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Catalog Data

Creator:
Bohm, Max, 1868-1923  Search this
Subject:
Macbeth, Robert W. (Robert Walker)  Search this
Hunt, Clyde du Vernet  Search this
Longyear, Mary Beecher  Search this
Locke, Esther Bohm  Search this
Bohm, Zella Newcomb  Search this
Macbeth, William  Search this
Beachcombers (Organization)  Search this
Salmagundi Club  Search this
Type:
Motion pictures (visual works)
Sketchbooks
Sketches
Paintings
Photographs
Drawings
Diaries
Place:
France -- description and travel
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
5.6 Linear feet
Arrangement:
The papers have been organized into 8 series. Series 1: Biographical Material, 1898-1970 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1, OV 8) Series 2: Correspondence, 1880-1955 (3.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-4, 7) Series 3: Business Records, 1910-1930 (0.2 linear feet; Box 4) Series 4: Diaries, 1887-1916 (0.2 linear feet; Box 4) Series 5: Notes and Writings, 1882-circa 1970 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 4, 7) Series 6: Art Work, 1873-1951 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 4-5, 7, OVs 8-10) Series 7: Printed Material and Motion Picture Film, 1886-1957 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 5-7, FC 11-12) Series 8: Photographs, 1886-1959 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 6-7)
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 papers of painter Max Bohm measure 5.6 linear feet and date from 1873-1970, with the bulk of the material dating from 1880-1959. Biographical material includes a file concerning the Provincetown artist's club The Beachcombers. Also found is detailed family correspondence, as well as general correspondence that includes exchanges with patron Mary Beecher Longyear and dealer William Macbeth. The papers contain scattered business records; five diaries written by Bohm's wife Zella; other notes and writings; art work including fifteen sketchbooks, loose drawings, and oil paintings; printed material; and photographs of Bohm, his family, and colleagues including artists attending a Salmagundi dinner. There is also a motion picture film Six Foot Art, in Which Max Bohm, Member of the National Academy Tells How He Does It .
Citation:
Max Bohm papers, 1873-1970, bulk 1880-1959. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2017 and is available on the Archives of American Art's website. Materials which have not been scanned include blank pages, blank versos of photographs, and duplicates. In some cases, exhibition catalogs and other publications have had their covers, title pages, and relevant pages scanned.
Material lent for microfilming are available on 35 mm microfilm reels 420-421 at the Archives of American Art offices and for interlibrary loan.
Funding:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and 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.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels 420-421) including biographical material, scattered letters, notes and writings, drawings, clippings, exhibition catalogs, booklets, a scrapbooks, and photographs of Bohm, his family, colleagues, and residences. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
The original <em>Six Foot Art</em> film was also transferred to 16mm and 35mm film reels in the 1970s, but is not in the collection.
Biography Note:
Max Bohm was born on January 21, 1868, in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Henry and Emilie Bohm.
Bohm began his study of art in 1887 when he accompanied his aunt, Anna Stuhr, on the first of several voyages to France. He studied in artist communities in Brittany and in Paris at the Académie Julian with Boulanger, Lefebvre, and Benjamin Constant. He also traveled to Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany.
In 1895, Bohm attended an open school of painting in Etaples on the coast of France, and during the winter months he taught painting at a school in London, England. His painting En Mer was awarded the Gold Medal by the Paris Salon of 1897.
While teaching in Etaples in 1898, Bohm married one of his pupils, Zella Newcomb, an art teacher from Carlton College in Minnesota. In 1900, the Bohms traveled to Italy for several months before returning to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Bohm established a studio. After trying to find affordable studio and living space in New York City, Bohm moved his family back to France in 1902. Bohm established a studio in Paris for two years and during the summer months his wife and children moved to the less expensive and cooler coastal towns of France. Bohm continued to display his work in the annual Paris Salons.
From 1905 until the summer of 1908, the Bohm family lived primarily in England. In 1909, Bohm entered and won the Cleveland Court House mural competition, prompting the family to return to the United States for several months. They returned to Paris the following year, where Bohm established a studio and worked on the Cleveland Court House mural. Again, Bohm's wife and children would live in French coastal towns, while Bohm was on extended visits to Paris, London, or the United States.
Sometime around 1911, Bohm became acquainted with Mrs. Mary Beecher Longyear, a wealthy follower of Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science. Over the next decade, Mrs. Longyear commissioned many works by Bohm and supported his career. In May of 1912 Bohm's mural, First New England Town Meeting , was installed in the new Cleveland Court House and arrangements were made with Macbeth Galleries to exhibit Bohm's work. Late in 1913, Bohm became involved with the Pan-Pacific International Exposition where his painting Promenade won the Gold Medal in 1915.
During World War I, the Bohm family fled France and temporarily settled in Tuckahoe, New York, and Bohm made frequent visits to his patron, Mrs. Longyear, in Boston. In 1916, the Knoedler Gallery exhibited Bohm's murals for Mrs. Longyear's music room. Also during this time, the family enjoyed spending summers in Provincetown, where Bohm joined The Beachcombers, an organization of artists.
In 1919, the Bohms built a house in Bronxville, New York, for easy access to New York City, while simultaneously purchasing a cottage in Provincetown. While the house was being constructed, Zella and the children became boarders in the home of painter Spencer Nichols, who also lived in Bronxville. During this year, Max Bohm, Jr., entered Harvard University while Mrs. Longyear continued to provide commissions for Max Bohm's art work.
Between 1922 and 1923, Bohm had exhibitions in Greenwich, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., and at the Grand Central Galleries, with his painting En Mer being exhibited at the National Academy of Design.
Max Bohm died on September 19, 1923 in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Language Note:
Collection is in English, German, and French.
Provenance:
Kathryn Esther Locke and Elizabeth Schwarz, the artist's daughters, lent the material on microfilm reels 420-421 and donated papers in 1972.
Digitization Note:
This site provides access to the papers of Max Bohm in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2017, and total 9,650 images.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
World War, 1914-1918  Search this
Art -- Philosophy  Search this
Christian Scientists  Search this
Painting, American -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8893
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211078
AAA_collcode_bohmmax
Theme:
Diaries
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211078