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Creator:

Freer, Charles Lang, 1856-1919  Search this

Names:

Freer Gallery of Art  Search this

Freer, Charles Lang, 1856-1919  Search this

Collection Creator:

Freer, Charles Lang, 1856-1919  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (typed, with handwritten edits)

Type:

Archival materials

Inventories

Date:

undated

Scope and Contents:

Comprehensive index of Charles Lang Freer's library, mostly relating to art and Asian culture. Headings include authors, countries, and topical subjects. Sections include locations in Freer's original Detroit home; an index of all books transferred to the Smithsonian; a list of collections and collectors catalogues of American and Near and Far Eastern art; sales catalogues, and books in Chinese language.

Arrangement:

Organized in the original manner by the creator.

Local Numbers:

FSA A.01 05.22

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Collection Rights:

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Topic:

Art, Asian -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Art, American -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Book collecting  Search this

Function:

Libraries

Genre/Form:

Inventories

Collection Citation:

Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.

Identifier:

FSA.A.01, Item FSA A.01 05.22

See more items in:

Charles Lang Freer Papers

Charles Lang Freer Papers / Series 5: Art Inventories / 5.22: Printed Books [Library]

Archival Repository:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dc302cb29b7-d6a1-46ad-9b1d-afc360459013

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-fsa-a-01-ref3332

Creator:

Nevelson, Louise, 1899-1988  Search this

Extent:

30.5 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Interviews

Sketches

Scrapbooks

Date:

circa 1903-1982

Summary:

The papers of Louise Nevelson measure 30.5 linear feet and date from circa 1903 to 1988. The collection documents aspects of the life and work of the sculptor, focusing especially on her later career. Papers include correspondence, personal business records, writings, scrapbooks, early art work, photographs, interviews, awards and honorary degrees, books, and an extensive amount of printed material.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of Louise Nevelson measure 30.5 linear feet and date from circa 1903 to 1988. The collection documents aspects of the life and work of the sculptor, focusing especially on her later career. Papers include correspondence, personal business records, writings, scrapbooks, some of Nevelson's early art work, photographs, interviews, awards and honorary degrees, books, and an extensive amount of printed material.

Interviews, awards, and honorary degrees comprise a series of biographical material, along with scattered personal papers such as a graduation program, wedding announcement, teaching certificate, invitations, miscellaneous notes, and material relating to Nevelson's family. Correspondence consists of letters and enclosures from a wide range of professional contacts, including museums and art centers, universities, art associations, women's and charitable organizations, artists, and philanthropists, among others, concerning the exhibition, sale, and donation of Nevelson's art work, and her various arts-related activities, as well as some letters from friends and family. Correspondence can also be found amongst the subject files, which also include clippings, notes, printed and other material organized according to subject and relating to certain exhibitions, and various artistic and professional activities. Whether this organization originates with Nevelson, one of her assistants, or Archives staff is unknown.

Found amongst Nevelson's business records are consignment receipts, statements, correspondence, inventories, disposition cards, notebooks, and lists, stemming from her business dealings with the Martha Jackson Gallery and related matters, usually carried out by her assistant at the time. Business records relate in particular to the large and complex project of inventorying Nevelson's art work undertaken sometime in the early-1960s. Nevelson's writings consist of poems and poem fragments, a short-lived dream journal, scattered writings on art, and drafts from Dawns and Dusks: Taped Conversations with Diana MacKown by Louise Nevelson and Diana MacKown. Also found are a large number of scrapbooks and an extensive amount of printed material, which likely stem in large part from Nevelson's concern to document and keep a record of her accomplishments. Scrapbooks contain clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and other material documenting Nevelson's early career from roughly the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. Also included are loose items comprising a scrapbook of sorts on son Mike Nevelson and various scrapbooks compiled by others as mementos of particular events. Printed material includes an extensive amount of clippings and publications, exhibition catalogs and announcements, and a variety of other printed material relating or referring to Nevelson or merely featuring her name in print. Also included are several books, some of which are about or feature segments on Nevelson. This material documents both her critical and commercial success, and her role as personality and minor celebrity in the mass media later in her career, especially during the 1960s and 1970s.

Art work consists of early drawings and watercolors made by Nevelson as a child and adolescent and while studying art in high school and New York, which document her artistic tendencies as youth and her early development as an artist and which provide an interesting contrast to her later work in sculpture. Photographs include ones of the Berliawsky family and Nevelson as a child, adolescent, and young woman in the 1920s and 1930s before she became known as an artist; ones of Nevelson from the mid-1950s to the 1980s, once she had become known, and began to be honored, as an artist; and ones of Nevelson's art work, as well as of various exibitions and installations of her work. Also included are a number of slides of the artist and her art work, including photographs taken by Dorothy Dehner in the mid-1950s at Louise Nevelson's house on Thirtieth Street.

Arrangement:

The Louise Nevelson papers are arranged into nine series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1918-1985 (Boxes 1, 17, OV 21, 30, 31, Sol 42; 2.3 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1931-1984 (Boxes 1-2, 31-35, Sol 42; 6 linear feet)

Series 3: Subject Files, 1955-1988 (Box 3, 35-36; 1.7 linear feet)

Series 4: Business Records, 1946-1981 (Boxes 3-5, 36-38, Sol 42; 3.8 linear feet)

Series 5: Writings, 1936-1980 (Box 5, 38, Sol 42; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1935-1983 (Boxes 5, 18-19, OV 22-27, 38, Sol 42; 1.5 linear feet)

Series 7:Books and Printed Material, 1904-1985 (Boxes 6-13, 19, OV 28, 38-40, Sol 43; 9.5 linear feet)

Series 8: Art Work, 1905-1982 (Boxes 13, 20, 40, Sol 43; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 9: Photographs, circa 1903-1980s (Boxes 14-15, 20, OV 29, 40-41, Sol 43; 3.5 linear feet)

Biographical Note:

Louise Nevelson was born in 1899 in Kiev, Russia. Her parents, Isaac and Minna Berliawsky, and their children emigrated to America in 1905 and settled in Rockland, Maine, where the young Louise grew up as a bit of an outsider in local society. She decided upon a career in art at an early age and took some drawing classes in high school, before graduating in 1918. Two years later, she married Charles Nevelson, a wealthy businessman, and moved to New York. She proceeded to study painting, drawing, singing, acting, and eventually dancing. In 1922, Nevelson gave birth to a son, Myron (later called Mike). She eventually separated from her husband in the winter of 1932-1933; and they divorced officially in 1941.

Beginning in 1929, Nevelson began to study art full-time at the Art Students League, where she took classes with Kenneth Hayes Miller and Kimon Nicolaides. In 1931, she went to Europe and studied with Hans Hofmann in Munich before traveling to Italy and France. She returned to New York in 1932 and again studied for a time with Hofmann, who was by now a guest instructor at the Art Students League. In 1933, she met Diego Rivera while he was in New York working on his mural for Rockefeller Center and casually worked as his assistant for a short period. Shortly thereafter, she began to work in sculpture and joined a sculpture class taught by Chaim Gross at the Educational Alliance. She continued to draw and paint, and even took up etching, lithography, and other techniques at different points in her career, but from this time on, she concentrated on sculpture. Her early sculptures were primarily in plaster, clay, and tattistone.

During the thirties, Nevelson exhibited in a number of group shows (both non-juried and competitive ones), garnering some recognition for her work. In 1935, she taught mural painting at the Flatbush Boys Club in Brooklyn, as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), then went on to work in the fine-arts division as an easel painter and sculptor until 1939. In 1941, Nevelson had her first solo exhibition at the Nierendorf Gallery, run by Karl Nierendorf who represented her until his death in 1947. Both this and a one-woman show the following year received favorable reviews. It was around this time that she discovered the decorated shoeshine box of Joe Milone, a local tradesman, and arranged to have it exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, an occasion which received much notice in the press.

In the 1940s, Nevelson produced a great many works in stone, bronze, terra cotta, and wood, most of them being cubist studies of the figure. In 1943, she had a show titled "The Clown as the Center of his World" at the Norlyst Gallery, which featured works on a circus theme constructed from discarded pieces of wood and other material. This new work was not very well received at the time, and it wasn't until the mid-1950s that she began to work with discarded and found objects on a regular basis.

During the early-1950s, Nevelson attempted to exhibit her work as often as possible, eventually receiving various prizes and notices for her work in the press. She continued to struggle financially though and began to teach sculpture classes in the adult education program of the Great Neck, Long Island public schools in order to make ends meet. In 1955, she joined he Grand Central Moderns Gallery, which was run by Colette Roberts, and had several one-woman shows there. These included: "Ancient Games and Ancient Places" in 1955, featuring Bride of the Black Moon, "The Forest" in 1957, featuring First Personage, and "Moon Garden + One" in 1958, featuring her first wall, Sky Cathedral. During this period, she was painting her wood black and putting together entirely black exhibits; she went on to create works in white and gold in the early-1960s. Around this time, she also began to enclose her small sculptures within wooden boxes.

Nevelson joined the Martha Jackson Gallery in 1958, where she received a guaranteed income and finally achieved a certain degree of financial security. Her first show at the gallery, "Sky Columns Presence," took place in the fall of 1959. In 1960, she had her first one-woman exhibition in Europe at the Galerie Daniel Cordier in Paris. Later that year, her work, grouped together as "Dawn's Wedding Feast," was included in the group show, "Sixteen Americans," at the Museum of Modern Art, alongside the work of Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenburg, and other younger artists. She made her first museum sale in 1962 when the Whitney Museum of American Art purchased the black wall, Young Shadows. That same year, Nevelson's work was selected for the thirty-first Biennale in Venice.

Over the years, Nevelson took on several assistants, including Teddy Haseltine, Tom Kendall, and Diana Mackown, to help in the studio and with daily affairs. She also participated in various artists' groups, and served as President of the New York Chapter of Artists' Equity from 1957 to 1958, and as President of the national organization from 1962 to 1964. She left the Martha Jackson Gallery in 1962, and after a brief, unhappy stint with the Sidney Janis Gallery, she joined the Pace Gallery, which was run by Arnold Glimcher, in the fall of 1963. She proceeded to have shows of new work there about every two years for the remainder of her career. She had her first museum retrospective at the Whitney Museum in 1967, which featured over a hundred of her works from her drawings from the 1930s to her latest constructions. And in 1968, she was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters. By this time, Nevelson had achieved both critical and commercial success as an artist.

Nevelson always experimented with new materials; she continued to construct her black wood walls, but also went on make constructions from aluminium, plastic, and metal. In the fall of 1969, she was commissioned by Princeton University to do a monumental outdoor sculpture in Cor-ten steel (her first), and went on to do commissioned works for the Philadelphia Federal Courthouse, and Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, among others. In 1973, the Walker Art Center organized a major exhibition of Nevelson work which traveled around the country over the next two years. In 1975, she designed the chapel for St. Peter's Lutheran Church in midtown Manhattan.

Nevelson was widely honored for her work during her lifetime. Over the years, she received honorary degrees from Rutgers University and Harvard University, among other schools, as well as numerous awards, including the Brandeis University Creative Arts Award in Sculpture and the Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture in 1971, the gold medal for sculpture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1983, and the National Medal of the Arts in 1985. By the time of her death on April 17, 1988, Nevelson was considered by and large one of the most important American sculptors of the twentieth century.

Sources consulted for this biographical note include Louise Nevelson: A Passionate Life by Laurie Lisle and Louise Nevelson by Arnold Glimcher.

Related Material:

Other resources relating to Louise Nevelson in the Archives include oral history interviews with Nevelson conducted by Dorothy Seckler, June 1964-January 14, 1964, and Arnold Glimcher, January 30, 1972. Also related are a 4 part untranscribed audio recording of an interview with Nevelson by Barbaralee Diamonstein, an audio recording of an interview with Nevelson conducted by Barbara Braun in 1983, and a video recording of Nevelson's 1958 exhibition installation at Grand Central Moderns gallery.

Provenance:

Donated 1966-1979 by Louise Nevelson and in 2018 by the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine via Michael Komanecky, Chief Curator. The Farnsworth Art Museum received the materials from Louise Nevelson, her son Mike Nevelson, brother Nathan Berliawksy, and others that were close to the artist.

Restrictions:

The bulk of this collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website, with the exception of the 2017 addition. Use of material not digitized requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Occupation:

Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Works of art  Search this

Sculpture -- Exhibitions  Search this

Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women sculptors  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Interviews

Sketches

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Louise Nevelson papers, circa 1903-1982. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for a portion of the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Additional processing received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.

Identifier:

AAA.neveloui

See more items in:

Louise Nevelson papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw99c8dde75-538a-43a6-a68e-fa1db8e7d535

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-neveloui

Author:

Thakur, R. Basu  Search this

de Haan, T.  Search this

Miller, C. S.  Search this

Smecher, G.  Search this

Vieira, J. D.  Search this

Carlstrom, J. E.  Search this

Holzapfel, W. L.  Search this

Kuhlmann, S.  Search this

Lee, A. T.  Search this

Meyer, S. S.  Search this

Posada, C. M.  Search this

Austermann, J. E.  Search this

Foster, A.  Search this

Montgomery, J.  Search this

Nadolski, A.  Search this

Novosad, V.  Search this

Suzuki, A.  Search this

Vanderlinde, K.  Search this

Ding, J.  Search this

Thompson, K. L.  Search this

Young, M. R.  Search this

Avva, J. S.  Search this

Bender, A. N.  Search this

Chang, C. L.  Search this

Dutcher, D.  Search this

Henning, J. W.  Search this

Carter, F. W.  Search this

Denison, E. V.  Search this

Natoli, T.  Search this

Stark, Antony A.  Search this

Tucker, C.  Search this

Ade, P. A. R.  Search this

Lowitz, A. E.  Search this

Pearson, J.  Search this

Sobrin, J. A.  Search this

Divan, R.  Search this

Jonas, M.  Search this

Michalik, D.  Search this

Saunders, L. J.  Search this

Tang, Q. Y.  Search this

Wang, G.  Search this

Cukierman, A.  Search this

Harke-Hosemann, A. H.  Search this

Korman, M.  Search this

Harrington, N. L.  Search this

Irwin, K. D.  Search this

Padin, S.  Search this

Gilbert, A.  Search this

Kofman, A. M.  Search this

Kubik, D.  Search this

Stan, L.  Search this

Story, K. T.  Search this

Yoon, K. W.  Search this

Dobbs, M. A.  Search this

Everett, W.  Search this

Halverson, N. W.  Search this

Rahlin, A.  Search this

Sayre, J. T.  Search this

Vale, L. R.  Search this

Yefremenko, V.  Search this

Anderson, A. J.  Search this

Jeong, O. B.  Search this

Noble, G. I.  Search this

Ruhl, J. E.  Search this

Groh, J. C.  Search this

Kuo, C. L.  Search this

Ahmed, Z.  Search this

Cecil, T.  Search this

Huang, N.  Search this

Nguyen, H.  Search this

Shirokoff, E.  Search this

Benson, B. A.  Search this

Cliche, J. F.  Search this

Gannon, R. N.  Search this

Hilton, G. C.  Search this

Khaire, T.  Search this

Pan, Z.  Search this

Shirley, I.  Search this

Whitehorn, N.  Search this

Object Type:

Smithsonian staff publication

Electronic document

Year:

2018

Topic:

Astronomy  Search this

Data source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:SILSRO_150184

Author:

Vicenzi, Edward P.  Search this

Toth, Milos  Search this

Lin, Ting  Search this

Beeman, Jeffrey  Search this

Silver, Eric H.  Search this

Martin, Aiden A.  Search this

Westphal, Andrew J.  Search this

Object Type:

Smithsonian staff publication

Electronic document

Year:

2016

Topic:

Museum conservation methods  Search this

Museum techniques  Search this

Astronomy  Search this

Data source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:SILSRO_140215

Author:

Bechtel, Achim  Search this

Valentim, Bruno V.  Search this

Esterle, Joan S.  Search this

Christanis, Kimon  Search this

O'Keefe, Jennifer M. K.  Search this

Ward, Colin R.  Search this

Wagner, Nicola J.  Search this

DiMichele, William A.  Search this

Mastalerz, Maria  Search this

Raymond, Anne L.  Search this

Hower, James C.  Search this

Eble, Cortland F.  Search this

Dai, Shifeng  Search this

Object Type:

Smithsonian staff publication

Electronic document

Year:

2013

Topic:

Paleobiology  Search this

Natural History  Search this

See others in:

Paleobiology

Data source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:SILSRO_116829

Publisher:

John Sewell  Search this

Medium:

Print, Engraving on Paper

Dimensions:

2-D - Unframed (H x W): 17.8 x 12.7cm (7 x 5 in.)

Type:

ART-Prints, Original

Country of Origin:

United Kingdom

Credit Line:

Purchased from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Inventory Number:

A19772705000

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

National Air and Space Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv9e55a4941-df64-44c3-88e9-3b4ceeb5f415

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nasm_A19772705000

Medium:

Plaque, Commemorative, Blanchard

Dimensions:

2-D - Unframed (H x W): 4 5/8in. x 3 3/4in. (11.75 x 9.53cm)

Type:

ART-Miscellaneous

Country of Origin:

Germany

Credit Line:

Gift of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Inventory Number:

A19772706000

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

National Air and Space Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv965609bf8-58d0-4327-8211-8167dc788d87

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nasm_A19772706000

Medium:

paper; ink / lithographed

Type:

Postage Stamps

Place:

Indiana

United States of America

Date:

February 9, 2009

Topic:

Political Figures  Search this

U.S. Stamps  Search this

Credit line:

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Object number:

2009.2029.87

See more items in:

National Postal Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Postal Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8046518b1-a04e-41f2-8bc5-9079ce476643

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npm_2009.2029.87

Medium:

paper; ink / lithographed

Type:

Postage Stamps

Place:

United States of America

Date:

February 9, 2009

Topic:

Political Figures  Search this

U.S. Stamps  Search this

Credit line:

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Object number:

2009.2029.88

See more items in:

National Postal Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Postal Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm86d620484-9bb5-44f8-ac46-edab4768b97b

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npm_2009.2029.88

Medium:

paper; ink / lithographed

Type:

Postage Stamps

Place:

United States of America

Date:

February 9, 2009

Topic:

Political Figures  Search this

U.S. Stamps  Search this

Credit line:

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Object number:

2009.2029.89

See more items in:

National Postal Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Postal Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm87d5873d4-bec2-42cf-a2f0-9224cccbbedc

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npm_2009.2029.89

Medium:

paper; ink / lithographed

Type:

Postage Stamps

Place:

Illinois

United States of America

Date:

February 9, 2009

Topic:

Political Figures  Search this

U.S. Stamps  Search this

Credit line:

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Object number:

2009.2029.90

See more items in:

National Postal Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Postal Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8b6ea11f7-1cab-4440-b639-c4f787a6f79a

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npm_2009.2029.90

Artist:

Carlo Lasinio  Search this

Medium:

Print, Engraving on Paper

Dimensions:

2-D - Unframed (H x W): 21 x 22.5cm (8 1/4 x 8 7/8 in.)

Type:

ART-Prints, Original

Country of Origin:

Italy

Credit Line:

Gift of Harry F. Guggenheim

Inventory Number:

A19680089000

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

National Air and Space Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv979eddf4f-bcb3-4925-a6cf-55e61e2cc430

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nasm_A19680089000

Medium:

Print, Aquatint on Paper

Dimensions:

2-D - Unframed (H x W): 19.1 × 26cm (7 1/2 × 10 1/4 in.)

Type:

ART-Prints, Original

Country of Origin:

United Kingdom

Credit Line:

Gift of Harry F. Guggenheim

Inventory Number:

A19680177000

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

National Air and Space Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv9a912d019-6240-4aa7-b7af-b689c6a83c7d

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nasm_A19680177000

Medium:

Print, Engraving on Paper

Dimensions:

2-D - Unframed (H x W): 20.3 x 27.9cm (8 x 11 in.)

Type:

ART-Prints, Original

Country of Origin:

Italy

Credit Line:

Gift of Harry F. Guggenheim

Inventory Number:

A19680179000

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

National Air and Space Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv98aae0fab-db9c-4a0d-ba09-583abd291d08

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nasm_A19680179000

Medium:

Print, Engraving on Paper

Dimensions:

2-D - Unframed (H x W): 20.6 x 29.2cm (8 1/8 x 11 1/2 in.)

Type:

ART-Prints, Original

Country of Origin:

Italy

Credit Line:

Gift of Harry F. Guggenheim

Inventory Number:

A19680180000

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

National Air and Space Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv99f49192c-b9fe-463a-9c42-aa87764068b8

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nasm_A19680180000

Medium:

Print, Engraving on Paper

Dimensions:

2-D - Unframed (H x W): 21 x 25.4cm (8 1/4 in. x 10 in.)

Type:

ART-Prints, Original

Country of Origin:

France

Credit Line:

Donor: Mr. Thomas A. Knowles

Inventory Number:

A20000772000

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

National Air and Space Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv92f8a1b9b-b8af-4292-b250-39c163f924d6

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nasm_A20000772000

Medium:

Print, Engraving on Paper

Dimensions:

2-D - In Frame (H x W x D): 31 × 23.5 × 0.5cm (1 ft. 3/16 in. × 9 1/4 in. × 3/16 in.)

Type:

ART-Prints, Original

Country of Origin:

France

Credit Line:

Donor: Mr. Thomas A. Knowles

Inventory Number:

A20000775000

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

National Air and Space Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv9cd64244b-45af-45a0-9e9b-e4b069c1a9c2

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nasm_A20000775000

Medium:

Print, Engraving on Paper

Dimensions:

2-D - Unframed (H x W): 26.7 x 17.8cm (10 1/2 in. x 7 in.)

Type:

ART-Prints, Original

Country of Origin:

France

Credit Line:

Donor: Mr. Thomas A. Knowles

Inventory Number:

A20000776000

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

National Air and Space Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv94b2cbdf9-29fe-48dd-98d8-e107936b3285

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nasm_A20000776000

Creator:

Weston, Harold, 1894-1972  Search this

Names:

Adirondack Trail Improvement Society  Search this

Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA). Americans-in-Britain Outpost  Search this

Corcoran Gallery of Art  Search this

Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors  Search this

Food for Freedom, Inc.  Search this

Harvard Lampoon (Organization)  Search this

Harvard University -- Students  Search this

International Association of Art. United States Committee  Search this

Montross Gallery  Search this

National Council on the Arts and Government  Search this

National Endowment for the Arts  Search this

New York State Council on the Arts  Search this

Phillips Collection  Search this

Studio House (Phillips Memorial Gallery)  Search this

Carmichael, Leonard, 1898-1973  Search this

Dows, Olin, 1904-1981  Search this

Mumford, Lewis, 1895-1990  Search this

Phillips, Duncan, 1886-1966  Search this

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962  Search this

Rosenfeld, Paul, 1890-1946  Search this

Sizer, Theodore, 1892-1967  Search this

Weston, Faith  Search this

Extent:

24.3 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Christmas cards

Notes

Etchings

Speeches

Articles

Postcards

Poems

Woodcuts

Sketches

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Glass negatives

Lantern slides

Copper plates

Place:

Adirondack Mountain Reserve (N.Y.)

Date:

1894-1978

bulk 1912-1972

Summary:

The papers of modernist painter and activist Harold Weston (1894-1972) date from 1894 to 1978 and measure 24.3 linear feet. The papers focus on Weston's painting career and his involvement with humanitarian and artistic causes. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, personal business records, association and organization records, commission and project files, materials relating to Weston's book Freedom in the Wilds, writings, artwork, printed materials, two scrapbooks, and photographs.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of modernist painter and activist Harold Weston (1894-1972) date from 1894 to 1978 and measure 24.3 linear feet. The papers focus on Weston's painting career and his involvement with humanitarian and artistic causes. Found are biographical materials, correspondence, personal business records, association and organization records, commission and project files, materials relating to Weston's book Freedom in the Wilds, writings, artwork, printed materials, two scrapbooks, and photographs. The papers document his involvement with the Committee to Defend America, Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, Food for Freedom, the International Association of the Plastic Arts, National Countil on the Arts and Government, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council for the Arts, Reconstruction Service Committee, and the YMCA in Baghdad.

Biographical materials include biographical sketches and resumes, including a short biography written by Faith Weston in 1969. There are records from his school years at Exeter Academy and Harvard University that include yearbooks, report cards, scholarship information, Harvard Lampoon materials, and a diploma from Harvard. Also found are materials relating to Faith Weston, membership cards, memorials information, passports and travel papers, and wedding wishes.

Correspondence from Harold Weston dates from his school years up until his death in 1972. In letters to his family, Weston discusses his education; his travel and activities in the Middle East during World War I; the Adirondacks; convalescense in France in the mid-1920s; his immediate family life; and exhibitions. Also found are holiday cards designed and printed by Weston. The majority of correspondence is with his father S. Burns Weston, mother Mary, sister Esther, brother Carl, Faith Weston and the Borton family, children Barbara, Bruce, and Haroldine, and others. Also found are letters between Weston and friend Theodore Sizer and Duncan Phillips of the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.

Personal business and financial records relating to Weston's exhibitions include delivery receipts, agreements, hand-drawn gallery plans for exhibitions, lists of exhibitions, framing invoices, legal information, pricelists, records of sales, and lists of works of art. Galleries with which Weston held exhibitions, sold, or lent works of art include Boyer Galleries, Corcoran Gallery, the Gallery in Paoli, Montross Gallery, the Phillips Collection, and Studio House Galleries.

Records relating to Harold Weston's memberships and involvement with professional associations and service organizations are from the Adirondack Trail Improvement Society, the Committee to Defend America, Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, Food for Freedom, International Association of the Plastic Arts/International Arts Association, National Countil on the Arts and Government, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Reconstruction Service Committee, and the Young Men's Christian Association, Baghdad. The files include correspondence, financial records, meetings and membership information, notes, organizational history, photographs, printed materials, programs and activities records, speeches, and writings.

Files that document Weston's Building the United Nations and the Treasury Relief Project sponsored "Procurement Building Murals" are found within the Commissions and Project files series. The files include correspondence, financial information, legal documents, photographs of the works of art and research photos, and printed materials. Correspondence of note includes letters written by Lewis Mumford, Duncan Phillips, Eleanor Roosevelt on behalf of Weston's Building of the United Nations and letters from Leonard Carmichael, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Letters from Olin Dows of the Treasury Relief Art Project are within correspondence relating to the "Procurement Building Murals." Also found are preliminary sketches of the murals.

The Freedom in the Wilds series contains materials relating to the book which combined Weston's autobiography with a history of the Adirondack Mountain Reserve. Additional writings and notes are by Harold Weston and others, and include articles, poetry, notes, speech notes and speeches, and lists. Harold Weston's articles include "Persian Caravan Sketches" published in 1921 discussing his travels throughout the Middle East. Other articles are written by Duncan Phillips, Paul Rosenfeld, Barbara Weston, and Faith Weston. Also found are postcards annoted with notes by Harold Weston about his travels.

Artwork inlcudes sketches, etchings, copperplates, and woodcuts. There are copperplates entitled "Shroud" and of the series Building the United Nations for the Harvard Alumni bulletin in 1957; an untitled etching by Weston; sketches including those from Baghdad and watercolor sketches; a woodcut of the 1924 Weston holiday card; and scattered unsigned sketches probably not by Weston.

Printed materials include calendars with notations; clippings; exhibition catalogs and announcements for Weston's exhibitions dating from 1922-1976 and for others; gallery tags or labels for paintings shown in exhibitions; reproductions of illustrations for the Harvard Lampoon and full issues from 1911-1916; materials relating to the Harvard production of Henry IV, for which Weston designed the sets; reproductions of works of art by Weston and by others; school seals; and various art related publications.

There are two scrapbooks compiled by Faith Weston about her husband. The first contains materials relating to Weston's activity with the International Association of the Plastic Arts Conference of 1963, including a letter and photograph of President John F. Kennedy. The second scrapbook dates from 1977 and consists of general clippings relating to Weston's career, dating from 1917 to 1952 with additional materials added by Faith in 1977.

Photographs are of Weston, family members, exhibitions and installations, and works of art by Weston and others. There are also numerous photographs of Weston's travel through the Adirondacks, the Middle East, Europe, and India. Also found are glass plate negatives of works of art painted in France between 1926-1930; scattered glass plate negatives of Baghdad and the Middle East; glass plates belonging to S. Burns Weston of the Adirondacks, circa 1900; and approximately 100 lantern slides of the various Middle Eastern cities and ruins - probably used by Weston to illustrate his talks given in the 1920s.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 11 series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Information, 1896-1974 (Box 1, 38; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1894-1975 (Box 1-3, 38; 2.5 linear feet)

Series 3: Personal Business and Financial records, 1912-1977 (Box 4; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 4: Associations and Organizations records, 1916-1972 (Box 4-10, 37-38; 6.5 linear feet)

Series 5: Commissions and Project files, 1935-1965 (Box 10-12, 38, OV 39; 1.4 linear feet)

Series 6: -- Freedom in the Wilds -- records, late 1960s-1976 (Box 12-13; 1.8 linear feet)

Series 7: Writings and Notes, 1912-1975 (Box 13-14; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 8: Artwork and Artifacts, circa 1917-1967 (Box 14, 21; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 9: Printed Material, circa 1900-1978 (Box 15-18, 38; 2.5 linear feet)

Series 10: Scrapbooks, circa 1963-1977 (Box 17-18; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 11: Photographs, circa 1900-1975 (Box 18-20, 22-36, 38; 4.8 linear feet)

Biographical Note:

Modernist painter and federal Treasury Relief Art Project artist Harold Weston (1894-1972) worked primarily in New York City and St. Huberts, New York in the Adirondacks. Weston was president of the U.S. Commission of the International Association of Art/Plastic Arts and the Federation of Modern Painters and Scultors. He was also chairman of the National Council on the Arts and Government and active with various political and humanitarian causes.

Harold Weston was born in 1894 in Merion, Pennsylvania into a privileged family. He attended school in Europe as a teenager, where he began to draw and sketch. In 1910, Harold contracted Polio which left him with a weak leg. After graduating from Exeter Academy, Harold entered Harvard University with the class of 1916 and was active in the Delta Upsilon Club and the Harvard Lampoon, for which he illustrated.

Despite his leg, Weston was determined to serve in some form during World War I. He traveled to Baghdad and volunteered with the YMCA. Here he started the Baghdad Art Club and organized exhibitions of soldier art. He remained in the Middle East until 1919 and served as the official painter for the British Army. The colors and the landscape of the region also inspired later works of art.

Upon returning to the United States, Weston built a one-room cabin in the Adirondack Mountains, where he lived and painted. He had his first one-man exhibtition at the Montross Gallery in 1922. In 1923, he married Faith Borton who moved with him to the Adirondacks. His wife inspired his series of "landscape nudes" which treated the body with different techniques that would typically be used in landscape painting. After suffering from a kidney infection in 1925, Weston and his wife moved to Ceres, France to recover. Weston continued to paint and started a family with Faith while in France. In 1930, the family moved back to the United States and lived in Greenwich Village, New York.

From 1936-1938, Harold Weston worked with the federal Treasury Relief Art Project and painted murals in the Procurement Building in Washington, D.C. The murals represent the growth of public buildings during the Great Depression. He took on a second major project to document the contruction of the United Nations in a series of six paintings. Later, the Smithsonian Instution received the paintings as gifts through an independent committee.

In addition to painting, Harold Weston devoted himself to public service by becoming involved in humanitarian causes, artist professional organizations, and federal government support of the arts. Weston served as president or chairman of three different organizations including the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, the International Association of Art/International Association of the Plastic Art, and the National Council on the Arts and Government. Before the start of World War II, Harold Weston was named the Chairman of Essex County Committee to Defend America, which argued for financial support of the allied forces in World War II. After the start of the war, he helped form the Food for Freedom movement which urged American aid for European and Asian refugees. Similarly, Weston served as Executive Secretary for the Reconstruction Service Committee which was established to assist the rebuilding of Europe.

Later in life, Weston wrote a book Freedom in the Wilds, which combined his own autobiography with a history of the Adirondack Mountain Reserve. Harold Weston died on April 10th, 1972 in New York City.

Separated Material:

The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel N69-76) including biographic notes, exhibition material, clippings, a presentation album, and commemorative stamps. Some, but not all, of these papers were included in later donations. Materials not donated remain with the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.

Syracuse University also holds circa 14 linear feet of Harold Weston's papers.

Provenance:

Harold Weston lent the Archives of American Art materials for microfilming in 1969. Faith Borton Weston, Harold Weston's widow, donated the papers in several increments between 1972-1980 and lent materials for microfilming in 1977.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Topic:

Painting, Abstract -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Federal aid to the arts  Search this

Art and state  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

World War, 1914-1918  Search this

Genre/Form:

Christmas cards

Notes

Etchings

Speeches

Articles

Postcards

Poems

Woodcuts

Sketches

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Glass negatives

Lantern slides

Copper plates

Citation:

Harold Weston papers, 1894-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing 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.

Identifier:

AAA.westharo

See more items in:

Harold Weston papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw912c19da0-1e91-45ea-b15f-b3d423b2a075

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-westharo

Creator:

Beach, Chester, 1881-1956  Search this

Names:

American Academy in Rome  Search this

Architectural League of New York  Search this

Cleveland Museum of Art  Search this

Ecole nationale supérieure des beaux-arts (France)  Search this

Frontier Art Colony  Search this

Mark Hopkins Institute of Art  Search this

National Academy of Design (U.S.)  Search this

National Sculpture Society (U.S.)  Search this

Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915: San Francisco, Calif.)  Search this

Salmagundi Club  Search this

Salon d'automne  Search this

Allen, Mary Jester  Search this

Beach, Eleanor Murdock  Search this

Blumenschein, Ernest Leonard, 1874-1960  Search this

Carrington, Fitz Roy, 1869-1954  Search this

Couper, William, 1853-1942  Search this

Fitchen, Eleanor Beach  Search this

French, Daniel Chester, 1850-1931  Search this

Greacen, Edmund W., 1876-1949  Search this

Hancock, Walker Kirtland, 1901-1998  Search this

Jackson, Hazel Brill  Search this

Jennewein, Carl Paul, 1890-  Search this

Kuhn, Brenda, 1911-  Search this

Kuhn, Walt, 1877-1949  Search this

Käsebier, Gertrude, 1852-1934  Search this

Leibig, Bonnie  Search this

MacMonnies, Frederick William, 1863-1937  Search this

Mora, F. Luis (Francis Luis), 1874-1940  Search this

Nelson, Laurence, 1887-1978  Search this

Nisbet, Robert H., 1879-1961  Search this

Olmsted, Frederick Law, 1822-1903  Search this

Piexotto, Jessica B.  Search this

Winter, Ezra, 1886-1949  Search this

Extent:

7.32 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Scrapbooks

Sketches

Christmas cards

Drawings

Photographs

Prints

Sketchbooks

Date:

1846-1999

bulk 1895-1999

Summary:

The Chester Beach papers measure 7.32 linear feet and date from 1846 to 1999, with the bulk ot the material dating from circa 1900 to 1999. The work and professional activities of Beaux Arts sculptor Chester Beach (1881-1956) and his family's efforts to exhibit and sell work from the estate are documented by project files, business records, correspondence, scrapbooks, printed material, and photographs. The papers also include many artist-designed Christmas cards sent and received by the Beach family, and artwork by Chester Beach and others.

Scope and Contents:

The Chester Beach papers measure 7.32 linear feet and date from 1846 to 1999, with the bulk ot the material dating from circa 1900 to 1999. The work and professional activities of Beaux Arts sculptor Chester Beach (1881-1956) and his family's efforts to exhibit and sell work from the estate are documented by project files, business records, correspondence, scrapbooks, printed material, and photographs. The papers also include many artist-designed Christmas cards sent and received by the Beach family, and artwork by Chester Beach and others.

Biographical material consists of biographical notes, identification cards, and a membership certificate.

Project files contain correspondence, financial records, notes, drawings and plans, research materials, printed matter, and photographs that document commissions for sculpture, medals and coins, monuments, and Beach's own projects. Among the most thoroughly documented projects are a fountain sculpture for the grounds of the Cleveland Museum of Art (Sun, Earth, Fountain of the Waters, and Zodiac) and the Edward W. Bok Memorial in Mountain Lake, Florida; both commissions were executed in conjunction with the firm of Frederick Law Olmsted.

Business records include Chester Beach's general business correspondence and correspondence concerning consignments. An address book records names, addresses, and occasionally indicates prices of services and supplies used by the sculptor. Other record books detail expenses and income of the studio building Beach owned, with a list of the effects of the former owner, sculptor William Couper; bronzes cast; sales, with titles, prices, and buyers; names and addresses of clients, dealers, and suppliers; and instructions for cleaning and bronzing plaster.

Family correspondence consists mainly of letters, many mentioning Chester Beach, and addressed to Mrs. Chester Beach and daughter Eleanor Beach Fitchen. Estate correspondence and related documents concern efforts to exhibit, sell, and research Beach's remaining work. These records, for the most part, were created by Mrs. Fitchen who acted as sales agent, ran the Chester Beach Memorial Studio, and maintained the Beach archive. Of particular interest is a series of letters from Brenda Kuhn that relate what she learned from handling the estate of her father, Walt Kuhn; in addition, she offered ideas and advice about exhibitions, the Memorial Studio, and the Beach Centennial.

Beach designed his family's annual Christmas cards, most of which incorporate images of their three daughters. A complete set, preserved in an album, includes a few later cards that reproduce artwork by his widow. Many of the cards received - some with original artwork - are from artist friends, among them: Ernest Blumenschein, Edward W. Greacen, Hazel Brill Jackson, Paul Jennewein, Bonnie Leibig, F. Luis Mora, Robert Nisbet, and Ezra Winter. Also of note are a card from Walker Hancock bearing a photograph of his studio; a painting of Beach's Sylvan at Brookgreen Gardens, reproduced on Anna Hyatt Huntington's card; and a card from Beach patron Mary Jester Allen containing a brief note about the Frontier Art Colony she had established near Cody, Wyoming.

Among the drawings and sketches by Chester Beach are student work, designs for some of his Christmas cards, and a sketchbook containing drawings of sculpture. Work by other artists consists of prints, including one by Ezra Winter.

Three scrapbooks, largely comprised of newspaper clippings and other printed material, contain a variety of other items, including: letters from the American Academy in Rome, Architectural League of New York, Ecole des Beaux Arts, Daniel Chester French, Hazel Brill Jackson, Frederick MacMonnies, National Academy of Design, National Sculpture Society, Jessica B. Piexotto, and Salon d'Autome. There are also awards and certificates from the National Academy of Design, Panama-Pacific International Exposition; bookplates and a place card Beach etched for Mr. and Mrs. George Davison; and an unfinished poem by FitzRoy Carrington. Photographs within the scrapbooks are of a night school class Beach attended at the Mark Hopkins Art Institute in San Francisco, Beach at work in his studio, and a portrait of him painted by G. Laurance Nelson.

Printed material includes Panama-Pacific International Exposition guide books, brochures about the Chester Beach Memorial Studio in Brewster, New York, and catalogs for solo and group exhibitions.

Photographs and glass plate negatives of artwork are mainly of Chester Beach's sculpture and include views of work in progress. Also found are photographs of drawings and sculpture from his student years in California and Paris. Pictures of work by other artists are portraits of Chester Beach painted by G. Laurance Nelson and by his daughter, Natalie Beach McLaury. Among the photographs of Chester Beach are several by Gertrude Kasebier, circa 1910. Other pictures show Beach in his studio, Beach with family and friends, and a "Dinner tendered to Edmund W. Greacen by Samuel T. Shaw, Salmagundi Club, March 2, 1922." Places documented are Beach's boyhood home in San Francisco, the interiors of his studios, and Brookgreen Gardens. Miscellaneous subjects are nude models.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 10 series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1910-1947 (4 folders; Box 1)

Series 2: Project Files, 1846-1999 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 11, OV 12-13)

Series 3: Business Records, circa 1900-1958 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)

Series 4: Writings, 1913-1935 (2 folders; Box 3)

Series 5: Correspondence, 1875, 1933-1996 (0.5 linear feet; Box 3)

Series 6: Christmas Cards, 1909-1961 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)

Series 7: Artwork, circa 1900-1955 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 4, 11)

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1903-1972 (0.3 linear feet; Box 10)

Series 9: Printed Material, 1910-1997 (0.4 linear feet; Box 4)

Series 10: Photographs, circa 1885-circa 1960s (3.1 linear feet; Boxes 4-9, 11, 14)

Biographical / Historical:

Sculptor Chester Beach (1881-1956) was known for portrait busts, allegorical and mythological figures, coins and medallic art in the Beaux-Arts tradition. He lived and worked in New York City and Brewster, New York.

Chester Beach, son of Chilion Beach and Elizabeth Ferris Beach, was born in San Francisco on May 23, 1881. Beach initially studied at the California School of Mechanical Arts in 1899. He remained in San Francisco and between 1900 and 1902 continued his art training at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art while working as a jewelry designer. To further his career and exposure to artistic trends, Beach moved to New York City in 1903. The following year, he went to Paris, enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and also studied with Raoul Verlet at the Académie Julian.

Upon his return to New York in 1907, Beach established a studio on Tenth Street. He won the National Academy of Design's Barnett Prize for sculpture in 1907 and the Academy elected him an Associate Artist the following year. His increased stature resulted in numerous portrait commissions and eventually led to commissions for monuments and architectural sculpture. In 1910, Chester Beach married Eleanor Hollis Murdock, a painter he met when both were art students in Paris. The couple spent the next two years in Rome; for several years after returning, Beach continued to spend time in Italy and maintained a studio in Rome.

Solo exhibitions of Beach's work were presented at Macbeth Gallery (1912), Pratt Institute (1913), Cincinnati Art Museum (1916), John Herron Art Institute (1916), and Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester (1917). In addition to frequent participation in annual exhibitions at the National Academy of Design and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Beach was represented in the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915), and in group shows at venues including: Art Institute of Chicago, Boston Art Club, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, and National Arts Club.

The gold medal presented by Académie Julian (1905), Beach's first award, was followed by many other prizes, among them: American Numismatic Society prize for a medal commemorating the Peace of Versailles (1919) and its Saltus Medal for distinguished medallic art (1946); Architectural League of New York gold medal (1924); National Academy of Design Barnett Prize (1907) and Watrous gold medal (1926); National Arts Club medal and prizes (1923, 1926, 1932); and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition silver medal (1915).

Beach was an Academician of the National Academy of Design, a member of the American Numismatic Society, Architectural League of New York, National Arts Club, National Institute of Arts and Letters, and the National Sculpture Society (President, 1927-1928).

For more than 40 years, Beach lived and worked at 207 East 17th Street. The brownstone, purchased in 1913, was large enough for the family's home, his studio, and additional studios that were rented to other artists. Through barter, Beach acquired land in Brewster, New York, and in 1917 hired Italian stonemasons to build a studio. Later, they erected a summer house for the family. Many old stone walls on the site provided material for both buildings and Beach named the property Oldwalls.

After a long illness, Chester Beach died at Oldwalls on August 6, 1956. The funeral service was held at his Brewster, New York, studio and he is buried in Cold Spring Cemetery, Cold Spring, New York.

Separated Materials:

Also in the Archives of American Art is microfilm of papers lent for microfilming (reels N727-N729 and N68-11) including passports, genealogical materials, photograph albums, travel sketches, travel diaries of Mrs. Beach, and business and family correspondence. While the obituary letters on reel N68-11 are referenced in a scrapbook in Series 8, all other loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.

Provenance:

Chester Beach's daughter, Eleanor Beach Fitchen, lent materials for microfilming in 1967 and 1967. Subsequent papers were donated in 2009 by the estate of Eleanor Beach Fitchen, through her grandson and executor, John Fitchen.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. 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:

Sculptors, American -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Eclecticism in architecture  Search this

Sculpture -- Technique  Search this

Sculpture -- Equipment and supplies  Search this

Artists' studios  Search this

Sculpture -- Economic aspects  Search this

Genre/Form:

Scrapbooks

Sketches

Christmas cards

Drawings

Photographs

Prints

Sketchbooks

Citation:

Chester Beach papers, 1846-1999, bulk circa 1900-1999. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Identifier:

AAA.beacches

See more items in:

Chester Beach papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw93fbc1322-a3ff-4570-b08a-68b84efe296b

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-beacches