 1955, were subsequently donated to the Archives of American Art in 1986 by Alexander's son, also named Alexander Cassatt (microfilm reel 3684).
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from the owners of the letters. [Frames 1-869 owned by Philadelphia Museum of Art] Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Letters from Haldeman to her family describing her life as an art student in Philadelphia, and mentioning her friend Mary Cassatt. Three letters from Cassatt to Haldeman are also included.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter. Studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Provenance:
Microfilmed with other artists' papers at PAFA as part of the Archives of American Art's Philadelphia project. The memoir of Haldeman's father, Samuel Stehrman Haldeman, an 1862 photograph of students at the PAFA casting a hand, and other materials in the collection were not microfilmed.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Art students -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Research material compiled by Art Institute of Chicago curator and art historian Frederick A. Sweet in preparation for exhibitions and a biography of Mary Cassatt. Included are research notes and manuscripts; Cassatt family biography and tree; Sweet's correspondence and copies and transcripts of letters written by Cassatt; drafts of "Miss Mary Cassatt--Impressionist from Pennsylvania" (Chapters I-XII) and other drafts; exhibition catalogs; clippings and copies of clippings; announcements; and photographic prints of Cassatt, her family, and home (location of originals unknown) and of works of art by Cassatt and Whistler.
Biographical / Historical:
Frederick A. Sweet (b. 1903) was an art historian and museum administrator; Chicago, Illinois. Sweet curated the exhibition and wrote the catalog Sargent, Whistler and Mary Cassatt, held at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1954; James McNeill Whistler : paintings, pastels, watercolors, drawings, etchings, lithographs held at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1968; and wrote the Cassatt biography, Miss Mary Cassatt, impressionist from Pennsylvania (1966).
Related Materials:
Microfilm of additional Mary Cassatt letters (originals), compiled by Frederick A. Sweet in the course of his research, some in his temporary custody, is available at the Archives of American Art (reel C1); originals of some of those letters were subsequently donated to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and to the Archives of American Art.
Provenance:
Donated 1975 by Frederick Sweet.
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:
Arts administrators -- Illinois -- Chicago Search this
This small collection of sixty-three letters written by painter Mary Cassatt dates from 1882 to 1926. The bulk of these letters are to Cassatt's nephew, Robert Kelso Cassatt, and to his wife Minnie regarding family, mutual friends, and travel. The remaining letters are to friends regarding purchases of artwork, travel, and personal news. There is also one newsclipping of Cassett's obituary.
Scope and Contents:
This small collection of sixty-three letters written by painter Mary Cassatt dates from 1882 to 1926. The bulk of these letters are to Cassatt's nephew, Robert Kelso Cassatt, and to his wife Minnie regarding family, mutual friends, and travel. The remaining letters are to friends regarding purchases of artwork, travel, and personal news. There is also one newsclipping of Cassett's obituary.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 1 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Mary Cassatt letters, 1892-1926 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Biographical / Historical:
Painter Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) lived and worked in Paris, France. She is one of the preeminent Impressionists known for her depictions of both the social and domestic lives of women and their children.
Cassatt was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania and began her art studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts at the age of sixteen. In 1865, she traveled to Paris to further her art studies under the private tutelage of Jean-Léon Gérôme and Thomas Couture, and augmented these studies with daily copying at the Louve. From 1868 to 1877, she traveled to Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Holland to view and copy the old masters and produced works that were accepted into the Paris Salon. With the encouragement of Edgar Degas, Cassatt began painting in the avant-garde Impressionist style in 1877. For the next ten years, Cassatt exhibited Impressionist paintings to critical international acclaim. After 1887, she began to experiment with other mediums and techniques, though she continued to focus her subject matter on the lives of women and children. Through the 1890s, she became a mentor to young American artists, acted as an advisor to American art collectors, and served as an ambassador for various art institutions. In 1904, she received France's Légion d'Honneur and continued producing works through the 1900s. In 1915, Cassatt stopped painting due to her failing eyesight, and lived in Le Mesnil-Théribus, France until her death in 1926.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the Frederick A. Sweet research material on Mary Cassatt and James McNeill Whistler; Nancy Hale research material on Mary Cassatt; the Mary Cassatt collection (reel C1); and the Mary Cassatt correspondence with Emily Sartain (reel 3658).
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reel N70-77) including letters written by Cassatt to Eugene Vail and Mabel and Mathilde Valet. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Items in this collection are gifts of various donors. The letters to Peter and Vollard were donated by Charles Feinberg in 1955. The letters to William T. Evans, Miss Lamb, and Miss Stillman were transferred from the National Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institution in 1980. An obituary and the letters to Robert Kelso Cassatt and his wife Minnie were donated by Alexander J. Cassatt Jr., the great nephew of Mary Cassatt, in 1986.
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:
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
The letters of painter Mary Cassatt contain 64 items and date from 1892 to 1926. The bulk of these letters are to Cassatt's nephew, Robert Kelso Cassatt, and to his wife Minnie regarding family, mutual friends, and travels in and around France. The remaining letters discuss updates and sales of artwork, the provenance behind specific works of art, and news of personal events and travels. The series also includes two letters to Robert Cassatt from his grandparents and one clipping of Cassatt's obituary from an unidentified French newspaper.
Arrangement:
Materials are arranged by document type. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by recipient.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Mary Cassatt letters, 1882-1926. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
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.
Collection Citation:
Mary Cassatt letters, 1882-1926. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.