United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Journalists
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
4.8 Linear feet
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series: Series 1: Biographical Material, 1863-1892, 1921 (Box 1, OV 10; 4 folders) Series 2: Letters,1861-circa 1920 (Boxes 1-2; 1.3 linear feet) Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1860-circa 1900 (Boxes 2-3, 6; 0.4 linear feet) Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1869-1905 (Box 3; 4 folders) Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1860s-1929 (Box 3; 10 folders) Series 6: Artwork and Sketchbooks, 1856-1917 (Box 4, OVs 10-11; 0.5 linear feet) Series 7: Photographic Material, 1860-circa 1910 (Boxes 5-9, BV 12; 2.0 linear feet)
Access Note / Rights:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Summary:
The papers of painter Henry Mosler (1841-1920), who began his career in Cincinnati, Ohio, lived in Germany and Paris for at least 2 decades, and finally settled in New York, measure 4.8 linear feet and date from 1856-1929. The collection documents Mosler's life and career through biographical material, personal and professional letters from members of the military, museums, family, friends and colleagues, writings including an 1862 Civil War diary, personal business records, printed material, artwork and sketchbooks, and photographs of Mosler, his family, colleagues and artwork.
Citation:
Henry Mosler papers, 1856-1929. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Funding:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Joseph F. McCrindle 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.
Biography Note:
Henry Mosler (1841-1920) worked primarily in Ohio, New York City, and Europe as a painter of portraits and scenes of rural life in Europe. Mosler served as an artist correspondent for Harper's Weekly during the Civil War.
Born in Silesia (Poland) in 1841, Henry Mosler immigrated to New York City with his family in 1849. In the early 1850s the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Mosler received art instruction from James Henry Beard, becoming an accomplished portrait painter and an active participant in the Cincinnati art scene.
Following the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Mosler became an artist correspondent for Harper's Weekly , documenting the Western Theater in Kentucky and Tennessee. He served as a volunteer aide-de-camp with the army of Ohio from 1861-1863 and was present at the engagement at Green River, and "present and under fire" at the battles of Shiloh and Perryville.
Immediately thereafter, Mosler relocated to Dusseldorf for two years and attended the Royal Academy, followed by six months in Paris where he studied with painter Ernest Hébert. In 1866 Mosler returned to Cincinnatti where his portraits and genre scenes enjoyed growing popularity.
In 1875 Mosler traveled to Munich and two years later settled in Paris from where he enjoyed critical and financial success both in Europe and in the United States. Mosler was known for his genre paintings of peasant life in rural Brittany and he became a regular participant in Salon exhibitions and won honorable mention in the Salon of 1879, when his painting Le Retour , became the first work by an American artist to be purchased by the French government. In 1888 he won the gold medal at the Paris Salon and in 1892 he was made chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur and officier de l'Académie.
Mosler returned to the United States temporarily during this period, including a trip in 1885-1886 to visit the West and collect material for paintings of Native American life.
In 1894 Mosler returned to the United States and settled in New York, where he became a popular teacher and an active participant in the New York art scene. In 1895 he was made an associate member of the National Academy of Design, and in his last decades took up landscape painting during summers in the Catskill mountains, and produced genre paintings depicting scenes from colonial and rural life. Mosler continued to enjoy widespread popularity until his death in 1920.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
The bulk of the collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by J. F. McCrindle, a great-grandson of Mosler, in 1976 and 1977, having been previously lent to AAA for microfilming. A photograph album was donated in 1993 by Paul M. Hertzmann, a dealer who acquired it through purchase. Additional materials were donated in 2008 and 2009 by McCrindle via John T. Rowe, president and CEO of the Joseph F. McCrindle Foundation.
Digitization Note:
This site provides access to the papers of Henry Mosler in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2012, and total 2,680 images.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
