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George Biddle papers, circa 1910-1970

Creator:
Biddle, George, 1885-1973  Search this
Subject:
Brooks, Van Wyck  Search this
Kuniyoshi, Yasuo  Search this
Shahn, Ben  Search this
Sterne, Maurice  Search this
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano)  Search this
Pascin, Jules  Search this
Diederich, William Hunt  Search this
Poor, Henry Varnum  Search this
Poor, Anne  Search this
Pound, Ezra  Search this
Berenson, Bernard  Search this
Brewer, Bessie Marsh  Search this
Federal Art Project  Search this
United States. Department of the Treasury. Section of Fine Arts  Search this
United States. Department of the Treasury. Section of Painting and Sculpture  Search this
Supreme Court Building (Mexico City, Mexico)  Search this
National Library Building (Rio de Janerio, Brazil)  Search this
Justice Dept. Building (Washington, D.C.)  Search this
Type:
Diaries
Place:
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945
Citation:
George Biddle papers, circa 1910-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
New Deal, 1933-1939  Search this
Federal aid to the arts  Search this
Mural painting and decoration, American  Search this
Art and state -- United States  Search this
Muralists  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
New Deal  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7126
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209260
AAA_collcode_biddgeor
Theme:
Diaries
New Deal
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209260
Online Media:

Lloyd Raymond Ney papers, 1902-1987

Creator:
Ney, Lloyd Raymond, 1893-1964 or 5  Search this
Subject:
Rebay, Hilla  Search this
Rattner, Abraham  Search this
United States. Department of the Treasury. Section of Fine Arts  Search this
Type:
Scrapbooks
Citation:
Lloyd Raymond Ney papers, 1902-1987. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Mural painting and decoration -- Ohio -- New London  Search this
Painting, Abstract -- Pennsylvania -- New Hope  Search this
Federal aid to the arts  Search this
Muralists  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)9690
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211909
AAA_collcode_neylloyr
Theme:
Diaries
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211909

Lloyd Raymond Ney papers

Creator:
Ney, Lloyd Raymond, 1893-1964 or 5  Search this
Names:
United States. Department of the Treasury. Section of Fine Arts  Search this
Rattner, Abraham  Search this
Rebay, Hilla, 1890-1967  Search this
Extent:
1.1 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Date:
1902-1987
Scope and Contents:
Biographical material; correspondence; a diary; writings; art work; subject files; photographs; printed material; and two scrapbooks.
Biographical accounts; a passport; a list of paintings in collections; a grant application; personal correspondence, including letters from Abraham Rattner from Paris describing the Parisian art scene; professional correspondence regarding the controversy ove Ney's mural for the New London, Ohio post office and letters from Hilla Rebay of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, N.Y.C.; a diary, 1918, chronicling Ney's army experience in France; a subject file containing preliminary drawings, clippings, and photographs of the New London mural; a sketchbook of mural studies; photographs of Ney's art works, portraits of Ney, and exhibition installations; clippings; exhibition catalogs and announcements; unpublished manuscripts; two typescripts by Hilla Rebay and James W. Riley; two scrapbooks containing photographs, printed material, and letters relating to Ney's studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; a drawing, "The Declaration of France," by Joseph Mielziner; miscellaneous printed material.
Biographical / Historical:
Lloyd Raymond Ney (1893-1964 or 5) was a Non-objective painter from New Hope, Pennsylvania and New York, N.Y. Known also as Bill Ney. Born in Friedenburg, Pennsylvania and studied at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Won a Cresson travelling scholarship in 1917 and upon completing his WWI tour in Europe, travelled to France with Abraham Rattner. Ney was commissioned to paint the post office in New London, Ohio by the Section of Fine Arts of the Department of Treasury which became a controversial issue. He was one of Hilla Rebay's favored non-objective painters.
Provenance:
Donated by Gretchen Ney Laugier, Ney's daughter. Microfilmed in 1989 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project.
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:
Painters  Search this
Topic:
Mural painting and decoration -- Ohio -- New London  Search this
Painting, Abstract -- Pennsylvania -- New Hope  Search this
Federal aid to the arts  Search this
Muralists  Search this
Genre/Form:
Scrapbooks
Identifier:
AAA.neylloyr
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw96e54cb06-bd73-43cd-a25d-195a434fb605
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-neylloyr

George Biddle papers

Creator:
Biddle, George, 1885-1973  Search this
Names:
Federal Art Project  Search this
Justice Dept. Building (Washington, D.C.)  Search this
National Library Building (Rio de Janerio, Brazil)  Search this
Supreme Court Building (Mexico City, Mexico)  Search this
United States. Department of the Treasury. Section of Fine Arts  Search this
United States. Department of the Treasury. Section of Painting and Sculpture  Search this
Berenson, Bernard, 1865-1959  Search this
Brewer, Bessie Marsh, d. 1952  Search this
Brooks, Van Wyck, 1886-1963  Search this
Diederich, William Hunt, 1884-1953  Search this
Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1889-1953  Search this
Pascin, Jules, 1885-1930  Search this
Poor, Anne, 1911-2011  Search this
Poor, Henry Varnum, 1887-1970  Search this
Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972  Search this
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945  Search this
Shahn, Ben, 1898-1969  Search this
Sterne, Maurice, 1878-1957  Search this
Extent:
0.76 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Diaries
Place:
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945
Date:
circa 1910-1970
Summary:
The papers of New York painter and muralist George Biddle (1885-1973), measure 0.76 linear feet and date from circa 1910-1970. The collection includes a certificate signed by President Harry Truman, transcripts of Biddle's diaries, a manuscript of a memoir about meeting President Franklin Roosevelt, three letters from William Hunt Diederich's daughter, transcripts of letters from Bernard Berenson, sketches and mural studies, and two glass plate negatives.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York painter and muralist George Biddle (1885-1973), measure 0.76 linear feet and date from circa 1910-1970. The collection includes a certificate signed by President Harry Truman, transcripts of Biddle's diaries, a manuscript of a memoir about meeting President Franklin Roosevelt, three letters from William Hunt Diederich's daughter, transcripts of letters from Bernard Berenson, sketches and mural studies, and two glass plate negatives.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as one series.

Series 1: George Biddle Papers, circa 1910-1970 (0.7 linear feet; Box 1, OVs 2-4, MGP4)
Biographical / Historical:
New York painter and muralist George Biddle (1885-1973) proposed to President Franklin Roosevelt the establishment of a federal relief program for artists during the Depression, and subsequently painted a number of government murals under the auspices of the Federal Art Project, including murals for the Department of Justice in 1935.

Biddle was born to a prominent Philadelphia family and graduated from Harvard College. He studied at the Académie Julian and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and served in the United States Army in World War I, before returning to New York where he had his first series of one-man shows.

In 1933 Biddle wrote to long-time friend President Franklin Roosevelt, to suggest a work relief program that supported mural painters. Although the idea initially met with opposition, Biddle persisted and the resulting art projects of the Works Progress Administration went on to support the production of thousands of paintings in government buildings throughout the country during the Depression.

In 1940 Biddle was invited by the Mexican government to create a mural for the supreme court building in Mexico City. Biddle had visited Mexico in 1928 where he had traveled and sketched with Diego Rivera, and seen firsthand the value of government sponsored art programs.

In addition to his murals, Biddle was also known for his portraits, lithographs, and paintings. His work can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and others. His work has been shown throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, Japan, and India in over a hundred one-man shows and group exhibitions.
Related Materials:
Originals of the edited diary transcripts in this collection are in the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. The unedited diary has many more entries than the edited version and includes more details about Biddle's daily life and work, versions of articles by Biddle, and lists of his works of art through 1934.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming, including one of Biddle's original diaries, 1933-1935 (reel D127), records from the Federal Art Project, personal correspondence, articles and talks relating to Artists Equity (reels P17-P18), and a photocopy of Biddle's inventory notebook listing artwork and exhibitions (reel 4909). While the inventory notebook was discarded after microfilming, all other loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The papers on reels P12-P18 were loaned for microfilming in 1954 by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, PA. George Biddle lent the material on reel D127 in 1963 and donated the rest of the collection to the Archives of American Art between 1966-1970. In 1972, Michael Biddle, George Biddle's son, gifted a photocopy of an inventory notebook that was discarded after microfilming.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
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.
Topic:
New Deal, 1933-1939  Search this
Federal aid to the arts  Search this
Mural painting and decoration, American  Search this
Art and state -- United States  Search this
Muralists  Search this
Genre/Form:
Diaries
Citation:
George Biddle papers, circa 1910-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.biddgeor
See more items in:
George Biddle papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw914a8a397-8d17-42b1-8038-b8b6e3075445
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-biddgeor
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Franklin Watkins, 1971 August 18

Interviewee:
Watkins, Franklin Chenault, 1894-1972  Search this
Interviewer:
Cummings, Paul  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Franklin Watkins, 1971 August 18. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, American  Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12430
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213758
AAA_collcode_watkin71
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_213758

John White Alexander papers, 1775-1968, bulk 1870-1915

Creator:
Alexander, John White, 1856-1915  Search this
Subject:
Abbey, Edwin Austin  Search this
Alexander, Elizabeth A.  Search this
Carnegie, Andrew  Search this
Chase, William Merritt  Search this
La Farge, John  Search this
James, Henry  Search this
Levy, Florence N. (Florence Nightingale)  Search this
Remington, Frederic  Search this
Millet, Francis Davis  Search this
Stevenson, Robert Louis  Search this
Whistler, James McNeill  Search this
Gibson, Charles Dana  Search this
MacDowell Club of New York  Search this
Type:
Awards
Interviews
Photographs
Sketchbooks
Scrapbooks
Medals
Citation:
John White Alexander papers, 1775-1968, bulk 1870-1915. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Portrait painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Works of art  Search this
Portrait painting -- 20th century  Search this
Portrait painting -- 19th century  Search this
Illustrators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Portrait painting, American  Search this
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8637
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210817
AAA_collcode_alexjohn
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210817
Online Media:

Gabrielle de Veaux Clements papers, 1860-1948

Creator:
Clements, Gabrielle de Veaux, 1858-1948  Search this
Subject:
Hale, Ellen Day  Search this
Cornell University  Search this
Type:
Prints
Photographs
Diaries
Sketchbooks
Sketches
Place:
Egypt -- description and travel
Citation:
Gabrielle de Veaux Clements papers, 1860-1948. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women printmakers  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Etching -- Technique  Search this
Art -- History  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Women  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7161
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209296
AAA_collcode_clemgabr
Theme:
Diaries
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Women
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209296
Online Media:

Glenna Latimer papers, 1887-1956

Creator:
Latimer, Glenna M. (Montague), 1898-1980  Search this
American Artists Professional League  Search this
Subject:
Taylor, Bertha Fanning  Search this
Davis, Varina  Search this
Garber, Daniel  Search this
Norfolk Art Corner (Norfolk, Va.)  Search this
Tidewater Artists (Norfolk, Va.)  Search this
Type:
Scrapbooks
Citation:
Glenna Latimer papers, 1887-1956. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Mural painting and decoration  Search this
Women muralists  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7868
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210035
AAA_collcode_latiglen
Theme:
Women
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210035

Dorothy Stewart papers, 1930-1957

Creator:
Stewart, Dorothy N. (Dorothy Newkirk), 1891-1955  Search this
Type:
Sketchbooks
Citation:
Dorothy Stewart papers, 1930-1957. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women printmakers  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Women  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8669
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210849
AAA_collcode_stewdoro
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Women
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210849

Violet Oakley papers, 1841-1981

Creator:
Oakley, Violet, 1874-  Search this
Subject:
Pennsylvania State Capitol (Harrisburg, Pa.)  Search this
Type:
Photographs
Diaries
Glass plate negatives
Renderings
Scrapbooks
Sketchbooks
Visitors' books
Sketches
Citation:
Violet Oakley papers, 1841-1981. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Artists' materials  Search this
Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this
Mural painting and decoration -- United States  Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women muralists  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)9580
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211781
AAA_collcode_oaklviol
Theme:
Women
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211781
Online Media:

Morris Blackburn papers, 1926-1986

Creator:
Blackburn, Morris, 1902-1979  Search this
Subject:
Watkins, Franklin Chenault  Search this
Rist, Luigi  Search this
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this
Public Works of Art Project  Search this
Citation:
Morris Blackburn papers, 1926-1986. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)10152
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213123
AAA_collcode_blacmorr
Theme:
Diaries
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213123

Edith Emerson papers, 1839-1981, bulk 1894-1971

Creator:
Emerson, Edith, 1888-1981  Search this
Type:
Photographs
Sketchbooks
Citation:
Edith Emerson papers, 1839-1981, bulk 1894-1971. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women museum curators  Search this
Women muralists  Search this
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Women  Search this
New Deal  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)10293
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213481
AAA_collcode_emeredit
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Women
New Deal
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213481
Online Media:

James Daugherty papers, 1904-1978

Creator:
Daugherty, James Henry, 1889-1974  Search this
Type:
Sketchbooks
Citation:
James Daugherty papers, 1904-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)6372
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)215234
AAA_collcode_daugjame
Theme:
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_215234

Walter Inglis Anderson papers, circa 1915-1960

Creator:
Anderson, Walter Inglis, 1903-1965  Search this
Subject:
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this
Type:
Sketchbooks
Drawings
Place:
Chandeleur Islands (La.) -- Description and travel
Horn Island (Miss.) -- Description and travel
Hong Kong -- description and travel
Citation:
Walter Inglis Anderson papers, circa 1915-1960. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painting, American -- Mississippi  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)6436
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)215571
AAA_collcode_andewalt
Theme:
Diaries
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_215571

Charles Searles papers, 1953-2010

Creator:
Searles, Charles Robert, 1937-2004  Search this
Subject:
Spicer, Kathleen  Search this
Gordon, Russell Talbert  Search this
Edmonds, Walt  Search this
Type:
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Transcripts
Sketches
Citation:
Charles Searles papers, 1953-2010. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
African American artists  Search this
African American painters  Search this
African American sculptors  Search this
African American art -- African influences  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)16053
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)310299
AAA_collcode_searchar
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_310299
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Thomas Adrian Fransioli, 1981 April 21

Interviewee:
Fransioli, Thomas Adrian, 1906-1997  Search this
Interviewer:
Brown, Robert F  Search this
Subject:
Brown, Margaret E.  Search this
Eggers, O. R. (Otto Reinhold)  Search this
Feiss, Carl  Search this
Finley, David E. (David Edward)  Search this
Pope, John Russell  Search this
Klauder, Charles Z. (Charles Zeller)  Search this
Walker, John  Search this
Art Students League (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
National Gallery of Art (U.S.)  Search this
University of Pennsylvania  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Thomas Adrian Fransioli, 1981 April 21. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Architects -- Massachusetts -- Interviews  Search this
Architecture -- Study and teaching  Search this
Interior decorators -- Massachusetts -- Interviews  Search this
Painters -- Massachusetts -- Interviews  Search this
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japan -- Hiroshima  Search this
World War, 1939-1945 -- Photography  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)13152
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212087
AAA_collcode_fransi81
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_212087
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Charles Searles, 1991 June 13

Interviewee:
Searles, Charles Robert, 1937-2004  Search this
Interviewer:
Veloric, Cynthia  Search this
Subject:
Sande Webster Gallery  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Charles Searles, 1991 June 13. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
African American art -- African influences  Search this
Recherché (Group)  Search this
African American artists  Search this
African American military personnel  Search this
African American sculptors  Search this
African American painters  Search this
Theme:
African American  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)11495
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)214622
AAA_collcode_searle91
Theme:
African American
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_214622

John White Alexander papers

Creator:
Alexander, John White, 1856-1915  Search this
Names:
MacDowell Club of New York  Search this
Abbey, Edwin Austin, 1852-1911  Search this
Alexander, Elizabeth A., d. 1947  Search this
Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919  Search this
Chase, William Merritt, 1849-1916  Search this
Gibson, Charles Dana, 1867-1944  Search this
James, Henry, 1843-1916  Search this
La Farge, John, 1835-1910  Search this
Levy, Florence N. (Florence Nightingale), 1870-1947  Search this
Millet, Francis Davis, 1846-1912  Search this
Remington, Frederic, 1861-1909  Search this
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894  Search this
Whistler, James McNeill, 1834-1903  Search this
Extent:
11.9 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Awards
Interviews
Photographs
Sketchbooks
Scrapbooks
Medals
Date:
1775-1968
bulk 1870-1915
Summary:
The papers of the painter, muralist, and illustrator John White Alexander measure 11.9 linear feet and date from 1775 to 1968, with the bulk of materials dating from 1870 to 1915. Papers document Alexander's artistic career and many connections to figures in the art world through biographical documentation, correspondence (some illustrated), writings, 14 sketchbooks, additonal artwork and loose sketches, scrapbooks, photographs, awards and medals, artifacts, and other records. Also found is a souvenir engraving of a Mark Twain self-portrait.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of the painter, muralist, and illustrator John White Alexander measure 11.9 linear feet and date from 1775 to 1968, with the bulk of materials dating from 1870 to 1915. Papers document Alexander's artistic career and many connections to figures in the art world through biographical documentation, correspondence (some illustrated), writings, 14 sketchbooks, additonal artwork and loose sketches, scrapbooks, photographs, awards and medals, artifacts, and other records. Also found is a souvenir engraving of a Mark Twain self-portrait.

Biographical Information includes multiple essays related to Alexander, his family, and others in his circle. Also found is an extensive oral history of Alexander's wife Elizabeth conducted in 1928. Correspondence includes letters written by Alexander to his family from New York and Europe at the start of his career, and later letters from fellow artists, art world leaders, and portrait sitters of Alexander's. Significant correspondents include Charles Dana Gibson, Florence Levy, Frederick Remington, Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry James, John La Farge, Francis Davis Millet, and Andrew Carnegie. Correspondence includes some small sketches as enclosures and illustrated letters.

Certificates and records related to Alexander's career are found in Associations and Memberships, Legal and Financial Records, and Notes and Writings, which contain documentation of Alexander's paintings and exhibitions. Scattered documentation of Alexander's memberships in various arts association exists for the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Academy in Rome, the National Academy of Design, the Onteora Club in New York, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany, the Ministère de L'Instruction Publique et des Beaux-Arts, the Union Internationale des Beaux Arts et des Lettres, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Notes and Writings include speeches written by Alexander, short stories and essays written by his wife, and articles by various authors about Alexander. Extensive documentation of the planning and construction of the Alexander Memorial Studio by the MacDowell Club is found, along with other awards, medals, and memorial resolutions adopted by arts organizations after Alexander's death.

Artwork includes fourteen sketchbooks with sketches related to Alexander's commercial illustration and cartooning, murals, paintings, and travels. Dozens of loose drawings and sketches are also found, along with two volumes and several dozen loose reproductions of artwork, among which are found fine prints by named printmakers. Many sketches are also interspersed throughout the correspondence. Eight Scrapbooks contain mostly clippings, but also scattered letters, exhbition catalogs, announcements, invitations, and photographs related to Alexander's career between 1877 and 1915. Additional Exhibition Catalogs and later clippings, as well as clippings related to the career of his wife and other subjects, are found in Printed Materials.

Photographs include many portraits of Alexander taken by accomplished photographers such as Zaida Ben-Yusuf, Aimé Dupont, Curtis Bell, Elizabeth Buehrmann, and several signed Miss Huggins, who may have been Estelle Huntington Huggins, a New York painter and photographer. Portraits of others include Alexander's friends William Merritt Chase and Edward Austin Abbey. Also found are photographs of groups, juries, family, friends, and studios in New York, Paris, and New Jersey, and a handful of scenic photographs of Polling, Bavaria, where Alexander had an early studio. A large number of photographs of works of art are found, many with annotations. Among the photographs of murals are a small collection of snapshots of the Carnegie Institute murals in progress. Miscellaneous artifacts include a palette, several printing plates, and an inscribed souvenir engraving of a self-portrait caricature of Mark Twain.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 11 series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Information, circa 1887-1968 (Box 1, OV 23; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1870-1942 (Box 1; 0.7 linear feet)

Series 3: Associations and Memberships, circa 1897-1918 (Box 1; 2 folders)

Series 4: Legal and Financial Records, 1775, 1896-1923 (Box 1; 5 folders)

Series 5: Notes and Writings, circa 1875-1943 (Boxes 1-2; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 6: Awards and Memorials, circa 1870-1944 (Box 2, OV 24; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 7: Artwork, circa 1875-1915 (Boxes 2-3, 6, 14-16, OV 23; 1.5 linear feet)

Series 8: Scrapbooks, circa 1877-1915 (Boxes 17-22; 1.8 linear feet)

Series 9: Printed Materials, circa 1891-1945 (Boxes 3-4, OV 23; 1.5 linear feet)

Series 10: Photographs, circa 1870-1915 (Boxes 4-8, MGP 1-2, OV 25-43, RD 44-45; 4.2 linear feet)

Series 11: Artifacts, circa 1899-1915 (Box 6, artifact cabinet; 0.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
John White Alexander was born in 1856 in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. He was orphaned at age five and taken in by relatives of limited means. When Alexander left school and began working at a telegraph company, the company's vice-president, former civil war Colonel Edward Jay Allen, took an interest in his welfare. Allen became his legal guardian, brought him into the Allen household, and saw that he finished Pittsburgh High School. At eighteen, he moved to New York City and was hired by Harper and Brothers as an office boy in the art department. He was soon promoted to apprentice illustrator under staff artists such as Edwin A. Abbey and Charles Reinhart. During his time at Harpers, Alexander was sent out on assignment to illustrate events such as the Philadelphia Centennial celebration in 1876 and the Pittsburgh Railroad Strike in 1877, which erupted in violence.

Alexander carefully saved money from his illustration work and traveled to Europe in 1877 for further art training. He first enrolled in the Royal Art Academy of Munich, Germany, but soon moved to the village of Polling, where a colony of American artists was at its peak in the late 1870s. Alexander established a painting studio there and stayed for about a year. Despite his absence from the Munich Academy, he won the medal of the drawing class for 1878, the first of many honors. While in Polling, he became acquainted with J. Frank Currier, Frank Duveneck, William Merritt Chase, and other regular visitors to the colony. He later shared a studio and taught a painting class in Florence with Duveneck and traveled to Venice, where he met James Abbott McNeill Whistler.

Alexander returned to New York in 1881 and resumed his commercial artwork for Harpers and Century. Harpers sent him down the Mississippi river to complete a series of sketches. He also began to receive commissions for portraits, and in the 1880s painted Charles Dewitt Bridgman, a daughter of one of the Harper brothers, Parke Godwin, Thurlow Weed, Walt Whitman, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Alexander met his wife Elizabeth, whose maiden name was also Alexander, through her father, James W. Alexander, who was sometimes mistaken for the artist. Elizabeth and John White Alexander married in 1887 and had a son, James, in 1888.

Alexander and his family sailed for France in 1890, where they became a part of the lively literary and artistic scene in Paris at the time. Among their many contacts there were Puvis de Chavannes, Auguste Rodin, and Whistler, who arrived in Paris shortly thereafter. Alexander absorbed the new aesthetic ideas around him such as those of the symbolists and the decorative style of art nouveau. Critics often note how such ideas are reflected in his boldly composed paintings of women from this period, who titles drew attention to the sensual and natural elements of the paintings. His first exhibition in Paris was three paintings at the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts in 1893, and by 1895 he has become a full member of the Société.

Independent and secession artist societies emerged throughout Europe during this period, and Alexander exhibited with several of them, including the Société Nouvelle in Paris, the Munich Secession, and the Vienna Secession. He was also elected an honorary member of the Royal Society of Belgian Artists and the Royal Society of British Painters in London. His exhibited works sold well, and his influence began to be felt back in the United States. Andrew Carnegie and John Beatty of the Carnegie Institute consulted closely with Alexander in the planning and execution of the first Carnegie International Exhibitions. Alexander also became active in supporting younger American artists who wanted to exhibit in Europe, a stance which resulted in his resignation from the Society of American Artists in Paris, which he felt had become a barrier to younger artists. His promotion of American art became an central aspect of his career for the remainder of his life, most visibly through his presidency of the National Academy of Design from 1909 until shortly before his death in 1915. He also served frequently on juries for high-profile exhibitions, and was a trustee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, and the national Institute of Arts and Letters. Around 1912, he helped to form the School Art League in New York, which provided art instruction to high school students.

Alexander returned to the United States nearly every summer while based in Paris, and among his commissioned paintings were murals for the newly-constructed Library of Congress, completed around 1896. In 1901, the Alexanders returned to New York permanently. The demand for portraits continued, and he had his first solo exhibition at the Durand-Ruel Galleries in 1902. Around 1905 he received a commission for murals at the new Carnegie Institute building in Pittsburgh for the astounding sum of $175,000. He created 48 panels there through 1908. During this period, the Alexanders spent summers in Onteora, New York, where Alexander painted his well-known "Sunlight" paintings. There they became friends and collaborators with the actress Maude Adams, with Alexander designing lighting and stage sets, and Elizabeth Alexander designing costumes for Adams' productions such as Peter Pan, the Maid of Orleans, and Chanticleer. The couple became known for their "theatricals" or tableaux, staged at the MacDowell Club and elsewhere, and Elizabeth Alexander continued her design career when her husband died in 1915.

Alexander left several commissions unfinished upon his death at age 59, including murals in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Elizabeth Alexander held a memorial exhibition at Arden Galleries a few months after his death, and a larger memorial exhibition was held by the Carnegie Institute in 1916. Alexander won dozens of awards for artwork in his lifetime, including the Lippincott Prize at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1899, the Gold Medal of Honor at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900, the Gold Medal at the Panama Pacific Exposition of 1901, and the Medal of the First Class at the Carnegie Institute International Exhibition in 1911. In 1923, the Alexander Memorial Studio was built at the MacDowell colony in New Hampshire to honor his memory.
Provenance:
Papers were donated in 1978 and 1981 by Irina Reed, Alexander's granddaughter and in 2017 by Elizabeth Reed, Alexander's great grandaughter.
Restrictions:
Use of the original papers requires an appointment. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and not served to researchers.
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.
Topic:
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Portrait painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Works of art  Search this
Portrait painting -- 20th century  Search this
Portrait painting -- 19th century  Search this
Illustrators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Portrait painting, American  Search this
Genre/Form:
Awards
Interviews
Photographs
Sketchbooks
Scrapbooks
Medals
Citation:
John White Alexander papers, 1775-1968, bulk 1870-1915. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.alexjohn
See more items in:
John White Alexander papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw917c89625-97e2-4dce-a5e6-4cbf6627b78e
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-alexjohn
Online Media:

Edward Biberman papers

Creator:
Biberman, Edward, 1904-1986  Search this
Names:
Biberman, H. J. (Herbert J.)  Search this
Hopkins, Henry, 1928-2009  Search this
Warshaw, Howard  Search this
Wayne, June, 1918-2011  Search this
White, Charles (1918-1979)  Search this
Extent:
2.1 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Scrapbooks
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Date:
1939-1985
Summary:
The papers of painter and educator Edward Biberman measure 2.1 linear feet and date from 1939 to 1985. The papers document Biberman's career in Los Angeles through correspondence with friends and colleagues; writings such as speeches and articles; sound recordings and related documents for his "Dialogues in Art" television program, including recordings featuring Henry Hopkins, Howard Warshaw, June Wayne, Charles White, and others; and lectures and interviews with other educators or for television programs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter and educator Edward Biberman measure 2.1 linear feet and date from 1939 to 1985. The papers document Biberman's career in Los Angeles through correspondence with friends and colleagues; writings such as speeches and articles; sound recordings and related documents for his "Dialogues in Art" television program, including recordings featuring Henry Hopkins, Howard Warshaw, June Wayne, Charles White, and others; and lectures and interviews with other educators or for television programs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into five series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1939-1985 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Writing, 1947-1978 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 3: "Dialogues in Art" Records, 1966-1969 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 4: Lectures, Interviews, and Event Records, 1965-1978 (1.0 linear feet; Box 2)

Series 5: Artwork, 1942 (0.1 linear feet; OV 3)
Biographical / Historical:
California painter and educator Edward Biberman (1904-1986) was known for his stylized portraits and history-inspired murals.

Biberman was born in Philadelphia and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Between 1929 and 1936 he lived in New York City where he became acquainted with muralist Diego Rivera and decided to focus on creating murals. He moved to Los Angeles in 1936 where he was commissioned to create murals for the city's downtown U.S. Post Office and Courthouse.

Biberman was also an educator who taught at the Art Center School in Los Angeles, lectured widely on art, and hosted television shows including "Dialogues in Art" from 1967 to 1968.

Biberman was married to sculptor Sonija Dahl Biberman (1910-2007) for 51 years. His brother, Herber J. Biberman, was a film director who was imprisoned for contempt of congress by the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Edward Biberman conducted by Betty Hoag, April 15, 1964.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming 106, frames 151-601. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The Edward Biberman papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Sonija Dahl Biberman in 1987.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References 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.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this
Educators -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Scrapbooks
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Citation:
Edward Biberman papers, 1939-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.bibeedwa
See more items in:
Edward Biberman papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw914c2df65-0fc4-48de-aa80-7953eed35f64
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-bibeedwa

Gabrielle de Veaux Clements papers

Creator:
Clements, Gabrielle de Veaux, 1858-1948  Search this
Names:
Cornell University -- Students  Search this
Hale, Ellen Day, 1855-1940  Search this
Extent:
1 Linear foot
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Prints
Photographs
Diaries
Sketchbooks
Sketches
Place:
Egypt -- description and travel
Date:
1860-1948
Summary:
The papers of painter, etcher, printer, muralist, and art teacher Gabrielle de Veaux Clements measure 1 linear foot and date from 1860 to 1948. Found within the papers are biographical material; personal and professional correspondence, including extensive correspondence from Clements to her mother; writings, including notes and essays on art history and etching techniques; printed material; artwork; eight sketchbooks; and photographs of Clements, her family and friends, and her work.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter, etcher, printer, muralist, and art teacher Gabrielle de Veaux Clements measure 1 linear foot and date from 1860 to 1948. Found within the papers are biographical material; personal and professional correspondence, including extensive correspondence from Clements to her mother; writings, including notes and essays on art history and etching techniques; printed material; artwork; 8 sketchbooks; and photographs of Clements, her family and friends, and her work.

Biographical material consists of an address book, artwork sales and price lists, and autobiographical notes.

Correspondence is primarily with Clements' family, friends, and business associates. The series includes significant correspondence from Clements to her mother during her college years at Cornell University.

Writings include notes and essays on art history and etching techniques, 2 notebooks of poetry, and a travel diary chronicling a trip to Egypt with Ellen Day Hale.

Printed material includes clippings, exhibition catalogs, a map of the artists' colony at Rockport, Folly Cove in Massachusetts, and a copy of the book Suggestions for Illuminating by W. Randle Harrison.

Artwork consists of sketches and original etchings by Clements and artwork by others.

There are 8 sketchbooks consisting primarily of cityscapes, landscapes, and figure and portrait studies.

Photographs are of Clements, her family and friends, artists models, and work by Clements and others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical materials, circa 1920-1944 (3 folders; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1875-1945 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1885-1940 (8 folders; Box 1)

Series 4: Printed material, circa 1860-1948 (5 folders; Box 1)

Series 5: Artwork, circa 1895-1940 (3 folders; Box 1)

Series 6: Sketchbooks, circa 1884-1940 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 7: Photographs, circa 1875-1940 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, printer, and art teacher Gabrielle de Veaux Clements (1858-1948) lived and worked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; and Folly Cove near Gloucester, Massachusetts. She was known for her etchings and her commissioned murals for the cities of Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Clements was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to physician Richard Clements and his wife, Gabrielle De Vaux. Her interest in art was supported by her family and, at the age of seventeen, she began studying lithography with the designer Charles Page at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. After graduating in 1880 from Cornell University, where she had produced a number of scientific drawings and lithographs, Clements studied with painter Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and won the school's Toppan Prize. In 1883, Clements was introduced to etching techniques by the artist Stephen Parrish and began exhibiting and printing her works professionally.

In 1884, Clements traveled abroad to Paris to study at the Academie Julian where she was joined in 1885 by fellow painter and future lifelong companion Ellen Day Hale. Upon returning to her Philadelphia studio in 1885, Clements taught other female artists, including Margaret Bush-Brown, and exhibited in numerous institutions, including the National Academy of Design and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. In 1895, Clements moved to Baltimore to teach art at the newly established Bryn Mawr School, where she remained until 1908. During her tenure in Baltimore, she was commissioned by the Bendann Galleries to etch nine views of Baltimore and also painted five church murals in Washington, D.C., which led to subsequent murals in Detroit, Philadelphia, and Chicago.

Clements and Hale frequently traveled abroad, visiting France, Italy, Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, and spent summers at "The Thickets," the house they purchased in the artists' colony at Folly Cove. During World War I, they wintered in Charleston, South Carolina where they opened their studios to young female artists and taught innovative etching, painting, and color printmaking techniques. After the war, they again opened their studios in Folly Cove to young artists and continued to teach and experiment with soft-ground etching and aquatints in color. This work was highlighted in special exhibitions at the J.B. Speed Art Museum and the Smithsonian Institution. Clements died in Rockport, Massachusetts in 1948.
Provenance:
The Gabrielle de Veaux Clements papers were donated by Mrs. Harlan Starr, Jr. in 1983.
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.
Occupation:
Muralists -- Massachusetts  Search this
Printmakers -- Massachusetts  Search this
Etchers -- Massachusetts  Search this
Art teachers -- Massachusetts  Search this
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women printmakers  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Etching -- Technique  Search this
Art -- History  Search this
Genre/Form:
Prints
Photographs
Diaries
Sketchbooks
Sketches
Citation:
Gabrielle de Veaux Clements papers, 1860-1948. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.clemgabr
See more items in:
Gabrielle de Veaux Clements papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw953de79c7-7bd3-41f1-832a-e2e9b1c03b9f
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-clemgabr
Online Media:

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