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Catalog Data

Creator:
Coffin, William A. (William Anderson), 1855-1925  Search this
Names:
American Artists' Committee of One Hundred  Search this
American Rights Committee  Search this
Committee for the Exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture (Paris, France)  Search this
Exposition d'artistes de l'école Américaine (1919 : Paris, France)  Search this
Lotos Club (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Musée d'histoire et d'art (Luxembourg)  Search this
Pan-American Exposition (1901: Buffalo, N.Y.)  Search this
Société des artistes français  Search this
Benson, Frank Weston, 1862-1951  Search this
Blashfield, Edwin Howland, 1848-1936  Search this
Bouché, Louis, 1896-1969  Search this
Cortissoz, Royal, 1869-1948  Search this
Gay, Walter, 1856-1937  Search this
Gussow, Bernard, 1881-1957  Search this
Mauer, Alfred  Search this
Stella, Joseph, 1877-1946  Search this
Warren, Whitney, 1864-1943  Search this
Zorach, William, 1887-1966  Search this
Extent:
1.6 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Date:
1886-1924
Summary:
The papers of New York painter and art critic William Anderson Coffin date from 1886-1924 and measure 1.6 linear feet. Found within the papers are scattered biographical materials and correspondence, project files for the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, the American Artist's Committee of One Hundred, and the exhibition of works by American Artists at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris, three additional scrapbooks, printed material, and photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of New York painter and art critic William Anderson Coffin date from 1886 to 1924 and measure 1.6 linear feet. Found within the papers are scattered biographical materials and correspondence; project files for the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, the American Artist's Committee of One Hundred, and the exhibition of works by American Artists at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris; three additional scrapbooks; printed material; and photographs. Scattered biographical material includes membership cards and an autobiographical essay. Correspondence is with colleagues and related generally to receptions and events, including an invitation to the launch of the U. S. Battleship Arizona. There are one or two letters each from Frank W. Benson, Edwin Howland Blashfield, Royal Cortissoz, Walter Gay, and Whitney Warren. Three series of project files document Coffin's work for the Fine Arts Division of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, the American Artists' Committee of One Hundred that established a relief fund for families of French soldier-artists, and an exhibition of artwork by American Artists at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris. Files contain a variety of materials, such as letters, drafts of reports, meeting minutes, photographs, catalogs and brochures, and other materials. There are two oversized scrapbooks for the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition. The files for the Luxembourg Museum exhibition include a letter signed by Louis Bouché, Bernard Gussow, Alfred H. Maurer, Joseph Stella, and William Zorach protesting the exclusion of their work. Three additional scrapbooks contain clippings of articles written by Coffin when he was employed as an art critic for The New York Evening Post, Harper's Weekly, and The New York Sun. Printed material consists of miscellaneous clippings primarily about Coffin, programs from American Rights Committee exercises, a Dixie Club of New York concert, a Lotos Club concert, the Lafayette-Marne Anniversary exercises, and souvenir tickets to various art-related events including several Paris Salon Vernissage events sponsored by the Société des Artistes Francais. Photographs include an album of photographs of Coffin, various family members, and residences; a photograph of Coffin posing with an unidentified group of his colleagues; and photographs of family friends. Project files also contain photographs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series: Missing Title Series 1: Biographical Material, 1916-1922 (2 folders; Box 1) Series 2: Correspondence, 1915-1924 (8 folders; Box 1) Series 3: Project File for the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, 1900-1901 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1-2) Series 4: Project File for the American Artists' Committee of One Hundred, 1914-1923 (14 folders; Box 1) Series 5: Project File for the Exhibition of Works by American Artists at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris, 1919-1920 (11 folders; Box 1) Series 6: Scrapbooks of Clippings of Articles Written by Coffin, 1886-1913 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2) Series 7: Printed Material, 1912-1924 (6 folders; Box 1) Series 8: Photographs, 1905-1923 (10 folders; Box 1)
Biographical Note:
William Anderson Coffin (1855-1925) of New York City was a landscape and figure painter and art critic. He organized several notable exhibitions and art-related charitable events for relief work in post-World War I France. William Anderson Coffin was born near Pittsburgh in Allegheny, Pennsylvania on January 31, 1855, the son of Isabella C. Anderson and James Gardiner Coffin. Coffin studied art and graduated from Yale University in 1874. Three years later, he left for Paris and studied with academic artist Léon Bonnat. Coffin exhibited in the Paris Salons of 1879, 1880, and 1882. In 1882, Coffin moved to New York City, participating in many exhibitions, including at the National Academy of Design. He also wrote as an art critic for Scribner's and Harper's Weekly, among other publications. From 1886 to 1891, he was art critic for The New York Evening Post, and was art editor at the New York Sun from 1896 to 1901. Coffin directed the Fine Arts Division of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo from 1900 to 1901, and participated as a member of the New York Advisory Board of the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915. Coffin was also president of the American Artists' Committee of One Hundred that established a relief fund for families of French soldier-artists. For this charitable work, Coffin received the medal of the Legion of Honor from the French government in 1917. Coffin was a member of various arts organizations including the Lotos Club, the Architectural League of New York, and the National Academy of Design. His artwork is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Municipal Gallery of Venice, Italy, the Albright Art Gallery, and the Brooklyn Museum. William Anderson Coffin died on October 26, 1925 in New York City.
Provenance:
The William Anderson Coffin papers were donated in 1970 by Stewart Klonis to whom the papers were given by Mrs. DeWitt M. Lockman of Manorville, Long Island, New York.
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.
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 critics -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Painters  Search this
Art critics -- France -- Paris  Search this
Topic:
Art Exhibitions France Paris  Search this
Landscape painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Art, American  Search this
World War, 1914-1918  Search this
Genre/Form:
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Citation:
William Anderson Coffin papers, 1886-1924. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.coffwill
See more items in:
William Anderson Coffin papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9d3d0e7d8-2438-4166-8a9d-0ede449d88cd
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-coffwill