Reels 2085-2086: Membership lists; constitution and by-laws; correspondence; minutes; poems, songs, and notes; etchings; account books; a booklet on the Beachcombers by member Ted Robinson; printed miscellany, exhibition material, and clippings pertaining to th Beachcombers, their annual costume ball, and individual members; and a scrapbook. Prominent members mentioned in the collection include John Whorf, Harry Campbell, Harry Kemp, Reeves Euler, Hudson Walker, Edwin Dickinson, Vollian Burr Rann, Charles Hawthore, Gerrit Beneker, and William Bicknell.
REEL 2083: Photographs, n.d., 1918-1960's, of the Beachcombers, their gatherings, events, and annual ball; a photograph album belonging to Beachcomber member, William Bicknell; and miscellaneous photos.
Biographical / Historical:
The Beachcombers is a social and professional club in the artists' colony of Provincetown, Massachusetts for painters, etchers, poets, playwrights, and others.
Provenance:
Donated 1974-1975 by the Beachcombers.
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.
Sound recording: 1 sound cassette and 1 sound tape reel
125 Pages (Transcription)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1980 July 8-Aug. 14
Scope and Contents:
An Interview of Nathan Halper conducted 1980 July 8-1980 Aug. 14, by Robert Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Halper speaks of his family background and early interest in art; the beginning of his painting career; getting involved with the Beachcombers; the art scene in Provincetown in the 1930s and 1940s; his circle of artist friends; and Hans Hofmann's influence. Halper also speaks of his experiences with his own gallery, H.C. and H.C.E. Gallery. He recalls Edwin Dickinson, Charles Webster Hawthorne, Sam Kootz, and Robert Motherwell.
Biographical / Historical:
Nathan Halper (1907-1983) was an art dealer, writer, and James Joyce scholar from Provincetown, Mass.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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 others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Art dealers -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
The papers of painter Max Bohm measure 5.6 linear feet and date from 1873-1970, with the bulk of the material dating from 1880-1959. Biographical material includes a file concerning the Provincetown artist's club The Beachcombers. Also found is detailed family correspondence, as well as general correspondence that includes exchanges with patron Mary Beecher Longyear and dealer William Macbeth. The papers contain scattered business records; five diaries written by Bohm's wife Zella; other notes and writings; art work including fifteen sketchbooks, loose drawings, and oil paintings; printed material; and photographs of Bohm, his family, and colleagues including artists attending a Salmagundi dinner. There is also a motion picture film Six Foot Art, in Which Max Bohm, Member of the National Academy Tells How He Does It.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter Max Bohm measure 5.6 linear feet and date from 1873-1970, with the bulk of the material dating from 1880-1959. Biographical material includes a file concerning the Provincetown artist's club The Beachcombers. Also found within the papers is detailed family correspondence, as well as general correspondence that includes exchanges with patron Mary Beecher Longyear and dealer William Macbeth. Also found are scattered business records; five diaries written by Bohm's wife Zella; other notes and writings; art work including sketchbooks, loose drawings, and oil paintings; printed material; and photographs of Bohm, his family, and colleagues including artists attending a Salmagundi dinner. There is also a motion picture film Six Foot Art, in Which Max Bohm, Member of the National Academy Tells How He Does It.
Family correspondence consists of letters exchanged between various Bohm family members during their long periods of separation. Decades of almost daily exchanges of letters offer detailed descriptions of Bohm's activities in pursuit of notoriety as an artist including his frequent travels in Europe and the United States, attendance of art-related and other cultural events, and his thoughts about art, philosophy, and his strong opposition to German aggression in World War I. The often affectionate letters from Bohm's wife Zella describe her concerns over finances and raising the children during Bohm's frequent absences, but also include descriptions of their summers in coastal France.
Professional correspondence consists of scattered letters discussing art-related business with colleagues including Bohm's longtime patron and Christian Science advocate, Mary Beecher Longyear, and Macbeth Gallery owners Robert and William Macbeth.
Scattered business records include price lists for art work, banking records, and miscellaneous receipts.
Five diaries and loose diary pages written by Bohm's wife Zella contain detailed descriptions of daily activities and her observations and thoughts, some drawings, notes, and financial notations. Some of the diaries contain annotations by her daughter, Esther.
Notes and writings include notebooks containing original short stories and miscellaneous sketches by Bohm, lists of art work, miscellaneous notes including several written by Esther Bohm, and miscellaneous writings by and about Bohm including his typescript "An Artist's Philosophy."
Art work consists of fifteen sketchbooks, miscellaneous drawings including a self-portrait, and oil paintings on board and on unstretched canvases including Bohm's studies of works by Titian and Van Dyke, and a painting of a young Esther Bohm looking at the sea. Works by others include a batik design on silk by Zella Bohm, a watercolor by Bohm's aunt, Anna Stuhr Weitz, and an oil portrait of Zella by her granddaughter.
Photographs are of Bohm and his family, colleagues including Clyde du Vernet Hunt in his studio and a Salmagundi Club "Get Together" dinner, views of the town of Etaples, France, and of works of art by Bohm and others.
Arrangement:
The papers have been organized into 8 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1898-1970 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1, OV 8)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1880-1955 (3.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-4, 7)
Series 3: Business Records, 1910-1930 (0.2 linear feet; Box 4)
Series 4: Diaries, 1887-1916 (0.2 linear feet; Box 4)
Series 5: Notes and Writings, 1882-circa 1970 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 4, 7)
Series 6: Art Work, 1873-1951 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 4-5, 7, OVs 8-10)
Series 7: Printed Material and Motion Picture Film, 1886-1957 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 5-7, FC 11-12)
Series 8: Photographs, 1886-1959 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 6-7)
Biographical / Historical:
Max Bohm was born on January 21, 1868, in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Henry and Emilie Bohm.
In 1895, Bohm attended an open school of painting in Etaples on the coast of France, and during the winter months he taught painting at a school in London, England. His painting En Mer was awarded the Gold Medal by the Paris Salon of 1897.
While teaching in Etaples in 1898, Bohm married one of his pupils, Zella Newcomb, an art teacher from Carlton College in Minnesota. In 1900, the Bohms traveled to Italy for several months before returning to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Bohm established a studio. After trying to find affordable studio and living space in New York City, Bohm moved his family back to France in 1902. Bohm established a studio in Paris for two years and during the summer months his wife and children moved to the less expensive and cooler coastal towns of France. Bohm continued to display his work in the annual Paris Salons.
From 1905 until the summer of 1908, the Bohm family lived primarily in England. In 1909, Bohm entered and won the Cleveland Court House mural competition, prompting the family to return to the United States for several months. They returned to Paris the following year, where Bohm established a studio and worked on the Cleveland Court House mural. Again, Bohm's wife and children would live in French coastal towns, while Bohm was on extended visits to Paris, London, or the United States.
Sometime around 1911, Bohm became acquainted with Mrs. Mary Beecher Longyear, a wealthy follower of Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science. Over the next decade, Mrs. Longyear commissioned many works by Bohm and supported his career. In May of 1912 Bohm's mural, First New England Town Meeting, was installed in the new Cleveland Court House and arrangements were made with Macbeth Galleries to exhibit Bohm's work. Late in 1913, Bohm became involved with the Pan-Pacific International Exposition where his painting Promenade won the Gold Medal in 1915.
During World War I, the Bohm family fled France and temporarily settled in Tuckahoe, New York, and Bohm made frequent visits to his patron, Mrs. Longyear, in Boston. In 1916, the Knoedler Gallery exhibited Bohm's murals for Mrs. Longyear's music room. Also during this time, the family enjoyed spending summers in Provincetown, where Bohm joined The Beachcombers, an organization of artists.
In 1919, the Bohms built a house in Bronxville, New York, for easy access to New York City, while simultaneously purchasing a cottage in Provincetown. While the house was being constructed, Zella and the children became boarders in the home of painter Spencer Nichols, who also lived in Bronxville. During this year, Max Bohm, Jr., entered Harvard University while Mrs. Longyear continued to provide commissions for Max Bohm's art work.
Between 1922 and 1923, Bohm had exhibitions in Greenwich, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., and at the Grand Central Galleries, with his painting En Mer being exhibited at the National Academy of Design.
Max Bohm died on September 19, 1923 in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels 420-421) including biographical material, scattered letters, notes and writings, drawings, clippings, exhibition catalogs, booklets, a scrapbooks, and photographs of Bohm, his family, colleagues, and residences. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
The original Six Foot Art film was also transferred to 16mm and 35mm film reels in the 1970s, but is not in the collection.
Provenance:
Kathryn Esther Locke and Elizabeth Schwarz, the artist's daughters, lent the material on microfilm reels 420-421 and donated papers in 1972.
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 -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
2.2 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 6 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1870-1983
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence of Charles and Marion Hawthorne, their son Joseph and his wife Hazel Hawthorne; photographs of Hawthorne family and Cape Cod School of Art; printed material; exhibition records; diary pages; and a drawing reflect activities of influential painting instructor Charles Hawthorne, his school, the Cape Cod School of Art, and publications by his wife and son about him.
REEL D38: The correspondence includes letters from Europe, 1898 and later letters pertaining to the Cape Cod School of Art, ca. 1910-1930. Among the photographs are two of Hawthorne instructing an art class, one of artists' model Joy Stillman, 1927, one of Hawthorne's home, which he used as a studio, one of his student Julie Morrow de Forest, and one of a bust of Hawthorne by Albin Polasek. Also found are research files on Charles by Joseph, Hawthorne, ca. 1961, and printed material from Provincetown Art Association and American Academy of Art.
REEL 1435: 114 photographs, 1870's-1930, of Hawthorne, his family, friends (including William Paxton and Abbott H. Thayer), art classes, models, his studio, home and views of Provincetown. In addition there are an etching by Marion C. Hawthorne; a memorial catalog; a photographic self-portrait, and a printed reproduction.
REEL 2788: 35 photographs, including Charles and Marion Hawthorne, their residence, classes taught by Charles Hawthorne, Provincetown, Mass.; and a study for a painting by Joy Stillman, a student of Charles Hawthorne. Also included are 4 printed announcements for classes.
REELS 2884-2885: Pages from Marion C. Hawthorne's diary, 1911 and 1928-1929; letters from Marion to her parents and correspondence between Charles and Marion, and with Joseph, undated and ca. 1900-1932; letters from the Macbeth Gallery, ca. 1909-1923; a letter from John Gellatly, 1907; a copy of a letter from Abbott H. Thayer, 1916; and letters from others. Some of the letters are annotated by Joseph Hawthorne.
REEL 5113: Biographical material on Charles and Marion Hawthorne; correspondence, 1902-1978; financial records, 1901-1902 and 1928-1930; photographs of the Hawthorne family and the Cape Cod School of Art, ca. 1899-1930s, newspaper clippings, ca. 1918-1984; writings on Charles by Marion and Joseph; a drawing of Charles, 1907; price lists for jewelry, undated; a notebook kept by Harry N. Campbell, director of the Cape Cod School of Art, regarding art supplies for the school; biographical studies about Charles by Joseph, ca. 1980's; lists of names and addresses by Marion; and exhibition catalogs and Cape Cod School catalogs, 1913 and 1926.
UNMICROFILMED: Photographs and slides of Hawthorne's work, including photos from an album attributed to Peter A. Juley. Among the photos is one of Charles taken by Carolyn Geiger, ca. 1928 (a similar copy is filmed reel D38, fr. 306-307); and a chronological list of Hawthorne's correspondence in an unknown hand; and miscellaneous correspondence.
Biographical / Historical:
Painters; Provincetown, Mass.; Marion, b. 1870, d. 1945; Charles, b. 1872, d. 1930. Hawthorne founded the Cape Cod School of Art in 1899. He studied with William Merritt Chase at Chase's Shinnecock school in 1896. Marion C. Hawthorne was a member of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors.
Provenance:
Material on reels D38, 2788 and 2884-85 was lent for microfilming in 1961 and 1982 by Joseph Hawthorne, son of Marion and Charles Hawthorne. Joseph later donated the previously microfilmed material in 1993, except for majority of frames 1-51 and all of frames 975-1923 on reel D38 which he retained. The material on reel 1435 was lent for microfilming in 1978 by the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, which had received it from Joseph Hawthorne. Hazel Hawthorne, Joseph's widow, donated additional material, reel 5113 and unfilmed, in 1995.
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.
