This microfilm collection consists of Art in Focus newsletters containing exhibition reviews, discussions of national and local art issues such as legislation and exhibition policies, articles on artists, and listings of gallery and museum exhibitions.
Biographical / Historical:
Art in Focus was a monthly arts newsletter edited and published by Dorothy Grafly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from October 1949 to 1980. It was preceded by Art Outlook, also edited by Grafly and published by Philip Ragan Associates (1943-1949). There were generally nine issues a year, though some issues were missed toward the end of the run as Grafly's health declined.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of Art Outlook, 1943-1949.
Provenance:
Collected in 1990 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project. Microfilmed by the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Topic:
Art -- Exhibitions -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Periodicals Search this
Art -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Periodicals Search this
This microfilm collection of Art Outlook consists of forty-three issues of the monthly arts newsletter. Newsletters contain exhibition reviews, discussions of national and local art issues such as legislation and exhibition policies, articles on artists, and listings of gallery and museum exhibitions.
Biographical / Historical:
Art Outlook was a monthly arts newsletter edited by Dorothy Grafly and published by Philip Ragan Associates in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It ran from January 8, 1943 through the summer of 1949. In October, 1949, Grafly became publisher as well as editor and changed the name to Art in Focus. There were generally nine issues a year.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of Art in Focus, 1949-1980.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1990 by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Topic:
Art -- Exhibitions -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Periodicals Search this
Art -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Periodicals Search this
The papers of landscape painter Mary Butler date from 1853-1946, bulk 1884-1946, and measure 1.6 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, and records relating to Butler's long participation in the Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Also found are notes and writings, a scrapbook, printed material, and photographs of Butler, her friends, her studio in Ogunquit, Maine, her landscape paintings, and exhibition installations.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of landscape painter Mary Butler date from 1853-1946, bulk 1884-1946, and measure 1.6 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, and records relating to Butler's long participation in the Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Also found are notes and writings, a scrapbook, printed material, and photographs of Butler, her friends, her studio in Ogunquit, Maine, her landscape paintings, and exhibition installations.
Biographical material includes genealogical notes on Butler's early family history, biographical accounts, teaching certificates, and letters of recommendation from Butler's instructors including William Merritt Chase, Robert Henri, and William Sartain.
Found within the papers are correspondence with family members, including letters to her cousin Edgar Butler letters from her friend Mrs. Thomas Eakins; and miscellaneous scattered letters from various colleagues including George Biddle, Dorothy Grafly, Thornton Oakley, and Alice Kent Stoddard concerning various topics. Correspondence regarding exhibitions is with arts organizations and colleagues including Henry Thouron and S. Walter Norris.
There are files documenting Butler's long participation in the Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, including a letter from Joseph Pennell, notes, writings, and printed material. Additional printed material includes a scrapbook of clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs. Photographs are of Butler, her friends, her studio in Ogunquit, Maine, views of the Maine coast and of Cathedral Crag in Washington State, Butler's landscape paintings, and miscellaneous exhibition installations.
Arrangement:
The papers are arranged into seven series. Each series is arranged chronologically.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1884-1945 (Box 1; 10 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1853-1944 (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 3: File for the Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1917-1946 (Box 1; 14 folders)
Series 4: Notes and Writings, 1905-1938 (Box 1; 10 folders)
Series 5: Scrapbook, 1908-1942 (Box 1; 5 folders)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1894-1944 (Box 2; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, circa 1870-1945 (Box 3; 0.2 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Mary Butler was born on October 27, 1865 in Uwachlan, Pennsylvania, the daughter of James and Rachel M. (James) Butler.
Butler began her education at the Darlington Seminary. She studied painting at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women (now the Moore College of Art) under William Sartain and Robert Henri, graduating in 1894. Between 1896 and 1902, she studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under William Merritt Chase and Celia Beaux. From 1897 to 1898, she studied at the Académie Colarossi in Paris with Gustave Courtois, René François Xavier Prinet, and Jean-Antoine Injalbert.
She attended a summer school conducted by William Merritt Chase at Shinnacock Hills, and later studied under Robert Henri and Edward W. Redfield. With Redfield, she spent a season at Centre Bridge, Pennsylvania. Butler was primarily a landscape painter and traveled widely in the United States and Europe to find unusual and inspiring views. She also spent summers in Ogunquit and on Monhegan Island, Maine.
In 1909, Butler joined the Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and served as President of that organization from 1921 to 1937. During her tenure, she inaugurated traveling exhibitions, a picture purchasing fund and, in 1915, the Thouron Fund for aid of needy artists.
Throughout her career Butler exhibited extensively and promoted the arts in Philadelphia.
Mary Butler died on March 16, 1946.
Provenance:
The Mary Butler papers were donated in 2005 by Rachel F. Armstrong, the artist's niece.
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.
Occupation:
Landscape painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
A manuscript by Dorothy Grafly concerning her father, Charles Grafly.
Biographical / Historical:
Art critic, author; Philadelphia, Penn. Died 1980. Dorothy Grafly's father, Charles Grafly, was an art instructor and sculptor, trained in Philadelphia. He taught at the Pennsylvania Academy, Drexel Institute, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Other Title:
Charles Grafly papers (microfilm title)
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1985 by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
The sculptor's clay : Charles Grafly (1862-1929) / essay by Dorothy Grafly Drummond ; edited and abridged by Pamela H. Simpson and Donald E. Knaub ; guest curator, Pamela H. Simpson ; catalogue entries by Pamela H. Simpson and Donald E. Knaub
