5 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 3 reels))
0.4 Linear feet (Addition)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1815-1980
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence; scrapbooks and diaries; writings; photographs; medals; passport; engagement calendars; and printed material.
REEL 1344: Letters, 1931-1977, from John Taylor Arms, George Biddle, Mario Bacchelli, Ralston Crawford, Joseph Hirsch, Norman Kent, Leon Kroll, Ezra Pound, Maxfield Parrish, Emilio Sanchez, Barbara and Katherine Ivins, and others. Also included is a photograph of a 1961 poster exhibition, a lecture announcement and Mayor's lecture schedule, writings, and miscellany.
REEL 2322: Ten volumes, 1917-1927, composed while traveling and studying, mostly in Europe. Six volumes contain postcards of architecture and art, a few photos, and typescripts and transcripts of letters to Mayor's grandmother "Minn" [Andella Hyatt], and to "Aunt Anna" [Anna Hyatt Huntington]. He writes about his studies, daily activities, friends, and others, including Bernhard Berenson at i Tatti. Three volumes are diaries written while in Florence, Italy, 1924-1925, Europe, 1925, and Egypt, 1927; and one volume contains reminiscenses of Leon Kroll and Maurice Sachs.
REEL 2336: 20 letters from Mayor to his wife from Spain, 1959, and Europe, 1966; an annotated, 99-page manuscript by Mayor, "The Mutations of Greece"; a travel diary, 1927; and a copy of MAGAZINE OF ART, 1952, with an article by Mayor, "Writing and Painting in China."
UNMICROFILMED: Papers, 1815-1980, including: a passport, 1949-1953; engagement calendars, 1966-1979; personal and business correspondence, 1911-1979; letters to Eliza Cadwell Blackwell (Mayor) from Francis Blackwell, 1815-1819; photographs of Mayor, his family and others, and negatives; published and unpublished writings by Mayor including handwritten notes, typescripts of lectures, galley proofs and newsletters containing articles by Mayor; 3 medals awarded to Francis Blackwell Mayor, 1852-1855; A. Hyatt Mayor's degree from Princeton, 1922, and a citation from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1971; printed material concerning Mayor's aunt, Anna Hyatt Huntington, catalogs, clippings; and miscellany.
Among the photos are: 4 cased daguerreotypes, 1 cased ambrotype, and 11 tintypes, including one taken by Moffett & Sheldon, Newark, N.J., 2 possibly of Alfred G. Mayor, ca. 1868, 1 of Alfred G. Mayor, ca. 1880, and 2 of Joseph Henry Mayor, ca. May 26, 1880.
ADDITION: Manuscripts and writings.
Biographical / Historical:
A. Hyatt Mayor (1901-1980) was a museum curator, art historian, and writer, from New York, N.Y. Former curator of prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Related Materials:
A. Hyatt Mayor Papers, 1904-1946, are located at Syracuse University Libraries Special Collections Research Center.
Provenance:
Material on reel 1344 was lent for microfilming 1977-1978 by A. Hyatt Mayor; a portion was subsequently donated 1980-1981 by Virginia Mayor, his widow, along with additional (unmicrofilmed) material. Material on reels 2322 & 2336 lent for microfilming 1981 by Martha Smith, Mayor's daughter. An additional group of manuscripts and writings was received in 1985 from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which had borrowed the material from Mrs. Mayor and returned it to AAA at her request.
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.
Occupation:
Art museum curators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers, 1878-1964 (20.5 linear feet) of museum curator, director, and art scholar William Mills Ivins (1881-1961) consist of correspondence, writings, notes, photographs, and Ivins family papers. Ivins was Curator of Prints, 1916-1946, Assistant Director, 1933-1938, and Acting Director, 1938-1940 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The collection contains professional and personal correspondence with art historians, art dealers, museum curators, print and book collectors, and artists concerning the history of print making, book design and illustration, print collectors and collecting, exhibitions, and museum administration. Also found are Ivins' published and unpublished writings and lectures, and notes. The collection contains some Ivins' family papers including family correspondence, genealogies, and photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers, 1878-1964 (20.5 linear feet) of museum curator, director, and art scholar William Mills Ivins (1881-1961) consist of personal and professional correspondence, writings, notes, photographs, and Ivins family papers. Ivins was Curator of Prints, 1916-1946, Assistant Director, 1933-1938, and Acting Director, 1938-1940 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The collection contains professional and personal correspondence with art historians, art dealers, museum curators, print and book collectors, and artists concerning the history of print making, book design and illustration, print collectors and collecting, exhibitions, and museum administration. Correspondence files appear to be complete, and correspondence is of substantive content. Also found are Ivins' published and unpublished writings and lectures, and notes. Of particular interest are the letters from Bernard Berenson, Paul J. Sachs, and Theodore Sizer, each of whom corresponded with Ivins freqently over extended periods about both personal and professional and matters.
Ivins' family papers include family correspondence, genealogies, and photographs. The papers of Ivin's wife, illustrator Florence Wyman Ivins (1881-1948), and the correspondence of several other relatives, can be found here augmented by family photographs.
Arrangement:
The collection has been arranged into 7 series. The contents and organization are noted in the individual series descriptions.
Missing Title
Series 1: Professional and Personal Papers, circa 1908-1961 (Boxes 1-8; 6.5 linear ft.)
Series 2: Writings, circa 1910-1960 (Boxes 8-12; 4.9 linear ft.)
Series 3: Publications, 1896-1958 (Boxes 13-14; 2.0 linear ft.)
Series 4: Miscellaneous, 1915, undated (Box 15; 1.0 linear ft.)
Series 5: Ivins Family Papers, 1878-1964, undated (Boxes 16-20; 4.5 linear ft.)
Series 6: Photographs, circa 1890-1940 (Boxes 20-21; 1.5 linear ft.)
Series 7: Oversized Material, 1897-1950 (1 OV folder)
Biographical Note:
William Mills Ivins, Jr. (1881-1961), a lawyer, first became interested in collecting prints and illustrated books while an undergraduate at Harvard. He studied the history of printmaking through self-directed reading, by looking at prints in the major European libraries and museums, and tried his hand at many of the printmaking processes. While practicing law, he wrote articles and organized some small exhibitions of prints as early as 1908. In 1916, the Metropolitan Museum of Art appointed its first Curator of Prints to organize a Department of Prints and Drawings and to develop its small existing collection. Upon the recommendation of Paul J. Sachs who was unable to accept the position, Ivins was selected. He held the post until his retirement some thirty years later.
During his tenure as Curator of Prints, Ivins became one of the most highly-respected individuals in the profession. Under Ivins the collection grew in scope, size, and quality; he acquired materials by cultivating potential donors, and through systematic purchase of pieces not likely to come into the collection by bequest. The department's active exhibition schedule included some especially noteworthy shows, such as The Arts of the Book in 1924.
Ivins was knowledgeable and shared information by writing several books on prints and the history of printmaking, and by writing large numbers of articles for the educated layman. His articles often highlighted items in the permanent collection, and frequently appeared in the museum's Bulletin. He was interested in perspective, psychology of perception, aesthetics, mathematics and modern philosophy, and wrote on these topics, as well.
He was an accomplished speaker and was in much demand as a lecturer. Of particular note were his series on Illustrated Books of the Renaissance at the Morgan Library in 1936, and the 1950 Lowell Lectures (subsequently published under the title Prints and Visual Communication).
In addition to his curatorial duties, Ivins served as Assistant Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art between 1933 and 1938, and was its Acting Director from 1938 until 1940. Francis Henry Taylor was appointed Director in 1940, and Ivins was named to the newly created post of Counselor; failure to attain the directorship was a bitter disappointment, which many attributed to his lack of tact and generally difficult disposition.
Ivins retired in 1946, and continued to write and publish until the mid-1950's. During this period he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Yale University (1946), made an honorary fellow of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1946), named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1950), and invited to deliver the annual lectures at the Lowell Institute (1950). He died at the age of eighty in 1961, after several years of declining health.
Ivins' private collection of prints and illustrated books, which he had continued to amass through the 1930's, was partially dispersed during his lifetime through gifts to the Metropolitan Museum and to a number of university and special libraries. The portion remaining in his estate was sold at auction by Parke Bernet between 1962 and 1964.
Missing Title
1881 -- born to William Mills Ivins and Emma Yard Ivins, Flatbush, N.Y.
1897 -- graduation from St. Paul's School, Concord, N.H.
1901 -- graduation from Harvard (A.B.)
1901-1902 -- travelled in Europe with Paul Haviland, and studied economics at University of Munich
1902-1904 -- employed by The World's Work, writing articles on economic and artistic subjects
1907 -- graduation from Columbia School of Law
1907-1916 -- practiced law in New York City: Ivins, Wolff and Houget for New York Public Service Commission, 1907-1908; Strong and Cadwallader, 1908-1909; Cravath, Henderson, and der Gersdorff, 1909-1916
1908 -- arranged first exhibition of prints, Keppel & Co,
1910 -- marriage to Florence Wyman, an illustrator
1916 -- appointed first Curator of Prints, Metropolitan Museum of Art
c. 1927-1935 -- served on editorial board of Metropolitan Museum Studies
1933-1938 -- Assistant Director, Metropolitan Museum of Art
1937 -- Morgan Library Lectures
1938 -- Honorary Curator of Prints and Drawings, Morgan Library
1938-1940 -- Acting Director, Metropolitan Museum of Art (Note: Mr. Ivins continued to act as Curator of Prints during periods when he was assigned other major administrative responsibilities at the museum)
1940 -- Counselor, Metropolitan Museum of Art
1946 -- Honorary Fellow, Metropolitan Museum of Art; retirement from Metropolitan Museum of Art; Honorary Doctorate, Yale University
1950 -- Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Lowell Lectures (published in 1953 under the title Prints and Visual Communication)
1961 -- death
1962-1964 -- Ivins Collection of Prints and Illustrated Books sold at auction by Parke Bernet
1977-1983 -- William M. Ivins, Jr. Papers donated to the Archives of American Art by his daughter, Barbara Ivins
Provenance:
The William Mills Ivins, Jr., papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by his daughter, Barbara Ivins, in several installments between 1977 and 1983.
Restrictions:
Use of unmicrofilmed material in the holdings of the Archives of American Art requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C., 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.
