The collection is arranged as 1 series. Series 1: John Gellatly Letters Received from Artists, 1887-1931 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Access Note / Rights:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Summary:
The John Gellatly letters received from artists measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1887 to 1931. Found within the collection are 120 letters to Gellatly from Emma and Abbott H. Thayer, Frederick S. Church, Irving Wiles, Albert Pinkham Ryder, C. E. S. Wood, and George Grey Barnard. Some of the letters contain sketches, particularly those from Church. Topics include the price and progress of artworks, requests for commissions, mutual friendships, and daily events. There are also two copies of the poem "The Flying Dutchman" by Albert P. Ryder.
Citation:
John Gellatly letters received from artists, 1887-1931. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
The collection was digitized in its entirety in 2016 and is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Funding:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Use Note:
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.
Biography Note:
Art collector John Gellatly (1853-1931) lived in New York City, N.Y. and established a real estate and insurance business in 1885. An art enthusiast, Gellatly furthered his interests by enrolling in classes. There, he would meet his future wife, the heiress Edith Rogers, whom he married in 1886. Together, they began collecting decorative art objects and contemporary paintings, including works by Albert P. Ryder, Abbott Thayer, and Childe Hassam. After Edith's death in 1917, Gellatly continued to collect art and eventually gifted the 1,640 objects and paintings in his collection to the Smithsonian in 1929. He died of complications from pneumonia in 1931.
Language Note:
The collection is in English.
Provenance:
The collection was initially bought by art historian Thomas Brumbaugh of Vanderbilt University from Walter R. Benjamin Autographs of Madison Avenue, and subsequently acquired in 1978 by the National Collection of Fine Arts, now the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Shortly thereafter, the letters were transferred to the Archives of American Art.
Digitization Note:
This site provides access to the artist letters of John Gellatly in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2016, and total 335 images.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
