Correspondence, printed material, writings, and other personal papers collected by Carl Zigrosser and Leila Mechlin and later added to by others, all relating to American art.
REELS P10-P11 and P14: Letters to Leila Mechlin, Henry Schnakenberg and Hudson Walker. Correspondents include Robert Abbe, John Taylor Arms, Cecelia Beaux, Paul Bartlett, Gifford Beal, Paul Cadmus, Charles Curran, Royal Cortissoz, Kenyon Cox, Philip Evergood, John David Graham, Reginald Marsh, Joseph Pennell, John Sloan and many others. Some letters include printed material and photographs. Mechlin material includes writings, photographs and letters from Mary Augusta Mullikin describing her life and travels in China, 1933. Also included are letters from Adolph Dehn and Jose de Creeft to Juliana Force; from Ernest Haskell and Kenneth Hayes Miller to Carl Zigrosser; miscellaneous letters from Marc Chagall, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Louis Eilshemius and Childe Hassam; an autobiography of William Sartain; and material on Thomas Eakins, including letters, a list of expenses, 1867, and motion study material,including writings, sketches and photographs taken with a camera invented by Eakins.
REEL 4547: Charles Burchfield letters; Susan and Thomas Eakins material; Jacques Lipchitz correspondence; Henry McCarter letters; and Carl Zigrosser correspondence. The Burchfield letters consist of 41 items, 1929-1947, from Burchfield regarding exhibitions, sales, and his paintings. The Eakins material includes letters from Susan Eakins to the Milch Galleries, 1933-1935, regarding the sale of Thomas Eakins' work, receipts from the Milch Galleries, Thomas' expense book, ca. 1866, for daily living in Paris and Switzerland and an autographed account of expenses while at school in Paris, April 12, 1867, a photograph of Susan Eakins by Carl van Vechten, a photograph of Eakins, and 71 engraved portraits from the collection of Thomas Eakins.
The Lipchitz correspondence is with R. Sturgis Ingersoll regarding Lipchitz's commission for the sculpture "Prometheus." Also included are 8 letters from Curt Valentin to Ingersoll regarding Lipchitz. The McCarter material includes 66 letters, 1933-1942, some containing sketches, from McCarter to Mrs. George B. Roberts regarding paintings, frames, exhibitions, and offering painting advice. The Zigrosser correspondence is regarding the purchase of prints from the regional projects of the WPA for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and later included in the exhibition "Between Two Wars" at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Included are invoices and inventories of the prints from the various offices.
Provenance:
Material on reels P10-P11 and P14 lent for microfilming, 1954, by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Additional material on reel 4547 was microfilmed in 1991 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project. The idea for the archives originated with Carl Zigrosser, who donated material, solicited it from others (mainly Henry Schnakenberg, Leila Mechlin and Hudson Walker), or pulled it from the files of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Museum continues to add to the collection. It is not connected to the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution.
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 Philadelphia Museum of Art Archives. 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.
5.1 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 6 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1905-1969
Scope and Contents:
Photographs, correspondence, appointment books, etchings, a scrapbook, printed materials, writings, and posters.
REEL D113: Primarily letters received from artists, 1940s-50s; background material for Ft.Lee and Amsterdam (N.Y.) murals; and miscellaneous printed material and photographs.
Correspondents include John Angel, Artists Equity, Peggy Bacon, Gifford Beal, Henry Billings, Isabel Bishop, Peter Blume, Louis Bouche, Van Wyck Brooks, Audrey Buller, Paul Cadmus, Alexander Calder, William Congdon, Horace T. Day, Olin Dows, Marcel Duchamp, Emlen P. Etting, Philip Evergood, Barry Faulkner, Ernest Fiene, Leon Hartl, Whitney F. Hoyt, William M. Ivins, Jr., Lincoln E. Kirstein, Leon Kroll, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Edward Laning, Joseph L. Lasker, Clare Leighton, Charles W. Locke, Sanford B.D. Low, Luigi Lucioni, Reginald Marsh, Kenneth H. Miller, Nat'l Institute of Arts and Letters, Betty Parsons, Hugo Robus, Homer Saint-Gaudens, Katherine Schmidt, Ben Shahn, Charles Sheeler, Eugene Speicher, Theodoros Stamos, Franklin C. Watkins, Forbes and Nan Watson, and Leonard Weisgard.
REEL 847: Photographs, including 67 of Schnakenberg and friends, 1 of a portrait of him by Lloyd Goff, 95 of his oil paintings, 33 of his watercolors, 25 of his works in unidentified media, 29 of works by other artists, and 46 of pre-Columbian art from Central and South America. Among artists whose works are included are Antoine Louis Barye, Albert Bierstadt, Frederick Catherwood, Constantin Guys, Thomas Hardy, William Harnett, Winslow Homer, George Inness, Eastman Johnson, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Reginald Marsh, Rockland Savery, Theodoros Stamos, and Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait.
REELS 850-853: Biographical information; personal and business correspondence; 17 diaries, mainly about Schnakenberg's travels, 1905-1960; appointment calendars, 1963-1969; 70 etchings by Schnakenberg; a scrapbook containing clippings, catalogs, and other printed material; a book published by G. Alan Chidsey on Schnakenberg; clippings, catalogs, and announcements; papers relating to gifts and acquisitions of works of art; receipts for Schnakenberg paintings from C.W. Kraushaar Galleries; a 650-page typescript for a book "The Background of Painting" by Schnakenberg; and drafts of speeches.
UNMICROFILMED: Six World War I posters designed by Schnakenberg; Christmas cards from artists and other friends; printed material; and a photograph of Lloyd Goff, inscribed to Schnakenberg, in front of one of his paintings, 1939.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, etcher; Newton, Conn.
Provenance:
Material donated 1963-1971 by Schnakenberg and, after his death, by his estate.
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.
