The Thomas Prichard Rossiter and Rossiter Family papers measure 0.5 linear feet and date from 1840 to 1961. Included are letters to painter Thomas Prichard Rossiter and letters to his son, architect Ehrick Kensett Rossiter, documenting their friendships with many artists and Thomas Prichard Rossiter's sketchbook and loose sketches. Edith Rossiter Bevan's papers include her writings on her grandfather, Thomas Prichard Rossiter; a scrapbook; photographs of the Rossiter family; notes by Bevan; news clippings; and other printed material. Also found is Bevan's collection of artists' letters.
Scope and Content Note:
The Thomas Prichard Rossiter and Rossiter Family papers measure 0.5 linear feet and date from 1840 to 1961. Included are letters to painter Thomas Prichard Rossiter and letters to his son, architect Ehrick Kensett Rossiter, documenting their friendships with many artists. Notable letters are from James Fenimore Cooper, William Morris Hunt, John Jay, J. F. Kensett, William H. Morris, Samuel F. B. Morse, George Peabody, Cecelia Beaux, William A. Coffin, Daniel Chester French, Will H. Low, Gari Melchers, William Sartain, Augustus Vincent Tack, Dwight Tryon, and many others.
The collection contains Thomas Prichard Rossiter's sketchbook drawn while living in Italy in 1943, and three other sketches including a portrait of his family.
Also found are letters to Edith Rossiter Bevan and her writings on her grandfather, Thomas Prichard Rossiter, including a biography and checklist of his paintings. Bevan also compiled a scrapbook on his career and family history which includes drawings by Rossiter, photographs of the Rossiter family and his artwork, notes by Bevan, news clippings, and other printed material.
A collection of Edith Rossiter Bevan's artists' letters is found within the papers. Letters are from Alexander Archipenko, J. Carroll Beckwith, Reginald Birch, Emma M. Cadwalader-Guild, Andre Castaigne, Fanny Cory, Kenyon Cox, Frank Craig, Charles Dana Gibson, Jay Hambridge, Henry Hutt, A. J. Keller, Rockwell Kent, Fiske Kimball, David Scott Moncrieff, H. Siddons Mowbray, Peter Newell, Rhoda Holmes Nicholls, Ralph M. Pearson, Frederic Remington, Otto Soglow, and Elizabeth Whitmore.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 2 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Thomas Prichard Rossiter and Rossiter Family Papers, 1840-1961 (Box 1-2; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 2: Edith Rossiter Bevan Collection of Artists' Letters, circa 1891-1939, 1951 (Box 1; 2 folders)
Biographical Note:
Thomas Prichard Rossiter (1818-1871) was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He first learned painting as an apprentice for a Mr. John Boyd, and also studied with Nathaniel Jocelyn. In 1838 he exhibited two paintings at the National Academy of Design, and in 1939 moved to New York City and opened a studio.
In 1840, Rossiter traveled to Europe with Asher B. Durand, John Kensett, and John Casilaer, and while there visited Rome with Thomas Cole. He decided to stay in Italy until 1846 when he moved to New York City and shared a studio with Kensett and Louis Lang. During this period he relied on portrait painting for his income, but also painted historical and religious paintings.
In 1851 Rossiter married Anna Ehrick Parmly and they toured Europe in 1853. They settled in Paris where Anna gave birth to twins Ehrick Kensett and Charlotte. Rossiter exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1855. Anna died shortly after the birth of their daughter Anna, and the family moved back to New York.
For a brief period of time Rossiter had an art gallery, exhibiting his work and the work of his friends. In 1860 he married Mary (Mollie) Sterling and moved his family to Cold Spring, New York on the Hudson River. He continued to paint portraits, historical, and religious paintings, and exhibited at the National Academy of Design and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, until his death in 1871.
Ehrick Kensett Rossiter (1854-1941), named after his father's friend John Frederick Kensett, attended Cornell University and became an architect in New York as part of the firm Rossiter & Muller. He was a member of the Architectural League, United States Public Architects' League, and trustee of the American Fine Arts Society. In 1877 he married Mary Heath and they had three sons and a daughter. Their daughter Edith Rossiter Bevan was a historian and avid collector of historical autographs.
Related Material:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is a Thomas Prichard Rossiter letter to Elias Beirs dated January 12, 1840.
Provenance:
A portion of the collection was donated in 1957 by Edith Rossiter Bevan, daughter of Ehrick Kensett Rossiter, and granddaughter of Thomas Prichard Rossiter. Additional material was donated in 2007 by Patti Rossiter Ravenscroft, Rossiter's Great Great Granddaughter.
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.
1 Linear foot (ca. 7,000 items (on 6 microfilm reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1841-1973
Scope and Contents:
Papers mainly relating to Hambidge's theory of Dynamic Symmetry, and to Mary Crovatt Hambidge and her efforts to found and support a weaving workshop based on her husband's work.
Included are: biographical documents; Crovatt family letters, 1841-1973, and photographs, ca. 1900-1920; clippings; correspondence, including letters from Jay to Mary, 1914-1923, and one or more letters from George Bellows, Lacey D. Caskey, Robert Henri, William Sargeant Kendall, the League of American Artists, Denman W. Ross, the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, and other scholars and artists; condolence letters, 1924; letters to Mary regarding Jay's theories, her weaving, Greek studies, and the Hambidge Center; subject and correspondence files, including files on George Biddle, Van Wyck Brooks, Harmon Caldwell, George Christy, Hall Clovis, Frank Coleman, Stanton Forbes, Emily Hamblem, Edith Hamilton, Vassos Kanellos, Eva Sikelianos, Ted Shawn, Violet Winterfield, and others; writings by Jay; typescripts of reviews of DYNAMIC SYMMETRY; typescripts of articles mentioning Dynamic Symmetry; sketches; and miscellany.
Arrangement:
Subject and correspondence files are arranged alphabetically.
Biographical / Historical:
Jay Hambidge: mathematician, illustrator; Mary Hambidge: weaver, administrator
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1983 by the Hambidge Center via executive director Mary Nikas and through a resolution from the Board of Trustees. A portion of the material lent was not microfilmed due to its fragile physical condition.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Executive director, The Hambidge Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
5 Microfilm reels (800 items on 5 microfilm reels)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Date:
1864-1942
Scope and Contents:
The microfilmed American Academy of Arts and Letters records consist of artists' papers containing correspondence, notes, biographical material, exhibition catalogs, and other published material. Included is a volume of notes, drawings, and calculations made by George Bellows for a study of Jay Hambidge's theory of Dynamic Symmetry, as well as correspondence and biographical and critical material on George de Forest Brush, Childe Hassam, Francis D. Millet, Joseph Pennell, Elihu Vedder, and J. Q. A. Ward. The Hassam papers include letters from John Taylor arms, E. H. Blashfield, William Merritt Chase, Royal Cortissoz, J. Alden Weir, and Charles Erskine Scott Wood. All groups contain official Academy correspondence from its secretary Robert Underwood Johnson.
Lent to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1965. This is a collection of miscellaneous papers representing a gathering over the years of unsolicited documentary resources on American art given or addressed to the Academy.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Function:
Arts organizations -- New York (State)
Learned institutions and societies -- United States
Correspondence of the Century Magazine and its predecessors, Scribner's Monthly, and St. Nicholas Magazine. Also included is material related to the Century War Series.
Among the correspondents are: Cecilia Beaux, James C. Beckwith, Samuel G. W. Benjamin, William M. Chase, William A. Coffin, Timothy Cole (98 letters), Charles C. Coleman, Royal Cortissoz, Kenyon Cox, Reginald C. Coxe, Christopher P. Cranch, Henry H. Cross, Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, Thomas W. Dewing, Alexander W. Drake, Wyatt Eaton, George W. Edwards, Frank E. Elwell, Gaston Fay, Harry Fenn, Mary H. Foote, William L. Fraser, Charles L. Freer, Daniel C. French, Frank French, Isabella S. Gardner, Jay Hambidge, Charles H. Hart, Arthur Hoeber, George Inness, Jr., August F. Jaccaci, Arthur I. Keller, Edward W. Kemble, Knoedler M. & Company, Christopher G. La Farge, John La Farge, Charles R. Lamb, Florence N. Levy, Frank J. Mather, Leila Mechlin, Gari Melchers, Francis D. Millet, Thomas Moran, Edward L. Morse, Hobart Nichols, Elizabeth Nourse, Thornton Oakley, Violet Oakley, Maxfield Parrish, William O. Partridge, Elizabeth R. Pennell (83 letters & 55p. handwritten article), Joseph Pennell, Henry R. Poore, Eva A. Remington, Henry Reuterdahl, Boardman Robinson, Henry Sandham, DeCost Smith, Jessie W. Smith, Albert E. Sterner, Alfred Stieglitz, William J. Stillman (ca. 95 letters), Lorado Taft, Henry O. Tanner, Abbott H. Thayer, Gerald H. Thayer, Dwight W. Tryon, John C. Van Dyke, Douglas Volk, Irving R. Wiles, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
A quarterly publication on the arts and current affairs.
Other Title:
Century Company collection (NYPL microfilm title)
Provenance:
Microfilmed 1956 by the Archives of American Art with other art-related papers in the Manuscript Division of the New York Public Library. Included in the microfilming project were selected papers of the Art Division and the Prints Division.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
