The papers of the painter, muralist, and illustrator John White Alexander measure 11.9 linear feet and date from 1775 to 1968, with the bulk of materials dating from 1870 to 1915. Papers document Alexander's artistic career and many connections to figures in the art world through biographical documentation, correspondence (some illustrated), writings, 14 sketchbooks, additonal artwork and loose sketches, scrapbooks, photographs, awards and medals, artifacts, and other records. Also found is a souvenir engraving of a Mark Twain self-portrait.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of the painter, muralist, and illustrator John White Alexander measure 11.9 linear feet and date from 1775 to 1968, with the bulk of materials dating from 1870 to 1915. Papers document Alexander's artistic career and many connections to figures in the art world through biographical documentation, correspondence (some illustrated), writings, 14 sketchbooks, additonal artwork and loose sketches, scrapbooks, photographs, awards and medals, artifacts, and other records. Also found is a souvenir engraving of a Mark Twain self-portrait.
Biographical Information includes multiple essays related to Alexander, his family, and others in his circle. Also found is an extensive oral history of Alexander's wife Elizabeth conducted in 1928. Correspondence includes letters written by Alexander to his family from New York and Europe at the start of his career, and later letters from fellow artists, art world leaders, and portrait sitters of Alexander's. Significant correspondents include Charles Dana Gibson, Florence Levy, Frederick Remington, Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry James, John La Farge, Francis Davis Millet, and Andrew Carnegie. Correspondence includes some small sketches as enclosures and illustrated letters.
Certificates and records related to Alexander's career are found in Associations and Memberships, Legal and Financial Records, and Notes and Writings, which contain documentation of Alexander's paintings and exhibitions. Scattered documentation of Alexander's memberships in various arts association exists for the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Academy in Rome, the National Academy of Design, the Onteora Club in New York, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany, the Ministère de L'Instruction Publique et des Beaux-Arts, the Union Internationale des Beaux Arts et des Lettres, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Notes and Writings include speeches written by Alexander, short stories and essays written by his wife, and articles by various authors about Alexander. Extensive documentation of the planning and construction of the Alexander Memorial Studio by the MacDowell Club is found, along with other awards, medals, and memorial resolutions adopted by arts organizations after Alexander's death.
Artwork includes fourteen sketchbooks with sketches related to Alexander's commercial illustration and cartooning, murals, paintings, and travels. Dozens of loose drawings and sketches are also found, along with two volumes and several dozen loose reproductions of artwork, among which are found fine prints by named printmakers. Many sketches are also interspersed throughout the correspondence. Eight Scrapbooks contain mostly clippings, but also scattered letters, exhbition catalogs, announcements, invitations, and photographs related to Alexander's career between 1877 and 1915. Additional Exhibition Catalogs and later clippings, as well as clippings related to the career of his wife and other subjects, are found in Printed Materials.
Photographs include many portraits of Alexander taken by accomplished photographers such as Zaida Ben-Yusuf, Aimé Dupont, Curtis Bell, Elizabeth Buehrmann, and several signed Miss Huggins, who may have been Estelle Huntington Huggins, a New York painter and photographer. Portraits of others include Alexander's friends William Merritt Chase and Edward Austin Abbey. Also found are photographs of groups, juries, family, friends, and studios in New York, Paris, and New Jersey, and a handful of scenic photographs of Polling, Bavaria, where Alexander had an early studio. A large number of photographs of works of art are found, many with annotations. Among the photographs of murals are a small collection of snapshots of the Carnegie Institute murals in progress. Miscellaneous artifacts include a palette, several printing plates, and an inscribed souvenir engraving of a self-portrait caricature of Mark Twain.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 11 series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Information, circa 1887-1968 (Box 1, OV 23; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1870-1942 (Box 1; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Associations and Memberships, circa 1897-1918 (Box 1; 2 folders)
Series 4: Legal and Financial Records, 1775, 1896-1923 (Box 1; 5 folders)
Series 5: Notes and Writings, circa 1875-1943 (Boxes 1-2; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 6: Awards and Memorials, circa 1870-1944 (Box 2, OV 24; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1875-1915 (Boxes 2-3, 6, 14-16, OV 23; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, circa 1877-1915 (Boxes 17-22; 1.8 linear feet)
Series 9: Printed Materials, circa 1891-1945 (Boxes 3-4, OV 23; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographs, circa 1870-1915 (Boxes 4-8, MGP 1-2, OV 25-43, RD 44-45; 4.2 linear feet)
Series 11: Artifacts, circa 1899-1915 (Box 6, artifact cabinet; 0.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
John White Alexander was born in 1856 in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. He was orphaned at age five and taken in by relatives of limited means. When Alexander left school and began working at a telegraph company, the company's vice-president, former civil war Colonel Edward Jay Allen, took an interest in his welfare. Allen became his legal guardian, brought him into the Allen household, and saw that he finished Pittsburgh High School. At eighteen, he moved to New York City and was hired by Harper and Brothers as an office boy in the art department. He was soon promoted to apprentice illustrator under staff artists such as Edwin A. Abbey and Charles Reinhart. During his time at Harpers, Alexander was sent out on assignment to illustrate events such as the Philadelphia Centennial celebration in 1876 and the Pittsburgh Railroad Strike in 1877, which erupted in violence.
Alexander carefully saved money from his illustration work and traveled to Europe in 1877 for further art training. He first enrolled in the Royal Art Academy of Munich, Germany, but soon moved to the village of Polling, where a colony of American artists was at its peak in the late 1870s. Alexander established a painting studio there and stayed for about a year. Despite his absence from the Munich Academy, he won the medal of the drawing class for 1878, the first of many honors. While in Polling, he became acquainted with J. Frank Currier, Frank Duveneck, William Merritt Chase, and other regular visitors to the colony. He later shared a studio and taught a painting class in Florence with Duveneck and traveled to Venice, where he met James Abbott McNeill Whistler.
Alexander returned to New York in 1881 and resumed his commercial artwork for Harpers and Century. Harpers sent him down the Mississippi river to complete a series of sketches. He also began to receive commissions for portraits, and in the 1880s painted Charles Dewitt Bridgman, a daughter of one of the Harper brothers, Parke Godwin, Thurlow Weed, Walt Whitman, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Alexander met his wife Elizabeth, whose maiden name was also Alexander, through her father, James W. Alexander, who was sometimes mistaken for the artist. Elizabeth and John White Alexander married in 1887 and had a son, James, in 1888.
Alexander and his family sailed for France in 1890, where they became a part of the lively literary and artistic scene in Paris at the time. Among their many contacts there were Puvis de Chavannes, Auguste Rodin, and Whistler, who arrived in Paris shortly thereafter. Alexander absorbed the new aesthetic ideas around him such as those of the symbolists and the decorative style of art nouveau. Critics often note how such ideas are reflected in his boldly composed paintings of women from this period, who titles drew attention to the sensual and natural elements of the paintings. His first exhibition in Paris was three paintings at the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts in 1893, and by 1895 he has become a full member of the Société.
Independent and secession artist societies emerged throughout Europe during this period, and Alexander exhibited with several of them, including the Société Nouvelle in Paris, the Munich Secession, and the Vienna Secession. He was also elected an honorary member of the Royal Society of Belgian Artists and the Royal Society of British Painters in London. His exhibited works sold well, and his influence began to be felt back in the United States. Andrew Carnegie and John Beatty of the Carnegie Institute consulted closely with Alexander in the planning and execution of the first Carnegie International Exhibitions. Alexander also became active in supporting younger American artists who wanted to exhibit in Europe, a stance which resulted in his resignation from the Society of American Artists in Paris, which he felt had become a barrier to younger artists. His promotion of American art became an central aspect of his career for the remainder of his life, most visibly through his presidency of the National Academy of Design from 1909 until shortly before his death in 1915. He also served frequently on juries for high-profile exhibitions, and was a trustee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, and the national Institute of Arts and Letters. Around 1912, he helped to form the School Art League in New York, which provided art instruction to high school students.
Alexander returned to the United States nearly every summer while based in Paris, and among his commissioned paintings were murals for the newly-constructed Library of Congress, completed around 1896. In 1901, the Alexanders returned to New York permanently. The demand for portraits continued, and he had his first solo exhibition at the Durand-Ruel Galleries in 1902. Around 1905 he received a commission for murals at the new Carnegie Institute building in Pittsburgh for the astounding sum of $175,000. He created 48 panels there through 1908. During this period, the Alexanders spent summers in Onteora, New York, where Alexander painted his well-known "Sunlight" paintings. There they became friends and collaborators with the actress Maude Adams, with Alexander designing lighting and stage sets, and Elizabeth Alexander designing costumes for Adams' productions such as Peter Pan, the Maid of Orleans, and Chanticleer. The couple became known for their "theatricals" or tableaux, staged at the MacDowell Club and elsewhere, and Elizabeth Alexander continued her design career when her husband died in 1915.
Alexander left several commissions unfinished upon his death at age 59, including murals in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Elizabeth Alexander held a memorial exhibition at Arden Galleries a few months after his death, and a larger memorial exhibition was held by the Carnegie Institute in 1916. Alexander won dozens of awards for artwork in his lifetime, including the Lippincott Prize at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1899, the Gold Medal of Honor at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900, the Gold Medal at the Panama Pacific Exposition of 1901, and the Medal of the First Class at the Carnegie Institute International Exhibition in 1911. In 1923, the Alexander Memorial Studio was built at the MacDowell colony in New Hampshire to honor his memory.
Provenance:
Papers were donated in 1978 and 1981 by Irina Reed, Alexander's granddaughter and in 2017 by Elizabeth Reed, Alexander's great grandaughter.
Restrictions:
Use of the original papers requires an appointment. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and not served to researchers.
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.
Topic:
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Portrait painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
John White Alexander papers, 1775-1968, bulk 1870-1915. 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. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
The Francis Davis Millet and Millet family papers measure 3.3 linear feet and are dated 1858-1984, with a few scattered early eighteenth-century items, such as legal documents and printed matter. The bulk of the materials dates from 1858 to 1955. Found are biographical materials, diaries/journals, family letters, notes and writings, art work, printed matter, miscellaneous records, and photographs documenting Millet's wide-ranging artistic and writing career and personal life, including his death aboard the Titanic. Also of interest are approximately twenty ink caricatures attributed to John Singer Sargent.
Scope and Content Note:
The Francis Davis Millet and Millet family papers measure 3.3 linear feet and are dated 1858-1984, with a few scattered early eighteenth-century items, such as legal documents and printed matter. The bulk of the material dates from 1858 to 1955. Found are biographical materials, diaries/journals, family letters, notes and writings, art work, printed matter, miscellaneous records, and photographs documenting Millet's wide-ranging artistic and writing career and personal life, including his death aboard the Titanic. Also of interest are approximately twenty ink caricatures attributed to John Singer Sargent.
Biographical material consists of biographical and genealogical notes; also, memorial resolutions, invitations, and programs with several related items tipped in. Diaries/journals for the period 1858-1911 (16 vols., plus excerpts and transcripts) record Civil War experiences, the Russo-Turkish War, travels throughout Europe, to the northwest United States and Alaska, the Orient, and Panama.
Letters from F. D. Millet to his family date from his years at Harvard, art training in Antwerp, residence in Italy, and service as a correspondent during the Russo-Turkish War. Millet's letters include a few received from friends and associates, original letters sent by Millet to others, along with typescript copies of incoming letters. Also included is a file of letters addressed to Millet and others concerning the purchase and restoration of the Grange, his Broadway studio. There are four letters from Millet to his girlfriend Velma Marie Morse and scattered letters to Velma's father, A.P. Morse, and Fred Chapman. Photocopies of letters from sister Kathleen Millet to her friend Margherita describe her brother's adventures during the Russo-Turkish War, and include an account of his wedding. His sister Lucia Millet's letters to her family were written while she was in England living as a member of her brother's household, and are rich with details of Frank's daily life, work, travels, friends, and the American colony in Broadway. The letters of Lily Millet consist mainly of condolence messages sent upon the death of her husband, but also include letters from Samuel L. Clemens, Henry James, Ellen Terry [Carew], Charles Dudly Warner, her children, and others.
Included in the collection are Millet's extensive research notes about costumes and artifacts of various historical periods and locations that served as reference for details in his murals. Also included are his notebooks about Italian art, Bulgarian history and costume, and the Philippines. Writings by Millet consist of articles, short stories, lectures and speeches. Writings about him include texts by various relatives (all but one are unpublished). The most extensive written piece is by niece Hilda Millet Booth and son John [Albert] Parsons Millet, and is accompanied by early drafts, notes, and related correspondence.
Art work by Millet includes twelve volumes of sketchbooks dating from his student days in Antwerp through 1896, along with loose sketches, drawings, and two watercolors. Most were executed while traveling, and include landscapes, building, and local peoples. Works by other artists include 20 caricatures drawn in ink, attributed to John Singer Sargent.
Among the printed matter are newspaper articles by F. D. Millet, along with clippings about or mentioning him, reproductions, exhibition catalogs and announcements. Of interest are Vienna Exposition memorabilia, and a full length biography, Soldier of Fortune: F. D. Millet, 1846-1912 by granddaughter Joyce A. Sharpey-Schafer. Miscellaneous records include drawings sketches, notes, printed matter, and photographs relating to the Abbot's Grange in Broadway that served as Millet's studio.
Photographs of people include F. D. Millet, his father Asa Millet with granddaughter Kate, and Mary Anderson. Photographs of works of art are by Millet and other artists.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into eight series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical material, circa 1864-1934 (Box 1, OV 5; 6 folders; Reel 5903)
Series 2: Diaries/Journals of Francis Davis Millet, 1858-1911 (Box 1; 0.5 linear ft.; Reels 5903-5904)
Series 3: Letters, 1867-1915, undated (Boxes 1-2; 0.5 linear ft.; Reel 5904)
Series 4: Notes and Writings, 1891-1970, undated (Box 3; 1.0 linear ft.; Reels 5904-5906)
Series 5: Art Work, 1872-1908, undated (Box 4; 0.5 linear ft.; Reels 5906-5907)
Series 6: Printed Matter, 1764-1984, undated (Box 4; 0.25 linear ft.; Reel 5907 and unfilmed)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1883-circa 1910, undated (Box 4; 7 folders; Reel 5907)
Biographical Note:
During his lifetime, Francis Davis Millet (1846-1912), always known as Frank, was a prominent artist who was well known for murals that contained exactingly accurate historical details. His broad-ranging career included work with worlds' fairs in Vienna, Chicago, Paris, and Tokyo as a juror, administrator, mural painter/decorator, or advisor. In addition, Frank Millet was a newspaper writer who published short stories and enjoyed adventures as a war correspondent during the Russo-Turkish War and in the Philippines during the Spanish American War.
Millet was among the founders of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and was influential in the early days of the American Federation of Arts. Millet was involved with the American Academy in Rome from its inception and served as Secretary from 1904-1911. In 1911, Millet went to Rome as Chief Administrator of the newly combined Schools of Fine Arts and Classical Studies. He died aboard the Titanic while traveling to New York City on Academy business.
Missing Title
1846 -- born in Mattapoisett, Mass.
1864 -- enlisted as a private in the 60th Massachusetts Militia during Civil War, serving as a drummer; also acted as a surgical assistant to his physician father in the army of the Potomac
1869 -- graduated from Harvard University, where he studied modern languages and literature
1869-1870 -- learned lithography while working on the Boston Advertiser
1871-1872 -- studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp, where he won the silver medal (1871) and was awarded the gold medal (1872); traveled through Germany with 3 other American Students
1873 -- Secretary to Charles Francis Adams, Jr., Massachusetts' commissioner to the Vienna Exposition member of the Vienna Exposition; jury correspondent for the New York Herald and the New York Tribune; traveled through southern Europe and Turkey
1873-1874 -- traveled in Greece, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany
1875 -- toured Italy; returned to Boston and set up a studio on Tremont Street
1876 -- exhibited The Bay of Naples at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, where he represented the Boston Advertiser and was a correspondent for the American Architect and Building News; assisted John La Farge in decorating Trinity Church, Boston; founded the School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts with La Farge and W. M. Hunt
1877 -- exhibited portraits of Charles Francis Adams, Jr. and Samuel L. Clements at the National Academy of Design
1877-1878 -- special war correspondent to the New York Herald and Times of London, and special artist to the London Graphic, reporting on the Russo-Turkish War; Russia awarded him the Cross of St. Stanislaus and the Cross of St. Anne for military advice and exceptional service (informing Russian officers of a ford that would allow them to cross into Turkey more easily) and the Iron Cross of Romania
1878 -- returned to Paris to paint; served on fine arts jury at the Exposition Universelle in Paris; exhibited in the Paris Salon and at the British Royal Academy
1879 -- married Elizabeth (Lily) Greeley Merrill in Paris; returned to the United States, settling in East Bridgewater, Mass., where he set up a studio that included an accurate reconstruction of a colonial era kitchen
1880 -- lectured on costumes at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; birth of daughter, Katharine Field; became a member of the Society of American Artists; worked with Louis Comfort Tiffany on the decoration of the Seventh Regiment Armory, New York City
1881 -- shared studio in New York with Edwin Austin Abbey; birth of son, Edwin Abbey; commissioned by the Class of 1861 to design two windows for Harvard University Memorial Hall
1882 -- traveled in northern German and Scandinavia with Edwin Austin Abbey and R. Swain Gifford; elected an Associate member of the National Academy of Design
1883 -- traveled to England
1884 -- birth of Laurance, in London; settled with family in Broadway, Worcestershire (spending the winters of the next decade in New York); along with Edwin Austen Abbey, John Singer Sargent, and Alfred Parsons, he established a colony that at various times included Edwin Howland Blashfield, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, and Henry James, along with various other writers, actors, musicians
1885 -- traveled with Charles Francis Adams, Jr. throughout the U.S. and its territories, and to Mexico; elected a National Academician, National Academy of Design
1886 -- purchased "Russell House," that became his permanent home in Broadway, Worcestershire; and moved studio to "Abbot's Grange"
1887 -- translated "Sebastopol" by Tolstoy from French to English for publication
1888 -- birth of John Alfred Parsons
1889 -- awarded silver medal, Salon des Artistes, Paris
1890 -- published a collection of short stories, A Capillary Crime and Other Tales; purchased the "Abbot's Grange" that had been serving as his studio for the previous four years
1891 -- elected vice-president of National Academy of Design; for Harper's Magazine traveled with Alfred Parsons and Poultney Bigelow on a trip down the Danube in one-man canoes, from the Black Forest to the Black Sea (their illustrated narrative was published in the magazine, Feb.-May 1892; the following year, it appeared in book form as From the Black Forest to the Black Sea)
1892-1893 -- director of decorations for the White City of the World's Columbian Exposition, acting as a close advisor to the fair's architect Daniel Burnham; served on New York jury of the Columbian Exposition; once the Exposition opened, he served as Director of Functions and Ceremonies and also provided public relations and advertising services
1897 -- completed restoring "Abbot's Grange" to its 16th century appearance; completed lunette, Agriculture, commissioned for the Bank of Pittsburgh
1898 -- went to the Philippines to cover the Spanish American War as a special correspondent to Harper's Weekly, the London Times, and the New York Sun
1899 -- published Expedition to the Philippines, P. Bigelow, co-author
1900 -- appointed U. S. representative to the Paris Universal International Exposition where he was in charge of decoration of the Government Pavilion, and was a member of the Jury of Selection and the Fine Arts Jury; awarded Chevalier de la Legion of Hounneur by the French government in appreciation for his services to the Paris Exposition
1905 -- traveled to northwest United States, Alaska, and British Columbia; completed mural, The Treaty of the Traverse des Sioux, July 23, 1851, commissioned for the Minnesota State Capitol; became a charter member of the American Academy in Rome
1906 -- traveled to North Africa, Italy, and France
1907 -- completed mural, The Fourth Minnesota Regiment Entering Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, commissioned for the Minnesota State Capitol; completed mural, Foreman of the Grand Jury Rebuking the Chief Justice of New Jersey, 1774, commissioned for the Essex County Courthouse, Newark, New Jersey; traveled to Cuba
1908 -- completed The History of Shipping from the Earliest Recorded Use of Boats until the Present Time commissioned to decorate the ceiling of the Custom House, Baltimore; traveled to Japan as Special Commissioner to the proposed World's Fair in Tokyo [the fair was never held]; awarded "First Class Order of the Sacred Treasure" by the Japanese government; additional travel to Germany, Italy, Russia, Turkey, and China; elected Secretary of the American Academy in Rome; elected a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters
1909 -- completed frieze of 13 panels, The History of the Settlement of Ohio, and several portraits commissioned by the Cleveland Trust Company; also responsible for the general color scheme of the building; completed frieze of 35 panels, The History of Mail Delivery, commissioned for the Post Office in the Federal Building, Cleveland; also responsible for determining the general color
1910 -- influential in the founding of the American Federation of Arts; served as its Secretary until his death; appointed to Federal Commission of Fine Arts; elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
1911 -- completed lunettes, The Repulse of the Dutch, September 3, 1609, and The Purchase of the Land, 1658, and 12 small historical panels, commissioned for the Hudson County Courthouse, Jersey City, New Jersey; also responsible for the general color scheme of the building; traveled to Panama with Lily and Mr. and Mrs. C. F. Adams, Jr.; elected Vice Chairman of the Fine Arts Committee, American Academy in Rome; moved to Rome to serve as Chief Administrator of the consolidated schools of the American Academy in Rome and the American School of Classical Studies in Rome following the death of Charles F. McKim (Millet was a charter member and had served as Secretary since its inception)
1912 -- died aboard the S. S. Titanic, while heading to New York City on American Academy in Rome business
Related Material:
Found within the holdings of the Archives of American Art are several collections related to Francis Davis Millet, including five letters from Millet to Miss Ward and "Ticknor" and a collection of Francis Millet Rogers research material regarding Francis Davis Millet. The Philip Martiny papers contains two group photographs that include F. D. Millet. A letter describing a visit to Millet's studio is among the William Cushing Loring Papers. The American Academy in Rome records include documents created by F. D. Millet in his capacity as Secretary from 1904-1907 and as Chief Administrator in Rome, 1911-1912.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming. Charles S. Millet loaned photographs, biographical information, and miscellaneous items in 1974 (reel 849). In 1976, he loaned an album of photographs of F. D. Millet's murals in the Baltimore Customs House, with related printed matter (reel 1080). Lent materials were returned to Charles S. Millet.
Provenance:
The Francis Davis Millet and Millet family papers were received between 1974 and 1996 from several family members. Most were gifts from Dr. John A. P. Millet, son of F. D. Millet, in 1974 and 1976. In 1974, Charles S. Millet, grandnephew of F. D. Millet, donated a copy of his brief biography he wrote on F. D. Millet and lent materials for microfilming. Also in 1974, Mrs. William King, granddaughter of F. D. Millet gave photographs of F. D. Millet and his art work, along with various printed matter. Additional letters to F. D. Millet were given by grandson, Frank D. Millet, in 1977.
In 1987, granddaughter Joyce A. Sharpey-Schafer donated documents she had used while writing a biography of Millet. In 1996, David M. Emerson, grandnephew of F. D. Millet, donated loose sketches and miscellaneous printed matter.
In 2003, additional letters were donated by grandsons Mr. Harry Flynn and Frank D. Millet, and again in 2006 by Frank D. Millet.
Restrictions:
Use of originals 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.
The records of New York City's National Academy of Design measure 92.7 linear feet and date from 1817-2012. The records pertain to all three constituents of the tripartite organization consisting of the Academy, a membership body of artists founded in 1825; the school, founded at the same time to promote arts education; and the exhibition program, inaugurated in 1826. Extensive administrative records include minutes, committee files, director files, annual reports, constitutions, and correspondence and subject files of council officers. Exhibition records, also substantive, date to the Academy's first annual exhibition and include gallery and special exhibitions, as well as exhibitions at the Academy's museum, established in 1979. The collection also includes gifts and funding files, especially relating to endowments and prizes; membership records; National Academy Association records; Ranger Fund assignments; extensive files pertaining to the school's administration, courses of instruction, registrations, and attendance; twenty scrapbooks containing clippings and ephemera; Society of American Artists records; correspondence and ephemera from other organizations; transcripts from oral histories with Academy members; extensive photographic material documenting artists, members, the school, exhibitions, buildings, and artwork created by Academy members; artist files containing correspondence, writings, and sketches from those associated with the Academy; and assorted printed material and ephemera.
Scope and Contents:
The records of New York City's National Academy of Design measure 92.7 linear feet and date from 1817-2012. The records pertain to all three constituents of the tripartite organization consisting of the Academy, a membership body of artists founded in 1825; the school, founded at the same time to promote arts education; and the exhibition program, inaugurated in 1826. Extensive administrative records include minutes, committee files, director files, annual reports, constitutions, and correspondence and subject files of council officers. Exhibition records, also substantive, date to the Academy's first annual exhibition and include gallery and special exhibitions, as well as exhibitions at the Academy's museum, established in 1979. The collection also includes gifts and funding files, especially relating to endowments and prizes; membership records; National Academy Association records; Ranger Fund assignments; extensive files pertaining to the school's administration, courses of instruction, registrations, and attendance; twenty scrapbooks containing clippings and ephemera; Society of American Artists records; correspondence and ephemera from other organizations; transcripts from oral histories with Academy members; extensive photographic material documenting artists, members, the school, exhibitions, buildings, and artwork created by Academy members; artist files containing correspondence, writings, and sketches from those associated with the Academy; and assorted printed material and ephemera.
The Academy minutes and committee files consist of official, original, and transcribed proceedings for the council, annual, business, and some committee meetings, as well as related correspondence, reports, financial documents, notes, drafts, and ballots pertaining to the Academy's administration and activities from its 1825 founding until 2006. As an organization actively engaged in the development of art and art education in the United States, the Academy minutes and committee files are a valuable resource on subjects and topics in the Academy's history; in particular, its founding, administration, school, and exhibition program.
Director files date from 1942-1990 and document the activities of four of the Academy's chief administrators, including Vernon Porter (1950-1966), Earl Tyler (1966-1967), Alice Melrose (1967-1977), and John H. Dobkin (1978-1990). Items include correspondence, memoranda, minutes, and printed material.
Annual reports, dating from 1828-2003, summarize the activities of the Academy over the course of a year, and may include presidents' reports, treasurers' reports, audits of financial operations by public accountants, and printed annual reports containing summaries from multiple council officers. Information pertains to the year's activities including finances, exhibitions, membership, the school, committee activities, awards, and other business.
Academy constitutions date from 1826-2012 and include the printed constitutions and by-laws as well as constitutional proposals. Constitutions and by-laws name the current council officials, professors, academicians, associates, and honorary members, and state the mission and guidelines for operation in regards to membership, officers, annual meetings, elections, school, exhibitions, and how the constitution can be amended or altered. Constitutional proposals contain amendment drafts, alterations, and related correspondence.
Council officer files, dating from 1848-1980, contain the correspondence and subjects files of Academy officers—presidents, vice presidents, corresponding secretaries, and treasurers—concerning all matters of Academy business and operations including membership, gifts and funds, the federal charter, exhibitions, juries, the school, scholarships, committee affairs, anniversaries, publicity, administrative matters, resignations, and relationships with other organizations.
General administrative files date from 1825-1982 and include ledgers, certificates, correspondence, and legal documents pertaining to the Academy's founding, building, financial accounts, art collection, and other administrative matters.
Exhibition files, dating from 1826-2003, document the Academy's long exhibition history and includes annual, gallery, special, and museum exhibitions. Files may include exhibition catalogs, photographs, press clippings, sales records, and correspondence related to jury selection, awards and prizes, and logistical planning. Files pertaining to the Academy's annual exhibitions comprise a bulk of the series. Held since 1826, the Annuals were organized and curated by Academy members, and considered to be an important and sweeping survey of contemporary American art.
Gifts and funding files date from 1860-2009 and include financial documents, ledgers, legal material, and correspondence concerning the bequests, endowments, donations, and other gifts that financed the operations of the Academy and school. A significant number of records pertain to the Abbey Trust Fund and the Archer M. Hunting Fund.
Membership files, 1826-2012, document Academy members, honorary members, fellows, and the nominations and elections whereby members were voted into the Academy. Materials include registers, certificates, nomination ledgers and proposals, candidate biographies, and ballots.
The National Academy Association files date from 1911-1959 and contain a constitution, plan, and agreement, as well as correspondence, meeting minutes, and reports for the Association, incorporated in 1912 with the aim to erect a building shared by several New York art societies. At the time of incorporation, the Association consisted of members from the National Academy of Design, American Water Color Society, American Institute of Architects, Architectural League of New York, New York Water Color Club, National Sculpture Society, Municipal Art Society, Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, Mural Painters, Society of Illustrators, and a number of city representatives and citizens.
The Ranger Fund assignment files, 1919-2008, document the distribution of artworks by living American artists to institutions throughout the United States, in accordance with the will of Henry Ward Ranger. The Ranger Fund was initiated to stimulate public interest in the work of contemporary American painters in 1919, when the Academy received a bequest from Henry Ward Ranger, totaling $400,000. Ranger stated in his will that the capital should be invested and the income used as a purchase fund to facilitate gifts of paintings by living American artists to arts institutions throughout the United States. Files document the assignment of particular works of art to institutions through the official agreement, related correspondence, and in some instances, photographs of the artwork.
Extensive school records, dating from 1826-2008, contain administrative files, enrollment records, course files, student affairs files, and printed material documenting all aspects of the school's activities aligned with the Academy's mission to educate aspiring professional artists. A bulk of this series consists of student course registrations, documented in registers, then on index cards beginning in the 1930s. While information collected varied over the decades, registrations document student names and the year, and may additionally include course name, instructor, and cost.
Twenty Academy scrapbooks document the organization's activities from 1828-1939 and include clippings and ephemera. Three of the scrapbooks are devoted to specific topics, including one for the Society of American Artists, one for both the Society of American Artists and the Society of American Fakirs, and one for the Academy's centennial exhibition.
The Society of American Artists files, 1878-1906, document the formation of the Society as a departure from the Academy in 1877, its independent operations and activities, and its eventual consolidation with the Academy in 1906. The Society's members have included Edwin Abbey, James Carroll Beckwith, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Eakins, George Inness Jr., John La Farge, Albert Pinkham Ryder, among many others.
Files from other organizations date from 1817-1997 and may include correspondence, ledgers, and printed material. Many of these organizations had business with the Academy, and records pertain to events, meetings, and exhibitions. Notable organizations include the American Academy of Fine Arts, American Federation of Arts, American Watercolor Society, Art Students League, Fine Arts Federation of New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Etching Club, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and Salmagundi Club.
Oral history transcripts date from 2002-2007. Eight comprehensive interviews, conducted by Avis Berman for the Academy, are with Academy members and cover all aspects of the artists' lives, including family, early life, beginning career, mentors, contemporaries, influences, patrons, awards, residencies, as well as the artists' relationship with the Academy. The interview transcripts provide first-hand accounts of the organization, particularly from circa 1940 up to the time of the interview. Artists interviewed include Will Barnet, Hyman Bloom, Richard Haas, Ellen Lanyon, Jules Olitski, Bernard Olshan, Paul Resika, and Dorothea Rockburne.
Photographic material, dating from 1845-2010, includes a wide variety of formats and processes including 19th and 20th photographic prints, glass plate negatives, copy prints, contact sheets, slides, and 35mm negatives. Subjects include artists and others associated with the Academy, the school, exhibitions and events, Academy buildings, artwork, and reference photographs. Many 19th century photographs contain descriptive annotations. Supplementary inventories and guides prepared by Academy archivists are scattered throughout the series.
Artist files date from 1826-2004 and include the correspondence, writings, manuscripts, diaries, exhibition catalogs, and clippings of many notable artists involved with the Academy, including Asher B. Durand and Rembrandt Peale. Of particular note are two notebooks Durand gifted to the Academy, both containing notes and sketches from anatomy lectures.
While printed material is scattered throughout, the final series collects a small number of additional announcements, brochures, clippings, illustrations, and other ephemera not filed in other series.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as nineteen series.
Series 1: Minutes and Committee Files, 1825-2006 (11.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-11, BV 100-106)
Series 2: Director Files, 1942-1990 (0.5 linear feet; Box 11)
Series 3: Annual Reports, 1828-2003, circa 2010 (2.1 linear feet; Boxes 11-13, OV 139-142)
Series 4: Constitutions, 1826-2012 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 13-14)
Series 5: Council Officers, 1848-1980 (4 linear feet; Boxes 14-18)
Series 6: General Administration, 1825-1982 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 18, 126)
Series 7: Exhibitions, 1826-2003, 2008 (14.4 linear feet; Boxes 18-33)
Series 8: Gifts and Funding, 1860-2009 (4.1 linear feet; Boxes 33-37)
Series 9: Membership, 1826-2012 (3.4 linear feet; Boxes 37-39, 127-131)
Series 10: National Academy Association, 1911-1959 (0.4 linear feet; Box 39)
Series 11: Ranger Fund Assignments, 1919-2008 (4.3 linear feet; Boxes 39-44)
Series 12: School, 1826-2008 (28.5 linear feet; Boxes 44-56, 68-99)
Series 13: Scrapbooks, 1828-1939 (4 linear feet; Box 56, BV 107-125)
Series 14: Society of American Artists, 1878-1906 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 56-57)
Series 15: Other Organizations, 1817-1997 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 57-59, 131)
Series 16: Oral History Transcripts, 2002-2007 (0.7 linear feet; Box 59)
Series 17: Photographic Material, 1845-2010 (6.1 linear feet; Boxes 60-63, 131-138, OV 143-144)
Series 18: Artist Files, 1826-2004 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 63-66)
Series 19: Printed Material, 1839-1954 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 67, 131, OV 145)
Biographical / Historical:
The National Academy of Design (1825- ) based in New York City, is a tripartite organization consisting of a membership body of artists, a school, and an exhibition program. The Academy was founded in 1825 by a group of professional artists with the mission to promote the fine arts in America through exhibition and education. Originally named the New York Drawing Association, the Academy was the first organization in the United States established and managed by professional artists. Samuel F.B. Morse, the Academy's first president, was influenced by the organization of the Royal Academy in London, which was comprised of professional artist members and elected government council, an art school, and a venue for exhibitions. After unsuccessful negotiations to unite with the American Academy of Fine Arts, the New York Drawing Association reformed as the National Academy of The Arts of Design on January 19, 1826. Among the founders were mostly young artists who became prominent figures in American art, including Frederick S. Agate, Thomas Cole, Thomas S. Cummings, Asher B. Durand, John Frazee, Charles C. Ingham, Henry Inman, Gerlando Marsiglia, Samuel F. B. Morse, Samuel L. Waldo, and Charles Cushing Wright.
The first Academy members were elected in January 1826, and levels of membership were established shortly thereafter. Originally there were four levels of Academy membership: associates, academicians, artists, and honorary corresponding members. The category of artists was eliminated in 1829, and the honorary member category, established to recognize American artists living outside New York, distinguished foreign artists, and patrons and friends of the Academy, was eliminated in 1862 (the constitution was not amended with this change until 1896). Since 1869, the residency requirement for election to active membership was eliminated and membership was opened to all American artists. In 1920, the classification of honorary corresponding member was re-introduced to recognize representatives of other national academies. With the 1997 constitution, the honorary corresponding member classification was again eliminated, and in 1994 the associate category was eliminated.
Artists are proposed for membership by academicians through the membership committee and are elected for life by a sixty percent majority, based on recognized excellence and significant contributions to the field. Procedures and rules for nominating and choosing new academicians changed over the years, as detailed in the constitutions. Associates were at one time required to present a portrait of themselves upon election and academicians were required to provide an additional representative work upon election. With the elimination of the category of associate in 1994, only one representative work is currently required. These works of art become part of the Academy's permanent collection.
The original classes of professional artists were painting, sculpture, architecture, and engraving. These professional classes were modified over the years. In 1936 the engraving class was made more comprehensive, including all of the graphic arts. Watercolor was added as a class in 1943 and was codified in the 1945 constitution. However, the division into five distinct classes started to create difficulties in how specific works of art were to be categorized. In 1981 the council eased the rules regarding separate media classification so that members could submit a work in any medium to the annual exhibitions regardless of the class to which they had been elected. The constitution of 1994 restated four professional classes—painting, sculpture, graphics, and architecture—which were further reduced in the 2011 constitution to two: visual arts and architecture.
Until 2009, the governing body of the Academy was the council. The seven officers of the council were president, vice-president, treasurer, assistant treasurer, corresponding secretary, assistant corresponding secretary and recording secretary, all of whom were required to be academicians. In 2009, a new constitution provided for a board of governors, replacing the council. The five officers of the board of governors are chair, vice-chair, president, vice-president, and treasurer. Only the offices of president and vice-president are required to be held by academicians.
Central to the Academy's mission, the school began with an anatomy lecture for the New York Drawing Association, delivered by Dr. Frederick G. King in November 1825. The first drawing session took place in November 1826 in the Old Alms House at City Hall Park with two academicians and twenty students. In the school's early years, professional artists met with students to draw from plaster casts of antique sculpture in the academic tradition. Both lectures and studio training were central the school's early curricula. Life classes, the practice of drawing from live models, were introduced in 1837, but only to advanced male students. A life class for women was not instituted until 1857, even though women were allowed membership to the Academy since its beginning. Due to financial difficulties at the Academy, the school was forced to move locations and shut down its operations for extended periods. Mounting dissatisfaction and frustration led several students and Lemuel E. Wilmarth, one of the school's leaders and first full-time professional instructor, to leave the Academy in 1875 and form a new school, the Art Students League. While charging tuition was unpopular, the Academy realized that it was necessary to ensure the school's sustainability, and implemented fee structures with varying success over the second half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th. Eventually, tuition was established by 1951, when the school was reopened at a new location, 5th Avenue and 89th Street.
Exhibitions have always been an important activity for the Academy, even prior to the opening of the National Academy Museum in 1979. Since 1826, the Academy has held annual exhibitions intended to reflect contemporary art currents in America. Any American artist was eligible to submit work to be reviewed by a jury of selection, comprised of academicians. Throughout the 19th century, the annual exhibitions at the Academy were one of the most significant and influential in the country. The selection process for these exhibitions was a critical topic, at times actively discussed in the press, and continually undergoing modification and change. In addition to the Annuals, the galleries of the Academy were often rented or loaned to outside organizations such as the American Watercolor Society, Audubon Artists, and the National Association of Women Artists. The galleries also mounted special exhibitions curated by its members and hosted a certain number of travelling exhibitions organized by other museums or art organizations. The museum, opened in 1979, hosted and presented major exhibitions, many focusing on historic European subjects.
Official Names of the Academy 1825-2017
1825 -- The New York Drawing Association
1826 -- The National Academy of The Arts of Design
1828 -- The National Academy of Design
1997 -- The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Art
2017 -- The National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design Meeting, Exhibition, and School Locations
1826 -- Old Alms House at City Hall Park in lower Manhattan
1827-1830 -- Chambers Street over the Arcade Baths
1831-1840 -- Corner of Nassau and Beckman Streets, the Mercantile Library on the third floor of Clinton Hall
1841 to 1849 -- 346 Broadway (at Leonard Street), the third and fourth floors of the New York Society Library
1850-1854 -- 663 Broadway, where the Academy erected a suite of six galleries
1855-1856 -- 548 Broadway (over Dr. Chapin's Church)
1857 -- 663 Broadway
1858-1861 -- 10th Street and 4th Avenue, the upper floor of a building
1861-1863 -- 625 Broadway, the Institute of Art
1865-1899 -- 23rd Street and Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue South)
1899-1940 -- 109th Street and Amsterdam Avenue; exhibition galleries at 215 West 57th Street
1940-2017 -- 1083 Fifth Avenue at East 89th Street
Provenance:
The bulk of the collection was donated by the National Academy of Design in 2018. The trustees' ledger book in series 6 was donated in 1979 by Warder Cadbury of the Adirondack Museum; it is unclear how Cadbury acquired the ledger. Microfilm reels 798-799 containing transcriptions of minutes were given to the Archives by Lois Fink in 1974.
Restrictions:
This bulk of this collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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.
Function:
Arts organizations -- New York (State)
Art Schools -- New York (State)
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Interviews
Citation:
National Academy of Design records, 1817-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Smedley, W. T. (William Thomas), 1858-1920 Search this
Extent:
24 Volumes ((on 8 microfilm reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Volumes
Date:
1870-1938
Scope and Contents:
A series of scrapbooks compiled by Card on late 19th and early 20th century illustrators and cartoonists, each containing illustrations and political cartoons from magazines, newspapers, and books, together with lists of illustrations, and in some cases critical and biographical articles. Most of the reproductions are from Harper's Weekly and Monthly, Scribner's, and Century. Illustrators represented are Edwin Austin Abbey (2 v., 1871-1929, reel N68-17), Arthur B. Frost (4 v., 1874-1924, reel N68-18), Arthur I. Keller (3 v., 1886-1924, reel N68-23), Edward W. Kemble (6 v., 1880-1919, reels N68-24 & 25), Charles Stanley Reinhart (3 v., 1870-1897, reel N68-31), Frederic Remington (5 v., 1886-1938, reel N68-26), and William Thomas Smedley (1 v., 1880-1910, reel N68-32).
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1968 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
1 Drawing (pencil, pen and ink on paper, 19 x 11.5 cm., on sheet 28 x 20.1 cm.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Date:
1890
Scope and Contents:
Pen and ink over preliminary drawing in pencil of a cavalier, signed and dated lower right: E.A. Abbey, 1890.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, illustrator, muralist. Studied at PAFA. Well known for his illustrations for Shakespeare's works and Herrick's poems. Executed murals at the Boston Public Library and the State Capitol Building at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Other Title:
Edwin Austin Abbey papers (microfilm title)
Provenance:
Donated 1963-1964 by Julius H. Weitzer, who received it with other papers of August De Forest, a collection of art reference materials accumulated by De Forest from Charles Henry Hart and other sources.
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.
The microfilmed Alfred Williams Anthony papers contain letters, autographs, biographical data, and miscellaneous material collected by Anthony about 19th century artists.
Artists represented in the collection include: Edwin A. Abbey, Ernest Albert, Elizabeth A. Allen, Daniel C. Beard, Frank Beard, Samuel G. W. Benjamin, Albert Bierstadt, Nathaniel Blaisdell, Edwin H. Blashfield, Evangeline Blashfield, Charles W. Bolton, Victor D. Brenner, Sydney & Mrs. Burleigh, William M. Chase, Frederic E. Church, Harry Cochrane, William A. Coffin, Timothy Cole, Thomas Cole, Royal Cortissoz, Palmer Cox, Christopher Cranch, Felix O. C. Darley, Frederick Dellenbaugh, Frederick Dielman, Andrew J. Downing, Charles L. Eastlake, George W. Edwards, Daniel C. French, Edmund H. Garrett, Sanford R. Gifford, V. Gribayedoff, Henry W. Herbert, Elbert Hubbard, Daniel Huntington, Laurence Hutton, Ernest L. Ipshen, Norman W. Isham, F. Lynn Jenkins, John La Farge, Edward C. Leavitt, William J. Linton, Benson J. Lossing, Will H. Low, Jervis McEntee, George Merrill, John H. Mills, Thomas Moran, Samuel F.B. Morse,
A. R. Mullen, Thomas Nast, National Arts Club, Wilbur F. Noyes,Frederick B. Opper, Mrs. Archie M. Palmer, Erastus D. Palmer, William F. Paris, Carl R. Parker, Hiram Powers, Howard Pyle, Thomas B. Read, Albert Rosenthal, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, John Sartain, Walter Smedley, George F. C. Smillie, Francis H. Smith, Bayard Taylor, Col. Henry S. Taylor, John Trumbull, Henry T. Tuckerman, Union League Club, N.Y., D. B. Updike, Vasili Vereschagen, Charles Vezin, Douglas Volk, D. Everett Waid, John Q. A. Ward, Clara E. Waters, Robert W. Weir, J. Thomson Willing, Ellsworth Woodward, Mabel Woodward, William Woodward, and F. Hammond Wright.
Biographical / Historical:
Alfred Williams Anthony (1860-1939) was a theologian, author, and educator in Lewiston, Maine. He served in various roles for the General Conference of Freewill Baptists, the Maine chapter of the Religious Education Association, and the Committee on Goodwill between Jews and Christians. Anthony also served on the boards of trustees for Bates College, Hillsdale College, and Brown University.
Related Materials:
The New York Public Library Archives and Manuscripts Division holds the Alfred Williams Anthony collection, 1679-1944. Bates College Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library holds the Alfred Williams Anthony papers, 1872-1996 and the Dressler family collection of Alfred Williams Anthony Papers, 1802-1985.
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.
2 letters to Louis Prang, 1 letter to Miss Tracy, 1 letter to Senator Clark, and 2 letters to unidentified people.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, illustrator, mural painter.
Provenance:
All material except letter to "Miss Tracy" donated 1955-1962 by Charles E. Feinberg, an active donor and friend of AAA. Letter to "Miss Tracy" purchased through funds donated by Thomas Steele, 1956.
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.
Wylie, Samuel B. (Samuel Brown), 1773-1852 Search this
Extent:
2 Reels (ca. 150 items (on 2 partial microfilm reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Reels
Date:
1760-1935
Scope and Contents:
Letters, mainly from artists, and documents selected from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's miscellaneous manuscript collection (Society Collection). Letters are to various people; 46 of them are to Townsend Ward and a few are to John A. McAllister, photographer. Many of the letters refer to paintings, portraits, commissions, and awards.
Writers of letters include: Edwin Austin Abbey, Mary Gertrude Abbey, F.W. Bayley, Albert Bierstadt, George Catlin, Joseph Ceracchi, John Gadsby Chapman, John Cheney, James Claypool, James Cox, F.O.C. Darley, Joseph Delaplaine, Humphrey Donnehue, William Dunlap, Pierre Eugene Du Simitiere, S. Eliot, Charles Fevret De Saint-Memin, Charles Dana Gibson, Harold Edgar Gillingham, Horatio Greenough, George Harding, Levi Hollingsworth, William Morris Hunt, Daniel Huntington, Henry Inman, Horatio Gates Jones, James Reid Lambdin, Will Hicok Low, Edward Dalton Marchant, William Henry Moody, John Neagle, Albert Newsam, Bass Otis, Thomas Paine, Charles Willson Peale, Franklin Peale, James Peale, Jr., Mary Jane Peale, Rembrandt Peale, Titian Ramsay Peale, Joseph Pennell, Clement Penrose, Robert Piggot, Thomas Buchanan Read, William Trost Richards, Thomas Prichard Rossiter, Peter Frederick Rothermel, William Rush, John Sartain, Stephen Alonzo Schooff (to Townsend Ward), Russell Smith, Charles H. Stephens, Thomas Sully, Philip Syng, John Vanderlyn, N.P. Willis, Alexander Wilson and Patience Wright.
Among the recipients of letters are Archibald Alexander, David S. Brown, William Belcher, Col. Brodhead, B. Burrell, Carey & Hart, Edward L. Carey, Henry C. Carey, Miss Clarke, Mr. Curren, Joseph Delaplaine, John Dickinson, Dr. Dickson, William Dillwyn, William Duane, James B. Elliott, Mrs. Langdon Elwyn, Mantle(?) Fielding, John W. Francis, Charles P. Hayes, David Hosack, Mr. Howell, Major William Jackson, Horatio Gates Jones, John W. Jordan, H.H. Kjmball, C.G. Leland, Joseph Leidy, J.B. Lippincott, George Livermore, James Madison, J. Hill Martin, John McAllister, James McMurtrie, James Monaghan, J. Murray, Albert Cook Myers, Rebecca and Isabella Nathans, John Neagle, C.S. Ogden, John Paca, Charles Willson Peale, Rembrandt Peale, David Rittenhouse, Albert Rosenthal, John Sartain, Jacob Schreiner, James Shrigley, James Ross Snowden, W.D. Snyder, Dr. Sommerville, J.C. Stanbridge, F.D. Stone, Henry Troth, Mr. Vaux, Townsend Ward, William Hill Wells, G.M. Wharton, Thomas Wharton, Henry J. Williams, and Samuel B. Wylie.
Other items include a sonnet of S.T. Coleridge by Washington Allston; business card of Pennel Beale; catalog of medals and coins of silver in the possession of Hon. John Smith compiled by Du Simitière, 1772; printed address by Mrs. John C. Montgomery soliciting donations for the repair of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, destroyed by fire, 1845; William Morris Hunt's admission ticket to Peale's Museum, 1836, stating his height and weight; description of objects on display at the Peale Museum, 1820; a photograph and business card of Benjamin Randolph; invitations and notes to Gilbert Stuart; typescript by Frank H. Taylor on lithography, 1923; subscription book for engravings of paintings by John Trumbull; and a page from John Archibald Woodside's daybook, 1802-1803.
Provenance:
Microfilmed by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for the Archives of American Art, 1955.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
[New York] American academy of arts and letters, 1928.
General:
Several pages are annotated in pencil in an unknown hand.
Other Title:
Edwin Austin Abbey papers (microfilm title)
Provenance:
Provenance unknown.
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.
34 drawings by Charles Reinhart done in pencil, pen, white chalk and gouache. They are chiefly of figures but also include a few landscape sketches. Inscriptions were added by Margaret Mellor Risk ("Auntie Peg"), great niece of the artist. Also included is a sketchbook by Reinhart drawn while in Paris which contains quick sketches, notes on paintings, and notes of sources of historic costumes. The other sketchbook is by Edwin A. Abbey and is signed, "Edwin A. Abbey, New York, exchanged with C.S. Reinhart." This sketchbook, too, contains sketches from Paris and was apparently traded for Reinhart's own Paris sketchbook.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, illustrator.
Provenance:
Margaret Mellor Risk, great niece of the artist, gave these drawings to her sister, Laura Gault McKean. Mrs. McKean divided them among her three children: Robert Mellor Gault, Louise Mellor Gault, and another son. Louise gave her share to her brother, Robert, who lent this collection for filming. He is a great-great nephew of the artist.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Letters to Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Carnegie. Included are four from Edwin A. Abbey concerning the price of one of his paintings and accepting an invitation to visit, one from William M. Chase accepting an invitation, one from Ben Foster praising a portrait which Mr. Roche has painted of Mrs. Carnegie, two from F. D. Millet and two from Cass Gilbert accepting invitations, six from Frank O. Salisbury about a portrait Salisbury painted of Andrew Carnegie, one from Samuel Longfellow explaining that he mistakenly informed Carnegie that a watercolor was by Lord Elgin when in fact it was by Lord Dufferin, and one from George H. Boughton writing for a mutual friend.
Biographical / Historical:
Industrialist, philanthropist.
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.
