5.1 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 6 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1905-1969
Scope and Contents:
Photographs, correspondence, appointment books, etchings, a scrapbook, printed materials, writings, and posters.
REEL D113: Primarily letters received from artists, 1940s-50s; background material for Ft.Lee and Amsterdam (N.Y.) murals; and miscellaneous printed material and photographs.
Correspondents include John Angel, Artists Equity, Peggy Bacon, Gifford Beal, Henry Billings, Isabel Bishop, Peter Blume, Louis Bouche, Van Wyck Brooks, Audrey Buller, Paul Cadmus, Alexander Calder, William Congdon, Horace T. Day, Olin Dows, Marcel Duchamp, Emlen P. Etting, Philip Evergood, Barry Faulkner, Ernest Fiene, Leon Hartl, Whitney F. Hoyt, William M. Ivins, Jr., Lincoln E. Kirstein, Leon Kroll, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Edward Laning, Joseph L. Lasker, Clare Leighton, Charles W. Locke, Sanford B.D. Low, Luigi Lucioni, Reginald Marsh, Kenneth H. Miller, Nat'l Institute of Arts and Letters, Betty Parsons, Hugo Robus, Homer Saint-Gaudens, Katherine Schmidt, Ben Shahn, Charles Sheeler, Eugene Speicher, Theodoros Stamos, Franklin C. Watkins, Forbes and Nan Watson, and Leonard Weisgard.
REEL 847: Photographs, including 67 of Schnakenberg and friends, 1 of a portrait of him by Lloyd Goff, 95 of his oil paintings, 33 of his watercolors, 25 of his works in unidentified media, 29 of works by other artists, and 46 of pre-Columbian art from Central and South America. Among artists whose works are included are Antoine Louis Barye, Albert Bierstadt, Frederick Catherwood, Constantin Guys, Thomas Hardy, William Harnett, Winslow Homer, George Inness, Eastman Johnson, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Reginald Marsh, Rockland Savery, Theodoros Stamos, and Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait.
REELS 850-853: Biographical information; personal and business correspondence; 17 diaries, mainly about Schnakenberg's travels, 1905-1960; appointment calendars, 1963-1969; 70 etchings by Schnakenberg; a scrapbook containing clippings, catalogs, and other printed material; a book published by G. Alan Chidsey on Schnakenberg; clippings, catalogs, and announcements; papers relating to gifts and acquisitions of works of art; receipts for Schnakenberg paintings from C.W. Kraushaar Galleries; a 650-page typescript for a book "The Background of Painting" by Schnakenberg; and drafts of speeches.
UNMICROFILMED: Six World War I posters designed by Schnakenberg; Christmas cards from artists and other friends; printed material; and a photograph of Lloyd Goff, inscribed to Schnakenberg, in front of one of his paintings, 1939.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, etcher; Newton, Conn.
Provenance:
Material donated 1963-1971 by Schnakenberg and, after his death, by his estate.
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.
Files on artists in Burton's collection; and letters, documents and printed material collected by him.
Files: 58 files on artists in Burton's collection primarily containing a few photographs of works of art. Also found in the files are photocopies of notes, letters from curators and dealers, and printed material. Artists include Thomas Anshutz, Claude Bentley, Albert Bierstadt, Albert Blakelock, Warren Brandy, Charles Burchfield, Rosalba Carriera, William M. Chase, Thomas Cole, Jasper F. Cropsey, Charles Culver, Stuart Davis, Charles Demuth, Roelof De Vries, Thomas W. Dewing, Asher B. Durand, George H. Durrie, Thomas Eakins, Lyonel Feininger, Morris Graves, William Harnett, Childe Hassam, Marsden Hartley, Martin Johnson Heade, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Thomas Hovenden, George Inness, Eastman Johnson, James Kearns, John F. Kensett, Earl Krentzin, Le Gendre, John Marin, Reginald Marsh, Gari Melchers, Jerome Myers, George L. K. Morris, Guy Pène du Bois, John F. Peto, Maurice Prendergast, Constance Richardson, Theodore Robinson, John Singer Sargent, Sarkis Sarkisian, Ben Shahn, Charles Sheeler, Everett Shinn, Adam Silo, John Sloan, Tintoretto, Mark Tobey, John Vanderlyn, Elihu Vedder, Robert Vickery, Franklin Watkins, Max Weber, and James McNeill Whistler. These files are unmicrofilmed.
Letters and other manuscript materials include: a letter from William Gropper to Burton (1964) discussing a museum's purchase of Yasuo Kuniyoshi's portrait of Gropper, and mentioning Gropper's spatter technique; a letter from Eastman Johnson, dated June 8, 1985 to an unknown recipient; a document certifying an artist's shipment, signed by Benjamin West, July 20, 1819; and 3 letters written by John Singer Sargent to: S.H. Church, July 3, 1906, to Mr. Lull, June 15, 1922, and to Mrs. Winthrop Chandler, June 12, 1924. The letter to Church declines an invitation to the dedication of the new Carnegie Institute in spring 1907.
Printed materials include: a book REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE U.S. COAST SURVEY FOR 1854 (published in 1855) with an engraving "View of the Eastern Extremity of Anacapa Island - From the Southward" by James McNeill Whistler in the margin of a map in the appendix; a book GIST OF ART by John Sloan (1944) inscribed "To an old friend J. K. Hulliung / John Sloan, Hotel Chelsea, April 1951," decoratively bound by Hulliung and held in a fur-covered box and containing 3 clippings about Sloan (1949-1951); a book AN ISLAND GARDEN by Celia Thaxter with illustrations by Childe Hassam (1894); a calendar, AMERICAN BLOCK PRINT CALENDAR with a print by a different artist for every week of the year (1937).
Biographical / Historical:
Art collector; Detroit, Mich. Dr. Burton's collection consisted of mainly 19th and 20th century American paintings. He started his collection in 1957. The first purchases were two paintings by Edward Hopper and Morris Graves, through a show sponsored by the Friends of Modern Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts. By 1966, the collection consisted of over 60 paintings, drawings and etchings, and over 100 objects such as pottery, bronzes, glass, etc.
Other Title:
John Singer Sargent papers (microfilm title)
Benjamin West papers (microfilm title)
Provenance:
Donated by Irving Burton, 1962-1997. Three books were placed in AAA's library.
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.
Photographs of a charcoal sketch and 2 oil portraits of A. C. Thieme's grandparents, Johann Adrian Friederich Thieme and Alida Elisabeth Lothz Thieme. The oil portraits were painted by Eastman Johnson while he was in Holland, 1852-1853.
Provenance:
Donated 1963 by C.J.F. Thieme, great-grandson of the subjects of the portraits, and Anna Cornelia (A.C.) Thieme, granddaughter of the subjects and owner of the art works. According to A. C. Thieme, Johnson painted the portraits at the request of her grandparents, who had seen the sketch of themselves while staying in a hotel in Holland,1852, where Johnson was compiling background faces for a painting.
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.
The James D. Smillie and Smillie family papers measure 5.6 linear feet and date from 1853 to 1957. The collection consists of the papers of four members of the Smillie family including James Smillie, his sons James David and George Henry Smillie, and George's wife, Helen 'Nellie' Jacobs Smillie. The majority of the papers are those of James D. Smillie, comprised of correspondence, forty-five daily diaries, a scrapbook, printed materials, and one etching. The papers of James Smillie consist of biographical materials and writings. The George Smillie papers include biographical materials, scattered correspondence, a scrapbook, printed materials, and photographs. The Helen Jacobs Smillie papers include corrrespondence and photographs. Also found are scattered materials relating to other family members, mostly the children of Helen Jacobs and George Smillie.
Scope and Content Note:
The James D. Smillie and Smillie family papers measure 5.6 linear feet and date from 1853 to 1957. The collection consists of the papers of four members of the Smillie family including James Smillie, his sons James David and George Henry Smillie, and George's wife, Helen 'Nellie' Jacobs Smillie. The majority of the papers are those of James D. Smillie, comprised of correspondence, forty-five daily diaries, a scrapbook, printed materials, and one etching. The papers of James Smillie consist of biographical materials and writings. The George Smillie papers include biographical materials, scattered correspondence, a scrapbook, printed materials, and photographs. The Helen Jacobs Smillie papers include correspondence and photographs. Also found are scattered materials relating to other family members, mostly the children of Helen Jacobs and George Smillie.
James David Smillie's papers consist of correspondence, personal business records, forty-five diaries, a scrapbook, and printed material. Correspondence is mostly professional in nature and includes letters from Albert Bierstadt, Frederick Stuart Church, Samuel Colman, Charles Henry Hart, Eastman Johnson, James Smillie, and A. T. Tait. Forty-five volumes of detailed daily diaries dating from 1865 until 1909 include entries about his work, but are exceedingly rich in references to over 200 artists with which Smillie was associated. Additionally, there are numerous loose documents, notes, and some photographs that were found tucked within the diaries. This finding aid includes a list of named artists referenced in the diaries along with the exact date of the notation. James D. Smillie's papers also include an original etching entitled Up the Hill.
James Smillie papers are scattered and include manuscript and draft copies of his published autobiography, A Pilgrimage, and memorabilia from his 50th wedding anniversary to Catherine Van Valkenburg Smillie.
George Henry Smillie papers contain biographical materials, scattered correspondence, a scrapbook of clippings, printed materials, and photographs. There is a certificate from the National Academy of Design dating from 1883 and photographs of Smillie, Smillie in his studio, and his family.
Helen Jacobs Smillie papers consist of family correspondence from her husband and parents, and studio portrait photographs.
Scattered papers from other family members include correspondence, a list of works of art by the family, a photograph album from Sheldon Smillie, and a portrait of William Smillie.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 5 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: James D. Smillie papers, 1853-1917 (4.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-7)
Series 2: James Smillie papers, 1882 (0.2 linear feet; Box 5)
Series 3: George Henry Smillie papers, 1867-1920 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 5-6)
Series 4: Helen Jacobs Smillie papers, 1860-1910 (0.1 linear feet; Box 5)
Series 5: Other Smillie Family Members papers, circa 1880s-1957 (0.2 linear feet; Box 5)
Biographical Note:
James D. Smillie and the Smillie family members were active in New York City and the New England area as engravers and landscape painters during the nineteenth century. Members of the Smillie Family of artists include James Smillie (1807-1885), his sons James D. (1833-1909) and George Smillie (1854-1924), and George's wife Helen 'Nellie' Jacobs Smillie (1855-1926).
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland to David and Elizabeth Smillie, James Smillie immigrated to Quebec, Canada. James must have learned engraving from his father who worked with jewelry and silver. Upon his father's death in 1827, Smillie travelled to London and eventually to New York City, where he embarked on a career of creating engravings of paintings by other artists. By 1831, he had established his reputation primarily as an engraver of American landscape paintings. The portability of James Smillie's engravings helped to bring to the American public the grand landscapes by Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Cole, and Asher Durand. Smillie also worked for the American Banknote Company.
James Smillie married Catherine Van Valkenburg in 1832, and two of their sons, James David and George Henry also became artists. Elder son James D. assisted his father with engraving and later explored his own artistic talents in prints of the American landscape. Among his many subjects were the Sierra Nevada, Adirondack, Rocky, White, and Catskill Mountains. James D. Smillie was a founding member of the American Watercolor Society and served as its president from 1873 to 1879. Additionally, he was an early member of the New York Etching Club and the first meeting was held in his studio in 1877. James D. also wrote about art for various periodicals.
Like his older brother, George Henry Smillie learned engraving from his father, but turned to painting early in his career. By 1862, he had his own studio in New York City and exhibited with the National Academy of Design in 1864. George travelled throughout the United States sketching and painting landscapes inspired by Long Island, the Adirondack Mountains, the Rocky Mountains, and New England. Many of George's paintings of the American West were influenced by the Hudson River School. George married one of his brother's pupils, Helen Sheldon Jacobs.
Helen Jacobs Smillie, known as Nellie, was born in New York City to Samuel and Helen Jacobs. She received art instruction at Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design and was a pupil of James D. Smillie and J. O. Eaton. She married George Smillie in 1881, with whom she had three sons, Sheldon, Charles, and Gordon. Nellie was a member of the American Watercolor Society along with her husband and brother-in-law, and painted in the Hudson River School style.
Related Material:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is the Brucia Witthoft research material on James Smillie and the Smillie family, 1830- 1999. The National Gallery of Canada holds the James D. Smillie Papers.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds materials lent for microfilming (reels 3766 and 3829) including personal photographs, photos of Smille's house in Montrose, Pennsylvania, and a photocopy of a journal. Lent material was returned to the lenders and is not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
James Smillie, David Smillie, and Barbara Smillie Curtis donated the Smillie Family papers to the Archives of American Art in several installments between 1978 and 1990. James Smille lent photographs for microfilming in 1986.
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, writings, drawings and printed material by or about G.P.A. Healy, compiled by his grandaughter, Marie De Mare, in the process of the writing of her book G.P.A. HEALY, AMERICAN ARTIST (1954).
REEL D130: Correspondence, notes, clippings and draft writings, kept by De Mare in connection with her book. Correspondence is mostly between De Mare and family members, but includes copies of letters to and from Healy. Also included are excerpts from Healy's diary and that of his daughter, Marie H. Bigot, lists of his paintings, and the draft of De Mare's book. Among De Mare's correspondents are Van Wyck Brooks and Eleanor Roosevelt; Healy's include Samuel F.B. Morse, Lewis Cass Ledyard, and Eastman Johnson. There is also a letter from John La Farge to Tiburce De Mare, 1873.
REELS 1209-1210: Correspondence; 3 diaries, 1866-1900, written by Healy's daughter Edith; correspondence and research notes dealing with De Mare's book; galley proofs; miscellaneous printed matter; a sketch of Healy on his deathbed by his son, and photographs of artist George De Mare, including a group photo of Atelier Bouguereau, Academie Julian, 1886, and of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his daughter. Correspondents include Frederic Bridgman and Thomas Couture.
Biographical / Historical:
G.P.A. Healy was a 19th century portrait and historical painter, who painted in the U.S. and in Europe.
Provenance:
Marie De Mare is the granddaughter of George P.A. Healy. Bulk of Healy's papers were destroyed by fire. Material was donated 1956 & 1971 by Marie and Jeanne de Mare.
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.
Shattuck, Aaron Draper, 1832-1928 -- Portraits -- Photographs Search this
Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872 -- Portraits -- Photographs Search this
Tuckerman, Henry T. (Henry Theodore), 1813-1871 Search this
Whittredge, Worthington, 1820-1910 -- Portraits -- Photographs Search this
Extent:
24 Items (photographic prints, b&w, 17 1/2 x 13 1/2 cm., on sheet 30 1/2 x 24 cm. or smaller.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
undated
Scope and Contents:
Portraits of artists taken by George Rockwood and Napoleon Sarony (Sarony Photographic Co.) for the large paper, extra-illustrated edition of Henry Tuckerman's, "American artist life : comprising biographical and critical sketches of American artists : preceded by an historical account of the rise and progress of art in America : with an appendix containing an account of notable pictures and private collections" (New York, G.P. Putnam & Son, 1867). Also included is a copy of Tuckerman's book (not the extra illustrated version.) Photographs include: Eugene Benson (original missing, copyprint only), Henry Kirke Brown (original missing, copyprint only), Frederic Edwin Church, Thomas Cole, J. Francis Cropsey, Christopher Cranch, F.O.C. Darley, Asher Brown Durand, Charles Loring Elliott, Sanford Robinson Gifford, Henry Peters Gray, James M. Hart, Thomas Hicks (incorrectly identified as John Ehninger), Richard W. Hubbard, Henry Inman, George Inness (incorrectly identified as Albert Bierstadt), Eastman Johnson, John F. Kensett (original missing, copyprint only), Emanuel Leutze, Jervis McEntee (original missing, copyprint only), John Rogers, A.D. Shattuck, Thomas Sully (original missing, copyprint only), and Worthington Whittredge (original missing, copyprint only).
Provenance:
The copy of Tuckerman's book was donated in 1958 by Robert McIntyre. The photographs, along with the extra illustrated edition of Henry Tuckerman's, "Book of the Artists..." (1867) were donated in 1960 by McIntyre. The folio was one of the 25 copies produced, possibly acquired by McIntyre through auction of the library of S.K. Cleven of Iowa handled by Anderson Galleries in 1915. The photographs were removed from the folio prior to its transfer to the Smithsonian American Art Museum Library. Photographer and provenance information (annotated) from Putnam's Monthly Advertiser is enclosed with the original folio housed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Library.
Topic:
Artists -- United States -- Portraits -- Photographs Search this
