The papers of printmaker and landscape painter Benson Bond Moore date from 1902 to 1995 and measure 5.7 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material, letters, scattered personal business records, notes and writings, twelve scrapbooks, printed material, and photographs. The papers also contain extensive artwork in the form of drawings and sketches, etchings, lithographs, and a few oil paintings.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of printmaker and landscape painter Benson Bond Moore date from 1902 to 1995 and measure 5.7 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material, letters, scattered personal business records, notes and writings, twelve scrapbooks, printed material, and photographs. The papers also contain extensive artwork in the form of drawings and sketches, etchings, lithographs, and a few oil paintings.
Biographical material includes genealogical notes, biographical accounts, a baptismal record, marriage license, driver's license, membership cards, an award medal and ribbons, a death certificate, and address books.
Letters are incoming only from friends and colleagues, including Christmas cards from Clifford K. Berryman, Paul Bransom, James Russell Lowe, Rowland Lyon, and Francis Bowes Sayre. There is also a photocopy of a letter from Lou Henry Hoover.
Personal business records include a copy of a patent for Moore's design for an artist's kit, a deed for Moore's father's gallery, priced labels for art work in various media, lists of art work, price lists, records of art work sold, bank account records, miscellaneous receipts, and a ledger concerning Moore's works left in trust after his death.
Notes and writings consist of nine poems by Moore, lists of titles of art work sold, lists of art work by others, and a funeral registry book listing mourners' names. The most notable item in this series is a log book of The Ramblers containing a typescript describing the history of this early 20th century art club.
Art work comprises the most significant series in the collection. It includes 1040 drawings, 43 watercolor sketches, 526 etchings, 187 lithographs, 8 paintings and 5 relief sculptures. Subjects depicted are primarily wildlife and nature, landscapes, seascapes, and scenes of towns and notable buildings primarily in and around Washington, D.C. There are scattered portrait drawings and etchings by Moore of fellow artists Herbert F. Clark, Robert G. Cornett, August H. O. Rolle, and Charles Seaton. There are also 5 bas-relief sculptures.
Twelve scrapbooks contain prints by Moore, letters, printed materials, and photographs of Moore and his artwork. Scrapbook 10 contains a photograph of a Landscape Club banquet at the Cosmos Club.
Printed material consists of clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, a prospectus from the Society of Animal Artists, book Animals of American History illustrated by Paul Bransom, miscellaneous booklets and brochures concerning art-related topics, travel brochures for New York State, and reproductions of art works.
Photographs are of Benson Bond Moore, his family, residence, colleagues including members of The Ramblers painting outdoors, and of art work. There are also travel photographs of locations in the United States.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1908-1974 (Box 1; 6 folders)
Series 2: Letters, 1912-1993 (Box 1; 40 folders)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1924-1994 (Box 1-2; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 4: Notes and Writings, 1902-1974 (Box 2; 8 folders)
Series 5: Art Work, 1904-1991 (Box 2-4, 6, OV 8; 2.2 linear feet)
Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1919-1973 (Box 4, 7; 0.9 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1916-1995 (Box 5-6, OV 8; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographs, 1924-1971 (Box 5-7, OV 8; 0.7 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Benson Bond Moore (1882-1974) of Washington, D.C. and Sarasota, Florida, was a printmaker, landscape painter, art teacher, and picture restorer.
Benson Bond Moore was born on August 13, 1882 in Washington, D.C., the first child of Caroline and John Benson Moore. From an early age, Moore assisted his father in his picture restoring business. In 1902, he was employed by the Maurice Joyce Photo-Engraving Co., and soon afterwards produced a series of technical drawings for Alexander Graham Bell.
Moore studied at the Corcoran School of Art, and, in 1914, he joined The Ramblers (later the Washington Landscape Club), a group of artists who went on painting and drawing expeditions in the environs of Washington, D.C. Moore taught etching at the private Hill School of Art and was an active member of many regional art associations. He was also a founding member of the Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers Society. Following the death of his wife Florence (Flossie) in the early 1950s, Moore moved to Sarasota, Florida.
Benson Bond Moore died on October 30, 1974 in Sarasota, Florida.
Separated Material:
Printmaking tools, lithographic plates, and a 24 x 30 inch display board exhibiting specimen prints and plates and a pocket barometer were transferred to the National Museum of American History, Department of Information Technology and Society.
Provenance:
The Benson Bond Moore papers were donated by Barbara Nikla and John J. Lyons in 1996, as representatives of the estate of the artist's sister-in-law, Mary Jane Moore. Additional material was donated 1997 from the estate by other relatives, Martha Sigmon and her sister Georgia King.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers 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.
Topic:
Landscape painting -- 20th century -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
The records of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters measure 1 linear foot and date from 1917 to 2000. The collection documents the activities of the society through scrapbooks, general records, printed matter, correspondence, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters (WSLP) measure 1 linear foot and date from 1917 to 2000. The collection documents the activities of the society through scrapbooks, general records, printed matter, correspondence, and photographs.
General records consist of administrative records such as the WSLP constitution and by-laws, meeting minutes, and membership lists, as well as miscellaneous material such as logbooks, guest registers, and scattered notes.
There is limited correspondence mostly on the subject of exhibitions, field trips, and membership.
Printed material consists of exhibition catalogs, announcements, reviews, newsletters, and clippings about the WSLP and its members.
There are several scrapbooks in this collection. The "W.S.L.P. Archives" consists of three volumes of material compiled by the club historian and contains photographs, clippings, and printed material about the organization, its activities, and its members. There is also one other scrapbook about WSLP members that is arranged alphabetically by name.
The photographic material includes a few snapshots of people painting at their easels outdoors and a few slides of an unidentified backyard.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 5 series. Unless otherwise specified in the series descriptions, material within each folder is arranged chronologically.
Missing Title
Series 1: General Records, 1917-1997 (Box 1, 0.2 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1958-1993 (Box 1, 0.1 linear feet)
Series 3: Printed Matter, 1929-2000 (Box 1, 0.1 linear feet)
Series 4: Scrapbooks, 1919-circa 1976 (Box 1, 0.5 linear feet)
Series 5: Photographs, 1967-1979 (Box 1, 0.1 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
The Washington Society of Landscape Painters is an art society based in Washington, D.C. Organized in 1919, it is one of the oldest artists organization in the Mid-Atlantic region.
The Washington Society of Landscape Painters actually traces its inception to 1916, when Charles Seaton and Winfield Scott Cline and other landscape painters formed a group called the Ramblers.
By 1919, the organization was formally named the Landscape Club of Washington. It met at 1221 15th Street, N.W., in a wing of the home of Florida's Senator Fletcher, where they began holding exhibitions, an arrangement that lasted until the late 1920s.
Activities were curtailed during World War II, but exhibitions continued on a slightly reduced schedule. The annual banquet, a tradition begun in 1927, continued until the start of World War II; more than 35 years later, in 1976, another annual dinner was held. In 1996, the annual luncheon/dinner was reinstated as an annual event, although it is no longer a formal affair.
During the 1950s several outspoken members of the Landscape Club were vocal about their dissatisfaction with modern art, making newspaper headlines. Membership and local press coverage of their exhibitions declined during the 1960s and 1970s, though the group remained active during this period. At various times in the society's history, there has been a club historian who collected material produced by or about the organization and its members that was assembled in a set of scrapbooks titled "W.S.L.P. Archives," covering the years 1919-circa 1976. From the mid 1970s until the mid 1980s recordkeeping was less systematic and very few items have survived to fully document activities of the organization during this period. With a resurgence of interest in the club around the mid 1980s came improved attention to recordkeeping.
In the mid 1980s Landscape Club activities increased. There were more painting excursions, the exhibition schedule expanded, and a number of memorial prizes were established. The organization formally changed its name to the Washington Society of Landscape Painters in 1986. Painting on location and critiques of members work were held quarterly. Field trips, sometimes called "paint outs," sometimes extended longer than a weekend and might be in locations farther from home than previously. The group commemorated its 80th anniversary in 1993, at which time its constitution was amended, opening membership to women.
Provenance:
Gift of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters, via its past historian and archivist, 1999 and 2004.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Landscape painters -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
Landscape painting -- 20th century -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
Function:
Arts organizations -- Washington (D.C.)
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Visitors' books
Citation:
Washington Society of Landscape Painters records, 1917-2000. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art
