The Sylvester Rosa Koehler papers measure 5.4 linear feet and date from 1833 to 1904, with the bulk of the material dating from 1870 to 1890. The collection consists primarily of Koehler's extensive correspondence to and from many notable artists and printmakers such as Jean F. Harfin, John M. Falconer, Frederick Juengling, and James D. Smillie, as well as friends, and family members and professional correspondence concerning Koehler's activities as a writer, curator, and editor of the American Art Review. The collection also contains financial records and other miscellaneous items.
Scope and Content Note:
The Sylvester Rosa Koehler papers measure 5.4 linear feet and date from 1833 to 1904, with the bulk of the material dating from 1870 to 1890. The collection consists primarily of Koehler's extensive correspondence to and from many notable artists and printmakers such as Jean F. Harfin, John M. Falconer, Frederick Juengling, and James D. Smillie, as well as friends, and family members and professional correspondence concerning Koehler's activities as a writer, curator, and editor of the American Art Review. The collection also contains financial records and other miscellaneous items.
Correspondence includes hundreds of letters to and from Koehler. Correspondents include many prominent artists, engravers, architects, art critics, curators, historians, journalists, authors, educators, publishers, and others during the late 1800s. Also found is correspondence with family, most of which is in German. Much of the correspondence concerns Koehler's role as editor of the publication American Art Review, and his work promoting American graphic arts.
Financial Records include Koehler's receipts, primarily from 1885, and a handwritten estimate of costs for publishing the American Art Review.
Miscellany includes biographical information on the wood engraver, Alexander Anderson, various notes by unidentified authors, news clippings, programs and handwritten song texts for music performances.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 3 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, circa 1833- circa 1904 (Box 1-6; 5.1 linear feet)
Series 2: Financial Records, circa 1870-circa 1890 (Box 6; 14 folders)
Series 3: Miscellany, circa 1859-circa 1896 (Box 6; 11 folders)
Biographical Note:
Art historian and curator Sylvester Rosa Koehler was born in Leipsic, Germany in 1837. He came to the United States with his family in 1849 and settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts. In 1868 he became the Technical Manager of Louis Prang and Company, a lithograph publisher. Koehler was the founding editor of the American Art Review, which commissioned artists for original etchings, and ran from 1879-1881. Through this publication, as well as his work as writer and exhibition curator, Koehler encouraged an American etching revival in the 1880s. Koehler also published many books on American art and was the first Curator of Prints at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. From 1886 to 1900 he served as the first Curator of Graphic Arts at the United States National Museum, part of the Smithsonian Institution. While there, he created a permanent and traveling exhibition of graphic arts. His knowlege of the art world and his extensive personal contacts brought many important collections to the museum. Koehler died in Littleton, New Hampshire in 1900.
Related Material:
Additional correspondence can be found at the Library of Congress, which houses the Papers of S. R. Koehler, 1868-1904, and includes approximately 3,500 letters. Syracuse University Library houses S. R. Koehler Correspondence, 1879-1896, and includes 107 items.
Provenance:
The collection was purchased from Argosy Book Stores, Inc, in 1959. A letter from John Sartain and eleven letters from William Merritt Chase were donated by Charles E. Feinberg, 1955-1962. Two postcards were donated in 2009 by William A. Turnbaugh, an autograph collector. In 2017, John F. McGuigan Jr. and Mary K. McGuigan donated
sixty-nine letters from A. Barry, Truman Howe Bartlett, William Merritt Chase, Timothy Cole, Edward Henry Clement, Cyrus Edwin Dallin, Robert Swain Gifford, George Inness, Anna Lea Merritt, Stephen Parrish, John Sartain, Francis Hopkinson Smith, and Frederic Porter Vinton.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
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:
Art historians -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
Constitution and minutes of meetings, and a printed announcement.
REEL 801: Constitution and minutes of meetings from the society's inception, October 30, 1850 to September 26, 1855. Some of the members were: Henry P. Beckwith, Alfred Jones, John Halpin, John M. Falconer, Charles Parsons, Samuel V. Hunt and James Glasgow.
REEL 3472: Printed announcement of the opening of the fourth season of the Society's school.
Biographical / Historical:
Professional society; New York City. Also called Society for the Promotion of Painting in Water Colors.
Provenance:
Lent 1974 by the New York Historical Society.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Correspondence, minutes, accession records, building records, and records of the Department of Prints and Drawings.
REELS 536-565: Archives of the Museum, 1875-1954, including: correspondence of the President, Gardiner M. Lane, 1910-1914 (8 letterpress books and 1,256 items); correspondence of the Director, Charles Greely Loring, 1876-1901 (6 vols. and 11,355 items); correspondence of the Assistant Director, Benjamin Ives Gilman, 1894-1902 (6 vols. and 272 items); minutes of the Board of Trustees, 1870-1954 (17 vols.); minutes of the Committee on the Museum, 1875-1954 (25 vols.); minutes of the Executive Committee, 1876-1946 (5 vols.); and Visiting Committee records, 1906-1949 (1 loose leaf binder).
REELS 584-587: Records of the Department of Prints and Drawings, including 2 vols. of correspondence, 1904-1915, 14 accession books, 1872-1946, and 14 record books. Record books include the following: The Sylvester Rosa Koehler Collection, 1893 (3 vols.); the Harvey D. Parker-Henry F. Sewell Collection, 1897-1900 (4 vols.); Objects Entering the Department of Prints and Drawings, 1935-1947; Prices of Prints, 1877-1885; Engravings and Photographs Purchased in Europe, 1886-1887; Visitors to the Gray Collection, 1872-1889; Vistors Register, 1890-1915; and a register of books.
REELS 2493-2497: Building records, including: records of the Copley Square Building with correspondence, 1870-1901, reports, minutes of the Executive Committee, financial records, and a prospectus and subscription list for the William Morris Hunt Memorial Exhibition, 1879; records of the Huntington Avenue Building, with reports, correspondence and financial records related to its personnel, departments, collections, and competitions; and clippings.
REEL 2715: Papers of the print department, ca. 1841-1901, including: letters from Sylvester R. Koehler, curator of the print department, to Charles G. Loring, director of the museum; letters to Koehler concerning printmaking techniques from W. H. Dougal, John M. Falconer, Henry Farrar, Thomas Moran, Walter Rowlands, Walter Shirlaw, James David Smillie, Frederick T. Stuart and Charles A. Walker; a report by Koehler on the print department, January 10, 1888; correspondence regarding the acquisition of the Henry F. Sewall print collection; a handwritten catalog of the Sewall collection, ca. 1880, including printmaker, title, catalog number, collector's mark and value, 463 p.; notes by Koehler; and printed material.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1973-1983 by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
One letter to Maria Bartow Cole, from London; and a letter to Jasper Cropsey, October 14, 1847.
Biographical / Historical:
Portrait, landscape and genre painter, watercolorist and enameler; New York, N.Y. Born in Scotland.
Provenance:
Donated 1954 by Francis W. Robinson.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
