0.5 Linear feet ((343 items on 3 reels of microfilm))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Date:
1873-1938
Scope and Contents:
Notebooks, correspondence, photographs, art works, printed materials, and miscellany.
REEL 1654: A notebook listing prices of printmaking supplies; 3 illustrated notebooks; a passport, 1878; letters to Bacher and his wife Mary from Robert Blum concerning his travels to Japan, from John M. Carrier and Gari Melchers; condolence letters to Mary; photographs of Bacher; a photograph album of an artists' party, including Bacher, John White Alexander, James Carroll Beckwith, Edwin Blashfield, Robert Blum, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, John LaFarge, Will Hicok Low, Frances Millet, John Singer Sargent, Jules Turcas, John Twatchmann, and J. Alden Weir; and photographs of tableaux at the American Art Club, Munich, 1878-1897, the Bronxville studio, and works of art; exhibition announcements and catalogs; clippings; reproductions; a Frank Duveneck exhibition catalogue, 1938; and miscellany.
REEL 1654, frames 327-371: Six drawings and 28 etchings including scenes of Venice and landscapes; two drawings "Caricatures of Some of the Venetian Group of 1886" by Robert Blum; an etching of Venice by Theodore M. Wendel; snapshots and a few photographs, including one of the interior of the Hotel Gramatan.
REEL 2786: An undated letter to Bacher from Robert Blum, discussing his mental and physical condition and thanking Bacher for his kindness.
REEL 3967: Three letters to the Bachers from their nephew, Lewis Archibald Blum; a photo of Bacher, 1887; a circular "Panama-Pacific International Exposition of San Francisco," 1915; and a pamphlet from the Metropolitan Museum, "Publications on Sale," 1938.
Biographical / Historical:
Impressionist painter and etcher; Cleveland, Ohio. Studied with Frank Duveneck in Cincinnati and Boulanger in Paris.
Provenance:
Papers originally lent for filming 1979 by Mr. and Mrs. Will Bacher, Bacher's son and son's wife. Will Bacher's grandchildren subsequently donated most of this material in 1985 and six other items. Art work and a few photographs (reel 1654, frames 327-371 and 417) previously lent were not donated with other materials in 1985.
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.
Papers concerning Freer's art collecting activities, including correspondence, diaries, art inventories, scrapbooks of clippings on James McNeil Whistler and other press clippings, and photographs. In addition to Freer's own correspondence, the papers include correspondence collected by Freer of James McNeill Whistler and of Whistler collector Richard A. Canfield, correspondence of Freer's assistant Katharine Nash Rhoades, and correspondence regarding Freer's bequest to the Smithsonian Institution.
Correspondence, ca. 1860-1921, includes Freer's correspondence, 1876-1920, with artists, dealers, collectors, museums, and public figures; 30 v. of letterpress books containing copies of letters sent, 1892-1910; correspondence collected by Freer of James McNeill Whistler, and his wife Beatrix, 186?-1909, with Lady Colin Campbell, Thomas R. Way, Alexander Reid, Whistler' mother, Mrs. George W. Whistler, and others; correspondence of Whistler collector Richard A. Canfield, 1904-1913, regarding works in Canfield's collection; and correspondence of Freer's assistant, Katharine Nash Rhoades, 1920-1921, soliciting Freer letters and regarding the settlement of his estate.
Also included are twenty-nine pocket diaries, 1889-1890, 1892-1898, 1900-1919, recording daily activities, people and places visited, observations, and comments; a diary kept by Freer's caretaker, Joseph Stephens Warring, recording daily activities at Freer's Detroit home, 1907-1910;
Inventories, n.d. and 1901-1921, of American, European, and Asian art in Freer's collection, often including provenance information; vouchers, 1884-1919, documenting his purchases; five volumes of scrapbooks of clippings on James McNeill Whistler, 1888-1931, labeled "Various," "Peacock Room," "Death, etc.," "Paris, etc.," and "Boston...London" ; three volumes of newsclippings, 1900-1930, concerning Freer and the opening of the Freer Gallery of Art;
correspondence regarding Freer's gift and bequest to the Smithsonian Institution, 1902-1916; and photographs, ca. 1880-1930, of Freer, including portraits by Alvin Langdon Coburn and Edward Steichen, Freer with others, Freer in Cairo, China and Japan, Freer's death mask, and his memorial service, Kyoto, 1930; photographs of artists and others, including Thomas Dewing, Ernest Fenellosa, Katharine Rhoades taken by Alfred Stieglitz, Rosalind B. Philip, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Abbott H. Thayer, Dwight Tryon, and Whistler; and photographs relating to Whistler, including art works depicting him, grave and memorial monuments, works of art, the Peacock Room, and Whistler's memorial exhibition at the Copley Society.
Among Freer's correspondents are: Otto Bacher, Bernard Berenson, Siegfried Bing, Laurence Binyon, W.K. Bixby, Sigisbert Chretien Bosch-Reitz, Charles H. Caffin, Colin Campbell, Richard Canfield, William Merritt Chase, Frederick Stuart Church, Alfred Vance Churchill, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Arthur Wesley Dow, Ernest Fenollosa, Albert Gallatin, John Gellatly, Frederick W. Gookin, Sadakichi Hartmann, Frank J. Hecker, Dikran Kelekian, M. Knoedler & Co., Berthold Laufer, Lien Hui Ching Collection, W.A. Livingstone, Frederick McCormick, Bunkio Matsuki, Gari Melchers, Agnes Meyer, Eugene Meyer, Charles Moore, Yozo Nomura, Rosalind Birnie Philip, Charles A. Platt, Theodore Roosevelt, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the Smithsonian Institution, Joseph Stephens Warring, Thomas Way, Abbott Handerson Thayer, Dwight W. Tryon, Charles Walcott of the Smithsonian Institution, Beatrix Whistler, James McNeill Whistler, K.T. Wong, Yamanaka & Co., and Seaouke Yue.
Arrangement:
All correspondence except letterpress books: arranged alphabetically by correspondent; letterpress books are chonological.
Biographical / Historical:
Art collector; Detroit, Michigan. Collected Asian, American, and European art, including a large collection of works by James McNeill Whistler. Founded the Freer Gallery of Art, which is now part of the Smithsonian Institution.
Provenance:
Selected for microfilming from the Charles Lang Freer papers at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Microfilmed 1992 by the Archives of American Art with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Office of Fellowships and Grants Research Resources Program. Portions of the correspondence and the letterpress books were previously filmed by the Freer in the 1970 (AAA reels 77, 453-456, and 1217-1232); those reels have been replaced by this microfilming project. See Finding Aid for information on papers not selected for microfilming.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Topic:
Art, Asian -- Collectors and collecting Search this
Art, American -- Collectors and collecting Search this
Letters, photographs and clippings about Blum collected by De Stephano. Correspondence includes 2 letters from Robert Blum (1889, 1900), a letter to Blum from De Stephano (1893), several cables and a letter about Blum's death (1903), letters and 2 legal documents relating to de Stephano's claims against Blum's estate (1903-1932), and letters pertaining to De Stephano's loan of works by Blum to the Carnegie Institute exhibition (1923). Photographs show Blum; groups including Blum, De Stephano, Otto Bacher, William Merritt Chase, John Twachtman, and J. Alden Weir; and paintings by Blum (1889-1911). Printed material consists of a Carnegie Institute exhibition catalog (1923) and 20 clippings (1901-1932).
Biographical / Historical:
After Robert Blum's death, Flora de Stephano claimed to be his widow. She eventually received a small sum of money, some personal possessions, and three paintings by Blum from his executors.
Provenance:
The papers were given to the donor, Alan Pensler, by Webster de Stephano Smith, a descendant of Flora de Stephano.
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.
Robert Frederick Blum. Robert Frederick Blum, Tokyo, Japan letter to Otto H. (Otto Henry) Bacher, 1890 Aug. 22. Otto Bacher papers, 1873-1938. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Bacher, Otto H. (Otto Henry), 1856-1909 Search this
Type:
Correspondence
Date:
between 1895 and 1903
Citation:
Robert Frederick Blum. Robert Frederick Blum letter to Otto H. (Otto Henry) Bacher, between 1895 and 1903. Otto Bacher papers, 1873-1938. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Bacher, Otto H. (Otto Henry), 1856-1909 Search this
Type:
Correspondence
Date:
1887 July 18-23
Citation:
Robert Frederick Blum. Robert Frederick Blum to Otto H. (Otto Henry) Bacher, 1887 July 18-23. Otto Bacher papers, 1873-1938. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Bacher, Otto H. (Otto Henry), 1856-1909 Search this
Type:
Correspondence
Date:
1890 November 20
Citation:
Robert Frederick Blum. Robert Frederick Blum to Otto H. (Otto Henry) Bacher, 1890 November 20. Otto Bacher papers, 1873-1938. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Bacher, Otto H. (Otto Henry), 1856-1909 Search this
Type:
Correspondence
Date:
1881 Oct. 27
Citation:
Herbert Gustave Herkomer. Herbert Gustave Herkomer, Munich, Germany letter to Otto H. (Otto Henry) Bacher, 1881 Oct. 27. Otto Bacher papers, 1873-1938. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Exhibition and sale of paintings of the late Otto H. Bacher : American painter and etcher, friend of Whistler : with a few additional paintings from private collections ... : to be sold at auction ... January 23, 1917 ..., the Walpole Galleries
Painter-etchings, Drawings and Other Art Property of the Late Otto H. Bacher of Laurence Park, N. Y., including Many Rare and Unpiblished Plates of His Own Work and Others Inscribed to Him by Frank Duveneck, T. M. Wendel, Robert Blum and the Younger Group of Bacher's Co-workers in Venice; A Number of Fine Plates of S. L. Wenban, and Mr. Bacher's Remarkable Collection of Items Associated with James...
