Search Results

Creator:

Williamson, Ada Clendenin, 1880-1958  Search this

Extent:

2.5 Linear feet ((on 2 microfilm reels))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1890-1957

Scope and Contents:

Correspondence, notes, printed material, clippings, photographs, writings, diaries, and sketches documenting Williamson's travels to Europe on a Cresson Scholarship, and professional career.

Biographical / Historical:

Painter; West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Provenance:

Microfilmed in 1987 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project.

Restrictions:

The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Occupation:

Painters -- Pennsylvania -- West Chester  Search this

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.willada

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-willada

Creator:

Stoddard, Alice Kent Pearson, 1885-1976  Search this

Extent:

0.1 Linear feet ((on partial microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

[ca. 1906]-1971

Scope and Contents:

Photographs of 89 portraits and 2 landscapes by Stoddard, and of Stoddard at work on one of her last portraits. Also included is a group shot of unidentified young women, possibly students at Moore College of Art.

Biographical / Historical:

Alice Kent Stoddard (1885-1976) was a portrait painter from Philadelphia, Pa. Married to painter Joseph T. Pearson, Stoddard is known for her portraits of Philadelphians and their children.

Provenance:

Album donated to Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts by Stoddard. Microfilmed by AAA, 1985.

Restrictions:

The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Occupation:

Portrait painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.stodalic

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-stodalic

Creator:

Piper, Jane, 1916-1991  Search this

Extent:

0.2 Linear feet ((on partial microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1943-1988

Scope and Contents:

Biographical information; class notes from a 2-dimensional painting class at the Philadelphia College of Art; a typescript from a lecture given by Piper; printed matter documenting her career; and photographs of her studio and of Piper with a painting.

Biographical / Historical:

Painter; Philadelphia, Pa. Died 1991.

Provenance:

Microfilmed in 1989 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project. Lent by Jane Piper.

Restrictions:

The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Occupation:

Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Topic:

Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- History -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.pipejane

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-pipejane

Creator:

Dodson, Sarah Paxton Ball, 1847-1906  Search this

Extent:

1 Volume ((on partial microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Volumes

Scrapbooks

Date:

[ca. 1860-1900]

Scope and Contents:

Scrapbook contains 2 photographs of Dodson, 2 undated letters to Emily Sartain discussing her living situation, and 9 undated oil and watercolor sketches.

Provenance:

Microfilmed in 1990 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project. Gift of Emily Sartain to the Free Library of Philadelphia.

Restrictions:

The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Occupation:

Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Scrapbooks

Identifier:

AAA.dodssara

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-dodssara

Creator:

Oakley, Violet, 1874-1961  Search this

Extent:

2 Items ((on partial microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1902

Scope and Contents:

Oakley's autograph and a photograph of her.

Biographical / Historical:

Muralist, painter; Philadelphia, Pa.

Provenance:

Donated 1955-1962 by Charles E. Feinberg, an active donor and friend of AAA.

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.

Occupation:

Muralists -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Topic:

Women painters  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.oaklviap

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-oaklviap

Creator:

Wickham, Ola Alice Forbes, 1889-1963  Search this

Extent:

29 Items ((partially microfilmed on 1 reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1912-1965

Scope and Contents:

REEL 3482: A photograph of Wickham at her easel; a biographical sketch by her sister Maude Forbes; a photocopy of an exhibition catalog; typescripts of correspondence and several sheets of excerpts from letters to Wickham; clipping on an exhibition of her work at the University of Oklahoma Museum of Art; and an announcement for Wickham's funeral service.

UNMICROFILMED: Copies of childhood letters and drawings; biographical information; a copy of an article written for the University of Oklahoma Magazine, 1912; clippings; and fragments of photographs of Wickham, 1912-1921.

Provenance:

Donated 1965-1979 by Margaret Maude Forbes, sister of Wickham.

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.

Occupation:

Painters -- Oklahoma  Search this

Topic:

Painting, American -- Oklahoma  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.wickola

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-wickola

Creator:

Wessel, Bessie Hoover, 1889-1973  Search this

Wessel, Herman Henry, 1878-1969  Search this

Names:

Duveneck, Frank, 1848-1919  Search this

Extent:

140 Items ((on partial microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1914-1972

Scope and Contents:

Mostly photographs of portraits by Bessie Wessel. Also included is a scrapbook of clippings about the Wessels, articles on Frank Duveneck and the Cincinnati Art Club (of which Herman Wessel was president), a biography of Bessie Wessel, three sketches by Herman Wessel, two typed class lectures by Robert Henri, and miscellany.

Biographical / Historical:

Painters; Cincinnati, Ohio. The Wessels studied under Frank Duveneck and others at the Cincinnati Art Academy. Herman Wessel was also an etcher and instructor.

Provenance:

Lent 1974 by Robert Wessel, the Wessels' son.

Restrictions:

The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Occupation:

Art teachers -- Ohio -- Cincinnati  Search this

Painters -- Ohio -- Cincinnati  Search this

Portrait painters -- Ohio -- Cincinnati  Search this

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Women educators  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.wessbess

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-wessbess

Interviewee:

Erlebacher, Martha Mayer  Search this

Interviewer:

Hunter, Anne S.  Search this

Names:

Pratt Institute  Search this

Erlebacher, Walter, 1933-1991  Search this

Paglia, Camille, 1947-  Search this

Schoelkopf, Robert J., 1927-1991  Search this

Extent:

155 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Interviews

Sound recordings

Date:

1990 December 7-1991 January 12

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Martha Mayer Erlebacher conducted 1990 December 7-1991 January 12, by Anne Schuster Hunter, for the Archives of American Art Philadelphia Project.

Erlebacher discusses her family background and education including her studies at Pratt Institute in Industrial Design, meeting future husband Walter Erlebacher; working for the design firm Arthur Wagner Associates; receiving her advanced degree from Pratt; her early optical paintings and the gradual introduction of the figure; studying and teaching herself anatomy along with Walter Erlebacher in the mid 1960s; a 1966 Yaddo fellowship; moving to Philadelphia and her first one person show there in 1966; showing with Robert Schoelkopf; the development of themes and use of mythology in her art; interest in Renaissance painters; Camille Paglia's "Sexual Personae"; and portrait commissions and models.

Biographical / Historical:

Martha Mayer Erlebacher (1937- ) is a painter from Philadelphia, Pensylvania. Wife of sculptor Walter Erlebacher.

General:

Originally recorded on 3 sound tape cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 41 min.

Provenance:

This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.

Restrictions:

Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.

Occupation:

Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Topic:

Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Figurative painting -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Sound recordings

Sponsor:

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:

AAA.erleba90

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-erleba90

Creator:

Gilder, Dorothea  Search this

Names:

Beaux, Cecilia, 1855-1942  Search this

Extent:

0.6 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

1897-1920

Summary:

The Dorothea Gilder papers regarding Cecilia Beaux date from 1897 to 1920 and include correspondence between Beaux and Gilder, scattered printed materials, and two photographs of Beaux with Gilder and other friends. The papers are comprised primarily of correspondence between Cecilia Beaux and her close, life-long friend and intimate companion Dorothea Gilder between 1897 and 1920. The letters recount daily activities, travels, work, social life, attitudes, and aspects of their intimate relationship.

Scope and Content Note:

The Dorothea Gilder papers regarding Cecilia Beaux date from 1897 to 1920 and include correspondence between Beaux and Gilder, scattered printed materials, a photograph of Beaux with Gilder, and a photograph of the two with other friends. The papers are comprised primarily of correspondence between Cecilia Beaux and her close, life-long friend and intimate companion Dorothea Gilder between 1897 and 1920. The letters recount daily activities, travels, work, social life, attitudes, and aspects of their intimate relationship. Also found is scattered third party correspondence. Two folders of printed materials include newspaper reviews of Beaux's 1903 exhibition, and four exhibition catalogs, several of which are not found in the papers of Cecilia Beaux. The photograph is a single snapshot of Beaux with Gilder. One additional photograph of Beaux, Gilder, and friends is found attached to a 1906 letter.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 3 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Correspondence, 1897-1920 (Boxes 1-2; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 2: Printed Material, 1897-1910 (Box 2; 2 folders)

Series 3: Photograph, undated (Box 2; 1 item)

Biographical Note:

Dorothea Gilder was born in 1882 to socially prominent parents Richard Watson Gilder, a poet and publisher of Century Magazine, and Helena De Kay Gilder, an artist who had studied with Albert Pinkham Ryder and John La Farge, and who helped to found the Art Students League and the Society of American Artists. Painter Cecilia Beaux enjoyed a close friendship with the New York family from the mid 1890s until the end of her life. They travelled together in France in 1896, where Beaux had gone to see her paintings hung at the Paris salon. In her memoir, Background with Figures, Beaux describes extended visits at the Gilder's summer farm in Tyringham, Massachusetts, where the Gilders set up a studio for her in a tobacco barn, in which she painted Dorothea and Francesca, a.k.a. The Dancing Lesson (1899). She also attended the Gilders' private salon in New York, frequented by prominent artists, writers, musicians, and actors including Mark Twain and Walt Whitman.

Dorothea Gilder was a favorite portrait subject of Beaux's, sitting for numerous sketches and several major paintings, including Dorothea and Francesca, Dorothea in the Woods (1897), and After the Meeting (1914). Letters between Beaux and Dorothea Gilder contain constant references to their intimite, often physical affection for one another, and suggest a romantic relationship between them. In 1911, Gilder began what was to be a brief stage career under the name of Dorothea Coleman. In 1916, she married Dallas D.L. McGrew, a New York architect who had designed Beaux's summer home in Gloucester, Massachusetts and who had recently returned from the ambulance service in France. She had a child, Helena Gilder McGrew in 1917, and died in 1920 at the age of 38.

Related Material:

The Archives of American Art holds the papers of Cecilia Beaux, as well as an oral history with Rosamund Gilder, Dorothea Gilder's sister and a prominent theater critic.

Provenance:

The papers were donated by Helena Newman, Dorothea Gilder's daughter, in two separate accessions in 1971 and 1978.

Restrictions:

The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.

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.

Occupation:

Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Topic:

Painting  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Citation:

Dorothea Gilder papers regarding Cecilia Beaux, 1897-1920. 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

Identifier:

AAA.gilddoro

See more items in:

Dorothea Gilder papers regarding Cecilia Beaux

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-gilddoro

Creator:

Selden, Dixie, 1868-1935  Search this

Extent:

4.3 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Diaries

Sketchbooks

Scrapbooks

Date:

1837-1936

1993-2001

Summary:

The papers of artist Dixie Selden measure 4.3 linear feet and date from 1837-1936 and 1993-2001. The collection documents the life, world travels, and professional career of the Impressionist painter from Cincinnati, Ohio, through biographical material, correspondence, writings, diaries, printed material, a scrapbook, photographs, artwork, sketchbooks, and artifacts.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of artist Dixie Selden measure 4.3 linear feet and date from 1837-1936 and 1993-2001. The collection documents the life, world travels, and professional career of the Impressionist painter from Cincinnati, Ohio, through biographical material, correspondence, writings, diaries, printed material, a scrapbook, photographs, artwork, sketchbooks, and artifacts.

Correspondence makes up a significant part of the collection and includes frequent letters sent to her parents while traveling abroad. Selden's travels are also documented in seven diaries, with daily descriptions of events and sights, and nine sketchbooks containing pencil and pastel sketches. Printed material makes up another large part of the collection and primarily includes items that document Selden's career and exhibitions, in addition to her frequent travels. Extensive photographs also document her travel, as well as her artwork, friends and family, and portraits of Selden. Artwork includes pencil sketches and prints by Selden and others. The remainder of the collection includes biographical material, writings, a scrapbook, and artifacts.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 10 series

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1890s-1930s (0.1 linear foot; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1837-1935, 1998 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1890s-1930s (0.1 linear foot; Box 1)

Series 4: Diaries, 1878-circa 1934 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1850-1926, 1993-2001 (1.7 linear feet; Box 2, 4, OV 5, OV 7)

Series 6: Scrapbook, circa 1889 (0.1 linear foot; Box 2)

Series 7: Photographs, circa 1860s-1935, 1995 (0.6 linear feet; Box 2-3)

Series 8: Artwork, circa 1900s-1920s (0.3 linear feet; Box 3, OV 6)

Series 9: Sketchbooks, circa 1900s-1931 (0.3 linear feet; Box 3)

Series 10: Artifacts, circa 1890s-1930s (0.3 linear feet; Box 3)

Biographical / Historical:

Dixie Selden (1868-1935) was an American Impressionist painter working in Kentucky and Ohio. Born to wealthy parents in Cincinnati, Ohio, Selden moved with her family to Covington, Kentucky when she was two years old. Her parents, John Roger Selden and Martha Peyton McMillon Selden were active in Cincinnati and Covington social circles and societies. Dixie's parents nurtured her artistic abilities early on, building her a studio, and taking her on two tours of Europe.

Selden studied art at the Art Academy of Cincinnati off and on from 1884, when it was called the McMicken School of Design, until 1912. While there she was a student of Fernand H. Lungren and Frank Duveneck. In 1913, Selden traveled to Venice to study painting with William Merritt Chase. She exhibited regularly in the Midwest, and created a professional career as a portrait and landscape painter.

Selden traveled extensively throughout her life, frequently with her close friend and fellow artist Emma Mendenhall. Her travels to Europe, Mexico, China, Japan, the Middle East, as well as sights across the United States served as inspiration for her art, as she took many photographs, collected postcards, and created sketches and paintings.

Provenance:

The Dixie Selden papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Marcia Goldman Widenor in 2014. Marcia Widenor's grandfather was married to Minnie Schaffer Goldman, Dixie Selden's first cousin.

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.

Occupation:

Painters -- Ohio -- Cincinnati  Search this

Topic:

Impressionism (Art)  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Diaries

Sketchbooks

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Dixie Selden papers, 1837-1936, 1993-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.selddixi

See more items in:

Dixie Selden papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-selddixi

Creator:

Smith family (Philadelphia, Pa.)  Search this

Names:

Smith, Mary Priscilla, 1819-1874  Search this

Smith, Mary Russell, 1842-1878  Search this

Smith, Russell, 1812-1896  Search this

Smith, Xanthus, 1839-1929  Search this

Extent:

5.12 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketchbooks

Writings

Scrapbooks

Tintypes

Drawings

Daguerreotypes

Ambrotypes

Photographs

Sketches

Date:

1793-1977

bulk 1826-1977

Summary:

The Russell, Xanthus, and Mary Smith family papers comprise 5.12 linear feet and are dated 1793-1977, bulk 1826-1977. Correspondence, writings, artwork, financial records, printed material, miscellaneous items and photographs provide documentation of the lives and works of painter, illustrator and poet, Russell Smith, and his son, painter Xanthus Smith, and scattered documentation of the lives of his wife, painter and educator Mary Priscilla Smith, and daughter and painter Mary Russell Smith.

Scope and Content Note:

The Russell, Xanthus, and Mary Smith family papers comprise 5.12 linear feet and are dated 1793-1977, bulk 1826-1977. Correspondence, writings, artwork, financial records, printed material, miscellaneous items and photographs provide documentation of the lives and works of painter, illustrator and poet, Russell Smith, and his son, painter Xanthus Smith, and scattered documentation of the lives of his wife, painter and educator Mary Priscilla Smith, and daughter and painter Mary Russell Smith.

Family papers include correspondence, writings, printed material, and miscellaneous items. Correspondence, the bulk of which is comprised of letters to and from Russell and Xanthus Smith, covers both personal and professional matters. Among the correspondents are family, friends, colleagues, and arts organizations. Writings, printed material, and miscellaneous items in this series refer either to the entire Smith family or multiple individuals. Miscellaneous items also concern Horace Binder, father-in-law of Xanthus Smith.

The Russell Smith papers are comprised of biographical information, writings, artwork, and financial records. Biographical information includes some personal documents such as passports and marriage certificates. Among Russell Smith's writings are an autobiography, transcripts of correspondence, and notes. Artwork consists of loose pages and sketch books containing sketches and drawings in pencil, ink, and watercolor. His financial records are cash books recording professional and personal expenses, and receipts and memorabilia from the family's 1851-1852 travels in Europe. The printed material consists of loose clippings and a scrapbook of clippings from Philadelphia newspapers, as well as a small number of exhibition catalogs.

The Xanthus Smith papers consist of biographical information, artwork, financial records, and printed material. Among the writings are his unpublished autobiography, biographies of his father and sister, impressions of the Centennial art exhibition, journals, notes, and poems. Artwork consists of loose sketches in pencil and ink, and sketchbooks containing sketches and finished drawings in pencil and ink, some colored with gouache or watercolor washes. Financial records are cash books recording personal and professional expenses. Printed material includes clippings and a scrapbook.

The Mary Smith papers consist of writings, sketches, and printed material. The papers of her mother, Mary Priscilla Smith, are comprised of writings and printed material.

Photographs are of people, artwork, and miscellaneous subjects. People represented are Russell and Mary Priscilla Smith, their children Xanthus and Mary Smith, and several other relatives including Xanthus's wife and Russell's sister, granddaughter, and uncle. Photographs include ambrotypes, daguerreotypes, and tintypes, along with glass negatives and a small number of original prints. Copy prints have been produced from the glass negatives and other cased photographs. Photographs of artwork are of paintings by Russell Smith, Xanthus Smith, and other artists.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 6 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Smith Family Papers, 1793-1977 (Box 1; 0.9 linear ft.)

Series 2: Russell Smith Papers, 1805-1954 (Boxes 1-2; 1.2 linear ft.)

Series 3: Xanthus Smith Papers, 1850-1953 (Boxes 3-4; 1.9 linear ft.)

Series 4: Mary Smith Papers, 1852-1877 (Box 5; 4 folders)

Series 5: Mary Priscilla Smith Papers, 1839-1874 (21 folders)

Series 6: Photographs, circa 1845-1934 (Box 6-7, MGP 3, Black Cabinet; 0.9 linear ft.)

Microfilm reel numbers and frames are referenced at folder headings in parenthesis when known. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.

Biographical Note:

Russell Smith (1812-1896) was a native of Glasgow, Scotland whose family came to the United States in 1819 and settled near Pittsburgh. The Smith children were educated at home, and Russell showed an early interest in art. His first formal training in portraiture and landscape painting was in Pittsburgh under James Reid Lambdin. Around 1827, Smith began painting backdrops for theaters and within 6 years had achieved a national reputation for his theatrical painting. In 1835 he moved to Philadelphia to paint for the Walnut Street Theater, and soon received commissions to paint for theaters in Boston and Washington. Around this time, he also began writing poetry. Even while engaged in theatrical work, Smith continued to paint landscapes which were exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Artists' Fund Society of Philadelphia as early as 1834.

Russell Smith married Mary Priscilla Wilson, a flower painter and teacher of French and drawing, in 1838. By the 1840s, in addition to painting landscapes and theatrical backdrops, Smith was advertising his services as an "illustrator for lectures on various branches of natural science painted in distemper." He accompanied the scientific expeditions of geologists William Barton Rogers and Henry Darwin Rogers to Virginia and the Susquehanna and Juniata River valleys of Pennsylvania in 1844 and 1845 as an illustrator. During this period, Smith also traveled extensively in New Hampshire and upstate New York for summer painting expeditions. The Smiths traveled to Europe with their two children in 1851-1852, touring Wales, Scotland, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, London, and Paris. Smith visited major museums and private collections, as well as architectural attractions, making sketches and keeping detailed notes of the trip.

Smith continued painting landscapes well into old age, even though his long out of fashion works were rejected with increasing frequency by the juries of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He died in 1896.

Born in Milestown, Pennsylvania in 1819, Mary Priscilla Smith (1819-1874) studied at a female seminary in Germantown, Pennsylvania operated by noted educator William Russell (Russell Smith's uncle) in Germantown, Pennsylvania, and at Charles Picot's school in Philadelphia. She eventually became a teacher of French, drawing, and painting at the Picot school, and later taught at a school established by William Russell in Philadelphia.

At her husband's urging, Mary Priscilla Smith, already an accomplished flower painter, began painting figures and landscapes, and participated in exhibitions of the Artists' Fund Society exhibitions. After becoming a mother, she painted very little but taught her children, Xanthus and Mary, to draw and paint. Mary Priscilla Smith died in 1874.

Xanthus Smith (1839-1929) was born in Philadelphia and was educated at home. During the family's European tour of 1851-1852 he saw a wide variety of art and, upon returning home, began painting with enthusiasm. Around 1858 he enrolled in a cast drawing class at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

At the start of the Civil War Xanthus Smith enlisted in the Navy, where he served as clerk to the commander of a flagship guarding Port Royal, South Carolina. He began producing detailed drawings of the ships both for official purposes and his own enjoyment. After the war, he continued painting ships and exhibited many of these paintings at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Further commissions of Civil War subjects followed, and Xanthus Smith was soon recognized as the foremost painter of Civil War naval battle scenes.

In the 1880s, Xanthus Smith began painting European landscapes, probably based on his father's sketches made during their 1851-1852 tour of Europe. By the 1900s, he was concentrating on portraiture and figure subjects, and continued painting well into old age. His final years were spent in an unsuccessful attempt to publish his autobiography, "An Unvarnished Tale." Xanthus Smith died in 1929.

Mary Russell Smith (1842-1878) was born near Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. Her mother provided her with instruction in flower painting and she sketched animals and insects independently. At age fourteen Mary Smith completed her first oil painting and by 1858 had begun compiling a list of her completed pictures. She was encouraged by her parents to pursue a career as a professional artist. From 1859-1869, and in 1876 and 1878, Mary Smith exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She also participated in exhibitions at the National Academy of Design in New York, and in the 1876 Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia.

From early childhood, Mary Smith enjoyed raising poultry, and chickens became her favorite painting subject. Her paintings of chickens were popular with Philadelphia art collectors, and sought after in England.

Always sickly, Mary Smith died of gastric fever in 1878. At her request, Russell Smith established the Mary Smith Prize, awarded annually by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, for the best painting exhibited by a woman resident of Philadelphia.

Provenance:

The Smith family papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1978 and 1979 by Franklin R. Smith, a family descendent.

Restrictions:

The collection is partially microfilmed. Use of material not microfilmed 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.

Occupation:

Educators -- Pennsylvania  Search this

Painters -- Pennsylvania  Search this

Illustrators -- Pennsylvania  Search this

Poets -- Pennsylvania  Search this

Topic:

Works of art  Search this

Painting, Modern -- 19th century -- Pensylvania  Search this

Landscape painting  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Writings

Scrapbooks

Tintypes

Drawings

Daguerreotypes

Ambrotypes

Photographs

Sketches

Citation:

Smith family papers, 1793-1977, bulk 1826-1977. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.

Identifier:

AAA.smitfami

See more items in:

Russell, Xanthus, and Mary Smith family papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-smitfami

Collection Creator:

Smith family (Philadelphia, Pa.)  Search this

Extent:

(Reel 2039: 534-590)

Container:

Box 3, Folder 16

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1878

Collection Restrictions:

The collection is partially microfilmed. Use of material not microfilmed requires an appointment.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Smith family papers, 1793-1977, bulk 1826-1977. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.

See more items in:

Russell, Xanthus, and Mary Smith family papers

Russell, Xanthus, and Mary Smith family papers / Series 3: Xanthus Smith Papers / 3.2: Writings

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-smitfami-ref94

Creator:

Marcus, Marcia, 1928-  Search this

Names:

Avery, Sally  Search this

Barnes, Dorothy Gill, 1927-  Search this

Benson, Elaine  Search this

De Kooning, Elaine  Search this

Hartigan, Grace  Search this

Müller, Dody  Search this

Richenburg, Robert  Search this

Stout, Myron, 1908-1987  Search this

Extent:

0.389 Gigabytes

8.42 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Diaries

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Interviews

Date:

1928-2016

bulk 1950-2000

Summary:

The papers of New York painter and educator Marcia Marcus measure 8.42 linear feet and .389 gigabytes (1 computer file), and date from 1928-2016, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1950-2000. The papers include biographical material, correspondence, interviews, writings (including two diaries), project files, personal business records, printed material, photographic material, eight sketchbooks, and artwork. Extensive personal and professional correspondence is with her husband and close friends, galleries, museums, and other arts organizations. Notable correspondents include Sally Avery, Dody Müller, and Robert (Bob) Richenburg, and, to a lesser extent, Dorothy Gill Barnes, Elaine Benson, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, and Myron Stout. Photographic material includes photographs of Marcus at all stages of her life and photographs and slides documenting her paintings.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of New York painter and educator Marcia Marcus measure 8.42 linear feet and .389 gigabytes (1 computer file), and date from 1928-2016, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1950-2000. The papers include biographical material, correspondence, interviews, writings (including two diaries), project files, personal business records, printed material, photographic material, eight sketchbooks, and artwork.

Biographical material includes address books, diplomas, certificates, identification documents, resumes, and other material.

Extensive personal and professional correspondence is with Marcia Marcus's husband and close friends, galleries, museums, and other arts organizations. Notable correspondents include Sally Avery, Dody Müller, and Robert (Bob) Richenburg, and, to a lesser extent, Dorothy Gill Barnes, Elaine Benson, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, and Myron Stout.

Interviews include 2 sound cassettes and a few transcripts. Writings by Marcia Marcus consist of diaries, artist statements, notebooks, notes, lists and poems. There are also a few writings by others about Marcus. Project files mostly consist of grant applications, a mail art project, information on exhibitions curated by Marcus, and other material.

Personal business records include receipts, ledgers, prices lists, leases, and other documentation. Photographic material includes photographs of Marcus at all stages of her life and photographs and slides documenting her paintings. There are eight sketchbooks and artwork, mostly in the form of small sketches and watercolors.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as ten series

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1928-2000s (0.7 linear feet; Box 1, OV 9)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1948-2016 (4.0 linear feet; Box 1-5)

Series 3: Interviews, 1970s-1980 (3 folders; Box 5)

Series 4: Writings, 1970s-2014 (0.3 linear feet; Box 5)

Series 5: Project Files, 1962-circa 2000 (0.2 linear feet; Box 5-6)

Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1960s-2000s (0.3 linear feet; Box 6)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1950s-1990s (0.8 linear feet; Box 6-7, OV 10-11)

Series 8: Photographic Material, 1950s-1990s (1.3 linear feet; Box 7-8)

Series 9: Sketchbooks, circa 1954-2000 (0.3 linear feet; Box 8)

Series 10: Artwork, 1950s-1990s (0.4 linear feet; Box 8, OV 12)

Biographical / Historical:

Marcia Marcus (1928- ) is a figurative painter working in New York, New York.

Born in New York City, Marcus earned her bachelor's degree in fine arts from New York University in 1949, studied at the Cooper Union from 1950-1952, and studied at the Art Students League with Edwin Dickinson in 1954. In 1951, Marcus exhibited her first painting in a group exhibition at Roko Gallery in New York City. Since then, she has been the subject of over a dozen solo shows and participated in many group exhibitions.

Marcus had an exhibition of self-portraits (1960) at the Delancey Street Museum, where the artist Red Grooms, one of her many friends in the art world, was one of the founders. She also directed and performed a "Happening" there. In 1961, Marcus studied Byzantine and fresco painting in Florence, Italy. She then traveled to France from 1962-1963 on a Fulbright fellowship, and was the recipient of many other grants throughout her career including a Esther and Adolph Gottlieb grant and a National Endowment for the Arts grant. Marcus has taught as a visiting artist at a number of colleges and universities, including Vassar College, New York University, and Purdue University.

Marcus married Terrence (Terry) Barrell in 1959 and they have two children, Kate and Jane.

Related Materials:

Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Marcia Marcus conducted by Paul Cummings in 1975.

Provenance:

Marcia Marcus donated her papers in multiple increments between 1974-1984. Her daughter Kate Prendergast donated additional papers in 2016.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings and born-digital records with no duplicate copy requires advance notice.

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.

Occupation:

Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women educators  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Diaries

Sketchbooks

Photographs

Interviews

Citation:

Marcia Marcus papers, 1928-2016, bulk 1950-2000. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the family of Marcia Marcus, and the Lily and Earle M. Pilgrim Art Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.marcmarc

See more items in:

Marcia Marcus papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-marcmarc

Creator:

Cuthbert, Virginia, 1908-2001  Search this

Elliott, Philip Clarkson, 1903-1985  Search this

Extent:

4.8 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketchbooks

Date:

1913-1996

Scope and Contents:

Biographical material; correspondence; exhibition material; writings; clippings; printed materials; photographs and negatives of the Elliotts, friends, and colleagues, and of work; appraisals of work; documents regarding gifts of work; sketches and sketchbooks, and prints. The papers provide thorough documentation on the painting career of Virginia Cuthbert, and to a lesser degree that of her husband, as well as the artistic communities of Pittsburgh, Pa. in the 1930s, and Buffalo, N.Y. in the 1940s through the 1980s.

Biographical / Historical:

Virginia Cuthbert Elliott (known professionally as Virginia Cuthbert) was a notable painter, first in Pittsburgh, Pa., and later Buffalo, N.Y. Her husband Philip Elliott (1903-1985), a painter and photographer, taught at the Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y., 1941-1969.

Provenance:

Donated 1997 by Virginia Cuthbert.

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.

Occupation:

Painters -- New York (State) -- Buffalo  Search this

Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh  Search this

Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Photographers -- New York (State) -- Buffalo  Search this

Topic:

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women educators  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Women photographers  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Identifier:

AAA.cuthvirg

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-cuthvirg

Creator:

Sturdevant, Austa Densmore, 1855-1936  Search this

Names:

Cragsmoor Artist Colony  Search this

Extent:

14 Items ((on partial microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

[ca. 1890]-1979

Scope and Contents:

A letter from Sturdevant to her mother, and 2 family letters; copy prints of 3 photographs of Sturdevant and her Paris studio; 3 postcards postmarked July 1892, Tannersville, N.Y., from Sturdevant to her mother with sketches of students sketching (possibly sent while studying at nearby Onteora art colony created in 1887 by Candace Wheeler) ; 4 clippings on Sturdevant and Cragsmoor; and a catalog, "A Century of Women Artists at Cragsmoor."

Biographical / Historical:

Painter; Cragsmoor, N.Y. Sturdevant was also the owner and manager of the Cragsmoor Inn, a popular gathering place for visiting artists.

Provenance:

Donated 1977 and 1979 by Clarissa C. Dryden, Sturdevant's granddaughter.

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.

Occupation:

Painters -- New York (State)  Search this

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Function:

Artists' studios -- France

Identifier:

AAA.sturaust

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-sturaust

Creator:

Spencer, Lilly Martin, 1822-1902  Search this

Names:

Campus Martius Museum  Search this

Ohio Historical Society  Search this

Trumbull Phalanx (Braceville, Ohio)  Search this

Bagley, Sarah G.  Search this

Eastman, Maria M.  Search this

Emerson, Mary Moody  Search this

Gage, Frances Dana Barker, 1808-1884  Search this

Hebert, William  Search this

Martin, Angelique, b. 1792  Search this

Martin, Giles  Search this

Parsons, Anna Q. T.  Search this

Severance, Caroline M. Seymour (Caroline Maria Seymour), 1820-1914  Search this

Swift, Adeline T.  Search this

Extent:

1 Microfilm reel

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Microfilm reels

Date:

1825-1971

Scope and Contents:

Family papers include letters to Giles Martin from William Hebert and others concerning the Martin's plans to emigrate from England to America, and ca. 50 letters, 1828-1860, to Giles and Angelique Martin in Marietta and at Trumbull Phalanx by reformers active in Ohio and Massachusetts temperance, antislavery, labor and/or Association movements, among them Sarah G. Bagley, Maria M. Eastman, Mary Moody Emerson, Frances D.B. Gage, Anna Q.T. Parsons, Caroline M. S. Severance, Adeline T. Swift, and others less known but very active. Also included are 3 letters from Spencer, 1842 Mar. 31 and June 10, and 1847 July 10 to her parents.

The Campus Martius Museum records consist of correspondence with owners of Spencer's prints, paintings and and papers; clippings, articles, and reproductions of Spencer's work.

Biographical / Historical:

Spencer was a portrait and genre painter; New York, N.Y. and Ohio. She was born Angelique Marie Martin November 26, 1822, in England to French parents, Giles and Angelique Martin, followers of the French social critic, Charles Fourier. Upon emigrating to the U.S. in 1830, and moving to Marietta, Ohio in 1833, the Martins, along with others active in the cooperative movement organized a communal association, Trumbull Phalanx, near Braceville, Ohio in 1845, and became active in women's rights and other reform movements. Spencer chose to concentrate on painting, first in Cincinatti and then in New York in 1848 with her husband Benjamin Rush Spencer, a cloth merchant. She maintained a successful painting career while raising seven children and moving several times, to Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, Newark, N.J., and Highlands and Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Spencer died May 22, 1902.

Provenance:

Lent for filming 1971 by Campus Martius Museum, Ohio Historical Society.

Restrictions:

The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Occupation:

Painters -- New York (State)  Search this

Topic:

Painting, Modern -- 19th century -- United States  Search this

Women's rights -- United States  Search this

Women's suffrage -- United States  Search this

Collective settlements -- Ohio  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.spenlilm

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-spenlilm

Creator:

Robins, Louisa Winslow, 1898-1962  Search this

Extent:

1.4 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

[ca. 1930-1960]

Scope and Contents:

Correspondence; photographs of Robins' work; clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements; and sketches of her Christmas card designs.

Biographical / Historical:

Painter; Buffalo and Long Island, New York.

Provenance:

Material donated by Mrs. Julien McKee and Mrs. Evan Thomas, Robins' daughters, 1978.

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.

Occupation:

Painters -- New York (State)  Search this

Topic:

Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State)  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.robiloui

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-robiloui

Creator:

Kelly, Emerson Crosby, 1899-  Search this

Hollinger & Co. photography firm.  Search this

Photographer:

Moffett (Firm)  Search this

Sarony, Napoleon, 1821-1896  Search this

Vandyk, C.  Search this

Names:

National Academy of Design (U.S.)  Search this

Pestalozzi Foundation of America  Search this

Salmagundi Club  Search this

Carlsen, Emil, 1853-1932  Search this

Murphy, Adah Clifford, 1860-1949  Search this

Murphy, John Francis, 1853-1921  Search this

Murphy, John Francis, 1853-1921 -- Catalogues raisonnés  Search this

Extent:

16.7 Linear feet ((on 21 microfilm reels))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Drawings

Sketchbooks

Place:

Arkville (N.Y.) -- Pictorial works

Date:

1761-1973

Scope and Contents:

Biography and catalogue raisonné of J. Francis Murphy by Emerson Crosby Kelly, M.D., and correspondence relating to Dr. Kelly's interest in Murphy. Personal papers of J. Francis Murphy and Adah Clifford Smith Murphy include diaries and notebooks, correspondence, Smith and Murphy family documents, financial records, printed matter, artifacts, photographs, and works of art.

Research notes, drafts, and manuscript of an unpublished biography, "J. Francis Murphy, N.A., (1853-1921): Tints of a Vanished Past," and illustrated catalogue raisonne of the works of J. Francis Murphy by Emerson Crosby Kelly (1953). Kelly corresponded with friends and relatives of the Murphys, with owners of Murphy paintings, publishers, printers, and possible financial backers for his book. Also documented is Dr. and Mrs. Kelly's involvement in the sale of "Weedwild," the Murphy's Arkville, N.Y. home, to the Pestalozzi Foundation of America.

Diaries of J. Francis Murphy (25 vols.) contain very brief entries that faithfully record weather conditions, garden progress, and other nature notes, with occasional mention of social engagements or service on art juries; entries recorded during trips to Europe mainly list places visited with little elaboration. Notebooks (16 vols.) include painting registers, daily listings of mail sent and received, address books, and jottings relating to Indian relics, his farmland, and paintings sent to dealers. Mrs. Murphy's diaries (46 vols.) also contain very brief entries mentioning friends, social engagements, travels, and an "Account of the pictures I painted and gave away. Portraits of them. + landscapes + old houses." Her notebooks (4 vols.) contain "Notes for a book. J.F.'s".

Correspondence concerns family matters, exhibitions, sales, professional memberships, involvement with the Salmagundi Club and National Academy of Design, and the couple's finances. Whenever separated, the Murphys exchanged lengthy letters with one another; the majority of these are from husband to wife.

Receipts and invoices are mainly for art supplies, framing, and shipping costs; expense records for personal purchases and farm upkeep and improvements; taxes; and legal papers concerning a property boundary dispute and lawsuit against the Murphys.

Photographs are of Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, their families and ancestors, friends, studios, "Weedwild" (country home) and surrounding Arkville, N.Y. area, landscape subjects, works of art by the Murphys, medals and certificates of award. Six tintypes are included. Photographers include: Hollinger, Moffett, Napoleon Sarony, and C. Vandyk. Commercially produced stereographs mainly depict U.S. scenes.

Art works consist of sketchbooks, oil sketches, and works of art on paper by both Murphys, Emil Carlsen, and other artists (ca. 500 items).

Other materials include exhibition catalogs and announcements, clippings, scrapbooks (probably compiled by Mrs. Murphy ca. 1885), medals awarded to J. Francis Murphy, copper plate etched by Adah C. Murphy, and artifacts.

Arrangement:

I. Writings and Research Notes. II. Kelly Correspondence and Miscellaneous Files. III. J. Francis and Adah Clifford Smith Murphy Papers.

Biographical / Historical:

Emerson Crosby Kelly, M.D., art collector, surgeon, and medical bibliographer; d. 1977. J. Francis Murphy, landscape painter and one of the leading tonalists of the American Barbizon school, lived and worked in New York City and Arkville, N.Y. Studied very briefly at the Chicago Academy of Design, 1875. Member of the National Academy of Design and active in the Salmagundi Club. His wife, Adah Clifford Smith Murphy, a painter and illustrator, studied at the Female Art School of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.

Provenance:

The donor, Sydney Kelly, is the widow of Dr. Emerson Crosby Kelly. Dr. Kelly acquired the Murphy papers in 1949 from Hulda Gregerson, Mrs. Murphy's long-time companion, for the purpose of writing a biography and catalogue raisonne of J. Francis Murphy.

Occupation:

Painters -- Biography  Search this

Biographers  Search this

Illustrators -- New York (State)  Search this

Landscape painters -- New York (State)  Search this

Topic:

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Landscape painting, American -- New York (State)  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State)  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Drawings

Sketchbooks

Identifier:

AAA.kellemer

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-kellemer

Creator:

Hervey, Wilna, 1894-1979  Search this

Names:

Heckman, Albert  Search this

Klitgaard, Georgina, 1889-1977  Search this

Komroff, Manuel, 1890-  Search this

Kroll, Leon, 1884-1974  Search this

Lee, Doris, 1905-1983  Search this

Marsh, Fred Dana, 1872-1961  Search this

Mason, Dan, 1853-1929  Search this

Mason, Nan, 1896-1982  Search this

McFee, Henry Lee, 1886-1953  Search this

Pachner, William, 1915-  Search this

Rohland, Caroline  Search this

Rohland, Paul, 1884-1953  Search this

Ruellan, Andrée, 1905-2006  Search this

Speicher, Elsie, d. 1959  Search this

Speicher, Eugene Edward, 1883-1962  Search this

Varian, Dorothy, 1895-1985  Search this

Extent:

4.9 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

1883-1985

Summary:

The papers of artist and silent film actress Wilna Hervey and her lifelong companion painter Nan Mason date from 1883 through 1985 and measure 4.9 linear feet. The collection is comprised mostly of letters to Hervey and Mason from friends, colleagues, and Mason's father, Dan Mason, also a silent film actor. Also found are personal photographs and snapshots, Hervey's handwritten memoirs, as well as twelve folders of Dan Mason's papers.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of artist and silent film actress Wilna Hervey and her lifelong companion painter Nan Mason date from 1883 through 1985 and measure 4.9 linear feet. The collection is comprised mostly of letters to Hervey and Mason from friends, colleagues, and Mason's father, Dan Mason, also a silent film actor. Also found are personal photographs and snapshots, Hervey's handwritten memoirs, as well as twelve folders of Dan Mason's papers.

Biographical materials include a personal narrative, notes on family history, newspaper clippings related to family, legal and financial records, and Wilna Hervey's notes on artwork.

Hervey and Mason were friends with many artists and their correspondence includes letters from artists such as Albert Heckman, Georgina Klitgaard, Manuel Komroff, Leon Kroll, Doris Lee, Fred Dana Marsh, Henry Lee McFee, William Pachner, Caroline and Paul Rohland, Andrée Ruellan, Eugene Speicher, and Dorothy Varian. There are very few letters written by Hervey or Mason, and the correspondence is mostly personal in nature. There are over 250 letters from Elsie Speicher, wife of portrait artist Eugene Speicher. Correspondence to Dan Mason has been separated and is filed in a separate series.

Wilna Hervey wrote a a number of handwritten memoirs of her days in the The Toonerville Trolley film series. She had hopes of publishing these one day and worked with writer Karin Whiteley on the project. Although her memoirs were never published, Hervey and Whiteley wrote and compiled materials for the book. Included in the Memoir Book Production series are handwritten memoirs by Hervey chronicling her years prior to and during the 1920s (many of the handwritten memoirs have been typed by Karin Whiteley). It also includes research materials, such as two typed synopses of The Toonerville Trolley scripts from Fontaine Fox's files, newspaper clippings, and playbills, seemingly intended to provide background and verification of the memoirs.

This collection also includes a few pieces of artwork; three small watercolor sketches by an unidentified artist, and a print by Edward Chavez.

Photographs are mostly snapshots of friends and family, life in Woodstock, New York and Anna Maria, Florida. Negatives originally housed in an un-postmarked envelope with a return address labeled "Betzwood Film Co.," appear to be from the filming of The Toonerville Trolley. In several of the negatives Wilna Hervey is dressed as The Powerful Katrinka, and in one negative Dan Mason is The Skipper.

The personal files of Dan Mason include letters from Hervey and Nan Mason, the bulk from their trip to Europe and North Africa in 1926-1927. This series also includes Dan Mason's own handwritten and typed memoirs, newspaper clippings, and financial records.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into six series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1916-1960 (Box 1; 5 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1890-1985 (Box 1-10, OV 13; 3.8 linear feet)

Series 3: Memoir Book Production, 1883-1959 (Box 11, OV 13; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 4: Artwork, 1961, undated (Box 11, OV 13; 2 folders)

Series 5: Photographs, circa 1915 - 1982 (Box 12; 5 folders)

Series 6: Personal Files of Dan Mason, 1919-1928 (Box 12; 0.4 linear feet)

Biographical Note:

Wilna Hervey was born in 1894 and grew up in Far Rockaway, New York. She met Nan Mason (1896-1982), daughter of silent film actor Dan Mason, while on production of The Toonerville Trolley silent film comedies in 1920. They were lifelong companions until Hervey's death in 1979.

As a young woman in the late 1910s, Hervey took art lessons at the Art Students League in New York City, Winold Reiss' studio at 4 Christopher Street, New York City, and during the summer of 1918 in Woodstock, New York. In 1919, she joined the Betzwood Studios in Audubon, Pennsylvania to play the role of "The Powerful Katrinka" in The Toonerville Trolley, a series of silent films based on Fontaine Fox's comic strip. Co-star Dan Mason, who played the Skipper, took Hervey under his wing, and Hervey lived with the Masons while filming the series. After The Toonerville Trolley series ended in 1921, Dan and Nan Mason traveled to Hollywood to start a new company, and Wilna followed shortly after, taking the train across the country in early 1922. The new endeavor, Plum Street Comedies, began at the Paul Gerson Pictures Corporation in San Francisco and was based on The Toonerville Trolley series; the film crew included the young Frank Capra. The Plum Street Comedies were in production for only one year, 1922-1923.

Around 1919-1920, Hervey's father bought Wilna a small studio in Bearsville, New York. From 1922-1929 Hervey and Nan Mason split their time between painting and farming in Woodstock, New York, and pursuing acting while living with Dan Mason in California. In 1926-1927, the women traveled to Europe and North Africa together to see museums, art, and architecture.

After the death of Dan Mason in 1929, Hervey and Nan Mason made Bearsville their permanent home. Beginning in the late 1950s, Hervey and Mason began spending winters in Anna Maria, Florida and summers in New York. Hervey and Mason achieved success as artists in the 1960s - Hervey as an enamel painter, and Mason as a painter and photographer.

Wilna Hervey passed away in 1979, and Nan Mason died in 1982.

Sources consulted include "The Biggest Girl" by Joseph P. Eckhardt (http://faculty.mc3.edu/jeckhard/biggestgirlarticle/thebiggestgirl.html).

Provenance:

The Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Daniel Gelfand, a friend of Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason, in 2008.

Restrictions:

Use of the 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.

Occupation:

Motion picture actors and actresses  Search this

Painters -- New York (State)  Search this

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Citation:

Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason papers, 1883-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.hervwiln

See more items in:

Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-hervwiln

Creator:

Greer, Frances, d. 1978  Search this

Greer, Mary Virginia, b. 1889  Search this

Names:

Eaton, Allen H. (Allen Hendershott), b. 1878  Search this

Moses, Dorothy  Search this

Moses, Grandma, 1860-1961  Search this

Moses, Molly, d. ca. 1976  Search this

Extent:

0.2 Linear feet ((100 items on partial microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1913-1982

Scope and Contents:

Letters to Frances and Mary Greer from Grandma Moses (Anna Mary Robertson Moses), and later letters from daughters-in-law, Mary, and Dorothy Moses; correspondence between Frances Greer and writer Allen H. Eaton regarding Grandma Moses; photographs; newspaper and magazine clippings, and other printed material.

Included are 14 cards and letters from Grandma Moses in Eagles Bridge, New York; 16 letters from Molly, or Mary B. Moses [Mrs. Forrest Moses]; and 11 letters from Dorothy [Mrs. Hugh Moses]. Most of the correspondence was written during the Christmas holidays and recounts family news. Other letters mention Grandma Moses's growing reputation as an artist and books written about her after her death. Also included is an exchange of six letters between Frances Greer and Allen H. Eaton, regarding Eaton's prospective biography of Grandma Moses.

Photographs, include three images of Mt. Nebo, the Moses house in Eagle Bridge, New York, a photograph of Grandma Moses, and various people and places. Clippings and miscellaneous printed material concerning Grandma Moses, her family, and their art work.

Biographical / Historical:

Sisters Frances and Mary Greer lived near Staunton, Virginia, where Anna Mary Robertson [Grandma] Moses and her husband settled in 1887. When the Moses family moved back to New York in 1905, Grandma Moses and daughters-in-law Mary and Dorothy corresponded with the Greers. Grandma Moses, a self-taught, "modern primitive" painter, began painting in the thirties after arthritis forced her to give up yarn needlework.

Provenance:

Donated 1988 by Miss Frances G. Brown, the niece of the Greers.

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.

Occupation:

Painters -- New York (State)  Search this

Folk artists -- New York (State)  Search this

Self-taught artists -- New York (State)  Search this

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.greefran

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-greefran