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:
Collectors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
The papers of art historian E. P. Richardson measure 28.7 linear feet and date from 1814-1996, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1921-1996. Within the papers are scattered biographical materials; acquisition files for Richardson's personal art collection; professional and personal correspondence with colleagues, art historians and critics, artists, museums, galleries, and dealers; numerous writings, including manuscripts and research files for his published books, articles, and lectures; general research notebooks and files compiled by Richardson on a wide variety of art-related topics and artists; professional and committee files; as well as a smaller amount of Constance C. Richardson's papers.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of art historian E. P. Richardson measure 28.7 linear feet and date from 1814-1996, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1921-1996. Within the papers are scattered biographical materials; acquisition files for Richardson's personal art collection; professional and personal correspondence with colleagues, art historians and critics, artists, museums, galleries, and dealers; numerous writings, including manuscripts and research files for his published books, articles, and lectures; general research notebooks and files compiled by Richardson on a wide variety of art-related topics and artists; professional and committee files; as well as a smaller amount of Constance C. Richardson's papers.
Biographical materials include certificates, awards, and honorary degrees, membership information, personal and family photographs, a few sketches, and a transcript of an oral history Interview with E.P. Richardson conducted by the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1982.
There are acquisitions files for the Richardsons' personal art collection that invoices, photographs, correspondence with galleries and collectors, appraisals, price lists, and artwork examination forms.
Correspondence is with colleagues, art dealers, collectors, museums and museum curators, foreign scholars, organizations, galleries, artists, art historians and critics, publishers, editors, librarians, friends, and family. Topics regard purchasing art for various collections, consultations about art and collecting including authentications and attributions, publishing, general art history, lectures, and personal matters, among other topics. There is correspondence with the Archives of American Art, Castano Galleries, Lawrence Fleischman, James Thomas Flexner, Alfred V. Frankenstein, George Croce, Walter Heil, Earl Krentzin, Wilmarth Lewis, Russel Lynes, John Francis McDermott, Philadelphia Museum of Art, J. Hall Pleasants, Anna Rutledge, Charles Sellers, Smithsonian Institution, Regina Soria, Victor Spark, William Stevens, Robert Vose, William Woolfenden, and many others. Scattered correspondence with artists is with Isabel Bishop, Louis Bouche, William Bostick, Eve Garrison, Edward Hopper, Irene Jungwirth, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Hughie Lee-Smith, Reginald Marsh, Gerald Mast, Georgia O'Keeffe, Charles Sheeler, Walt Speck, and John Wedda, among many others. The greatest extent of correspondence is with Andrew Wyeth, Harold Cohn, and Frederick Simper. There is also personal correspondence with family and friends, and between E.P. and Constance Richardson.
E.P. Richardson's prominence as an art historian, writer, and expert on collecting is well documented through his prolific writings. Materials include drafts, notes, typescripts, and outlines for articles, exhibition catalog essays, and lectures. Also found are research files and publishing documentation for Richardson's books, including Washington Allston: A Study of the Romantic Artist in America (1948), Painting in America (1956), Charles Willson Peale and his World (1983), and American Romantic Painting (1944). There are also miscellaneous notes and four diaries. Two of the diaries comment on the social and cultural life of Detroit; the authenticity of paintings; Richardson's reflections on contemporary American painting, thoughts about museums, dealers, artists, and art historians (especially Wilhelm R. Valentiner); and travel.
Notebooks compiled by Richardson on a wide variety art-related topics cover nearly six decades. There are also numerous research files organized Richardson about individual artists and art history. And, the art collector files contain reference materials about art collectors and their collections including Lamont du Pont Copeland, Michael W. Freeman, Nelson Rockefeller, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Allen, and the Marquis de Somerlous. There are three index card file boxes containing bibliographic data on published books and articles.
Professional and committee files document Richardson's professional and consulting work for the Art Quarterly, Detroit Institute of Arts, National Collection of Fine Arts, the National Portrait Gallery, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the John D. Rockefeller III collection, Winterthur Museum, the White House, and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Constance C. Richardson's papers include business and professional correspondence with various institutions, most extensively with the Macbeth Gallery. In addition, there is a smaller amount of personal correspondence, photographs and slides of her artworks, printed materials, two illustrated notebooks on her work, and miscellaneous notes. Also included is Constance's artist palette.
Biographical / Historical:
Art historian, museum director, and writer E. P. (Edgar Preston) Richardson (1902-1985) served as director of the Detroit Institute of Arts (1945-1962) and Winterthur Museum (1963-1966). He was also a board member of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1966-1977 and, in 1954, co-founded the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
E. P. Richardson was born in 1902 in Glens Falls, New York and died in Philadelphia in 1985. He graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts in 1925 and studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for the three years following graduation. In 1930 he became educational secretary at the Detroit Institute of Arts, was quickly named assistant director in 1933, and served as director from 1945 to 1962. He left Detroit to take the position of director of the Winterthur Museum, where he remained until 1966.
Richardson married Constance Coleman in 1931. Born in Berlin, Germany in 1905, Constance Coleman Richardson was an award-winning and widely exhibited realist style painter of American landscapes. She gave up painting in the 1960s and died in 2002.
While at the Detroit Institute of Arts, E. P. Richardson co-founded the Archives of American Art with Lawrence Fleischman, and served as the Archives' first director. Richardson was also art advisor to John D. Rockefeller III for over ten years, editor of Art Quarterly from 1938 to 1967, and a member of various boards, including the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian Arts Commission, and the National Portrait Gallery. He authored numerous books including ones on artists Washington Allston and Charles Willson Peale, and The Way of Western Art: American Romantic Painting (1939), Painting in America: The Story of Four Hundred and Fifty Years (1956), A Short History of Painting in America (1963), and American Art, an Exhibition of the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, 3d (1976).
Related Materials:
Related collections among the holdings of the Archives of American Art include an interview with E.P. Richardson dated February 6, 1978 conducted by Linda Downs; and several miscellaneous manuscripts that include an E.P. Richardson Letter to Rockwell Kent, June 15 1959; E.P. Richardson letters to Lawrence Arthur Fleischman, May 13, 1962 and August 22 1954; and a Yasuo Kunioshi letter to E.P. Richardson, July 25 1948.
Additional E.P. Richardson papers are found at the Detroit Institute of Arts and in the archives of the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel D46) including E.P. Richardson's research material on Jeremiah P. Hardy. These materials are housed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Library and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Edith Wilkinson first donated a letter to E. P. Richardson from herself in 1957. E.P. Richardson donated papers to the Archives of American Art in 1958 and 1960 and lent materials for microfilming in 1961. Addition material was donated by Constance Richardson in 1985, and by Martha Fleischman in 2003.
Restrictions:
Use of original material requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact References 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.
Prendergast, Maurice Brazil, 1858-1924 Search this
Extent:
10.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Date:
1775-1997
bulk 1940-1986
Summary:
The Carlen Galleries, Inc., records measure 10.4 linear feet (gift portions) and date from 1775 to 1997 (bulk 1940-1986). Correspondence, business records, subject files, a scrapbook, printed matter, and photographs document the operation and activities of Carlen Galleries, Inc., and its founder Robert Carlen.
Scope and Content Note:
The Carlen Galleries, Inc., records measure 10.4 linear feet (gift portions, Parts 1 and 3) and date from 1775-1998 (bulk 1940-1986). Correspondence, business records, subject files, a scrapbook, printed matter, and photographs document the operation and activities of Carlen Galleries, Inc., and its founder Robert Carlen.
Part 1: Received in 1986 as a gift from Robert Carlen, these records document the activities of Carlen Galleries and its founder, 1937-1986. Correspondence mainly concerns the sale and purchase of works of art. Also included are artist files containing correspondence, receipts, and printed matter regarding Albert Davies, Edward Hicks, Käthe Kollwitz, Horace Pippin, and Maurice Prendergast. Subject files concern African American artists, Raphael Peale, Raymond Feuillate, and the French Moderns. Business records consist of loan forms, documentation of exhibitions at Carlen Galleries, inventories, a scrapbook and clippings concerning the gallery, conservation reports, appraisals (not microfilmed), and financial records.
Part 2: Additional records documenting the activities of Carlen Galleries and its founder, 1937-1986, were loaned by Robert Carlen for microfilming in 1988. Included are letters about Horace Pippin and rare letters from the artist. Other correspondence concerns Carlen's search for paintings by Edward Hicks, and there is also a small selection of letters regarding more routine gallery business. Among the business records are and account book and receipts. Printed matter consists of exhibition catalogs, announcements, and clippings; a scrapbook contains printed matter about Horace Pippin. Photographs are of Allan Freelon and works of art.
Part 3: Received in 2002 as a gift from Robert Carlen's daughter Nancy Carlen, this portion of the Carlen Galleries, Inc., Records consists of two letters, business records, photographs, and selections from the galleries' library. Letters are from Joan Baez, circa 1960 and Charles M. Mount, 1968. Previously sealed letters from Charles M. Mount, undated, and 1962-1975, relating to John Singer Sargent have been integrated into this portion.
Part 4: Additional records borrowed for microfilming from Nancy Carlen in 2002 include documents dated 1775-1997 (bulk 1940s-1990). Correspondence concerns gallery business, but a small amount of personal correspondence is also included. Business records consist of appraisal reports, receipts for sales and purchases, and the contract and program for the 1964 University [of Pennsylvania] Hospital Antiques Show in which Carlen Galleries exhibited. Subject files document Edward Hicks, Anatol Jal, the Captain James Lawrence Goblet, Horace Pippin, and Antoine Roux. Five notebooks, containing material similar to that in the subject files, are about Horace Pippin (vols. 1-3), Edward Hicks (vol. 4), and chronicle the career of Robert Carlen (vol. 5).
Printed matter consists of clippings and other items concerning art and antiques, Robert Carlen and Carlen Galleries, Inc., and the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the State Department where two Hicks paintings owned by Carlen were on extended loan. Among the miscellaneous records are biographical documents, personal financial records, business and research notes (including original documents and photocopies of archival materials), and four prints. Photographs are mostly of antiques and art work; also included are a few pictures of people, places, and miscellaneous subjects.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into four parts, representing gift and loan accessions received and microfilmed at various times. The two loans for microfilming (Parts 2 and 4) overlap and partially duplicate one another-particularly records relating to Horace Pippin and Edward Hicks-but are far from identical. Some of the Pippin and Hicks material was significantly rearranged in the interim between the first loan (1988) and the second (2002).
Missing Title
Part 1: Gift (1986), 1906-1986 (Boxes 1-7; 7.0 linear feet; Reels 4166-4175)
Part 2: Loan (1988), 1937-1986 (Reel 4175)
Part 3: Gift (2002), 1835-1992 (Boxes 8-12; 3.4 linear feet; Reel 5745)
Part 4: Loan (2002), 1775-1997 (Reels 5746-5748)
Historical Note:
Robert Carlen (1906-1990) worked as a secretary and attended evening classes at the Graphic Sketch Club in Philadelphia right after graduating from high school. He studied painting full-time at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts during the academic year 1928-1929, and from 1929-1936 he continued to study painting in the evenings while employed at a brokerage firm.
Since he wanted to be associated with the art world and needed to earn a living, Carlen decided to establish an art gallery that would show the works of young artists. In 1937, he opened in Carlen Galleries in his home at 323 South 16th Street, Philadelphia; the galleries operated in the same location for the remainder of Carlen's life. In its earliest years, Carlen Galleries housed exhibitions of the Associated American Artists' Group and featured prints by Wanda Gag, Käthe Kollwitz, Louis Lozowick, Lynd Ward, and other print makers.
In 1941, paintings by Horace Pippin were exhibited at Carlen Galleries. Carlen soon befriended the artist and began providing him with art supplies. He remained Pippin's agent for many years following the artist's death in 1946, and was a sought-after authority on the artist's work and life.
By the mid-1940s, Carlen had discovered a painting by Edward Hicks in Bucks County, Pa. He began researching the then-obscure Quaker artist. Through contacting descendants of Hicks's patrons, Carlen was able to acquire many of Hicks's paintings and Carlen Galleries became known for handling important early American folk paintings and antiques. Among his clients were Edward W. and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Del., Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, Williamsburg, Va., and the Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vt.
During the course of his long career, Robert Carlen served as an advisor to many Philadelphia collectors and developed an extensive knowledge of the genealogies and heirlooms of the city's prominent families. Because of his extensive experience and expertise, Carlen's opinion was widely valued and his services as an appraiser of art and antiques were in great demand.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels 4175 and 5746-5748) including material relating to Horace Pippin. Loaned material was returned to the lender and is described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The collection was acquired in various accessions of gifts and loans. Part 1: gift of Robert Carlen, 1986; Part 2: loaned by Robert Carlen for microfilming, 1988; Part 3: gift of Nancy Carlen, 2002 (previously sealed letters and appraisals received with Part 1 are housed with Part 3 and integrated for microfilming); Part 4: loaned by Nancy Carlen for microfilming, 2002.
Restrictions:
Patrons must use microfilm copy.
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 papers of curator Aubrey Sabol measure 1.0 linear feet and date from 1944 to 1967. The collection documents Audrey Sabol's involvement with the Arts Council of the Young Men's/Women's Hebrew Association of Philadelphia during the 1960s. Records related to the Durable Dish Co. include scattered correspondence, exhibition files, and printed material. Exhibition files contain written and sound recordings of artist statements, correspondence, price lists, and printed material. Of note are recordings from Steve Reich's "Buy Art, Buy Art" performance.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of curator Aubrey Sabol measure 1.0 linear feet and date from 1944 to 1967. The collection documents Audrey Sabol's involvement with the Arts Council of the Young Men's/Women's Hebrew Association of Philadelphia during the 1960s. Records related to the Durable Dish Co. include scattered correspondence, exhibition files, and printed material. Exhibition files contain written and sound recordings of artist statements, correspondence, price lists, and printed material. Of note are recordings from Steve Reich's "Buy Art, Buy Art" performance.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Audrey Sabol (1922- ) is a curator and art collector in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was active in the Fine Arts Committee of the Arts Council of the Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association in Philadelphia. Sabol also co-founded the Durable Dish Co. with Joan Kron.
Provenance:
Donated 1986 by Audrey Sabol.
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. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References 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:
Collectors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Curators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Personal and professional records including correspondence, writings, notes, printed material, subject files, photograph album, and diaries relating to Zigrosser's work as an authority on prints and printmaking and his personal relationships with artists.
Included are: correspondence with family and with over 900 printmakers, painters, sculptors, acquaintances, friends, associates, organizations, museums, publishers, and magazines; general correspondence, notes, clippings, and manuscripts pertaining to The Modern School Magazine; files of correspondence from Zigrosser's work at: the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1932-1971; John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation; Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum, 1946-1971, including correspondence with Frank Lloyd Wright concerning the Guggenheim Memorial Museum; Print Council of America, 1954-1971, regarding exhibitions, council meetings and other matters; and the Tamarind Workshop, 1960-1971.
Of particular interest is material relating to the 1913 Armory Show, including Zigrosser's annotated catalog, notes and sketches. Also included are speeches and notes, 1930-1968; manuscripts for lectures and unpublished materials; memorabilia; a photo album of sculpture by John B. Flannagan; art work, including prints and drawings by Karig Nalbandian, prints by Rockwell Kent, and oversized works of art on paper by Mabel Dwight, Wanda Gag and Kent; family photograph album; journals and pamphlets (covers only); and diaries, 1916-1971, discussing personal and professional events such as art openings, conversations and activities with Rockwell Kent, Alfred Stieglitz, and Georgia O'Keeffe, among others.
Among the correspondents are: the American Artists Group, John Taylor Arms, Art in America magazine, Art Institute of Chicago, Alfred Barr, E. Boyd, Charles Burchfield, Alexander Calder, Fitz Roy Carrington, Federico Castellon, Ed Colker, Howard N. Cook, Crown Publishers, Adolf Dehn, Caroline Durieux, John Bernard Flannagan, Andre Girard, Stanley William Hayter, Edward Hopper, Victoria Hutson Huntley, Independent Citizens Committee for the Arts, Sciences and Professions, R. Sturgis Ingersoll, Frederick Keppel, Rockwell Kent, Fiske Kimball, Misch Kohn, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Julius Lankes, Mauricico Lasansky, Merritt Mauzey, Kneeland McNulty, James A. Michener, Marian Mitchell,
Museum of Non-Objective Painting (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum), Karnig Nalbandian, Dorothy Norman, Georgia O'Keeffe, Walter Pach, Harold Paris, Print Club (Philadelphia), Diego Rivera, Ruth Starr Rose, Arnold Ronnebeck, Lessing J. Rosenwald, Andre Ruellan, Carl Oscar Schniewind, Roderick Seidenberg, William Spratling, Benton Spruance, Alfred Stieglitz, Harry Sternberg, Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Kuei Teng, U.S. Office of War Information, Curt Valentin, Heinz Warneke, Edward Weston, Weyhe Gallery, Whitney Museum of American Art, Harry Wickey, and Adja Yunkers.
Biographical / Historical:
Print curator; Philadelphia, Pa.; d. 1975. Graduated Columbia University in literature. Worked with prints in New York City at Keppel and Co. and Weyhe Gallery; print curator at Philadelphia Museum of Art 1940-1963; author of books on prints and art works.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming, 1991, by the University of Pennsylvania Special Collections Department, Van Pelt Library. Zigrosser donated the papers to the University in 1972. Portions of the papers not microfilmed include research files, manuscript materials for published work, family records, and journals.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from the Curator of Manuscripts, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Material compiled by R. Sturgis Ingersoll preparatory to his biography of Henry McCarter (never completed), primarily Ingersoll's correspondence with McCarter's friends and associates, and McCarter's correspondence collected by Ingersoll.
Included are Ingersoll's correspondence requesting information and documents relating to McCarter; correspondence and clippings regarding the Henry McCarter Memorial Exhibition held at the J.B. Neumann Gallery, New York, N.Y. and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1943; and documents regarding McCarter's estate, 1943, 1944. Among the correspondents are Francis and Katherine Biddle, Mrs. Adolphe Borie (Edith), Alexander Crane, Royal Cortissoz, Charles Cullen, Bernard Davis, Daniel Garber, William Weeks Hall, Mrs. William Sergeant Kendall (Christine Herter), Joanna McCarter (McCarter's neice), Abraham Rattner, Lorna Gill Walsh, Franklin C. Watkins, and others.
McCarter's correspondence is with Albert C. Barnes, Cecilia Beaux, Francis and Katherine Biddle, Adolphe and Edith Borie, Bernard Davis, Lenora Owsley Herman, Anna Warren Ingersoll, R. Sturgis Ingersoll, William Sergeant Kendall, Nicholas Roosevelt, and others. Also included are a manuscript fragment by McCarter about individual expression and the "stifling' traditions of academic training, undated; Hannah Rile Weiman's handwritten notes of a lecture by McCarter at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1920 or 28; sketches by McCarter; 12 photographs of McCarter and others, ca. 1930; and clippings.
Biographical / Historical:
Ingersoll was a lawyer, art collector, and President of the Philadelphia Museum of Art; McCarter a Philadelphia painter.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1994 by Mr. Perry Benson, Ingersoll's grandson.
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
Lawyers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Topic:
Art, American -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Ca. 850 pages of selected art related excerpts from Sill's diaries. The diaries date from 1832 to 1854 and document his own painting activities, his association with the Artists and Amateurs Association, Artists' Fund Society, and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He gives his reactions to the work of other artists as seen in exhibitions in Philadelphia and New York, especially at the National Academy of Design, as well as in private collections. He writes about panoramas shown in Philadelphia, purchases of works of art for himself and others, commissions to artists to paint pictures for him, etc. In particular he writes frequently of his friend, the collector and patron Edward L. Carey, and of Carey's collection. He often mentions John Sartain, James R. Lambdin, Peter F. Rothermel, Daniel Huntington, Thomas Sully, William H. Furness, Emanuel Leutze, George L. Saunders, Samuel B. Waugh, Paul Weber, William J. Hubard, Monachesi, and John Neagle. He tells of the founding and subsequent activities of the Art-Union of Philadelphia; the sale of Joshua Shaw's paintings and his misfortunes; the work and ill natured personality of William Page; meeting with and a drawing and description of John J. Audubon; a controversy between Robert W. Weir and Samuel F. B. Morse about who will paint the Mayflower Compact; V. G. Audubon's efforts to get subscribers for his father's book; and Bowen's lithographic shop.
He characterizes Edward Watmough and William E. Winner.
Biographical / Historical:
Collector, amateur painter; Philadelphia, Pa.
Provenance:
Microfilmed for the Archives of American Art in 1955 by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Diaries donated to the Society by Edward Madiera.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Chester County Art Association (Chester County, Pa.) Search this
Extent:
8 Microfilm reels ((12 linear feet))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Date:
1874-1967
Scope and Contents:
Biographical information, including passports, marriage and divorce papers, a copy of Brinton's will, diaries, 1922, 1925, 1926, and 1928, and an autobiography; correspondence with artists and museums; a Chester County Art Association file containing correspondence, catalogs and a scrapbook; and a file containing research notebooks kept by Brinton on art and artists including personal observations; artist files containing notes and printed material; exhibition files from exhibitions Brinton curated or helped curate; writings, manuscripts, and typescripts of Brinton's work; and invitations, printed material and manuscripts from various lectures given by Brinton.
Biographical / Historical:
International curator, art critic; West Chester, Pennsylvania. Born 1870. Died 1942. Co-founded and was the first president of the Chester County Art Association.
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.
A 27 page inventory of drawings and sketchbooks by American artists in the Rosenthal Collection in the Free Library of Philadelphia's Prints Department. The inventory lists artists, their dates, and titles of works in the collection donated by Albert Rosenthal.
Biographical / Historical:
Albert Rosenthal was a portrait painter, printmaker, writer and collector in Philadelphia. In 1927 he began donating a collection of 846 drawings by American artists of the 19th and early 20th centuries to the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming, 1954, by the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Topic:
Drawing, American -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Diaries, correspondence, writings and printed material regarding Ingersoll and Franklin Watkins.
REEL 4153: 7 travel diaries kept by Ingersoll on trips through Europe and the United States, with discussions of architecture, museums and collections visited, comments on American and European artists and their relative merits. Diaries cover 1939-1964, but have entries which are often 20 years apart.
REEL 4225: 5 travel diaries and sketchbooks kept by Ingersoll, 1941-1966 regarding museums and collections visited, personal observations, and a 1941 account of life in Philadelphia.
REELS 4315-4316: 9 volumes of Ingersoll diaries, 1910-1966, regarding studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, life in Philadelphia and its art scene, visits to artists' studios and private collections, her studies at the Barnes Foundations, artists exhibitions and works for sale at galleries, and her brother R. Sturgis Ingersoll and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
REELS 4315-4316: Typescripts of Ingersoll letters, including discussions of her studies at PAFA; and Watkins material including 4 letters, a clipping, and a 31 page typescript of a speech delivered at the Fogg Museum.
Biographical / Historical:
Artist, art collector; Philadelphia, Pa. Board member of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She and her brother R. Sturgis Ingersoll, who was President of PMA, had a longstanding friendship with painter Franklin Watkins.
Provenance:
Microfilmed 1988-1989 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project. Papers have been inherited by several members of the Ingersoll family.
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
Arts administrators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
An interview of wife and husband Dale and Doug Anderson conducted 2005 July 21-22, by Tina Oldknow, for the Archives of American Art, in their home.
The Andersons discuss their respective childhoods and growing up in Manhattan; their education and early experiences with art; their early collection of Native American art; their first art purchases, including a Richard Marquis Patchwork teapot, a Lowell Nesbitt painting, and a Carolyn Brady painting; their initial involvement with the American Craft Museum's Collector's Circle, as well as other craft organizations including Creative Glass Center of America, Millville, New Jersey, The Metropolitan Glass Group, Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, and the Friends of Contemporary Ceramics, among others; their involvement with, and support of, various museums, including the Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, the Seattle Art Museum, the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida, and the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York; their involvement with, and support of, various art schools, including the Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, Maine, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine; their independent commissioning of works by various artists, including Dale Chihuly, Ginny Ruffner, Sandy Skoglund, Tom Patti, Paul Marioni and Ann Troutner, and Silas Kopf; their involvement in various large-scale glass exhibitions and expositions, including the annual Sculptural Objects and Functional Art expositions, "Glass Today by American Studio Artists," August 13, 1997-January 11, 1998, at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and palmbeach3, West Palm Beach, Florida, among others; their participation in, and support of, the publishing of various books on glass, including Martha Drexler Lynn's "Sculpture, Glass, and American Museums," Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005, and Tina Oldknow's "Pilchuck: A Glass School", Seattle: Pilchuck Glass School, in association with the University of Washington Press, 1996; their dealings with various galleries across the country, including Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, Michigan, Heller Gallery, New York, New York, UrbanGlass, Brooklyn, New York, Barry Friedman Ltd., New York, New York, browngrotta arts, Wilton, Connecticut, and Ferrin Gallery, Lenox, Massachusetts, among others.
The Andersons recall Christina Orr-Cahall, George and Dorothy Saxe, Ronald and Anita Wornick, Susan Steinhauser and Dan Greenberg, Jack and Rebecca Benaroya, Weston Naef, Daphne Farago, Dale Chihuly, Thomas and Marilyn Patti, Catherine Chalmers, Jeremy Flick, Zhuan Huang, William Warmus, Akio Takamori, Linda Schlenger, Bruce Pepich and Lisa Englander, Pike Powers, Parks Anderson, Sonny and Gloria Kamm, Flora Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick, Davira Taragin, Bill Morris, Sam and Eleanor Rosenfeld, Daganeet Schokauer, Albert Paley, John McQueen, Jeff Mermelstein, Jane Adlin, Henrietta Brunner, Mark Lyman, Charles and Andrea Bronfman, Norman and Elizabeth Sandler, Ferdinand Hampson, Dafna Kaffeman, Paul Stankard, Toots Zynsky, Marjorie Levy, Gregory Grenon, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Dale (1944- ) and Doug (1943- ) Anderson are glass collectors from New York, New York Tina Oldknow is a curator at the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 7 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 19 digital wav files. Duration is 7 hrs., 6 minutes.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art 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 administrators.
Occupation:
Collectors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
An interview with Hanford Yang conducted 2016 October 28 and December 14, by Judith Stein, for the Archives of American Art and the Center for the History of Collecting in America at the Frick Art Reference Library of The Frick Collection, New York, New York.
Biographical / Historical:
Hanford Yang (1929- ) is an architect and art collector in Edison, New Jersey. Judith Stein (1943- ) is an independent curator and writer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
General:
The first session of interview was conducted in a restaurant resulting in background noise to the recording. The second interview session was conducted over the phone.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art 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 administrators.
Restrictions:
This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Topic:
Architects -- New Jersey -- Interviews Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New Jersey Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for this interview was provided by Barbara Fleischman.
An interview of John Ollman conducted 1990 Mar. 15, by Liza Kirwin for the Archives of American Art Philadelphia Project.
Ollman speaks of his studies at the Philadelphia College of Art and at Indiana University before becoming director of the Janet Fleisher Gallery; the gallery's change of focus towards American Art, specifically the work of folk and self-taught artists, and visionary artists. He discusses the changes in collecting over the past twenty years; collectors, such as Bert Hemphill; trends in collecting; artists whose work he has sold; other galleries with which he has worked, including the Phyllis Kind and Cavin Morris Galleries.
Biographical / Historical:
John E. Ollman (1942- ) is an art dealer from Philadelphia, Pa.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 34 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:
Art dealers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
An interview of Helen Williams Drutt English conducted 1991 July 5-1991 October 20, by Darrel Sewell and Marina Pacini, for the Archives of American Art Philadelphia Project.
Drutt English speaks of early childhood in Winthrop, Massachusetts and growing up in Philadelphia; memories of her parents and grandparents and connection to the decorative arts and style; attending Birney Elementary School and returning to Winthrop in the summers; art lessons as a child; attending Tyler School of Art; early training as an artist and interest in art history; first jobs and working at the Smith Memorial Recreation Center and the Psychological Research Institute and teaching; travel in Europe after college; marriage to Lawry Weiss and divorce; attending classes at the Barnes Foundation; teaching school children; second marriage to William Drutt; starting an interior design firm; moving to her current home; attempting to build a craft center in Philadelphia; joining the Arts Council of the YM/YWHA and significant exhibitions; marriage to Maurice English; serving as Founding Director of Philadelphia Council of Professional Craftsmen and organizing exhibitions; advising Calvin Hathaway on collecting for the Philadelphia Museum of Art; starting the Inter-Society on Twentieth Century Decorative Arts and Design; attending the World Crafts Council in Dublin; teaching at the Philadelphia College of Art, and creating an original course on contemporary craft; opening Helen Drutt Gallery; relationships to artists and to collectors; collecting philosophy concentrating on ceramics and jewelry; developing her archive; developing relationships with European goldsmiths; changing locations of gallery (Old Town, Walnut Street); teaching at Moore College of Art and becoming Director of the Moore College of Art Gallery; relationship of the gallery to the Philadelphia Craft Show and the Fabric Workshop; developing relationships with collectors beyond Philadelphia; working with the National Endowment for the Arts; various European scholars; travel to Hawaii and relationships there; interest in poetry; Relationship and marriage to Maurice English; Opening a branch of her gallery in New York; discussion of the changing perception of craft as art. Close friendship with Stella Kramrisch; relationship to George Nakashima; development of the gallery system for crafts; detailed discussion of her relationship to Calvin Hathaway; the development of COLLAB; Difference between work with non-profits and the commercial sector; developing the Robert Arneson exhibition at the Gallery of the Moore College of Art; the financials of running a gallery; work in Australia; ongoing network of international contacts. Also reminiscences of Rudolf Staffel, Dr. Hermann Gundesheimer, O. Spurgeon English, Gladys Myers and Gallery 1015, Ms. De Mazia, William Daley, T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Ted Hallman, Dick Jones, Daniel Jackson, Stanley Lechtzin, Olaf Skoogfors, Bill Daley, Dick Reinhardt, Dick Koga, Calvin Hathaway, Paula Winokur, Richard Kagan, Albert Paley, Ronald Pearson, Claus Bury, Robert Pfannebecker, Howard Kottler, Patti Warashina, Karen Karnes, Peter Voulkos, Society of North American Goldsmiths, Tom Rippon, Emmy Van Leersum, Gijs Bakker, Breon O'Casey, Mark Burns, Emily Reinsel, Evan Turner, Edna Beron, Lois Boardman, Peter Dormer, Evert Von Straatten, Lila and Twigg Smith, Jim Jenson, Stephen Berg, Robert Arneson, Stella Kramrisch, Claire Zeisler, Ruth Duckworth, Joke van Ommen, Dale Chihuly, James Surls, Peter Chang.
Biographical / Historical:
Helen Williams Drutt (1930- ) is an art dealer and gallery director of the Helen Drutt gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Known as Helen Drutt or Helen Williams Drutt and later Helen Williams Drutt English.
General:
Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 13 digital wav files. Duration is 8 hr., 28 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art 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 administrators.
Occupation:
Art dealers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Gallery directors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Included are letters to Eunice Leopold (1958-1986) concerning loans and gifts of prints by Benton Spruance; a letter from Henri Marceau to Spruance (1963), a letter from Ludwig Bemelmans (1958); letters to Leopold from Spruance (1961- 1967); sound recordings containing a Spruance lecture on prints and printmaking; printed matter relating to Spruance's career including exhibition catalogs, invitations, announcements, typed essays and news clippings; and photographs depicting Spruance's mural for the Home of Detention Chapel, Philadelphia, Pa.
Biographical / Historical:
Leopold: collector and friend of Spruance. Spruance: painter and printmaker; Pennsylvania. Spruance is known especially for color lithography. Studied Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; taught at Philadelphia College of Art and Beaver College, Jenkintown, Pa.; b. 1916; d. Mar. 12, 2001, at age 84; full name Eunice Robinson Leopold.
Provenance:
Donated 1986 by Eunice Leopold and 2002 by Ellen Leopold, Eunice Leopold's daughter.
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:
Lithographers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Topic:
Prints, American -- Collectors and collecting -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Letters (1849-1856), business records (1849-1856), a visitors' register (1873-1885), and a scrapbook (ca. 1866-1885) concern the acquisition of paintings and prints for Claghorn's collection.
REEL 3580: 37 letters (1849-1882) to Claghorn regard his art collection and dealing activities and include letters from Goupil & Cie., J. Crumby, who served as a purchasing agent, Frederic Edwin Church, John Frederick Kensett, Hiram Powers, Thomas Buchanan Read, Peter F. Rothermel, and Thomas Worthington Whittredge.
REEL 4131: Visitors Register, March 18, 1873-Jan. 1885, containing names and addresses of those who viewed the Claghorn Collection; many artists, local art students and instructors, and foreign visitors are listed. Scrapbook, most likely compiled by Claghorn with posthumous entries added by family, contains mainly newspaper clippings concerning Claghorn, his collections, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, art activities in Philadelphia, and artists (particularly printmakers); also includes photograph of Seymour Haden, catalogs of the Claghorn Collection, admission tickets, reprints of lengthy articles about Claghorn and his collections, and a few letters to J. Raymond Claghorn [son of James L.] regarding the disposition of the collection and its sale to Thomas Harrison Garrett.
REEL 4152: 88 letters (1848-1864) from various agents in New York and Europe regard purchases of paintings, prints and sculpture by artists, including Asher B. Durand and Worthington Whittredge. Four letters regard paintings to be exhibited at the Great Sanitary Fair. Nine letters (1855-1864) from Thomas Buchanan Read regard his activities in England. Read's letters from Cincinnati discuss his poetry and commissions for his paintings.
Biographical / Historical:
Collector and art patron; Philadelphia, Pa. Claghorn was an officer of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. Best known for his print collection, he began by collecting paintings by American artists, ca. 1840. In 1877, he sold his painting collection in order to devote his efforts to his print collection. His private gallery in Philadelphia was open to visitors, and selections from the Claghorn Collection were exhibited in other cities. After his death, his print collection was purchased by Thomas Harrison Garrett, and thereafter was known as the Garrett Collection. After being on long-term loan to the Library of Congress between 1904 and 1930, the collection is now owned by the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Related Materials:
Also in the Archives on microfilm only are papers lent for microfilming by the Philadelphia Maritime Museum (reel 3581), including: letters and receipts addressed to Claghorn document the purchase and sale of American and European paintings and prints (1849-1856). There are also inventories of shipments. Letters frequently include titles and prices.
Provenance:
Materials on reel 3581 were borrowed for filming from Philadelphia Maritime Museum. Materials on reel 3580 were borrowed for filming from John W. Claghorn on July 16, 1985, and were later donated to the Archives of American Art by his descendant Frederic S. Claghorn along with additional letters appearing on reel 4152. Material on reel 4131 was donated by Mabel Claghorn Bulkeley, granddaughter of James L. Claghorn.
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.
Feininger, Lyonel, 1871-1956 -- Cathedral Search this
Extent:
3 Items ((on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1951-1952
Scope and Contents:
A letter from Julia Feininger, 1951 Sept. 17, and one from Lyonel Feininger, 1952 Apr. 29 (illustrated with a woodcut), discussing the history of the Feininger painting, "The Cathedral," in response to queries from the purchaser, Beatrice Lippincott (later Beatrice Garvan). Enclosed in the 1951 letter is a photograph of the painting, with a short history by Feininger on the back. An additional photograph of the painting is also included.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, printmaker, cartoonist; New York, N.Y. and Berlin, Germany.
Provenance:
Donated 1991 by Beatrice Lippincott Garvan.
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:
Museum curators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Arts administrators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
The Ira and William Glackens papers, circa 1900-1990, measure 2.3 linear feet. The collection consists primarily of the papers of Ira Glackens relating to the artwork of his father, William Glackens, but also contains scattered correspondence of William and his wife Edith, including letters from Albert Barnes. Ira Glackens' papers include books written by Ira; exhibition catalogs and clippings about William and others; photographs of the Glackens family and friends, of Ira, and of the Glackens residence; and an audio recording of William Glackens' remarks upon accepting an award at the Carnegie International Exhibition in 1936. There are also records of the Sansom Foundation, which was set up by Ira Glackens and his wife Nancy.
Scope and Content Note:
The Ira and William Glackens papers, circa 1900-1990, measure 2.3 linear feet. The collection consists primarily of the papers of Ira Glackens relating to the artwork of his father, William Glackens, but also contains scattered correspondence of William and his wife Edith, including letters from Albert Barnes. Ira Glackens' papers include books written by Ira; exhibition catalogs and clippings about William and others; photographs of the Glackens family and friends, of Ira, and of the Glackens residence; and an audio recording of William Glackens' remarks upon accepting an award at the Carnegie International Exhibition in 1936. There are also records of the Sansom Foundation, which was set up by Ira Glackens and his wife Nancy.
Biographical information consists of genealogical research on the Glackens family and a copy of Ira Glackens birth certificate.
Correspondence of the artist William Glackens includes letters to his wife, Edith, written while on a trip to Paris in 1912 to purchase paintings for collector Albert C. Barnes. Barnes' letters to William and Edith Glackens are about paintings in the Barnes Collection, the educational plans of his Foundation, and Glackens' work and exhibitions. Letters to Edith Dimock Glackens are from relatives and friends including her father, Ira Dimock, her sister, Irene Dimock FitzGerald, author James L. Ford, and painter Maurice Prendergast. There is also a copy of a letter concerning the estate of Lenna G. Borton, the Glackens' daughter.
Ira Glackens' correspondence largely concerns exhibitions, sales, loans, donations and the authentication of artwork by William Glackens. Correspondents include museums, galleries and artists, in addition to personal correspondence with family and friends. Names of significant correspondents in Ira Glackens' correspondence include Laura (Mrs. Albert C.) Barnes, Charles Buckley, Delaware Art Museum, Kraushaar Gallery, Walt Kuhn, Vivian Liff, George Luks, Stearns Morse, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Bennard Perlman, Eugenie Prendergast, Arnold T. Schwab, Helen (Mrs. John) Sloan, and Williams College Museum of Art.
Noteworthy writings include speeches, a memoir, and a short play by Ira Glackens, and family recollections of Edith Glackens. A 1936 audio recording is of remarks made by William Glackens upon being presented with an award for his entry in the Carnegie Institute's International Exhibition. Writings by others include essays by John Bullard and Everett Shinn about Glackens.
Printed material includes Ira Glackens' books, catalogs of group and solo exhibitions featuring the work of William Glackens, clippings concerning William Glackens, and reviews of Ira Glackens' books.
Records of the Sansom Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization founded in 1950 by Ira and Nancy Glackens to oversee their art interests, consist of annual reports, a charitable trust registration form, and financial and tax records.
Photographs are of the Glackens family, travel scenes and artwork by William Glackens, The Eight, and other artists.
A card index of William Glackens' paintings, prepared by Ira Glackens, provides details of artwork in William Glackens' estate.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Information, circa 1900-1990 (Box 1; 2 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1902-1989 (Box 1; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1963-1982 (Boxes 1, 3; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Sansom Foundation, Inc., 1957-1973 (Box 2; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1903-1989 (Boxes 2-3; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 6: Scrapbook, 1956-1980 (Box 3; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, circa 1900-1986 (Box 2; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 8: Card Index of William Glackens' Paintings, circa 1940-1949 (Box 3; 0.2 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Ira Dimock Glackens (1907-1990), the first child of painter and illustrator William Glackens and Edith Dimock Glackens, was born in New York City. Raised in the art world, he was well acquainted with his father's friends and colleagues. Upon his father's death in 1938, Ira became responsible for managing and administering the art remaining in William Glackens's estate.
Educated at the Choate School, Ira Glackens became a writer. He published two books about his father: William Glackens and the Ashcan Group: The Emergence of Realism in American Art (1957) and William Glackens and the Eight: The Artists who Freed American Art (1984). An opera expert, Ira Glackens was also the author of Yankee Diva: Lillian Nordica and the Golden Days of Opera (1963) and an authority on apples.
William Glackens (1870-1938) was born in Philadelphia and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with Robert Henri while working as an illustrator for local newspapers, including the Philadelphia Press. In 1895, he departed for a year in Paris and then moved to New York City where he continued to work as an illustrator for various newspapers and periodicals. Before long, Glackens began to focus on scenes of city life and street crowds and, in 1908, he participated in the groundbreaking exhibition of The Eight at the Macbeth Gallery in New York City.
Between 1925 and 1932 William Glackens lived and worked in France and his painting was strongly influenced by Renoir. He spent the remainder of his life in New York City, exhibiting widely from 1894 on. Glackens was named an Associate of the National Academy of Design and was the recipient of several awards including those of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition (gold), the 1904 St. Louis Exposition, the 1915 Pan-Pacific Exposition, the 1933 Society of Independent Artists Exhibition, and the 1936 Carnegie International Exhibition.
Related Materials:
The Archives also holds several collections related to Ira and William Glackens, including the Ira Glackens letters to Jane Wasey; the Illustrations by William Glackens and letter from Ira Glackens; the Lillian E. Travis papers relating to William Glackens and Charles Prendergast; and the Thomas Hart Benton and Ira Glackens letters. Substantial correspondence between William Glackens and the Kraushaar Gallery can also be found in the Kraushaar Galleries records.
Separated Material:
Published books not authored by Glackens family members or related to Glackens' family members were transferred to the Smithsonian's American Art Museum Library in 2007. A few pieces of artwork were given to Williams College, also in 2007.
Provenance:
The Ira and William Glackens papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Ira Glackens in 1987, and by his estate in 1991. In 2007 a small cache of papers found in the Glackens home was donated by Susan Corn Conway, who had purchased the Glackens' house.
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:
Illustrators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Authors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Records documenting John Wanamaker's import of French painting from Parisian salons and artists to sell in his store, to keep for his private collection and to keep for his store collection. Also included is a photograph album of Rodman Wanamaker's silver collection. Included are: correspondence; customs papers; purchase and sale records; preview invitiations; inventories of works purchased for the store's collection; inventories of Wanamaker's private collection; artist files containing lists of Colin Campbell Cooper's works, photographs and clippings relating to Paul W. Bartlett's paintings, autographed photographs of Frederick Frieseke's painting, and files on Mihaly Munkacsy and Pierre Fritel. Total: 1.5 linear feet.
Biographical / Historical:
Department store; Philadelphia, Pa. Founded 1861. Opened an art gallery in 1881. The art gallery is now defunct.
Provenance:
Microfilmed in 1986 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project. Subquently donated to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Art, Modern -- French -- 20th century -- History Search this
