Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Fritz Dreisbach, 2004 April 21-22. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Frost, A. B. (Arthur Burdett), 1851-1928 Search this
Extent:
2.6 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sketchbooks
Date:
circa 1849-1986
Summary:
The papers of painters Samuel Wood and Adelaide Lawson Gaylor measure 2.6 linear feet and date from circa 1849-1986. They illustrate the couple's careers and lives through biographical materials, correspondence, writings, subject files, printed and photographic material, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The Wood and Adelaide Lawson Gaylor papers measure 2.6 linear feet and date from circa 1849-1986. Biographical material consists of items related to Wood, Adelaide, and their daughter Isabel (Dale) including death certificates, birth certificates, and resumes. Also included are various art sales records. Correspondence is to and from the Gaylor's regarding personal and professional matters. Writings include journals, notebooks, and various autobiographical accounts about Wood's life and career, as well as writings about the Gaylor's and miscellaneous topics by others. Subject files consist of materials relating to the artistic careers of Wood Gaylor and Adelaide Lawson, to Gaylor's work as a fashion pattern designer, and, more broadly, to the New York art scene starting in 1930. Printed material includes exhibition announcements and catalogs, publications, news clippings, and picture postcards. Photographic material consists of photographs of Wood and Adelaide, their family and friends, and artworks. Artwork includes multiple sketchbooks and sketches by Wood, Adelaide, and their daughter Isabel (Dale).
Arrangement:
This collection consists of seven series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1890-1979 (.1 Linear feet: Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1866-1986 (.23 Linear feet: Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1909-1979 (.7 Linear feet: Box 1)
Series 4: Subject Files, circa 1877-1976 (.5 Linear feet: Box 2)
Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1910-1984 (.5 Linear feet: Box 2, OV 4)
Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1849-1970 (.4 Linear feet: Boxes 2-3, OV 5)
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1916-1940 (.2 Linear feet: Box 3)
Biographical / Historical:
Samuel Wood Gaylor (1883-1957) and Adelaide Lawson Gaylor (1889-1986) were husband and wife artists who worked primarily in New York.
Samuel Wood Gaylor was a painter and lithographer known for his colorful paintings and colored wood carvings. Wood Gaylor was born in Stamford, Connecticut and moved frequently throughout his childhood. When he turned sixteen, he left school to begin work creating sewing patterns at Butterick's. Wood continued to work in the sewing pattern industry where he advanced from designer to assistant manager for the Home Pattern Company, and finally to head of the Manhattan based locations of the New York Pattern Company.
In 1909, he married his first wife Ruth E. M. Lorick, with whom he had one daughter Ruth Wood Gaylor, and began his art training at the National Academy of Design. He continued in 1912 by taking instruction from Walt Kuhn at the New York School of Art in Fort Lee, New Jersey. In 1926, Wood married his second wife Adelaide Lawson, with whom he had two sons Wynn Lawson and Randall, and one daughter Isabel (Dale) Gaylor who died in 1955.
During his career Wood created artwork in several styles including the impressionist, abstract, and muralistic styles. He had works exhibited in the Armory Show, was a part of the Cooperative Mural Workshop for a short time, and had multiple solo exhibitions. In 1917, Wood joined the Penguin Club with Walt Kuhn and others. This club aimed to provide support for artists who rejected the conservative aesthetics of the National Academy. He exhibited at the Armory Show, the Penguin Club, and the Downtown Gallery and participated in many art organizations including the Kit-Kat Club, Modern Artists of America, American Society of Painters, and Sculptors and Engravers. He served on the board for the Salons of America, the Hamilton Easter Field Art Foundation, the New York City Municipal Art Committee, and the Museum of Art, Ogunquit, Maine.
Wood Gaylor died in 1957 at the age of seventy-three in Glenwood Landing, New York.
Adelaide Lawson Gaylor was a painter known for her modernist oil paintings of figures and landscapes. Adelaide Lawson was born in New York to her parents Simeon Levy and Belle Hart Lawson. She completed her artistic training at the Art Students League of New York under Kenneth Hayes Miller and also studied under Hamilton Easter Field at his Ogunquit School of Painting and Sculpture in Ogunquit, Maine.
Lawson's first public exhibition was at the MacDowell Club in 1916. In 1922, she contributed a painting to a group exhibition held at a segregated high school art studio in Washington D.C. organized and run by black artists. Lawson was a supporter of Black rights and because of her participation in this event her name can be found listed among other black artists. Other exhibitions and shows Lawson participated in were with the Whitney Studio Club, Society of Independent Artists, and the New York Society of Women Artists. She also joined and became a director of the Salons of America founded by Hamilton Easter Field. In 1925, Lawson had her first solo exhibition at Gallery 134.
Adelaide Lawson Gaylor died in 1986 at the age of 97 in Long Island, New York.
Provenance:
The Wood and Adelaide Lawson Gaylor papers were donated in several installments from 1958 to 2015. In 1958 material found on reel D9 was donated by T. J. McCormick. Material on reel D160 was donated in 1964 by Adelaide Lawson Gaylor and the remainder of the material was donated in 1986 by the Gaylors' sons, Wynn L. and Randall Gaylor. Sixteen items, mostly cards and letters to Gaylor were donated in 2008 by Christine Oaklander in honor of Dr. William Innes Homer, Art Historian and Professor Emeritus at the University of Delaware. Oaklander purchased the letters from Wynn Gaylor. An additional twenty-one documents, mostly cards and letters to Gaylor, were donated in 2015 by Wynn Gaylor.
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.
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.
Wood and Adelaide Lawson Gaylor papers, circa 1849-1986, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Correspondence, articles, clippings, and gallery literature.
Among the correspondents are Charles Avery Aiken, Grace Albee, Ernfred Anderson, John Taylor Arms, Ralph H. Avery, William J. Aylward, Merrill A. Bailey, Vernon Howe Bailey, George Biddle, Louis Bouche, Fiske Boyd, J. Paul Bransom, Charles Burchfield, Clarence H. Carter, Asa Cheffetz, Eliot C. Clark, Howard N. Cook,Dean Cornwell, James H. Daugherty, E. Hubert Deines, Fritz Eichenberg, Ralph Fabri, Robert Fawcett, James D. Havens, Wilmot Emerton Heitland, Peter Helck, J. Lars Hoftrup, Philip Kappel, Rockwell Kent, Julius J. Lankes, Clare Leighton, Warren B. Mack, Roy M. Mason, Leo Meissner, John C. Menihan, Henry C. Pitz, Ogden Pleissner, Grant T. Reynard, William S. Rice, Norman Rockwell, Sven Birger Sandzen, Alice P. Schafer, Eric Sloane, Charles W. Smith, James Swann, Donald Teague, Nora S. Unwin, Robert Von Neumann, Lynd Ward, Herbert O. Waters, Aldren A. Watson, Stow Wengenroth, Frederic Whitaker, Esther Williams, Edward A. Wilson, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Illustrator, educator, lithographer, engraver, painter and writer; studied at Rochester Institute of Technology and was active in New York State. Former editor of AMERICAN ARTIST.
Related Materials:
Additional Norman Kent papers pertaining to American Artist also located at: George Arent Research Library Syracuse University.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1965 by Norman Kent.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
The papers of the painter, muralist, and illustrator John White Alexander measure 11.9 linear feet and date from 1775 to 1968, with the bulk of materials dating from 1870 to 1915. Papers document Alexander's artistic career and many connections to figures in the art world through biographical documentation, correspondence (some illustrated), writings, 14 sketchbooks, additonal artwork and loose sketches, scrapbooks, photographs, awards and medals, artifacts, and other records. Also found is a souvenir engraving of a Mark Twain self-portrait.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of the painter, muralist, and illustrator John White Alexander measure 11.9 linear feet and date from 1775 to 1968, with the bulk of materials dating from 1870 to 1915. Papers document Alexander's artistic career and many connections to figures in the art world through biographical documentation, correspondence (some illustrated), writings, 14 sketchbooks, additonal artwork and loose sketches, scrapbooks, photographs, awards and medals, artifacts, and other records. Also found is a souvenir engraving of a Mark Twain self-portrait.
Biographical Information includes multiple essays related to Alexander, his family, and others in his circle. Also found is an extensive oral history of Alexander's wife Elizabeth conducted in 1928. Correspondence includes letters written by Alexander to his family from New York and Europe at the start of his career, and later letters from fellow artists, art world leaders, and portrait sitters of Alexander's. Significant correspondents include Charles Dana Gibson, Florence Levy, Frederick Remington, Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry James, John La Farge, Francis Davis Millet, and Andrew Carnegie. Correspondence includes some small sketches as enclosures and illustrated letters.
Certificates and records related to Alexander's career are found in Associations and Memberships, Legal and Financial Records, and Notes and Writings, which contain documentation of Alexander's paintings and exhibitions. Scattered documentation of Alexander's memberships in various arts association exists for the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Academy in Rome, the National Academy of Design, the Onteora Club in New York, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany, the Ministère de L'Instruction Publique et des Beaux-Arts, the Union Internationale des Beaux Arts et des Lettres, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Notes and Writings include speeches written by Alexander, short stories and essays written by his wife, and articles by various authors about Alexander. Extensive documentation of the planning and construction of the Alexander Memorial Studio by the MacDowell Club is found, along with other awards, medals, and memorial resolutions adopted by arts organizations after Alexander's death.
Artwork includes fourteen sketchbooks with sketches related to Alexander's commercial illustration and cartooning, murals, paintings, and travels. Dozens of loose drawings and sketches are also found, along with two volumes and several dozen loose reproductions of artwork, among which are found fine prints by named printmakers. Many sketches are also interspersed throughout the correspondence. Eight Scrapbooks contain mostly clippings, but also scattered letters, exhbition catalogs, announcements, invitations, and photographs related to Alexander's career between 1877 and 1915. Additional Exhibition Catalogs and later clippings, as well as clippings related to the career of his wife and other subjects, are found in Printed Materials.
Photographs include many portraits of Alexander taken by accomplished photographers such as Zaida Ben-Yusuf, Aimé Dupont, Curtis Bell, Elizabeth Buehrmann, and several signed Miss Huggins, who may have been Estelle Huntington Huggins, a New York painter and photographer. Portraits of others include Alexander's friends William Merritt Chase and Edward Austin Abbey. Also found are photographs of groups, juries, family, friends, and studios in New York, Paris, and New Jersey, and a handful of scenic photographs of Polling, Bavaria, where Alexander had an early studio. A large number of photographs of works of art are found, many with annotations. Among the photographs of murals are a small collection of snapshots of the Carnegie Institute murals in progress. Miscellaneous artifacts include a palette, several printing plates, and an inscribed souvenir engraving of a self-portrait caricature of Mark Twain.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 11 series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Information, circa 1887-1968 (Box 1, OV 23; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1870-1942 (Box 1; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Associations and Memberships, circa 1897-1918 (Box 1; 2 folders)
Series 4: Legal and Financial Records, 1775, 1896-1923 (Box 1; 5 folders)
Series 5: Notes and Writings, circa 1875-1943 (Boxes 1-2; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 6: Awards and Memorials, circa 1870-1944 (Box 2, OV 24; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1875-1915 (Boxes 2-3, 6, 14-16, OV 23; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, circa 1877-1915 (Boxes 17-22; 1.8 linear feet)
Series 9: Printed Materials, circa 1891-1945 (Boxes 3-4, OV 23; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographs, circa 1870-1915 (Boxes 4-8, MGP 1-2, OV 25-43, RD 44-45; 4.2 linear feet)
Series 11: Artifacts, circa 1899-1915 (Box 6, artifact cabinet; 0.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
John White Alexander was born in 1856 in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. He was orphaned at age five and taken in by relatives of limited means. When Alexander left school and began working at a telegraph company, the company's vice-president, former civil war Colonel Edward Jay Allen, took an interest in his welfare. Allen became his legal guardian, brought him into the Allen household, and saw that he finished Pittsburgh High School. At eighteen, he moved to New York City and was hired by Harper and Brothers as an office boy in the art department. He was soon promoted to apprentice illustrator under staff artists such as Edwin A. Abbey and Charles Reinhart. During his time at Harpers, Alexander was sent out on assignment to illustrate events such as the Philadelphia Centennial celebration in 1876 and the Pittsburgh Railroad Strike in 1877, which erupted in violence.
Alexander carefully saved money from his illustration work and traveled to Europe in 1877 for further art training. He first enrolled in the Royal Art Academy of Munich, Germany, but soon moved to the village of Polling, where a colony of American artists was at its peak in the late 1870s. Alexander established a painting studio there and stayed for about a year. Despite his absence from the Munich Academy, he won the medal of the drawing class for 1878, the first of many honors. While in Polling, he became acquainted with J. Frank Currier, Frank Duveneck, William Merritt Chase, and other regular visitors to the colony. He later shared a studio and taught a painting class in Florence with Duveneck and traveled to Venice, where he met James Abbott McNeill Whistler.
Alexander returned to New York in 1881 and resumed his commercial artwork for Harpers and Century. Harpers sent him down the Mississippi river to complete a series of sketches. He also began to receive commissions for portraits, and in the 1880s painted Charles Dewitt Bridgman, a daughter of one of the Harper brothers, Parke Godwin, Thurlow Weed, Walt Whitman, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Alexander met his wife Elizabeth, whose maiden name was also Alexander, through her father, James W. Alexander, who was sometimes mistaken for the artist. Elizabeth and John White Alexander married in 1887 and had a son, James, in 1888.
Alexander and his family sailed for France in 1890, where they became a part of the lively literary and artistic scene in Paris at the time. Among their many contacts there were Puvis de Chavannes, Auguste Rodin, and Whistler, who arrived in Paris shortly thereafter. Alexander absorbed the new aesthetic ideas around him such as those of the symbolists and the decorative style of art nouveau. Critics often note how such ideas are reflected in his boldly composed paintings of women from this period, who titles drew attention to the sensual and natural elements of the paintings. His first exhibition in Paris was three paintings at the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts in 1893, and by 1895 he has become a full member of the Société.
Independent and secession artist societies emerged throughout Europe during this period, and Alexander exhibited with several of them, including the Société Nouvelle in Paris, the Munich Secession, and the Vienna Secession. He was also elected an honorary member of the Royal Society of Belgian Artists and the Royal Society of British Painters in London. His exhibited works sold well, and his influence began to be felt back in the United States. Andrew Carnegie and John Beatty of the Carnegie Institute consulted closely with Alexander in the planning and execution of the first Carnegie International Exhibitions. Alexander also became active in supporting younger American artists who wanted to exhibit in Europe, a stance which resulted in his resignation from the Society of American Artists in Paris, which he felt had become a barrier to younger artists. His promotion of American art became an central aspect of his career for the remainder of his life, most visibly through his presidency of the National Academy of Design from 1909 until shortly before his death in 1915. He also served frequently on juries for high-profile exhibitions, and was a trustee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, and the national Institute of Arts and Letters. Around 1912, he helped to form the School Art League in New York, which provided art instruction to high school students.
Alexander returned to the United States nearly every summer while based in Paris, and among his commissioned paintings were murals for the newly-constructed Library of Congress, completed around 1896. In 1901, the Alexanders returned to New York permanently. The demand for portraits continued, and he had his first solo exhibition at the Durand-Ruel Galleries in 1902. Around 1905 he received a commission for murals at the new Carnegie Institute building in Pittsburgh for the astounding sum of $175,000. He created 48 panels there through 1908. During this period, the Alexanders spent summers in Onteora, New York, where Alexander painted his well-known "Sunlight" paintings. There they became friends and collaborators with the actress Maude Adams, with Alexander designing lighting and stage sets, and Elizabeth Alexander designing costumes for Adams' productions such as Peter Pan, the Maid of Orleans, and Chanticleer. The couple became known for their "theatricals" or tableaux, staged at the MacDowell Club and elsewhere, and Elizabeth Alexander continued her design career when her husband died in 1915.
Alexander left several commissions unfinished upon his death at age 59, including murals in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Elizabeth Alexander held a memorial exhibition at Arden Galleries a few months after his death, and a larger memorial exhibition was held by the Carnegie Institute in 1916. Alexander won dozens of awards for artwork in his lifetime, including the Lippincott Prize at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1899, the Gold Medal of Honor at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900, the Gold Medal at the Panama Pacific Exposition of 1901, and the Medal of the First Class at the Carnegie Institute International Exhibition in 1911. In 1923, the Alexander Memorial Studio was built at the MacDowell colony in New Hampshire to honor his memory.
Provenance:
Papers were donated in 1978 and 1981 by Irina Reed, Alexander's granddaughter and in 2017 by Elizabeth Reed, Alexander's great grandaughter.
Restrictions:
Use of the original papers requires an appointment. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and not served to researchers.
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:
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Portrait painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
John White Alexander papers, 1775-1968, bulk 1870-1915. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
The records of the National Arts Club measure 32.1 linear feet and date from 1898 to 1960. The collection documents the founding of the club, and it's governance, administration, exhibitions, and social activities
Scope and Content Note:
Records of the National Arts Club, spanning the period 1898 to 1960, document the founding of the organization, and its governance, administration, finances, exhibitions, and social activities. There are large gaps in the records and many of those surviving are incomplete, which can be explained by a 1932 resolution of the Board of Governors that "old files and letters and bills in the storeroom prior to 1922 may be destroyed at the discretion of the Secretary and Treasurer."
Minutes and reports of the Board of Governors and Executive Committee are fairly complete through 1949, but sparse thereafter. Records do not exist for all standing and special committees, and those remaining tend to be concentrated in the early twentieth century.
Correspondence of the officers, for the most part, is routine and relates to administrative matters. Financial records cover the period 1917 to 1950, with a large number of gaps.
A small number of records of the Arts Realty Co. (later known as 15 Gramercy Park, Inc.) are extant. These include lists of stockholders, correspondence concerning mortgage bonds, and minutes.
Membership records, arranged alphabetically, are available for the years 1931 to 1959, and there are rosters arranged by membership category, 1940-1952; in addition, printed membership lists were issued circa 1900-1951.
More than four hundred exhibitions are known to have been held in the galleries of the National Arts Club between 1899 and 1960. Catalogs for 124 National Arts Club exhibitions are available at the Archives of American Art; 69 titles are to be found among the Club's records and an additional 55 were microfilmed previously as parts of other collections. Other exhibition documentation includes printed matter such as invitations, entry blanks, publicity, and photographs (see Appendix A). For some exhibitions, supporting documentation such as correspondence with exhibitors and collectors, sales and consignment records, and shipping receipts have survived. These files are mainly confined to Books of the Year exhibitions, Arts and Crafts/Decorative Arts exhibitions, and a smaller number of exhibitions of Living American Etchers, 1928-1957.
General social events, activities sponsored by Arts Club committees, and special commemorative occasions are documented by invitations, programs, publicity, calendars of events, and photographs. The majority of this material is contained in seventeen scrapbooks, 1898-1940. Programs of the Men's Open Table, 1915-1950, are particularly well documented by the Chairman's correspondence and three volumes containing meeting notices with signatures of members in attendance.
In addition to printed matter relating to exhibitions and events, scrapbooks, 1898-1940, contain general publicity, clippings concerning members, and samples of National Arts Club printed matter such as form letters to the general membership, brochures, ballots, house rules, published membership lists, year books, and the like. Loose printed matter augments that preserved in the scrapbooks. These sources combined provide a fairly complete set of the Bulletin, but the number of year books is small, and there are catalogs of only slightly more than a third of the exhibitions identified.
Photographs, in addition to those recording exhibitions and events, include portraits of governors, officers, distinguished visitors, speakers, and performers; views of Gramercy Park and the interior and exterior of the clubhouse; and works of art in the permanent collection.
Miscellaneous material includes information on the National Arts Club's first home on West 34th Street, and the Tilden Mansion, its current clubhouse on Gramercy Park; histories of the organization; unpublished speeches presented at Club occasions; and copies of legal documents, including the Club's charter and act of incorporation.
See Appendix A for an annotated list of National Arts Club exhibitions, 1899-1960
Arrangement:
The records are arranged into the following series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Board of Governors, 1898-1960, undated
Series 2: Administration, 1898-1960, undated
Series 3: Financial Records, 1917-1952
Series 4: Membership, circa 1900-1962
Series 5: Arts Realty Co., 1909-1913, 1945-1956, undated
Series 6: Miscellaneous, 1890-1961, undated
Series 7: Photographs, 1899-1957, undated
Series 8: Printed Matter, 1893-1960, undated
Series 9: Scrapbooks, 1898-1940
Historical Note:
The National Arts Club was founded by Charles de Kay, literary and art critic for the New York Times who believed there was a need for a club uniting all of the arts. In March of 1898, de Kay called together a number of civic leaders and men prominent in the art world who supported the idea, elected the first officers and incorporated the Club in 1899.
As stated in a circular issued by the Club, its specified purposes were: to promote the mutual acquaintance of art lovers and art workers in the United States; to stimulate and guide toward practical and artistic expression the artistic sense of the American people; to maintain in the City of New York a Club House...for social purposes in connection with the arts; to provide proper exhibition facilities for such lines of art, especially applied and industrial art, as shall not be otherwise adequately provided for in the same City; and to encourage the publication and circulation of news, suggestions and discussions relating to the fine arts.
During its initial months, the National Arts Club operated from a temporary office at 156 Fifth Avenue. In the search for a permanent site, considerable care was taken to select an auspicious location and accommodations, and in 1899 the first clubhouse was opened at 37 West 34th Street in leased quarters renovated expressly for the Club. Within a year, the gallery and restaurant required additional space, and there was a desire to provide overnight quarters for members visiting from out of town. In 1901 the Club created a corporation, Arts Realty Co., which issued shares to members and other investors for the purpose of raising funds to purchase the adjacent property (39 West 34th Street). This end was accomplished, and when it was decided to move the Club to another location, proceeds from the sale of the lease on 37 West 34th Street and the lot next door, augmented by additional funds subscribed by members, enabled Arts Realty Co. to acquire the Tilden Mansion at 15 Gramercy Park in 1905. Construction was begun immediately on a connecting studio tower to the rear (119-121 East 19th Street), designed by architect and Club President George B. Post. Upon completion, the Club bought the property from Arts Realty Co., issuing both First and Second Mortgage Bonds to individual subscribers. The Gramercy Park property has been occupied by the Club since 1906.
A show of American gold and silver work in October 1899 was the first exhibition held at the National Arts Club. Decorative arts, crafts, and industrial arts figured prominently in early exhibitions, as did designs for civic improvements. The monthly exhibition schedule emphasized contemporary American art, but also included some historical shows. Members of the public were admitted without charge to the galleries, where they could view such innovative and important exhibitions as Pictorial Photographs presented by the Photo-Secession (1902) and a group exhibition featuring the works of Robert Henri, William Glackens, George Luks, Arthur B. Davies, and Maurice Prendergast (1904). After about 1907, exhibitions grew more conservative, probably reflecting the personal tastes of Art Committee members rather than a formal opposition of the Club to nonrepresentational art. Increasingly, the exhibition schedule was filled by shows of members' work, the Club's permanent collection (mainly works by artist members, usually given in payment for life membership), the Annual Arts and Crafts exhibitions, Books of the Year exhibitions, and shows organized by various art societies.
In addition to exhibitions, the National Arts Club regularly featured a variety of cultural programs such as concerts, lectures, and dramatic presentations for members and guests. Parties, dinner, dances, and other social activities drew members to the Club, too. During its first years, some artist members expressed dissatisfaction with the high priority given social functions; by 1905, J. Carroll Beckwith, Walter Shirlaw, and Stanford White were among those who had resigned for this reason.
Within the National Arts Club there have been some smaller societies. The earliest of these were The Discus, a short lived dining and debating club, and The Vagabonds, a lunch group of writers, editors, printers and illustrators. The Men's Open Table, founded in 1910, met weekly for more than forty years for dinner followed by a talk, given by a fellow member or an outside, often professional, lecturer. A wide range of topics, not necessarily on the arts, were presented and discussed at the Men's Open Table. The American Institute of Graphic Arts is one of the organizations said to have developed from associations formed and discussions held at the Men's Open Table. A Women's Open Table, patterned after the men's, was established later.
The National Arts Club, unlike many other private clubs founded during the same era, admitted women members from its inception. Throughout its history, the Club's membership has been comprised of artists, musicians, writers, and performers, as well as collectors and supporters of the arts drawn from all parts of the country. Membership peaked at around 1,800 in 1920, declining throughout the Depression and again in the mid-1950s, and remaining at about 600 for the next two decades.
Missing Title
1898 -- Founding; occupied temporary office at 156 Fifth Ave.
1899 -- Incorporation; leased clubhouse at 37 West 34th St.; opened first exhibition, American Gold and Silver Work
1900 -- Constitution adopted
1901 -- First donations to permanent collection; Arts Realty Co. formed for the purpose of acquiring and financing the adjacent property (39 West 34th St.)
1905 -- Arts Realty Co. purchased Gramercy Park property (Tilden Mansion) on behalf of NAC; remodeling of clubhouse and construction of studio tower begun
1906 -- Plan for financing new clubhouse approved; second Mortgage Bonds issued; clubhouse and studio tower occupied; First Annual Books of the Year Exhibition
1907 -- Annual Members' Exhibition initiated; Bulletin began publication
1910 -- First meeting of Men's Open Table (established 1909)
1914 -- Essay contest, "A Critical Estimate of the Altman Collection"
1917 -- American Artists War Emergency Fund Committee issues art stamp
1923 -- Junior Artist membership category created
1930-1931 -- Essay contest, "Soul of America"
1940 -- Works by deceased artist life members deaccessioned from permanent collection; fund for refugee artists established
1962 -- Clubhouse designated New York City Landmark
1976 -- Clubhouse designated National Historic Landmark
1987 -- NAC records donated to Archives of American Art
Appendix A: Annotated List of National Arts Club Exhibitions, 1899-1960:
* = photographs included with records of NAC (See pp. 22-23 for reel and frame numbers)
+ = photograph in NAC album (See pp. 24 for reel and frame numbers)
x = catalog, checklist, or printed announcement included with NAC printed matter
s = copy of catalog in NAC scrapbook (volume number noted, see pp. 27-32 for reel and frame numbers of each volume)
Microfilm reel and frame numbers (e.g.: N134:416-419) are cited below for NAC catalogs appearing in other collections within the Archives of American Art.
DateExhibitionOct. 30 *, 1899 -- House Warming, Exhibition of American Gold and Silver Work
Nov. 13-18, 1899 -- Tenth Exhibition of the Woman's Art Club; Reception to Miss Cecilia Beaux (N134:416-419)
Nov. 27-Dec. 10, 1899 -- Art Pottery, American, Oriental, and European (N134:407-415)
Dec. 23-Jan. 8, 1899 -- Exhibition of Small Bronzes (N134:437-443)
Jan. 13, 1900 -- Exhibition of Photographs, works by members of the Society of Mural Painters
Jan. 29, 1900 -- Design for Street Refuge, shown by New York Municipal Art Society
Feb. 5-22, 1900 -- Exhibition of Embroideries and Native Rugs (N134:420-425)
Feb. 24-Mar. 10, 1900 -- John Leslie Breck Memorial Exhibition (N443:703-708; N551:719-724)
Mar. 24-Apr. 14, 1900 -- Pastel Exhibition, American Work
Apr., 1900 -- Old and Modern Japanese Prints
Apr. 14-21, 1900 -- Ernest Tarleton Memorial Exhibition
Apr. 21-May 3, 1900 -- Exhibition of Color Reproductions, American and European
May 10-21, 1900 -- American Art Leatherwork (N134:432-426)
May 24-30, 1900 -- Small Exhibition of Japanese Water Colors
May 31-June 14, 1900 -- William Hamilton Gibson Memorial Exhibition
June, 1900 -- New York Municipal Art Society Competition
Nov. 28-Dec. 19 x, 1900 -- Arts and Crafts (N134:421-431)
Jan., 1901 -- Birds and Beasts in Art
Feb., 1901 -- Art Leatherwork and Objects Relating to the Hearth
Mar., 1901 -- Works by the Society of Mural Painters
Apr., 1901 -- Books and Bookmaking
Apr., 1901 -- Howard Walter, Water Colors Taken in Europe
May, 1901 -- Glass in the Arts
May, 1901 -- Memorial to John A. Fraser, His Paintings
May-Nov., 1901 -- Arts and Crafts in the Liberal Arts Building, Pan-American Pacific Exhibition, Buffalo, N.Y.
June-Sept., 1901 -- Sculpture, Oil Paintings, Pastels, Water Colors, and Objects of Industrial Art by Members of the Club
Oct., 1901 -- Memorial Window for the Ames Family by John La Farge
Nov., 1901 -- Annual Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture by the Woman's Art Club
Dec., 1901 -- Objects Shown at the Pan-American Pacific Exposition
Jan., 1902 -- Ecclesiastical Art
Feb., 1902 -- Art Objects Relating to Civic Art, under the auspices of the Municipal Art Society
Mar., 1902 -- American Pictorial Photographs, shown by the Photo-Secession
Mar. 26-Apr. 21, 1902 -- Fourth Annual Exhibition of the National Sculpture Society (N551:725-729; N134:446-451)
May, 1902 -- Pictures of "Womanhood"
May, 1902 -- Memorial Window for Baltimore by D. Maitland Armstrong; Memorial Window for Wells College by Mrs. Ella Condie Lamb June Window in Stained Glass, Memorial to Julia Doane, Chicago, by John La Farge
Oct., 1902 -- Collection of Objects in Metal; Artistic Bird Cages lent by A. W. Drake, Esq.
Nov., 1902 -- Annual Exhibition by the Woman's Art Club
Nov., 1902 -- Paintings by Four Western Artists, Messrs. Duveneck, Steele, Meakin and Sharp, through the courtesy of the Cincinnati Museum Association
Dec., 1902 -- Designs Submitted for Competition for the Emblem of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Jan. s, 1903 -- Portraits of Napoleon, lent by John Leonard Dudley, Jr., Esq. (volume 4)
Jan., 1903 -- "Autumn," Stained Glass Window for the country residence of William C. Whitney, by John La Farge
Feb., 1903 -- Eskimo and Arctic Objects, with Paintings from the Arctic and Antarctic Circles by Frank Wilbert Stokes
Mar., 1903 -- Objects of Municipal Art
Apr., 1903 -- Examples of Ideal Art by American Artists
May, 1903 -- Sculptures by Rodin, Roche, and Rivere, belonging to Miss Lois Fuller
May, 1903 -- Portraits and other Paintings by American Artists of the Colonial and Early Periods
June-Oct., 1903 -- Summer Exhibition of Paintings, Water Colors, and Sculpture by Members of the Club
Nov., 1903 -- Jewelry and Precious Stones, Modern, Old and Oriental
Dec. 1-14, 1903 -- Thirteenth Annual Exhibition of the Woman's Art Club (N134:452-456)
Dec., 1903 -- Stained Glass Window, designed by Miss Mary E. Tillinghast
Dec., 1903 -- Sketches for the Sculpture at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, shown by the National Sculpture Society
Jan. 5-16 s, 1904 -- Loan Exhibition of Pictures by Eminent American Painters (N134:426-464, and volume 4)
Jan. 5-16 s, 1904 -- Loan Exhibition of Pictures by Robert Henri, William Glackens, George Luks, Arthur B. Davies, and Maurice Prendergast (volume 4)
Feb., 1904 -- Pictures by Contemporary American Artists
Mar. 2-15, 1904 -- Loan Exhibition of Pictures by American Figure Painters (N50:471-472; N134:460-461)
Mar., 1904 -- Annual Exhibition of Objects of Municipal Art
Apr. 5-15 s, 1904 -- Loan Exhibition of Pictures by Some Boston Artists (N443:713-715, and volume 4)
Apr. 19-30 s, 1904 -- Loan Exhibition of Pictures by Old Masters, lent by the Messrs. Durand-Ruel (N443:711-712; N134:462-464, and volume 4)
May 3-14 s, 1904 -- Oil Paintings, Water Colors, and Drawings by John La Farge, N.A. (volume 4)
May, 1904 -- Photographs of Paintings by Old Italian Masters, under the auspices of the Library Committee
Oct., 1904 -- Work of Holders of the Lazarus and Reinhart Scholarships executed while at the American Academy in Rome
Nov., 1904 -- "The Moral and Divine Law," painting by John La Farge
Nov., 1904 -- Exhibition by Members of the Nippon-Bijitsuin (Japanese Art Academy)
Jan., 1905 -- Exhibition by the Lyme Group of Painters
Feb., 1905 -- "Old Masters" and Aphrodite
Feb., 1905 -- Pictures by Some Boston Artists
Mar., 1905 -- Annual Exhibition of the Municipal Art Society of New York
Apr., 1905 -- Artistic and Commercial Posters, under the Auspices of the Municipal Art Society
Apr., 1905 -- Textiles and Ceramics
Oct., 1905 -- "Out of Doors" as Seen by Various Artists
Nov., 1905 -- Color Prints by S. Arlent-Edwards
Dec., 1905 -- American Indians as Seen by the Artist and the Artist Photographer
Jan., 1906 -- Birds and Beasts in Art
Feb., 1906 -- Miniatures
Mar., 1906 -- Fifth Annual Exhibition of the Municipal Art Society
Mar., 1906 -- Exhibition by the Alumni of Cooper Institute
Apr. 2-14 s, 1906 -- Municipal Art Society Exhibit of Poster Designs (volume 4)
Apr.-May, 1906 -- Exhibition by the Women's Art Club of New York
Nov. 8-18 s, 1906 -- Opening Exhibition [first exhibition in new quarters]: American Paintings from the Collection of Mr. William T. Evans (D45:29-34, and volume 4)
Dec., 1906 -- Books of the Year
Dec. 8-Jan. 1 s, 1906 -- Pictures by Some American Painters (volume 4)
Jan. 12-Feb. 1 s, 1907 -- Modern German Paintings from the Collection of Mr. Hugo Reisinger (N443:716-717, and volume 4)
Feb. s, 1907 -- Exhibition of Wood Engravings by Timothy Cole made for Century Magazine
Feb., 1907 -- Longfellow Memorial
Mar. 13-31, 1907 -- Sixth Annual Exhibition of the Municipal Art Society of New York
Apr., 1907 -- New York Society of Ceramic Artists
Apr., 1907 -- Paintings and Sculpture by Members
May s, 1907 -- Exhibition of Artists' Preliminary Sketches
May-Nov., 1907 -- Sketches by Members
Oct. 16-Nov. 16 s, 1907 -- Fall Exhibition of Sketches by Members (volume 4)
Nov. 20-Dec. 11, 1907 -- Arts and Crafts Exhibition (N29:1001-1026)
Dec., 1907 -- Second Annual Exhibition of the New Books of the Year
Jan. 4-25 s, 1908 -- Contemporary Art (N443:744-746, and volume 5)
Feb., 1908 -- First Annual Exhibition of Advertising Art
Nov. *, 1908 -- Third Annual Exhibition of Books of the Year
Dec., 1908 -- Arts and Crafts Exhibition
Jan., 1909 -- Second Annual Exhibition of Advertising Art
Jan., 1909 -- Small Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Contemporary Artists
Feb. 2-20 s, 1909 -- International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography (volume 1)
Feb. 23-Mar. 17 s, 1909 -- John W. Alexander Retrospective Exhibition (volume 5)
Apr., 1909 -- Exhibition of the New York Society of Keramic Arts
May, 1909 -- Spring Exhibition of Members' Work
July, 1909 -- Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. William T. Evans
Sept.-Oct., 1909 -- Three Centuries of New York, under the auspices of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration
Nov. 3-26 s, 1909 -- Fourth Annual Exhibition of Books of the Year (volume 5)
Dec., 1909 -- Third Annual Exhibition of Arts and Crafts
Jan., 1910 -- William M. Chase Retrospective Exhibition
Feb., 1910 -- Exhibition of American Landscape Painting
Mar. 2-28 s, 1910 -- Exhibition of Paintings by Louis Mark, of Budapest (volume 5)
Apr. 6-30 s, 1910 -- Exhibition of Paintings by Alfred East, of London (N134:465-469, and volume 5)
May, 1910 -- Exhibition of Household Art, under the auspices of the Domestic Training Department of the Public Schools
May 4-Oct. s, 1910 -- Third Annual Exhibition of the Former Students of the Art Students League (volume 5)
Oct. 20-Nov. 1 s +, 1910 -- Third Annual Exhibition of Advertising Art (volume 5)
Nov.-Dec., 1910 -- Fifth Annual Exhibition of Books of the Year
Dec. * +, 1910 -- Fourth Annual Arts and Crafts Exhibition
Jan. 5-Feb. 3 s +, 1911 -- First Annual Artist Life Members' Exhibition (volume 5)
Feb. +, 1911 -- Exhibition of the New York Society of Keramic Arts
Feb. 11-Mar. 10, 1911 -- Circuit Exhibition of Contemporary Art (D12:437-439; N52:105-107)
Mar. 8-Apr. 5 * s +, 1911 -- Paintings and Drawings by Walter Shirlaw, N.A. (N52:967-973, and volume 5)
Apr., 1911 -- Exhibition of the Municipal Art Society of New York
Apr. 26-May * s +, 1911 -- Group Exhibition of Paintings: William R. Derrick, Reynolds Beal, Frederick J. Waugh (volume 5)
Oct. 25-Nov. 4 * +, 1911 -- Exhibition of Color Schemes and Model Rooms in Miniature
Nov. 8-30 * +, 1911 -- Sixth Annual Exhibition of Books of the Year
Dec. 7-28 * +, 1911 -- Fifth Annual Arts and Crafts Exhibition
Jan. 3-28 s +, 1912 -- First Prize Exhibition of Artist Life Members (N443:754-756, and volume 6)
Jan. 31-Feb. 18 * s +, 1912 -- Otto Walter Beck Exhibition (volume 6)
Feb. 21-Mar. 10 s +, 1912 -- Etchings of E. T. Hurley (volume 6)
Mar. 13-20 s +, 1912 -- National Park Pictures Collected and Exhibited by the Department of the Interior (volume 3)
Apr. 4-21 s +, 1912 -- Paintings, Embroideries, and Tapestries from the Collection of Mr. Emerson McMillan (D45:462-468; N443:757-762, and volume 6)
Apr. 4-Mar. 12 s, 1912 -- Exhibition of Original Dickens and Thackeray Drawings by Harry Furniss (volume 3)
May 8-June 1 * s +, 1912 -- Sculpture Exhibition (volume 6)
June 4-8 +, 1912 -- Exhibition of Industrial Art, under the auspices of The School Art League and the Art Departments of the City High Schools
June-Oct., 1912 -- Summer Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture
Oct. 16-Nov. 12 +, 1912 -- Third Special Exhibition of the Society of Illustrators
Nov. 13-29, 1912 -- Seventh Annual Exhibition of Books of the Year
Dec. 4-28 +, 1912 -- Sixth Annual Exhibition of the National Society of Craftsmen
Jan. 8-Feb. 9 +, 1913 -- Work of the Painter, Sculptor, and Architect Members (N443:763-767; N50:126-130)
Feb. 12-Mar. 9 * +, 1913 -- Exhibition of Works by the Late Frederick Warren Freer
Mar. 12-31 +, 1913 -- The Applied Arts of Germany
Apr. 2-27 +, 1913 -- Small Works by Six Painters: Richard E. Miller, Frederick Carl Frieseke, Charles W. Hawthorne, William Wendt, William Ritschel, and Elise Dodge Pattee
Apr. 30-June 1 +, 1913 -- Small Marbles and Bronzes (N551:732-737)
May-June, 1913 -- Summer Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture
Oct. 15-Nov. 9, 1913 -- Society of Illustrators
Nov. 12-28, 1913 -- Eighth Annual Exhibition of Books of the Year
Dec. 3-28 * +, 1913 -- Seventh Annual Exhibition of the National Society of Craftsmen
Jan. 8-Feb. 1 +, 1914 -- Work of Painter, Sculptor, and Architect Members
Feb. 4-21, 1914 -- The Pastellists
Feb. 5-Mar. 21 x +, 1914 -- Contemporary Art
Mar. 11-29 * +, 1914 -- Hungarian Peasant Art (N134:470-479)
Apr. 1-May 2 +, 1914 -- Paintings by Eleven Western Artists
May 6-31 * +, 1914 -- Exhibition of Small Sculpture (N551:738-743)
June-Sept., 1914 -- Paintings
Nov. 4-27, 1914 -- Ninth Annual Exhibition of Books of the Year
Dec. 3-28 +, 1914 -- Eighth Annual Exhibition of National Society of Craftsmen
Jan. 7-31 +, 1915 -- Work of Painter Members (N551:744-746)
Feb. 4-25 +, 1915 -- Forty-eighth Annual Exhibition of American Water Color Society
Mar. 3-24 +, 1915 -- Portraits (N551:747-748)
Apr. 7-13 +, 1915 -- Sculpture
May 5-21, 1915 -- Exhibition of Municipal Art Society
June-Oct. *, 1915 -- Work of Painter Members
Oct. 13-30 +, 1915 -- Fifth Special Exhibition of the Society of Illustrators
Nov. 5-13 +, 1915 -- American Wood Engraving, under the auspices of the American Institute of Graphic Arts
Nov. 17-Dec. 3, 1915 -- Tenth Anniversary Exhibition of Books of the Year
Dec. 8-30 +, 1915 -- Ninth Annual Exhibition of the National Society of Craftsmen
Jan. 6-28 +, 1916 -- Work of Painter Members
Feb. 3-27 +, 1916 -- Forty-ninth Annual Exhibition of American Water Color Society
Mar. 2-25 * +, 1916 -- Loan Exhibition of Portraits of Academicians and Associates Selected from the Permanent Collection of the National Academy of Design (N551:749-752; N134:480-483)
Mar. 28-Apr. 14 +, 1916 -- One Hundred American Paintings by the American Institute of Graphic Arts (N443:768-770)
Mar. 28-Apr. 14 +, 1916 -- Exhibition of American Printing
Apr. 19-May 6, 1916 -- Exhibition of the Municipal Art Society
Nov., 1927 -- Twenty-second Annual Exhibition of Books of the Year
Dec. 7-24 +, 1927 -- Fifth Annual Exhibition of Works of Living American Etchers (N552:13-18)
Jan., 1928 -- Members' Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture
Feb. 8-29 +, 1928 -- Small Paintings
Mar. 8-31 x, 1928 -- Exhibition of Decorative Arts
Apr. 4-20 +, 1928 -- Exhibition by Junior Artist Members of the Club
Nov., 1928 -- Twenty-third Annual Exhibition of Books of the Year
Dec., 1928 -- Small Paintings
Jan. 8-Feb. 8 + -- Members' Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture
Feb. 13-Mar. 8 -- Sixth Annual Exhibition by Living American Etchers
Mar. + -- Richard M. Hurd Loan Exhibition of Italian Primitives
Apr. 3-26 + -- Exhibition by Junior Artist Members of the Club
May 1-Oct. 1 + -- Summer Exhibition by Painter Life Members
Nov. -- Twenty-fourth Annual Exhibition of Books of the Year
Dec. 4-26 * + -- Exhibition of the Decorative Arts
Jan. 8-Feb. 1 +, 1930 -- Members' Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture
Feb. 5-28 x +, 1930 -- Seventh Annual Exhibition of Living American Etchers
Mar. 5-28 +, 1930 -- Junior Artist Members' Exhibition
Apr. 16-Sept. 30 +, 1930 -- Members' Exhibition of Small Paintings (N134:484-490)
Nov., 1930 -- Silver Anniversary Exhibition of Books of the Year
Dec. 3-26 * +, 1930 -- Eighth Annual Exhibition by Living American Etchers
Jan. 7-Feb. 6 +, 1931 -- Members' Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture
Mar. 4-27 +, 1931 -- Exhibition by the Junior Artist Members
Mar. 13-Apr. 15 x, 1931 -- Auction Exhibition and Sale by Artist Members
Apr. 1-25 +, 1931 -- Members' Work of the New York Water Color Club
May 2-24 +, 1931 -- The Story of Gramercy Park in Portraits and Historical Objects of the Period, in connection with Gramercy Park Centenary Celebration
June 3-Oct. 1 +, 1931 -- Members' Exhibition of Small Paintings
Oct. 21-Nov. 20, 1931 -- Twenty-sixth Annual Exhibition of Books of the Year
Nov. 26-Dec. 26, 1931 -- Sixteenth Annual Exhibition by the Society of American Etchers (formerly The Brooklyn Society of Etchers)
Jan. 6-13 +, 1932 -- Members' Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture
Feb. 3-27 +, 1932 -- Exhibition of Drawings by Artist Members
Mar. 2-26 +, 1932 -- Paintings by Junior Artist Members
Mar. 13-Apr. 15 +, 1932 -- Auction Exhibition and Sale by Artist Members
Apr. 20-30 +, 1932 -- Exhibition by a Group of New York Art Schools
May 4-Oct. 1 +, 1932 -- Members' Annual Exhibition of Small Paintings
Jan. 4-27 +, 1933 -- Members' Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture
Mar. 1-31 +, 1933 -- Junior Artist Members
Apr. 5-22 +, 1933 -- Society of Illustrators
May 3-Oct. 1 +, 1933 -- Members' Exhibition of Small Paintings and Sculpture
Jan. 3-27 +, 1934 -- Members' Annual Exhibition
Jan. 31-Mar. 2 +, 1934 -- Memorial Exhibition of a Group of Former Painter and Sculptor Members: Max Bohm, Emil Carlsen, Charles Hawthorne, Robert Henri, Karl Bitter, Solon Borglum, Daniel Chester French, Edmund Quinn
Mar. 7-29 +, 1934 -- Junior Artist Members
Apr. 4-27 +, 1934 -- Society of Illustrators, Thirty-second Annual Exhibition
May 2-June 28 +, 1934 -- Members' Exhibition of Small Paintings and Sculpture (N552:69-71; N134:491-494)
Nov.-Dec., 1934 -- Seventeenth Annual Exhibition of the Society of American Etchers (formerly The Brooklyn Society of Etchers) (N552:49-65)
undated -- Twenty-ninth Annual Exhibition of Fifty Books of the Year
Apr. 24-May 3 +, 1940 -- Flower and Still Life Paintings
May 8-June 1, 1940 -- Special Exhibition of Water Colors, Architectural Renderings, Type Compositions, and Color Reproductions by Edwin Hooper Denby, A.I.A., S.A.D.G. (N443:779-780; N134:509-510)
Dec. +, 1940 -- Twenty-fifth Annual Exhibition of the Society of American Etchers
Feb. 4-Mar. 1, 1942 -- Exhibition of Paintings by Artists of the United Nations (N134:512-518)
June 12-Sept. 30, 1942 -- Members' Summer Exhibition (N134:519)
Dec. 16-Jan. 22, 1942 -- Exhibition of Chinese and Indian Art (N134:520)
Mar. 31-, 1943 -- Exhibition of Junior Members (N134:521)
July 1-Sept. 30, 1943 -- Summer Exhibition of Smaller Paintings by Members (N134:522)
Feb. 17-Mar. 15, 1944 -- Exhibition of Studies by American Masters (N134:523)
Oct. 5-27, 1944 -- Exhibition of Enlarged Photographs of American Patriots as Seen in Sculpture (N134:523)
Jan. 10-Feb. 9 x, 1945 -- Members' Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture
Dec. 22-Jan. 4, 1945 -- Seventh Annual Exhibition of the American Veterans Society of Artists, Inc. (N134:527-540)
May 21-30, 1946 -- The Traphagen School Exhibition of Costume Design, Illustrating the Development of American Fashion (N134:526)
Feb. 20-Mar. 7, 1947 -- Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Paintings (N134:541)
Apr. 20-May 2, 1947 -- Junior Members' Exhibition
Dec. 10-24, 1947 -- Ninth Annual Exhibition of American Veterans Society of Artists, Inc. (N121:721-733)
Feb. 23-Mar. 6, 1948 -- Forty-seventh Annual Exhibition of the New York Society of Ceramic Arts (N134:543)
Mar. 9-21, 1948 -- Annual Exhibition of Junior Members (N134:543)
Apr. 8-May 30, 1948 -- Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture by Members, Past and Present (N134:543)
June 10-Sept., 1948 -- Members' Summer Exhibition (N134:544)
Jan. 19-Feb. 9, 1949 -- Fifty-first Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture by Members and Guest Artists (N134:544)
Mar. 14-31, 1949 -- Exhibition by Members of the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors (N134:545)
May 5-Sept. 15, 1949 -- Members' Summer Exhibition (N134:546)
Oct. 15-Nov. 4, 1949 -- Fourth Annual Exhibition of the Photo-Engravers Society
Jan. 4-Feb. 1, 1950 -- Fifty-second Annual Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture by Members and Guest Artists (N134:546-548 and 550)
Jan. 28-Feb. 19, 1950 -- Eighty-third Annual Exhibition of the American Water Color Society (N134:549)
Feb. 8-23, 1950 -- Exhibition of Creative Art Associates (N134:549)
Mar. 16-Apr. 2, 1950 -- Exhibition of Room Interiors Especially Designed by Members of the American Institute of Decorators, in collaboration with Members of the National Society of Mural Painters (N134:551)
May 7-28, 1950 -- Active Members' Exhibition (N134:551-554)
June 28-Sept. 15, 1950 -- Members' Summer Exhibition (N134:555)
Feb. 26-Mar. 17 x, 1951 -- Paul Mommen
Mar. 24-Apr. 19, 1951 -- Exhibition of Paintings by Non-Members (N134:558-559)
May 5-31, 1951 -- Spring Water Color Exhibition (N134:560)
June 6-, 1951 -- Group Exhibition by Distinguished Artist Members: Gifford Beal, Louis Betts, Charles Clapman, Walter Farndon, Albert Groll, Eugene Higgins, Leon Kroll, Van Dearing Perrine, Keith Shaw Williams
Jan. 6-30, 1952 -- Fifty-fourth Annual Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture by Members and Guest Artists (D176:917-919; N134:561)
Feb. 9-28, 1952 -- Annual Water Color Exhibition (N134:562)
Mar. 9-27, 1952 -- Exhibition of Oil Paintings by Distinguished American Artists (N134:572)
Jan. 4-18, 1953 -- Fifty-fifth Annual Exhibition by Painter and Sculptor Members and Guest Artists (N134:563)
Jan. 25-Feb. 8, 1953 -- Annual Water Color Exhibition (N134:564)
Feb. 15-Mar. 1, 1953 -- Open Exhibition of Oil Paintings (N134:565-568)
Mar. *, 1953 -- Art of Indonesia
May 3-24, 1953 -- Members' Exhibition of Smaller Paintings in Oil (N134:569-571)
Nov. 1-14, 1954 -- The American Artists Professional League, American Art Week (N121:258-259)
Oct. 2-19, 1955 -- Open Water Color Exhibition
Jan. 8-22 x, 1956 -- Fifty-eighth Annual Exhibition by Painter and Sculptor Members and Guest Artists (N134:573-575)
June 17-Sept. 7 x, 1956 -- Members' Summer Exhibition
Sept. 24-Oct. 8 x, 1956 -- James H. Walsh
Oct. 28-Nov. 10 x, 1956 -- Small Picture Exhibition by Members and Guests
Nov. 16-30 x, 1956 -- August Benziger
Dec. 5-22 *, 1956 -- Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition of Books of the Year
Jan. 6-27, 1957 -- Fifty-ninth Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture by Members and Guest Artists
Feb. 1-15, 1957 -- Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club Sixtieth Annual Exhibition (N134:576-577)
Sept. * x, 1957 -- International Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture
Jan. 10-24 x, 1958 -- Sixtieth Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture by Members and Guest Artists
May 21-31 x, 1958 -- Water Color and Graphic Arts Exhibition by Members and Non-Members
Oct. 17-31 x, 1958 -- Twelfth Annual Exhibition of the Photo-Engravers Society
Nov. 22-Dec. 3 x, 1958 -- Metropolitan Young Artists Show
Jan. 11-26 x, 1959 -- Sixty-first Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture by Members and Guest Artists
Dec. 9-Jan. 7 x, 1959 -- Metropolitan Young Artists Show
Jan. 15-28 x, 1960 -- Sixty-second Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture by Members and Guest Artists
Apr. 18-May 1, 1960 -- Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club Flower Painting Exhibition and Sale (D176:1128-1129)
June 8-29 x, 1960 -- Summer Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture by Members
undated -- * Arts and Crafts Exhibitions
undated -- * x Annual Exhibitions of Books of the Year
undated -- * Ceramic Art Exhibition
undated -- x Water-Oils by Charles S. Chapman, N.A.
undated -- x Fine Art of the Caribbean
undated -- x Painters of the United States, 1720-1920, from the Permanent Collection of the Fine Arts Department, International Business Machines Corp.
undated -- * Pottery Exhibition
undated -- * Traveling Exhibition of Enlarged Photographs of Sculpture and Spring Exhibition of Small Sculpture by Members of the National Sculpture Society
undated -- * Exhibition of Small Sculpture
undated -- x Modern Tapestries from Vienna
undated -- x Annual Open Water Color Exhibition
undated -- x Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, Flower Paintings Exhibition and Sale
These citations were compiled from Art Index, 1929-1960; The New York Times Index, 1898-1960; Poole's Index to Periodical Literature, 1898-1906; Nineteenth Century Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1898-1899; and Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1900-1960, using the format employed in Art Index. Citations are presented in chronological order, as it is anticipated that most researchers consulting the National Arts Club Records will be interested in a specific event or era in the Club's history, or are apt to be researching artists whose National Arts Club affiliation or exhibition activities were confined to a particular period.
1898
National Art Club. -- Harpers Weekly -- 42:329, April 2.
1899
Club to advance art industries. -- Critic -- 34:349-51, April.
National Arts Club organized. -- New York Times -- (7-2), 29-288-2, April 26.
1909
Position as a factor in the encouragement of the fine arts. G. Teall. -- Craftsman -- 15:604-13, February.
Club officials rule a member may take a process server into club as a guest to serve papers on fellow member, case of R.S. Perrin vs. D. Whipple. -- New York Times -- 7:3, June 29.
1913
Lecture of Prof. Eucken on Art and Morality. -- New York Times -- 9:3, March 1.
Offers prize to member who writes best manuscript on "A Critical Estimate of the Altman Collection." -- New York Times -- 12:7, November 8.
Annual exhibition of Books of the Year; organization of American Institute of Graphic Arts planned. -- New -- York Times 9:3, November 13.
1914
Alexander de Yourevitch has visited Russian political exiles as agent from the Czar; arranges for Russian trade exhibit in New York; National Arts Club has agreed to cooperate. -- New York Times -- 20:2, March 27.
Dinner in honor of Shakespeare celebration, address by Henry Clews. -- New York Times -- 13:2, April 24.
Farewell dinner to Karl Vollmoeller and George Sylvester Viereck at National Arts Club by Alfred Rau. -- New York Times -- III, 7:3, May 7.
Exhibition of Books of the Year (editorial). -- New York Times -- VI, 514:2, November 22.
1915
Awards announced. -- New York Times -- 10:1, January 7.
Paintings exhibition. -- New York Times -- V, 11:13, January 10.
Poster exhibition. -- New York Times -- III, 2:5, March 28.
Thanksgiving dinner to east side waifs. -- New York Times -- 11:1, November 26.
1917
Annual exhibition; Gold Medal and $1000 prize awarded to Ben Foster. -- New York Times -- 10:6, January 4.
Memorial services for W.B. Howland. -- New York Times -- 7:3, March 3.
Offers prizes for best patriotic medal, poem, and song. -- New York Times -- 9:14, April 6.
Offers prizes to promote expression of American patriotism in art. -- New York Times -- IV, 13:2, April 15.
H.A.W. Wood speaks at distribution of prizes. -- New York Times -- 11:3, May 31.
"Road to France," $500 prize offered for appropriate music. -- New York Times -- 13:2, June 9.
American Artists' War Emergency Fund Committee announces that art stamp will be sold to aid artists reduced in circumstances through the war. -- New York Times -- 13:6, July 10.
Offers prize of $500 for best musical setting for D.M. Henderson's "The Road to France." -- New York Times -- VIII, 9:3, August 12.
Prize for music for war song by D.M. Henderson is awarded to Signe Lund. -- New York Times -- 13:3, November 1.
1919
Annual books exhibition. -- New York Times -- VIII, 686:1, November 23.
1921
Comment on suggestion by G. Bellows that proposed members should possess some work by living American artist. -- New York Times -- III, 20:3, February 6.
Elects governors. -- New York Times -- 9:2, April 13.
1922
Awards Agar prize to Christine Herter. -- New York Times -- 16:7, April 7.
Address by Ann Martin. -- New York Times -- 4:3, August 3.
1923
Annual exhibition of books; I. Zangwill speaks; protest by member. -- New York Times -- 6:1, November 8.
1924
Prize winners of annual exhibition. -- New York Times -- 4:15, January 10.
Honors J.G. Agar at dinner. -- New York Times -- 6:2, February 26.
1925
Mural panels of Old NY used for New Year's fete to be put on exhibition. -- New York Times -- 29:1, January 4.
Announces prize winners at Members' Annual Exhibition. -- New York Times -- VIII, 11:2, January 18.
Murals depicting history of NYC, painted for New Years' ball, to be given to Museum of the City of New York. -- New York Times -- 25:4, February 3.
Exhibition of lithographs, woodcuts, and linoleum prints. -- New York Times -- VIII, 11:13, April 12.
1926
Exhibition. -- New York Times -- 4:5, January 14.
Exhibition. -- New York Times -- 17:3, April 8.
Exhibition of photographs of recent buildings. -- New York Times -- VIII, 12:6, April 18.
15th century books brought from Germany by Dr. Otto H.F. Vollbehr on exhibition at the National Arts Club. -- New York Times -- 6:6, August 24.
15th century Book of Hours, worth $15,000, stolen from exhibition at National Arts Club. -- New York Times -- 1:2, August 26.
Feature article on exhibition. -- New York Times -- IV, 15:1, August 29.
Book of Hours mysteriously returned to Vollbehr by E.M. Garlock, attorney, acting for unnamed client who claims to have bought book from stranger. -- New York Times -- 19:1, September 12.
Editorial on return of book. -- New York Times -- 20:4, September 13.
21st annual book exhibit; addresses. -- New York Times -- 28:3, November 4.
History in connection with 20th anniversary celebration. -- New York Times -- VIII,18:6, November 7.
1927
New Year's Eve costume ball. -- New York Times -- 15:3, January 1.
Exhibition of American paintings. -- New York Times -- 25:5, March 3.
Exhibition of etchings. -- New York Times -- IX, 10:4, December 11.
1928
Exhibits. -- New York Times -- 30:2, January 12; -- New York Times -- IX, 13:2, January 29.
Awards in small painting exhibition. -- New York Times -- 27:2, February 10.
Exhibit. -- New York Times -- VIII, 15:3, February 12.
First exhibition of decorative arts. -- New York Times -- 28:4, March 15; -- New York Times -- IX, 15:4, March 18.
Exhibition. -- New York Times -- IX, 15:2, April 15.
1929
J. Lie, P. Manship, and C. Beach win prizes. -- New York Times -- 25:3, January 11.
Annual members' exhibition. -- New York Times -- X, 18:4, January 27.
Exhibition of crafts. -- New York Times -- X, 15:6, December 8.
Prize awarded to D.C. Nisbet. -- New York Times -- 23:5, December 29.
1930
Arts Club prizes announced. -- Art News -- 28:21, January 4.
Annual exhibition of painting and sculpture. -- New York Times -- VIII, 13:3, January 19.
Seventh annual exhibition. -- New York Times -- VIII, 13:1, February 16.
Annual junior art show. -- New York Times -- 3:5, March 15; -- New York Times -- X, 19:3, March 16.
Exhibition of prints by living American etchers. -- New York Times -- X, 18:1, December 14.
1931
New York season; Living American Etchers. -- Art Digest -- 5:14, January 1.
M. Gregg Memorial Prize awarded to I.G. Olinsky; medal to H.W. Watrous. -- New York Times -- 34:6, January 10.
Exhibitions. -- New York Times -- VIII, 12:7, February 22.
Exhibition of Junior Artist Members. -- New York Times -- IX, 13:4, March 15.
Hold exhibition of portraits and other objects relating to history of Gramercy Park. -- New York Times -- II, 1:7 and 18:4, May 3.
Annual exhibition of paintings by members. -- New York Times -- 30:6, June 4.
Awards to R.D. Bowden $3000 prize, offered by J.G. Agar for best book on "The Soul of America." -- New York Times -- 20:6, June 8.
1932
Annual exhibition of work by painter and sculptor members; prizes announced. -- New York Times -- 27:7, January 7.
Art Club prizes. -- Art Digest -- 6:10, January 15.
Forum on development of art talent in young artists. -- New York Times -- 13:8, January 18.
Arts Club prizes. -- Art News -- 30:20, January 23.
Opening. -- New York Times -- 16:7, February 4.
Prizes awarded to junior artists. -- New York Times -- 19:2, March 8.
Art auction totals $600. -- New York Times -- 19:5, April 14.
Members' exhibition of small paintings. -- New York Times -- 16:6, May 5.
National Arts Club book exhibition. E. Yost. -- Publishers Weekly -- 122:2382-3, December 31.
1933
R. Nickerson, new member, wins medal at annual painting and sculpture show; other awards. -- New York Times -- 18:2, January 5.
Annual members' exhibition. -- New York Times -- 13:2, January 13; -- New York Times -- IX, 12:6, January 15.
National Arts club prizes. -- Art Digest -- 7:15, January 15; -- Art News -- 31:7, January 28 Celebrates 119th birthday of S.J. Tilden. -- New York Times -- 17:6, February 8.
Exhibition by junior artist members. -- New York Times -- 15:2, March 2.
1934
Prizes for annual members' show announced. -- New York Times -- IX, 12:3, January 14.
Annual dinner. -- New York Times -- 17:4, January 18.
Prizes. -- Art Digest -- February 1, 8:19; -- Art Digest -- 8:13, May 15.
Memorial exhibition of eight of its deceased painter and sculptor members. -- New York Times -- IX, 12:6, February 4.
Junior members exhibit. -- New York Times -- 17:1, March 8; -- New York Times -- IX, 9:7, March 18; Prizes awarded. -- New York Times -- 22:8, March 22.
Annual members' show. -- New York Times -- 17:2, May 3; Awards, -- New York Times -- 21:1, May 8; -- New York Times -- IX, 7:7, May 13.
Awards given by Arts Club. -- Art News -- 32:4, June 2.
Rare book exhibition planned. -- New York Times -- 19:4, September 18; Exhibition. -- New York Times -- 17:1, September 19.
1935
Annual exhibition of members' work opened. -- New York Times -- 17:5, January 10; -- New York Times -- 9:3, January 14.
Annual dinner; awards. -- New York Times -- 20:7, January 17.
Stag dinner; portrait of Victoria replaces painting of nude. -- New York Times -- 23:4, February 1.
Prizes, annual exhibition of painting and sculpture. -- Art Digest -- 9:21, February 1.
Members' annual exhibition. -- New York Times -- 18:2, February 8; -- New York Times -- VIII, 9:6, February 17.
Annual exhibition by junior artists. -- New York Times -- 18:5, March 9.
Arts Club plans a large bazaar. -- Art News -- 33:10, August 17.
Series of articles on traditions of club being written. -- New York Times -- II, 7:1, October 6.
Plans for annual book week. -- New York Times -- II and III, 8:5, October 13; exhibitors to be entertained by J.R. Gregg, president. -- New York Times -- 19:2, October 30.
To award two trips to Europe for mural decoration. New -- York Times -- 26:7, November 1; -- New York Times -- 19:5, November 14.
To hold "At Home" tea. -- New York Times -- II, 8:2, December 8.
Dinner. -- New York Times -- 14:8, December 11.
1936
Annual members' exhibition. -- New York Times -- 19:6, January 9; -- New York Times -- 13:8, January 11; -- New York Times -- IX, 10:1, January 19.
Exhibition of modern textbooks. -- New York Times -- 17:7, February 6.
Announces winners of trips to Europe. -- New York Times -- 21:2, February 11.
Exhibition by neighboring organizations. -- New York Times -- IX, 8:1, April 12.
Summer exhibit from permanent collection. -- New York Times -- IX, 7:4, June 21.
Exhibition of contemporary books; authors' night. -- New York Times -- VI, 9:2, November 8.
Plans for children's matinee at annual book exhibition. -- New York Times -- VI, 7:2, November 8.
Women's open table plans dinner. -- New York Times -- 16:4, November 23.
Exhibition of Society of American Etchers. -- New York Times -- XII, 9:2, November 29.
1937
Awards at members' exhibit. -- New York Times -- 24:3, January 27.
Exhibitions sponsored by Society of American Etchers. -- New York Times -- 21:3, February 3; -- New York Times -- X, 9:7, February 7.
Women's committee holds drama dinner. -- New York Times -- 13:1, February 15.
R.D. Kohn speaks, -- New York Times -- 25:7, March 11.
Jr. artists group exhibit. -- New York Times -- IX, 10:1, March 14; Awards. -- New York Times -- 23:6, March 25.
Photographic exhibition. -- New York Times -- X, 10:2, May 16.
Officers elected. -- New York Times -- 19:1, May 20.
H. Hamilton exhibit. -- New York Times -- IX, 6:7, September 26.
Book of the year exhibit. -- New York Times -- 23:6, November 4; -- New York Times -- VI, 4:3, November 28.
Mr. H.P. Crine elected life member. -- New York Times -- 9:1, November 28.
Members' exhibit. -- New York Times -- 28:3, December 9.
1938
Women's Open Table plans. -- New York Times -- 11:2, January 17.
Members' annual exhibit. -- New York Times -- , January 18 26:2; -- New York Times -- IX,9:3, January 23; Awards. -- New York Times -- 22:2, January 27.
Members studio receptions planned. -- New York Times -- VI, 2:7, January 30.
Dinner honoring Dr. W. Damrosch. -- New York Times -- 12:5, March 7.
Exhibit by art groups near NYC. -- New York Times -- 20:8, March 28.
Group show. -- New York Times -- X, 8:2, April 17.
Viennese ball. -- New York Times -- 22:6, April 21.
J.F. Talcott elected president; D.E. Waid executive committee chairman. -- New York Times -- 21:6, November 19.
Victorian ball. -- New York Times -- 18:1, December 17.
1939
Members' memorial exhibit. -- New York Times -- 15:1, January 13; -- New York Times -- IX, 9:2, January 22.
Members' painting and sculpture exhibit. -- New York Times -- IX, 9:2, February 5.
Jr. Members' lecture. -- New York Times -- 10:2, February 6.
Painting exhibit. -- New York Times -- 18:1, March 1; -- New York Times -- X, 10:2, March 5.
Jr. Members party planned. -- New York Times -- 50:3, March 5.
Exhibit of neighboring art organizations. -- New York Times -- 13:2, April 17.
Wild West party planned to benefit Jr. Members Scholarship Fund; to close 40th anniversary celebration. -- New York Times -- II, 2:8, April 23; -- New York Times -- II, 3:1, April 30.
Jr. Members plan New Year's Eve Olympian Ball. -- New York Times -- 30:2, December 19; -- New York Times -- II, 1:2, December 31.
1940
Art by deceased life members to be sold. -- New York Times -- 17:2, January 5.
Group show; awards. -- New York Times -- 21:2, January 11.
Group show. -- New York Times -- 24:2, January 24; -- New York Times -- IX, 9:2, January 28.
Non-members exhibition. -- Art News -- 38:15, February 3.
Exhibits: ceramics. -- New York Times -- 17:4, February 16; Ceramics and flowers. -- New York Times -- 15:5, February 19; Ceramics. -- New York Times -- II, 5:2, February 25; Exhibits: Jr. members. -- New York Times -- IX, 10:2, April 14; Group show awards. -- New York Times -- 21: 5, April 25.
Pan-American Ball held. -- New York Times -- 21:5, April 20.
Fund campaign for refugee artists started. -- New York Times -- 8:2, July 31.
Establishes artist refugee fund. -- New York Times -- 19:1, August 1.
Benefit exhibit plans. -- New York Times -- 20:8, October 2; Exhibit. -- New York Times -- IX, 5:4, October 6.
County fair planned. -- New York Times -- II, 3:3, October 6.
Refugee artists show their work. -- Art News -- 39:10, October 12.
Annual book exhibit opens. -- New York Times -- 3:5, November 3.
Testimonial luncheon for foreign authors in U.S. -- New York Times -- 45:2, November 10.
National Arts Club dramatizes books at the 35th annual new books of the year exhibition. -- Publishers Weekly -- 138:2046, November 30.
1941
Annual members' exhibit. -- New York Times -- 24:8, January 10; Comment. -- New York Times -- IX, 9:2, January 12; Awards. -- New York Times -- 24:6, January 23.
Annual prizes. -- Art Digest -- 15:13, February 1.
Benefits concerts planned. -- New York Times -- 39:1, February 23; -- New York Times -- 20:7, March 28.
Annual exhibit awards. -- New York Times -- 28:3, March 11; Comment. -- New York Times -- I, 10:3, March 16.
Group shows. -- New York Times -- IX, 10:1, March 30; -- New York Times -- IX, 8:2, May 25; -- New York Times -- X, 13:5, May 25; -- New York Times -- IX, 7:5, June 15.
Book exhibit. -- New York Times -- 1:6,November 9.
1942
Group show. -- New York Times -- X, 10:1, January 18.
Group show. -- New York Times -- 14:4, February 4; Private preview. -- New York Times -- 15:4, February 5; Comment. -- New York Times -- IX, 9:6, February 8.
Jr. members to honor servicemen at Hallowe'en party. -- New York Times -- 16:3, October 30.
37th annual show of new books. -- Publishers Weekly -- 142:2044, November 14.
To sponsor Chinese and Indian art exhibit in NYC. -- New York Times -- VIII, 9:1, December 13; Exhibit. -- New York Times -- 42:5, December 17.
1945
Holds Xmas fair. -- New York Times -- 13:3, November 16.
1946
Contemporary American painting exhibit planned. -- New York Times -- 23:6, February 20.
Jr. members and young non-members exhibition. -- Art News -- 45:67, May.
Annual book show plans. -- New York Times -- 21:2, November 1; Show, W.L. Laurence speaks. -- New York Times -- 13:1, November 12.
Annual book show. -- Publishers Weekly -- 150:2731, 2718, November 9.
Packaging the book. P. Boswell. -- Art Digest -- 21:3, November 15.
Choosing best book jackets, 41st annual book show. -- Art News -- 45:8, December.
1947
Preview exhibit. -- New York Times -- 21:5, January 9.
Forming symphony orchestra. -- New York Times -- 27:1, September 19.
1948
Ninth annual exhibition of American Veterans Society of Artists. -- Art Digest -- 22:19, January 1.
Conservatives score at the 50th annual exhibition of painting and sculpture. -- Art Digest -- 22:17, February 1.
Fiftieth annual exhibition. -- Art News -- 47:49, March.
Book fair opens in NYC. -- New York Times -- 30:7, December 9.
1949
Summer annual. -- Art Digest -- 23:14, August.
Dinner honors Mrs. F.D. Roosevelt. -- New York Times -- 39:5, October 11.
1950
Fifty-second annual exhibition of oils and sculptures. -- Art Digest -- 24:12, January 15.
Members' summer exhibition. -- Art Digest -- 24:18, August.
Fair plans. -- New York Times -- 44:8, November 1.
1951
Members-guests annual. -- New York Times -- II, 19:1, January 14.
53rd Annual Exhibition. -- Art Digest -- 25:18, January 15; -- Art News -- 49:47, February.
Non-members annual. -- New York Times -- 21:5, March 30.
Open competition for non-members. -- Art Digest -- 25:18, April 15.
Summer painting exhibition series opens. -- New York Times -- 42:8, June 7.
Members work. -- New York Times -- II, 6:4, June 17.
Summer exhibition. -- Art Digest -- 25:19, July.
1952
Fifty-fourth annual exhibition. -- Art Digest -- 26:19, January 15; -- Art News -- 49:47, February.
Members and guests annual. -- New York Times -- 59:2, January 6; Awards. -- New York Times -- 16:2, January 17.
Watercolor annual; awards. -- New York Times -- 14:4, February 8; -- Art News -- 51:56, March.
Non-members painting annual; awards. -- New York Times -- 16:5, March 10; -- New York Times -- 27:3, March 13.
Small pictures by members; awards. -- New York Times -- 25:5, April 9.
Exhibition of small oils. -- Art Digest -- 26:18-19, April 15; -- Art News -- 49:47, February.
1953
Theatre in an art gallery. A. Scheff. -- Theatre Arts -- 37:92, January.
Members-guests annual; awards. -- New York Times -- II, 11:2, January 11.
Non-members painting annual; awards. -- New York Times -- 21:5., February 19.
Members work; awards. -- New York Times -- II, 13:2, May 10; -- New York Times -- II, 8:5, June 21.
1954
Painting and sculpture annual by members and guests. -- New York Times -- 25:5, January 26.
Fifty-sixth annual exhibition. -- Arts Digest -- 28:17, February 1.
Members and non-members annual; contemporary watercolors; awards. -- New York Times -- 27:5, February 11; Review. -- New York Times -- II, 14:2, February 14.
Grand national annual members' competition. -- Art News -- 53:63, May.
1955
Painting and sculpture annual; awards. -- New York Times -- 23:1, January 12.
Fifty-sixth annual exhibition. -- Arts Digest -- 28:17, February 1.
Paintings annual; awards. -- New York Times -- 18:4, March 1.
Annual exhibition of American oil paintings. -- Art Digest -- 29:26, March 15.
Poet P. MacKaye honored on 80th birthday. -- New York Times -- 28:2, March 16.
1957
Arts Club honors Neuman; WNYC. C. Durgin. -- Musical America -- 77:12, April.
Art Clubs of America. -- Artist -- 53:67, June.
1958
At founding [sixtieth anniversary]. -- New York Times -- 49:2, November 27.
First annual metropolitan young artists show; awards. -- New York Times -- 49:2, November 27
1959
Stadium Concerts founder Mrs. C.S. Guggenheimer gets scroll from Mayor Wagner and National Arts Club medal. -- New York Times -- 9:2, March 12.
1960
Tenor competition awards. -- New York Times -- 47:8, November 15.
Provenance:
The National Arts Club donated its records to the Archives of American Art in 1987. Although a limited amount of printed matter was available at various libraries and on microfilm through the Archives of American Art, scholars have not had access to unpublished records of the Club until this time.
In November 2017 an addition to the Officers' Correspondence was donated by Elizabeth G. Knudsen, granddaughter of Edmund Greacen, former Arts Committee Chair.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. 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 records of New York City's National Academy of Design measure 92.7 linear feet and date from 1817-2012. The records pertain to all three constituents of the tripartite organization consisting of the Academy, a membership body of artists founded in 1825; the school, founded at the same time to promote arts education; and the exhibition program, inaugurated in 1826. Extensive administrative records include minutes, committee files, director files, annual reports, constitutions, and correspondence and subject files of council officers. Exhibition records, also substantive, date to the Academy's first annual exhibition and include gallery and special exhibitions, as well as exhibitions at the Academy's museum, established in 1979. The collection also includes gifts and funding files, especially relating to endowments and prizes; membership records; National Academy Association records; Ranger Fund assignments; extensive files pertaining to the school's administration, courses of instruction, registrations, and attendance; twenty scrapbooks containing clippings and ephemera; Society of American Artists records; correspondence and ephemera from other organizations; transcripts from oral histories with Academy members; extensive photographic material documenting artists, members, the school, exhibitions, buildings, and artwork created by Academy members; artist files containing correspondence, writings, and sketches from those associated with the Academy; and assorted printed material and ephemera.
Scope and Contents:
The records of New York City's National Academy of Design measure 92.7 linear feet and date from 1817-2012. The records pertain to all three constituents of the tripartite organization consisting of the Academy, a membership body of artists founded in 1825; the school, founded at the same time to promote arts education; and the exhibition program, inaugurated in 1826. Extensive administrative records include minutes, committee files, director files, annual reports, constitutions, and correspondence and subject files of council officers. Exhibition records, also substantive, date to the Academy's first annual exhibition and include gallery and special exhibitions, as well as exhibitions at the Academy's museum, established in 1979. The collection also includes gifts and funding files, especially relating to endowments and prizes; membership records; National Academy Association records; Ranger Fund assignments; extensive files pertaining to the school's administration, courses of instruction, registrations, and attendance; twenty scrapbooks containing clippings and ephemera; Society of American Artists records; correspondence and ephemera from other organizations; transcripts from oral histories with Academy members; extensive photographic material documenting artists, members, the school, exhibitions, buildings, and artwork created by Academy members; artist files containing correspondence, writings, and sketches from those associated with the Academy; and assorted printed material and ephemera.
The Academy minutes and committee files consist of official, original, and transcribed proceedings for the council, annual, business, and some committee meetings, as well as related correspondence, reports, financial documents, notes, drafts, and ballots pertaining to the Academy's administration and activities from its 1825 founding until 2006. As an organization actively engaged in the development of art and art education in the United States, the Academy minutes and committee files are a valuable resource on subjects and topics in the Academy's history; in particular, its founding, administration, school, and exhibition program.
Director files date from 1942-1990 and document the activities of four of the Academy's chief administrators, including Vernon Porter (1950-1966), Earl Tyler (1966-1967), Alice Melrose (1967-1977), and John H. Dobkin (1978-1990). Items include correspondence, memoranda, minutes, and printed material.
Annual reports, dating from 1828-2003, summarize the activities of the Academy over the course of a year, and may include presidents' reports, treasurers' reports, audits of financial operations by public accountants, and printed annual reports containing summaries from multiple council officers. Information pertains to the year's activities including finances, exhibitions, membership, the school, committee activities, awards, and other business.
Academy constitutions date from 1826-2012 and include the printed constitutions and by-laws as well as constitutional proposals. Constitutions and by-laws name the current council officials, professors, academicians, associates, and honorary members, and state the mission and guidelines for operation in regards to membership, officers, annual meetings, elections, school, exhibitions, and how the constitution can be amended or altered. Constitutional proposals contain amendment drafts, alterations, and related correspondence.
Council officer files, dating from 1848-1980, contain the correspondence and subjects files of Academy officers—presidents, vice presidents, corresponding secretaries, and treasurers—concerning all matters of Academy business and operations including membership, gifts and funds, the federal charter, exhibitions, juries, the school, scholarships, committee affairs, anniversaries, publicity, administrative matters, resignations, and relationships with other organizations.
General administrative files date from 1825-1982 and include ledgers, certificates, correspondence, and legal documents pertaining to the Academy's founding, building, financial accounts, art collection, and other administrative matters.
Exhibition files, dating from 1826-2003, document the Academy's long exhibition history and includes annual, gallery, special, and museum exhibitions. Files may include exhibition catalogs, photographs, press clippings, sales records, and correspondence related to jury selection, awards and prizes, and logistical planning. Files pertaining to the Academy's annual exhibitions comprise a bulk of the series. Held since 1826, the Annuals were organized and curated by Academy members, and considered to be an important and sweeping survey of contemporary American art.
Gifts and funding files date from 1860-2009 and include financial documents, ledgers, legal material, and correspondence concerning the bequests, endowments, donations, and other gifts that financed the operations of the Academy and school. A significant number of records pertain to the Abbey Trust Fund and the Archer M. Hunting Fund.
Membership files, 1826-2012, document Academy members, honorary members, fellows, and the nominations and elections whereby members were voted into the Academy. Materials include registers, certificates, nomination ledgers and proposals, candidate biographies, and ballots.
The National Academy Association files date from 1911-1959 and contain a constitution, plan, and agreement, as well as correspondence, meeting minutes, and reports for the Association, incorporated in 1912 with the aim to erect a building shared by several New York art societies. At the time of incorporation, the Association consisted of members from the National Academy of Design, American Water Color Society, American Institute of Architects, Architectural League of New York, New York Water Color Club, National Sculpture Society, Municipal Art Society, Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, Mural Painters, Society of Illustrators, and a number of city representatives and citizens.
The Ranger Fund assignment files, 1919-2008, document the distribution of artworks by living American artists to institutions throughout the United States, in accordance with the will of Henry Ward Ranger. The Ranger Fund was initiated to stimulate public interest in the work of contemporary American painters in 1919, when the Academy received a bequest from Henry Ward Ranger, totaling $400,000. Ranger stated in his will that the capital should be invested and the income used as a purchase fund to facilitate gifts of paintings by living American artists to arts institutions throughout the United States. Files document the assignment of particular works of art to institutions through the official agreement, related correspondence, and in some instances, photographs of the artwork.
Extensive school records, dating from 1826-2008, contain administrative files, enrollment records, course files, student affairs files, and printed material documenting all aspects of the school's activities aligned with the Academy's mission to educate aspiring professional artists. A bulk of this series consists of student course registrations, documented in registers, then on index cards beginning in the 1930s. While information collected varied over the decades, registrations document student names and the year, and may additionally include course name, instructor, and cost.
Twenty Academy scrapbooks document the organization's activities from 1828-1939 and include clippings and ephemera. Three of the scrapbooks are devoted to specific topics, including one for the Society of American Artists, one for both the Society of American Artists and the Society of American Fakirs, and one for the Academy's centennial exhibition.
The Society of American Artists files, 1878-1906, document the formation of the Society as a departure from the Academy in 1877, its independent operations and activities, and its eventual consolidation with the Academy in 1906. The Society's members have included Edwin Abbey, James Carroll Beckwith, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Eakins, George Inness Jr., John La Farge, Albert Pinkham Ryder, among many others.
Files from other organizations date from 1817-1997 and may include correspondence, ledgers, and printed material. Many of these organizations had business with the Academy, and records pertain to events, meetings, and exhibitions. Notable organizations include the American Academy of Fine Arts, American Federation of Arts, American Watercolor Society, Art Students League, Fine Arts Federation of New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Etching Club, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and Salmagundi Club.
Oral history transcripts date from 2002-2007. Eight comprehensive interviews, conducted by Avis Berman for the Academy, are with Academy members and cover all aspects of the artists' lives, including family, early life, beginning career, mentors, contemporaries, influences, patrons, awards, residencies, as well as the artists' relationship with the Academy. The interview transcripts provide first-hand accounts of the organization, particularly from circa 1940 up to the time of the interview. Artists interviewed include Will Barnet, Hyman Bloom, Richard Haas, Ellen Lanyon, Jules Olitski, Bernard Olshan, Paul Resika, and Dorothea Rockburne.
Photographic material, dating from 1845-2010, includes a wide variety of formats and processes including 19th and 20th photographic prints, glass plate negatives, copy prints, contact sheets, slides, and 35mm negatives. Subjects include artists and others associated with the Academy, the school, exhibitions and events, Academy buildings, artwork, and reference photographs. Many 19th century photographs contain descriptive annotations. Supplementary inventories and guides prepared by Academy archivists are scattered throughout the series.
Artist files date from 1826-2004 and include the correspondence, writings, manuscripts, diaries, exhibition catalogs, and clippings of many notable artists involved with the Academy, including Asher B. Durand and Rembrandt Peale. Of particular note are two notebooks Durand gifted to the Academy, both containing notes and sketches from anatomy lectures.
While printed material is scattered throughout, the final series collects a small number of additional announcements, brochures, clippings, illustrations, and other ephemera not filed in other series.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as nineteen series.
Series 1: Minutes and Committee Files, 1825-2006 (11.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-11, BV 100-106)
Series 2: Director Files, 1942-1990 (0.5 linear feet; Box 11)
Series 3: Annual Reports, 1828-2003, circa 2010 (2.1 linear feet; Boxes 11-13, OV 139-142)
Series 4: Constitutions, 1826-2012 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 13-14)
Series 5: Council Officers, 1848-1980 (4 linear feet; Boxes 14-18)
Series 6: General Administration, 1825-1982 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 18, 126)
Series 7: Exhibitions, 1826-2003, 2008 (14.4 linear feet; Boxes 18-33)
Series 8: Gifts and Funding, 1860-2009 (4.1 linear feet; Boxes 33-37)
Series 9: Membership, 1826-2012 (3.4 linear feet; Boxes 37-39, 127-131)
Series 10: National Academy Association, 1911-1959 (0.4 linear feet; Box 39)
Series 11: Ranger Fund Assignments, 1919-2008 (4.3 linear feet; Boxes 39-44)
Series 12: School, 1826-2008 (28.5 linear feet; Boxes 44-56, 68-99)
Series 13: Scrapbooks, 1828-1939 (4 linear feet; Box 56, BV 107-125)
Series 14: Society of American Artists, 1878-1906 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 56-57)
Series 15: Other Organizations, 1817-1997 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 57-59, 131)
Series 16: Oral History Transcripts, 2002-2007 (0.7 linear feet; Box 59)
Series 17: Photographic Material, 1845-2010 (6.1 linear feet; Boxes 60-63, 131-138, OV 143-144)
Series 18: Artist Files, 1826-2004 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 63-66)
Series 19: Printed Material, 1839-1954 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 67, 131, OV 145)
Biographical / Historical:
The National Academy of Design (1825- ) based in New York City, is a tripartite organization consisting of a membership body of artists, a school, and an exhibition program. The Academy was founded in 1825 by a group of professional artists with the mission to promote the fine arts in America through exhibition and education. Originally named the New York Drawing Association, the Academy was the first organization in the United States established and managed by professional artists. Samuel F.B. Morse, the Academy's first president, was influenced by the organization of the Royal Academy in London, which was comprised of professional artist members and elected government council, an art school, and a venue for exhibitions. After unsuccessful negotiations to unite with the American Academy of Fine Arts, the New York Drawing Association reformed as the National Academy of The Arts of Design on January 19, 1826. Among the founders were mostly young artists who became prominent figures in American art, including Frederick S. Agate, Thomas Cole, Thomas S. Cummings, Asher B. Durand, John Frazee, Charles C. Ingham, Henry Inman, Gerlando Marsiglia, Samuel F. B. Morse, Samuel L. Waldo, and Charles Cushing Wright.
The first Academy members were elected in January 1826, and levels of membership were established shortly thereafter. Originally there were four levels of Academy membership: associates, academicians, artists, and honorary corresponding members. The category of artists was eliminated in 1829, and the honorary member category, established to recognize American artists living outside New York, distinguished foreign artists, and patrons and friends of the Academy, was eliminated in 1862 (the constitution was not amended with this change until 1896). Since 1869, the residency requirement for election to active membership was eliminated and membership was opened to all American artists. In 1920, the classification of honorary corresponding member was re-introduced to recognize representatives of other national academies. With the 1997 constitution, the honorary corresponding member classification was again eliminated, and in 1994 the associate category was eliminated.
Artists are proposed for membership by academicians through the membership committee and are elected for life by a sixty percent majority, based on recognized excellence and significant contributions to the field. Procedures and rules for nominating and choosing new academicians changed over the years, as detailed in the constitutions. Associates were at one time required to present a portrait of themselves upon election and academicians were required to provide an additional representative work upon election. With the elimination of the category of associate in 1994, only one representative work is currently required. These works of art become part of the Academy's permanent collection.
The original classes of professional artists were painting, sculpture, architecture, and engraving. These professional classes were modified over the years. In 1936 the engraving class was made more comprehensive, including all of the graphic arts. Watercolor was added as a class in 1943 and was codified in the 1945 constitution. However, the division into five distinct classes started to create difficulties in how specific works of art were to be categorized. In 1981 the council eased the rules regarding separate media classification so that members could submit a work in any medium to the annual exhibitions regardless of the class to which they had been elected. The constitution of 1994 restated four professional classes—painting, sculpture, graphics, and architecture—which were further reduced in the 2011 constitution to two: visual arts and architecture.
Until 2009, the governing body of the Academy was the council. The seven officers of the council were president, vice-president, treasurer, assistant treasurer, corresponding secretary, assistant corresponding secretary and recording secretary, all of whom were required to be academicians. In 2009, a new constitution provided for a board of governors, replacing the council. The five officers of the board of governors are chair, vice-chair, president, vice-president, and treasurer. Only the offices of president and vice-president are required to be held by academicians.
Central to the Academy's mission, the school began with an anatomy lecture for the New York Drawing Association, delivered by Dr. Frederick G. King in November 1825. The first drawing session took place in November 1826 in the Old Alms House at City Hall Park with two academicians and twenty students. In the school's early years, professional artists met with students to draw from plaster casts of antique sculpture in the academic tradition. Both lectures and studio training were central the school's early curricula. Life classes, the practice of drawing from live models, were introduced in 1837, but only to advanced male students. A life class for women was not instituted until 1857, even though women were allowed membership to the Academy since its beginning. Due to financial difficulties at the Academy, the school was forced to move locations and shut down its operations for extended periods. Mounting dissatisfaction and frustration led several students and Lemuel E. Wilmarth, one of the school's leaders and first full-time professional instructor, to leave the Academy in 1875 and form a new school, the Art Students League. While charging tuition was unpopular, the Academy realized that it was necessary to ensure the school's sustainability, and implemented fee structures with varying success over the second half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th. Eventually, tuition was established by 1951, when the school was reopened at a new location, 5th Avenue and 89th Street.
Exhibitions have always been an important activity for the Academy, even prior to the opening of the National Academy Museum in 1979. Since 1826, the Academy has held annual exhibitions intended to reflect contemporary art currents in America. Any American artist was eligible to submit work to be reviewed by a jury of selection, comprised of academicians. Throughout the 19th century, the annual exhibitions at the Academy were one of the most significant and influential in the country. The selection process for these exhibitions was a critical topic, at times actively discussed in the press, and continually undergoing modification and change. In addition to the Annuals, the galleries of the Academy were often rented or loaned to outside organizations such as the American Watercolor Society, Audubon Artists, and the National Association of Women Artists. The galleries also mounted special exhibitions curated by its members and hosted a certain number of travelling exhibitions organized by other museums or art organizations. The museum, opened in 1979, hosted and presented major exhibitions, many focusing on historic European subjects.
Official Names of the Academy 1825-2017
1825 -- The New York Drawing Association
1826 -- The National Academy of The Arts of Design
1828 -- The National Academy of Design
1997 -- The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Art
2017 -- The National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design Meeting, Exhibition, and School Locations
1826 -- Old Alms House at City Hall Park in lower Manhattan
1827-1830 -- Chambers Street over the Arcade Baths
1831-1840 -- Corner of Nassau and Beckman Streets, the Mercantile Library on the third floor of Clinton Hall
1841 to 1849 -- 346 Broadway (at Leonard Street), the third and fourth floors of the New York Society Library
1850-1854 -- 663 Broadway, where the Academy erected a suite of six galleries
1855-1856 -- 548 Broadway (over Dr. Chapin's Church)
1857 -- 663 Broadway
1858-1861 -- 10th Street and 4th Avenue, the upper floor of a building
1861-1863 -- 625 Broadway, the Institute of Art
1865-1899 -- 23rd Street and Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue South)
1899-1940 -- 109th Street and Amsterdam Avenue; exhibition galleries at 215 West 57th Street
1940-2017 -- 1083 Fifth Avenue at East 89th Street
Provenance:
The bulk of the collection was donated by the National Academy of Design in 2018. The trustees' ledger book in series 6 was donated in 1979 by Warder Cadbury of the Adirondack Museum; it is unclear how Cadbury acquired the ledger. Microfilm reels 798-799 containing transcriptions of minutes were given to the Archives by Lois Fink in 1974.
Restrictions:
This bulk of this collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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.
Function:
Arts organizations -- New York (State)
Art Schools -- New York (State)
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Interviews
Citation:
National Academy of Design records, 1817-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of Luigi Lucioni measure 2.7 linear feet and date from 1905-2008. The papers document Lucioni's life and career as a commercially successful realist painter who was best known for his landscapes of Vermont and portraits of opera singers. Included are biographical material, correspondence, writings, photographs, printed material including objects relating to Lucioni, and artwork. Correspondence is with friends, family, admirers, museums, and associates; Writings and notes are by Lucioni and also includes a signed guest book; Photographs are of Lucioni, his family, his artwork and events. Printed material includes publicity materials concerning Lucioni's solo exhibitions, opera playbills, newspaper and magazine clippings, holiday card designs and auction and exhibition catalogs. Objects include four decks of playing cards and a puzzle all featuring Lucioni's artwork, and artwork consists of sketches of a dog, likely one of Lucioni's pets.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Luigi Lucioni measure 2.7 linear feet and date from 1905-2008. The papers document Lucioni's life and career as a commercially successful realist painter who was best known for his landscapes of Vermont and portraits of opera singers. Included is a biographical sketch, information on Lucioni and his sisters' birth and death dates and a funeral prayer card for Lucioni, as well as award and religious certificates. Correspondence consists of letters from friends, galleries, television studios and museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Vermont Educational Television channel as well as miscellaneous letters from Lucioni. Additional correspondence relates to the sales of Lucioni's artwork and letters compiled regarding research on Lucioni for various projects and exhibitions. Noteable correspondence includes opera singer Giovanni Martinelli, Nancy McClelland, Susan Delano McKelvey, Mabel McAfee, Graeme K. Howard, Electra Webb, and P.H.B. Frelinghuysen. Also found are writings such as typescript essays by Lucioni on opera and by others on his artwork, along with guestbooks he kept signed by friends and family visitors to his home which he referred to as "Amica", along with business records related to Lucioni's estate. There is printed material which makes up a substantial portion of the collection documenting a number of exhibition and auctions featuring Lucioni's work through magazine and news clippings, exhibition flyers and catalogs. Of note are playing cards and a puzzle featuring Lucioni's paintings. Also found are printed materials related to music such as musical scores and news clippings on the subject of opera compiled by Lucioni. Photographic materials include photographs and negatives of Lucioni, his family and pets as well as his artwork. The artwork series contains sketches of a dog, likely one of his dogs named "Missy".
Arrangement:
The Collection is arranged as seven series. Nitrate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1910-1988 (8 Folders: Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1922-2004 (0.3 Linear feet: Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, 1929-1988 (0.3 Linear feet: Box 1)
Series 4: Personal Business, circa 1928-1990 (3 Folders: Box 1)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1905-2008 (1.4 Linear feet: Box 1-2, 4, Box 3)
Series 6: Photographic Material, 1908-2006 (0.3 Linear feet: Box 4)
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1939-1969 (1 Folder: Box 4)
Biographical / Historical:
Luigi Lucioni (1900-1988) was an Italian American painter in Vermont and New York best known for his landscapes of Vermont and portraits of opera singers. Born in Malnate, Italy, Lucioni's family immigrated to New York in 1911 and eventual settled in Union City, NJ. Though he never finished primary school, Lucioni was admitted to Cooper Union where he studied painting while also working for a Brooklyn engraving company. After his time at Cooper Union, he continued his studies at the National Academy of Design, and then the Tiffany Foundation in Oyster Bay, Long Island. In 1929, he began spending part of each year in Stowe, Vermont painting still lifes and landscapes of the hills and barns. In 1939 he purchased a farmhouse and barn near Manchester, Vermont, converting the barn into a studio. He continued to paint and make etchings of the surrounding countryside for the next fifty years.
Lucioni's works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the Cleveland Museum of Art, among others.
Related Materials:
Luigi Lucioni papers also at Syracuse University and the Aldrich Public Library in Barre, Vt.
Provenance:
A majority of the collection donated in 2008 and 2011 by Sharron Kropa, a friend of Lucioni. Also 17 items donated in 1972 by Lucioni. Biographical material and some correspondence compiled by Ida Galvanoi, a family friend.
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.
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.
Luigi Lucioni Papers, 1905-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Reels N19-N21: General and family correspondence, a few testimonials, broadsides, diary pages, and miscellany. Correspondence relates to Durand's engraving business, painting commissions, tour of Europe in 1840-1841, cholera epidemic in New York, 1831-1832, his presidency of the National Academy of Design, 1848-1862, and family matters. Among the correspondents are Peter Maverick, Michael Pekenino, Carey & Lea, Luman Reed, Thomas Cole, and others.
Reel N25: Three letters to Durand, 1825-1835, one each from Thomas Sully, Thomas Doughty, and George Jones.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; Albany, N.Y.
Provenance:
Microfilmed 1956 by the Archives of American Art with other art-related papers in the Manuscript Division of the New York Public Library. Included in the microfilming project were selected papers of the Art Division and the Prints Division.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
