REELS 4675-4677: Twenty-six diaries (1919-1981) and 3 notebooks with sketches, relating to European travel (1928-l930). There are no diaries for 1921-1928. The diaries were begun in Paris to record ideas and concepts relating to painting. They were later expanded to include reflections and thoughts about people, and they also reflect Gammell's strong interest in Jungian psychology and opera. He often used code names for people chosen from Biblical, mythological, or foreign language sources.
ADDITION: Papers, 1883-1956, comprised mainly of writings, the bulk relating to French academic painting, including 2 annotated typescripts of his Twilight of Painting (published 1946), with photo transparencies of Henri Regnault's "Automedon" for its cover. Other writings relate to Francis Thompson' poem "The Hound of Heaven" with illustrations based on a mural series by Gammell, ca. 1955-56; and to his colleague and teacher William MacGregor Paxton, "William Paxton and the End of an Epoch," (unpublished), ca. 1941-45. Also found are photographs of the Jean Léon Gérome atelier, Paris, 1883 (mounted) and of Dennis Miller Bunker.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, writer; Boston, Mass. Studied with Boston School painter William MacGregor Paxton. In 1946, Gammell's Twilight of Painting: an Analysis of Recent Trends to Serve in a Period of Reconstruction, was published. In addition to being a prolific writer, he was an allegorical painter; his major works incorporated classical, religious, imaginative, and contemporary cultural elements. A series of paintings based on Francis Thompson's poem, "Hound of Heaven" are considered to be some of his most important works. His biography of painter Dennis Miller Bunker was published in 1953.
Provenance:
Diaries and notebooks on reels 4675-4677 were lent for microfilming 1991 by Elizabeth Hunter, goddaughter of R.H. Ives Gammell. She donated additional papers 1998. Additions from Hunter are expected.
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 (mostly typed transcripts); scrapbooks; photographs; sketches; notebooks and scrapbooks and clippings compiled by Dorothy Weir Young in preparation for her book, The Life and Letters of J. Alden Weir (1960, Yale University Press).
REEL 70: Typescripts of 31 letters including: correspondence between Weir, his family and friends, 1881; letters to Weir from A. D. Peppercorn, Charles Baude and Robert Hinckley; letters from Weir to his parents; and correspondence with his brother John Ferguson Weir. Also included are 13 original letters, 1881, to Weir from George Inness, Worthington Whittredge, Daniel Huntington and others; 2 exhibition catalogs, 1916 & 1952; 3 indexed scrapbooks, 1892-1916, containing clippings about Weir's paintings, letters, photos and receipts; a scrapbook containing prints by Weir (often several states of each are included), untitled and undated, some of which are of family and friends; a scrapbook of prints, "Etchings- J. A. Weir, Isle of Man 1889"; sketches; photographs; and clippings.
REEL 71: Correspondence (mostly transcripts), 1869-1880, including: over 200 letters from Weir to his parents and 50 to his brother John Ferguson Weir, mostly from Paris where Julian was a student of Jean Leon Gerome and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts; letters from James Carroll Beckwith, Charles Baude, Wyatt Eaton, Jean Leon Gerome, John Singer Sargent, Albert Edelfelt, Charles Dubois, Filadelfo Simi, John Henry Twachtman, Joseph Wencker, Jules Bastien-Lepage, and his father and brother; excerpts from diaries of trips in Europe; reproductions of works of art and architectural scenes; and miscellany.
REELS 125-126: Notebooks and scrapbooks compiled by Dorothy Weir Young and clippings; catalogs; and correspondence of her sister, Mrs. Caroline Alden Ely (Mrs. Page Ely). The notebooks contain mostly typescripts of letters to and from Weir during 1882-1920, plus some photographs; original letters; and memorabilia. The scrapbooks contain photographs of Weir's works; notes; some original letters; and clippings.
REEL 577: Fragments (45 pp.) of a rough draft of Weir's biography, devoted to Weir's career from 1898 to 1900, with particular reference to the "revolt" of "The Ten" from the Society of American Artists.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, etcher, printmaker; New York, N.Y. and Connecticut. Weir was the son of painter Robert Walter Weir (1803-1889), and brother of painter John Ferguson Weir (1841-1926).
Related Materials:
Researchers should also consult the Weir family papers for additional material of and about Julian Alden Weir.
Provenance:
Material on reels 70-71 & 125-126 lent for microfilming 1971 by Mrs. Caroline Weir Ely (Mrs. Page Ely, d. 1974), sister of Dorothy Weir Young; both daughters of Julian Alden Weir. The donor of the draft of the biography on reel 577 is unspecified.
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.
47 photographs of 43 artists in their Paris studios. Artists include: Louise Abbema, Albert Aublet, Riene Bellcourt, Jean Beraud, Paul Albert Besnard, Maurice Bompard, Leon Joseph Florentin Bonnat, Gustave Rodolphe Clarence Boulanger, William Adolphe Bouguereau, Frederick Arthur Bridgman, Alexandre Cabanel, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Georges Jules Victor Clairin, Louis Joseph Rapheal Collin, Jean-Joseph Benjamin Constant, Fernand Cormon, Gustave Courtois, Pascal Adolphe Jean Dagnan, Jean Baptiste Edouard Detaille, Ernest Ange Duez, Carolus Duran, Jean Alexandre Joseph Falguiere, T. R. Fleury, J. Frappa, Walter Gay, Jean Leon Gerome, Henri Gervex, George Peter Alexander Healy, Antoine Auguste Ernest Hebert, Jean Jacques Henner, Charles Jacques, Jean Paul Laurens, Jules Lefebvre, Albert Maignan, Luc Olivier Merson, Aime Nicolas Morot, Mihaly Munkacsy, Alphonse Wane de Neuville, Georges Rochegrosse, Alfred Philippe Roll, John Singer Sargent, Alfred Stevens, and George Adolphus Storey.
The studios show mainly a strong Moorish influence.
Provenance:
Donated by the George Walter Vincent Smith Museum, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1971, which had received them from a Mrs. Kirkham?, a painter who probably purchased them while studying in Paris.
1.1 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 2 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1882-1985
bulk 1882-1931
Scope and Contents:
Biographical material, letters, notes and writings, a monograph design, printed material, a scrapbook, and photographs.
REEL 2813: Eighteen letters to Haberle regarding the exhibition and sale of his work, 1891-1901; and a letter from J. William Middendorf to Haberle's son-in-law, Victor Demmer, concerning a Haberle exhibition at the Whitney Museum of Art, 1966.
UNMICROFILMED: Biographical material; an autobiographical account, 1925; letters to Haberle from colleagues discussing his work, 1870-1915; letters from Haberle to his wife Sarah "Sadie" Haberle, 1893-1898, and his daughter Vera, 1898; and letters to Vera and Victor Demmer and Gladys Haberle Fresnada concerning Haberle's work, 1960-1971, from Alfred Frankenstein and others; notes and writings including poems, 1925, musical annotations, a card file on writing, 8 pages from a travel journal, 1931, and "directions for finishing the painting donated to New Britain."
Also included are a monogram design, 1903; photographs of Haberle, members of his family, 1894, works of art, 1888, views of 2 houses, 1960, and artists in their studios including Georges Clairin, Benjamin Constant, Jean Léon Gérome, Mihaly Munkacsy, and Georges Rochegrosse; clippings, 1887-1970; a scrapbook containing greeting cards and stickers; and printed material, 1874-1932.
Biographical / Historical:
Still-life painter, art instructor; New Haven, Conn. Haberle was apprenticed to a lithography and engraving company during the 1870s, studied at the National Academy of Design between 1884 and 1885 and later founded the New Haven Sketch Club, where he also taught. He specialized in trompe l'oeil still-life paintings, producing most of this work between 1887 and 1900. Deteriorating eyesight caused him to paint broader, more traditional still-lifes and landscapes in later life.
Provenance:
Material on reel 2813 was donated 1969 by Mrs. Vera Haberle Demmer, the daughter of John Haberle. Material on reel 3753 lent, and unmicrofilmed material donated 1986 by James and Claudia Mize, descendants of Haberle.
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.
The papers of painter and teacher Douglas Volk (1856-1935) and his father, sculptor Leonard Wells Volk (1828-1895), measure 12.4 linear feet and date from circa 1858-1965, 2008, with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1870-1935. Douglas Volk's papers document his life and career through biographical material, family and professional correspondence, writings and notes, diaries and journals, financial records, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork and sketchbooks, and photographs of the artist, his family, friends, and artwork. The papers also provide documentation of the formation and operations of the Sabatos Handicraft Society established with Marion Volk from the Volk's summer home, Hewnoaks, in Center Lovell, Maine. Scattered documentation of the life and work of Leonard Wells Volk, is found in biographical material, land records, letters, memoirs, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter and teacher Douglas Volk (1856-1935) and his father, sculptor Leonard Wells Volk (1828-1895), measure 12.4 linear feet and date from circa 1858-1965, 2008, with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1870-1935. Douglas Volk's papers document his life and career through biographical material, family and professional correspondence, writings and notes, diaries and journals, financial records, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork and sketchbooks, and photographs of the artist, his family, friends, and artwork. The papers also provide documentation of the formation and operations of the Sabatos Handicraft Society established with Marion Volk from the Volk's summer home, Hewnoaks, in Center Lovell, Maine. Scattered documentation of the life and work of Leonard Wells Volk, is found in biographical material, land records, letters, memoirs, and photographs.
Douglas Volk's papers form the bulk of the collection and document all stages of his life from his first visits to Europe during his teenage years, until his death. Biographical material includes address books, biographical notes, genealogical records of Volk's family, and a warranty deed for land purchased by Marion Volk in Center Lovell, Maine, in 1904.
Family correspondence is primarily between Douglas and Marion throughout their courtship and marriage, but also includes letters from other family members including daughter Marion Volk Bridge and sons Wendell and Gerome Volk. General correspondence is with colleagues, art galleries, societies, institutions and museums, schools and colleges, government agencies, and others. Also found are letters from artists including George de Forest Brush, Elliott Daingerfield, Cass Gilbert, Philip Leslie Hale, Swedish woodcarver Karl von Rydingsvard, and J. Alden Weir; and friends Felix Adler and Percival Chubb.
Douglas Volk's writings and notes are on art, art instruction for children, and the significance and influence of his father's work, particularly Leonard Volk's Lincoln life mask, and include drafts of his monograph "Art Instruction in Public Schools."
Diaries and journals record details of Volk's early art education in Europe, including his friendships with Eugene Benson and George de Forest Brush and others, his time spent studying under Jean-Léon Gérôme at the École des Beaux Arts, his appointment by the National Art Committee to paint portraits of World War I era politicians and military figures, and his Lincoln portrait painted just prior to Volk's death.
Financial records document day-to-day routine expense, as well as sales of artwork and other art-related transactions.
Printed material and a scrapbook of clippings and letters include press coverage of Douglas Volk's career from the early 1900s to 1918. An additional scrapbook provides documentation of the Sabatos Handicraft Society, including a copy of one of only three known editions of the society's publication The Fire Fly. Artwork includes sketches, two small oil paintings, and fifteen sketchbooks of Douglas Volk.
Photographs include portraits taken at various stages of Volk's career, family photographs, photographs of the main house at Hewnoaks and additional buildings, photographs of several artists including William Merritt Chase and Karl von Rydinsgsvard, photographs of world leaders including David Lloyd George, King Albert of Belgium, and General John J. Pershing, and photographs of artwork.
The papers of Leonard Wells Volk include seven volumes of his hand-written memoirs which document his relationship with Stephen A. Douglas, his first meeting with Lincoln, and his involvement with the Chicago Academy of Design. Also found are three letters including one written to Douglas Volk in 1887, and a memorandum related to the value of Leonard Wells Volk's Lincoln and Douglas statues at the Illinois State House. Photographs include three of Leonard Wells Volk, photographs of other family members including his wife Emily, photos of houses and woodland scenes, and photos of artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 2 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Douglas Volk Papers, circa 1870-1965, 2008 (11.85 linear feet; Boxes 1-12, 15-16, OVs 13-14)
Series 2: Leonard Wells Volk Papers, circa 1858-circa 1930 (0.45 linear feet; Boxes 11-12)
Biographical / Historical:
Chicago sculptor Leonard Wells Volk (1828-1895) created one of only two life masks of Abraham Lincoln. His son, painter and teacher Douglas Volk (1856-1935), was known for his figure and portrait paintings. Douglas Volk and his wife Marion Larrabee Volk established the Sabatos Handicraft Society, producing homespun woolen rugs and textiles from their summer home in Center Lovell, Maine.
Leonard Wells Volk was raised in New York State and Massachusetts, before moving to St. Louis to learn modeling and drawing. Around 1852 he married Emily Clarissa King Barlow, a cousin of Senator Stephen A. Douglas. Douglas took an interest in Volk's career and helped finance his trip to Rome and Florence between 1855 and 1857, where Volk studied art. On returning from Europe Volk settled in Chicago, opening a studio there and establishing himself as a leader in art circles and a founder of the Chicago Academy of Design. He served as president of the Academy (later the School of the Art Institute of Chicago) for eight years. Volk recorded his first meeting with Lincoln during the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates, and the subsequent 1860 sittings with Lincoln for the life mask, hands, and bust, in his memoirs. The mask served as a model for many sculptors who made later portraits of Lincoln. Volk's other important works include the Rock Island County Soldier's Monument in Rochester, New York (1869), statues of Lincoln and Douglas for the Illinois Statehouse (1876), a bust of Douglas, and the Douglas Tomb monument (1881) in Chicago.
Douglas Volk was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 1856. His artistic education began in his teens when he traveled to Europe with his family. In the early 1870s he lived in Rome and Venice, spending time with his friends George de Forest Brush and J. Alden Weir. He moved to Paris in 1873 where he studied at the École des Beaux Arts with Jean-Léon Gérôme, and exhibited his first picture, In Brittany, at the 1875 Paris Salon.
In 1879 Volk returned to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Cooper Union. He was elected to the Society of American Artists in 1880 and married Marion Larrabee in 1881. In 1883 Volk became a founder of the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts and was appointed the first president of the subsequent Minneapolis School of Fine Arts in 1886, a position he held until 1893. During his time in Minneapolis, Volk purchased a summer studio and retreat in Osceola, Wisconsin, and he and Marion had four children: Leonard (1882-1891), Wendell (1884-1953), Marion (1888-1973) and Gerome (1890-1959).
In 1893 Volk returned to New York and accepted a position at the Art Students League, where he taught from 1893-1898, and also resumed his post at Cooper Union. He became interested in innovative ways to teach art and art history to children, and in 1895 the National Academy of Design printed his essay "A Plea for Art in the Public Schools," in its annual exhibition catalog. He was elected an associate of the Academy in 1898, becoming a full academician in 1899.
In 1898, looking to provide the family with a summer retreat, Marion Volk purchased property with a friend in Center Lovell, Maine, an area already enjoyed by the couple's friends, George de Forest Brush and Percival Chubb. The property was divided in 1901 and Marion added to her half creating a lot of approximately twenty-five acres. The Volks renovated the house, which they named Hewnoaks, and eventually built four more cottages and a studio for Douglas Volk on the property. During this period Marion Volk was working with handwoven wool on traditional area looms using fruit and vegetable hand-dyes and designs based on motifs from Native American art. In 1902 the Volks held the founding meeting of the Sabatos Handicraft Society at Hewnoaks, and the property became the hub of a Center Lovell community effort to produce rugs, textiles, and other handicrafts using traditional methods. Daughter Marion worked with her mother, and son Wendell, a printmaker and woodcaver, operated the Hewn Beam Press, printing pamphlets and a newsletter entitled the Fire Fly: A Periodical of Fearless Endeavour. Swedish-born wood carver Karl von Rydingsvard offered classes on wood carving at Hewnoaks, assisted by Wendell Volk.
Douglas Volk worked to make the Hewnoaks handicraft movement a success, but focused primarily on his own painting. The Maine woods provided endless inspiration and the setting for many of his paintings and murals, which primarily depicted romanticized historical subjects in Colonial America and reflected his traditional academic training. One of his best known works, The Boy with the Arrow (1903), a portrait of his son Leonard "Leo" Volk who died at the age of eight, is now in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Volk taught at the National Academy of Design from 1910-1917. He served as recording secretary and then on the council for the organization from 1910-1919. His acclaimed intimate portraits of friends and acquaintances, including Felix Adler (1914) and William Macbeth (1917), were painted during this period. In 1919 Volk was one of a group of artists commissioned by the National Art Committee to paint major figures from World War I. He subsequently painted portraits of King Albert of Belgium, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and General John J. Pershing, and recorded his meetings and sittings with the three men in his journals.
For the last fifteen years of his life Volk, using his father's life mask, painted a series of portraits of Abraham Lincoln, one of which hangs in the Lincoln Bedroom at The White House.
At least fifteen years prior to her death in 1925, Marion Volk's involvement in handicrafts at Hewnoaks declined, while Douglas Volk continued to focus on his own work. Wendell Volk's career in civil engineering took precedence over his interest in weaving and woodcarving and both he and his brother Gerome moved West in 1909. Following Douglas Volk's death in Fryeburg, Maine in 1935, Wendell Volk and his wife Jessie, also an artist, ultimately took possession of Hewnoaks. Wendell died in 1953, but the property was eventually bequeathed by Jessie Volk to the University of Maine and now operates as an artist colony.
Separated Materials:
Volumes 1, 3, 6-7, 9, and 10 of Leonard Volk's memoirs form part of the Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana in the Library of Congress.
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel 4280) including correspondence of Leonard Volk and photographs of his artwork. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The George Arents Research Library, Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York first lent material for microfilming in 1989. Most of the material was then donated in 2004–2005 by Jessie J. Volk, the daughter-in-law of Douglas Volk, who also bequeathed the Volk estate including additional Volk papers to the University of Maine. In 2006, University officials arranged for an auction of much of the property of the estate including the remaining family papers. The Volk Family estate auction was conducted by Cyr Auction Co., in Gray, Maine, on July 19, 2006. Several individuals purchased parts of the papers at that auction and subsequently donated them to the Archives. Those donors are: David Wright, who acquired the 1875 journal and Brush letters and donated them to the Archives in 2006; Dr. Christine Isabelle Oaklander, who purchased the account book, 1873–1875, and donated it to the Archives in honor of Judith Ellen Throm in 2007, and also donated additional letters and a photograph in 2008; and Mary K. and John F. McGuigan Jr., who purchased correspondence (1120 letters), speeches, lectures, articles, checks, check stubs and miscellaneous items and donated them to the Archives in 2015. In 2007, the University of Maine Foundation via Amos Orcutt donated the 1934 journal and 60 photographs.
John F. McGuigan Jr. and Mary K. McGuigan have purchased and donated additional archival materials to the Archives, including the Mary K. McGuigan and John F. McGuigan Jr. artists' letters collection, and 69 letters now among the Sylvester Rosa Koehler papers.
In 2007, the University of Maine Foundation via Amos Orcutt donated the 1934 journal and 60 photographs that were part of the Volk Family estate, but not included in the June 19, 2006 auction.
In 2019 Dr. Christine Isabelle Oaklander donated additional material purchased at auction, primarily photographs and some printed material.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Correspondence; photographs; index card files; books; pages from a notebook; artwork; notes and diagrams; and printed material.
Correspondence with Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, 1927-1928, Ferris's widow, 1930-1941, and others, 1926-1945, regarding Ferris's gift to the Smithsonian Institution of his prints, paintings, miscellaneous items, and works of art by his father Stephen James Ferris. Included are photos of Mrs. Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome Ferris's studio, 1939, and his brass vessel collection; 21 letters from artist Jean Leon Gerome to Stephen James Ferris (in French, 9 with translations), 1887-1903; a letter and a postcard from Gerome to J. L. G. Ferris, 1903; notes to the Ferrises from Gerome's widow, 1904; and an invitation to Gerome's memorial service, 1904.
Pages from a notebook, circa 1940, and a sketch by Tolman; a 1929 letter from Mantle Fielding, regarding miniatures by Gilbert Stuart; and correspondence between Roma Harlan and Tolman, while Tolman was Director of the National Collection of Fine Arts.
Card files on art collections, artists, dealers, collectors, sales transactions and lost paintings; photographs, mostly 1930s, of Tolman's family, dealers, collectors, galleries, places visited, Smithsonian buildings, scenes of Washington, D.C., works of art and miscellaneous subjects; the book " The Life and Works of Edward Greene Malbone, 1777-1807" by Tolman, 1958; letters, 1910-1948 and undated; notes and diagrams about color and painting; artwork, undated and 1921-1951, including etchings, prints, watercolor sketches, many produced as Christmas cards; printed material including newspaper clippings, 1910-1952 and two exhibition catalogs, 1920 and 1924. Also included are a catalog of works, undated, by Charles Gruppe, signed by Gruppe, and the book "Early American Portrait Painters in Miniature" by Theodore Bolton, 1921, signed by Tolman. A photograph of Tolman and Bolton seated, 1950, is attached to the cover page of the book.
Biographical / Historical:
Ruel P. Tolman (1878-1954) was a museum director and printmaker in Washington, D.C. Tolman was the Director of National Collection of Fine Arts, 1946-1948.
Provenance:
Card files and some photographs donated 1979 by Thomas M. Beggs, Tolman's successor as director of NCFA. Material on reels 2677 and 3480 transferred 1981 and 1986 from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Additional unmicrofilmed material transferred 2006 and 2015 from SAAM/NPG library.
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.
Occupation:
Art museum directors -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
The letters of Thomas Eakins measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1866 to 1934. They primarily document the period between 1866 and 1869 that he spent studying art in Paris, as well as his career as a portrait artist.
Scope and Content Note:
The letters of Thomas Eakins measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1866 to 1934. They primarily document the period between 1866 and 1869 that he spent studying art in Paris, as well as his career as a portrait artist.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection, items are categorized into one series consisting of five folders. Items are arranged chronologically.
Biographical Note:
Realist painter Thomas Eakins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1844. He was encouraged by his parents to develop his talent in art, and in 1862 he entered the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Also during this period Eakins developed an interest in anatomy, revealed later in the realistically detailed Gross Clinic, painted in 1875. In 1866 he moved to Paris, where he studied painting with Jean-Léon Gérôme at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts for three years, and briefly with sculptor Augustin-Alexandre Dumont and painter Léon Bonnat. He toured Spain for six months in 1870 and then returned to Philadelphia to become a portrait artist. Eakins began teaching at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and became its director of instruction in 1882. During this period he also met fellow artist Susan MacDowell and they were married in 1884. While at the Academy, he promoted a curriculum based on the study of the human figure, and began using photography as a method of study for his paintings. A dispute over the use of nude models forced Eakins to resign from the Academy in 1886, but he continued painting and exhibiting until his death in 1916.
Provenance:
Letters from Eakins to his family were donated by Dr. Caroline Crowell, daughter of Frances Eakins Crowell, and niece of Thomas Eakins. Other letters were donated in 1962 and 1963 by Irving Levitt and Lawrence Fleischman. Both accessions were microfilmed upon receipt.
Restrictions:
The bulk of the collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website. 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:
Portrait painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Topic:
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
This small collection of scattered papers of painter and illustrator Charles E. Waltensperger measures 1.2 linear feet and dates from 1893-1931. Papers include biographical material, scattered correspondence between family members, sales records, engagement diaries, notes, sketches of the human form, printed material, and photographs of Waltensperger, his family, colleagues, and travel scenes.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of painter and illustrator Charles E. Waltensperger date from 1893-1931 and measure 1.2 linear feet. Biographical material includes passports and membership cards, including one for the Scarab Club. Letters are generally from members of the Waltensperger family discussing travels. One letter from Waltensperger briefly mentions his studies at the Académie des Beaux Arts and his instructor, Jean-Léon Gérôme, "who is perhaps the best that ever happened. He is very severe and no fancy stuff goes with him." Business records consists primarily of receipts, but also include account books documenting sales. Also found within the papers are annotated engagement diaries, notebooks that contain addresses, notes about art, and annonated sketches, and miscellaneous notes. There is one folder of Waltensperger's artwork consisting of sketches of the human form. Printed material including clippings and exhibition catalogs relating to Waltensperger and others. Photographs found here are of Waltensperger, his family and friends, and scenes from his travels.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1905-1931 (Box 1; 2 folders)
Series 2: Letters, 1899-1931 (Box 1; 19 folders)
Series 3: Business Records, 1925-1931 (Box 1; 4 folders)
Series 4: Engagement Diaries, 1914-1931 (Box 1; 6 folders)
Series 5: Notes and Writings, 1913-1931 (Box 1; 8 folders)
Series 6: Artwork, circa 1890-circa 1930 (Box 1; 1 folder)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1896-1931 (Box 1; 19 folders)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1890-circa 1930 (Box 1, 2; 25 folders)
Biographical Note:
Charles E. Waltensperger was born on April 10, 1871 in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Emily and Fred Waltensperger, a merchant.
Waltensperger studied art at the Julius Melchers School with fellow students Joseph Kraemer, Myron Barlow, and Fred Leipziger. While working as an elevator operator for the Detroit Free Press, Waltensperger made sketches of the passengers. This attracted the attention of publisher William E. Quinby, who was so impressed with his drawings that he paid Waltensperger's tuition at the school of the Detroit Museum of Art.
During the early 1890s, Waltensperger exhibited his work in a competition at the Detroit Institute of Arts and was awarded a James E. Scripps scholarship that financed his art studies for two years in Europe. He studied both at the Académie des Beaux Arts under Jean-Léon Gérôme, and at the Académie Julian in Paris in 1893. Upon his return to the United States, Waltensperger was employed as a commercial artist and worked as an illustrator for the Detroit Free Press. He also illustrated books written by M. Quad, the pseudonym of humorist Charles Bertrand Lewis.
Waltensperger later established his own studio and turned his interest to creating oil paintings, primarily of Dutch interiors. He traveled extensively in Europe and in New England. He was a member of a group of Detroit artists known as the Hopkin Club that held exhibitions at the Old Detroit Museum of Art before they established the Scarab Club.
Waltensperger never married and during the last five years of his life, ill health forced him to curtail his travels. He died of a heart attack on December 12, 1931 in Detroit.
Provenance:
The Charles E. Waltensperger papers were donated in 1973 by the artist's brother, George Waltensperger, through Mrs. Beverly Bassett who was conducting a survey of Michigan artists. In 1979, two photographs and two letters were donated.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use 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.
