The Charles Henry Hart autograph collection dates from 1731-1917 and measures 1.71 linear feet comprised of 232 letters, portrait prints, and other documents signed by American artists. There is a .01 linear foot (6 items) unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 that includes a letter from Winslow Homer to Mr. Clarke, November 28, 1892; typed and annotated lists of autographs of artists in the collections of Charles Henry Hart; handwritten note about English painter and engraver, John Keyse Sherwin, undated; handwritten note regarding Gennearino Persico, miniature artist, July 18, 1826.
Scope and Contents:
The Charles Henry Hart autograph collection dates from 1731-1917 and measures 1.71 linear feet comprised of 232 letters, portrait prints, and other documents signed by American artists. There is a .01 linear foot (6 items) unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 that includes a letter from Winslow Homer to Mr. Clarke, November 28, 1892; typed and annotated lists of autographs of artists in the collections of Charles Henry Hart; handwritten note about English painter and engraver, John Keyse Sherwin, undated; handwritten note regarding Gennearino Persico, miniature artist, July 18, 1826.
Originally titled by Hart as "The History of Art in America as Told in a Remarkable Collection of Autograph Letters and Documents of Celebrated American Artists of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Century," the collection includes letters and other items signed by Thomas Anshutz, John J. Audubon, William Merritt Chase, Frederic Edwin Church, John Singleton Copley, Kenyon Cox, Thomas Eakins, Jervis McEntee, Samuel F.B. Morse, Charles Willson Peale, Raphaelle Peale, Rembrandt Peale, Rubens Peale, Titian Peale, James Daivd Smillie, Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Sully, Abbott Handerson Thayer, John Vanderlyn, Elihu Vedder, John Quincy Adams Ward, Benjamin West, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, and many others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 2 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Charles Henry Hart autograph collection, 1731-1917 (226 items; Box 1-5)
Series 2: Unprocessed Addition, 1826-1892 and undated (6 items; MMS folder 6)
Biographical / Historical:
Charles Henry Hart (1847-1918) was a historian, lawyer, writer, and director, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1882-1904. Widely, he published on the subject of 18th and 19th century portraiture in the United States.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the personal papers of Charles Henry Hart, dating from 1774-1930, bulk 1888-1918.
Papers of Charles Henry Hart, 1888-1894, are also located at The New York Public Library Archives & Manuscripts.
Provenance:
The Charles Henry Hart autograph collection was donated to the Archives of American Art in 1954 as an anonymous gift. It is assumed that Hart assembled the letters. Original collation was two letterbooks entitled "The History of Art in America as Told in a Remarkable Collection of Autograph Letters and Documents of Celebrated American Artists of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Century." Additional six items donated in 2021 by Ty West, who found the compiled material among his grandfather-in-law's belongings.
Restrictions:
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.
The artists of America : a series of biographical sketches of American artists : with portraits and designs on steel / by C. Edwards Lester, 1846. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Shattuck, Aaron Draper, 1832-1928 -- Portraits -- Photographs Search this
Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872 -- Portraits -- Photographs Search this
Tuckerman, Henry T. (Henry Theodore), 1813-1871 Search this
Whittredge, Worthington, 1820-1910 -- Portraits -- Photographs Search this
Extent:
24 Items (photographic prints, b&w, 17 1/2 x 13 1/2 cm., on sheet 30 1/2 x 24 cm. or smaller.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
undated
Scope and Contents:
Portraits of artists taken by George Rockwood and Napoleon Sarony (Sarony Photographic Co.) for the large paper, extra-illustrated edition of Henry Tuckerman's, "American artist life : comprising biographical and critical sketches of American artists : preceded by an historical account of the rise and progress of art in America : with an appendix containing an account of notable pictures and private collections" (New York, G.P. Putnam & Son, 1867). Also included is a copy of Tuckerman's book (not the extra illustrated version.) Photographs include: Eugene Benson (original missing, copyprint only), Henry Kirke Brown (original missing, copyprint only), Frederic Edwin Church, Thomas Cole, J. Francis Cropsey, Christopher Cranch, F.O.C. Darley, Asher Brown Durand, Charles Loring Elliott, Sanford Robinson Gifford, Henry Peters Gray, James M. Hart, Thomas Hicks (incorrectly identified as John Ehninger), Richard W. Hubbard, Henry Inman, George Inness (incorrectly identified as Albert Bierstadt), Eastman Johnson, John F. Kensett (original missing, copyprint only), Emanuel Leutze, Jervis McEntee (original missing, copyprint only), John Rogers, A.D. Shattuck, Thomas Sully (original missing, copyprint only), and Worthington Whittredge (original missing, copyprint only).
Provenance:
The copy of Tuckerman's book was donated in 1958 by Robert McIntyre. The photographs, along with the extra illustrated edition of Henry Tuckerman's, "Book of the Artists..." (1867) were donated in 1960 by McIntyre. The folio was one of the 25 copies produced, possibly acquired by McIntyre through auction of the library of S.K. Cleven of Iowa handled by Anderson Galleries in 1915. The photographs were removed from the folio prior to its transfer to the Smithsonian American Art Museum Library. Photographer and provenance information (annotated) from Putnam's Monthly Advertiser is enclosed with the original folio housed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Library.
Topic:
Artists -- United States -- Portraits -- Photographs Search this