Ca. 850 pages of selected art related excerpts from Sill's diaries. The diaries date from 1832 to 1854 and document his own painting activities, his association with the Artists and Amateurs Association, Artists' Fund Society, and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He gives his reactions to the work of other artists as seen in exhibitions in Philadelphia and New York, especially at the National Academy of Design, as well as in private collections. He writes about panoramas shown in Philadelphia, purchases of works of art for himself and others, commissions to artists to paint pictures for him, etc. In particular he writes frequently of his friend, the collector and patron Edward L. Carey, and of Carey's collection. He often mentions John Sartain, James R. Lambdin, Peter F. Rothermel, Daniel Huntington, Thomas Sully, William H. Furness, Emanuel Leutze, George L. Saunders, Samuel B. Waugh, Paul Weber, William J. Hubard, Monachesi, and John Neagle. He tells of the founding and subsequent activities of the Art-Union of Philadelphia; the sale of Joshua Shaw's paintings and his misfortunes; the work and ill natured personality of William Page; meeting with and a drawing and description of John J. Audubon; a controversy between Robert W. Weir and Samuel F. B. Morse about who will paint the Mayflower Compact; V. G. Audubon's efforts to get subscribers for his father's book; and Bowen's lithographic shop.
He characterizes Edward Watmough and William E. Winner.
Biographical / Historical:
Collector, amateur painter; Philadelphia, Pa.
Provenance:
Microfilmed for the Archives of American Art in 1955 by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Diaries donated to the Society by Edward Madiera.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Wylie, Samuel B. (Samuel Brown), 1773-1852 Search this
Extent:
2 Reels (ca. 150 items (on 2 partial microfilm reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Reels
Date:
1760-1935
Scope and Contents:
Letters, mainly from artists, and documents selected from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's miscellaneous manuscript collection (Society Collection). Letters are to various people; 46 of them are to Townsend Ward and a few are to John A. McAllister, photographer. Many of the letters refer to paintings, portraits, commissions, and awards.
Writers of letters include: Edwin Austin Abbey, Mary Gertrude Abbey, F.W. Bayley, Albert Bierstadt, George Catlin, Joseph Ceracchi, John Gadsby Chapman, John Cheney, James Claypool, James Cox, F.O.C. Darley, Joseph Delaplaine, Humphrey Donnehue, William Dunlap, Pierre Eugene Du Simitiere, S. Eliot, Charles Fevret De Saint-Memin, Charles Dana Gibson, Harold Edgar Gillingham, Horatio Greenough, George Harding, Levi Hollingsworth, William Morris Hunt, Daniel Huntington, Henry Inman, Horatio Gates Jones, James Reid Lambdin, Will Hicok Low, Edward Dalton Marchant, William Henry Moody, John Neagle, Albert Newsam, Bass Otis, Thomas Paine, Charles Willson Peale, Franklin Peale, James Peale, Jr., Mary Jane Peale, Rembrandt Peale, Titian Ramsay Peale, Joseph Pennell, Clement Penrose, Robert Piggot, Thomas Buchanan Read, William Trost Richards, Thomas Prichard Rossiter, Peter Frederick Rothermel, William Rush, John Sartain, Stephen Alonzo Schooff (to Townsend Ward), Russell Smith, Charles H. Stephens, Thomas Sully, Philip Syng, John Vanderlyn, N.P. Willis, Alexander Wilson and Patience Wright.
Among the recipients of letters are Archibald Alexander, David S. Brown, William Belcher, Col. Brodhead, B. Burrell, Carey & Hart, Edward L. Carey, Henry C. Carey, Miss Clarke, Mr. Curren, Joseph Delaplaine, John Dickinson, Dr. Dickson, William Dillwyn, William Duane, James B. Elliott, Mrs. Langdon Elwyn, Mantle(?) Fielding, John W. Francis, Charles P. Hayes, David Hosack, Mr. Howell, Major William Jackson, Horatio Gates Jones, John W. Jordan, H.H. Kjmball, C.G. Leland, Joseph Leidy, J.B. Lippincott, George Livermore, James Madison, J. Hill Martin, John McAllister, James McMurtrie, James Monaghan, J. Murray, Albert Cook Myers, Rebecca and Isabella Nathans, John Neagle, C.S. Ogden, John Paca, Charles Willson Peale, Rembrandt Peale, David Rittenhouse, Albert Rosenthal, John Sartain, Jacob Schreiner, James Shrigley, James Ross Snowden, W.D. Snyder, Dr. Sommerville, J.C. Stanbridge, F.D. Stone, Henry Troth, Mr. Vaux, Townsend Ward, William Hill Wells, G.M. Wharton, Thomas Wharton, Henry J. Williams, and Samuel B. Wylie.
Other items include a sonnet of S.T. Coleridge by Washington Allston; business card of Pennel Beale; catalog of medals and coins of silver in the possession of Hon. John Smith compiled by Du Simitière, 1772; printed address by Mrs. John C. Montgomery soliciting donations for the repair of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, destroyed by fire, 1845; William Morris Hunt's admission ticket to Peale's Museum, 1836, stating his height and weight; description of objects on display at the Peale Museum, 1820; a photograph and business card of Benjamin Randolph; invitations and notes to Gilbert Stuart; typescript by Frank H. Taylor on lithography, 1923; subscription book for engravings of paintings by John Trumbull; and a page from John Archibald Woodside's daybook, 1802-1803.
Provenance:
Microfilmed by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for the Archives of American Art, 1955.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Correspondence, biographical and genealogical information, poems, notes, diaries, artwork, sketchbooks, photographs, business papers and printed material relating to the Longacre family, especially James Barton Longacre and Andrew Longacre.
REEL P1-P2: Correspondence and papers of James Barton Longacre, 1819-1857, mostly concerned with his position as engraver of the U.S. Mint, Philadelphia, and his publication THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS. Letters include correspondence with Asher B. Durand, James Herring, John Neagle, Thomas Sully and George Catlin. Additional material includes diaries, sketches and designs for coinage, a biography, autobiographical notes, and printed material.
REEL 986: Five sketchbooks, ca.1861-1894, of Reverend Andrew Longacre. Sketches depict landscapes, interiors, and monogram designs made in the United States, Europe, North Africa and the Near East. In addition there is a memoranda book kept by Longacre, ca. 1890.
REELS 1046-1048: Letters, including: correspondence between James and his wife; between James and Andrew during the Civil War; and Lydia Longacre's letters from Europe, 1899-1900; and letters from Theodore Bolton to Mrs. James M. Longacre about including James in his book, EARLY AMERICAN PORTRAIT DRAUGHTSMEN IN CRAYONS. Also included are biographical notes on James; an autobiography of Andrew; poetry and writings by James; accounts of a trip to Egypt by Andrew; financial documents relating to James; artwork; designs for coins and sketchbooks by James, Andrew and Lydia and material relating to an engraving of Charles Carroll by James.
REELS 1083 & 1050: Genealogical information on the Stiles and Longacre families; letters from Andrew to his father, James Barton Longacre, and his sister, Sallie, and other family members and friends; a copy of James Barton's 1825 diary; poems and compositions by Andrew; financial and business papers, 1898-1918; 28 photographs depicting portraits of James and Andrew, Lydia E. Longacre and her miniature paintings.
REEL 3091: Two engravings by James after paintings by Benjamin West and a letter from Augusta M. Longacre to Bolton regarding Bolton's biography of James.
Biographical / Historical:
Artists; Philadelphia and New York. James Barton Longacre was an engraver and portrait painter. Chief engraver at the U.S. Mint, Philadelphia, from 1844-1869. His engravings and portraits illustrate several books including THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS, and BIOGRAPHY OF THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. His son, Andrew Longacre was an engraver, watercolorist, and Methodist minister. His daughter, Lydia Longacre was a miniature painter, pupil of the Art Students League of New York, under Chase and Mowbray, and under Whistler in Paris.
Provenance:
Material on reels P1-P2 lent for microfilming by the Library Company of Philadelphia; Material on reel 986 lent 1975 by Fred Longacre; material on reels 1050 and 1083 lent 1975-1976 by Mrs. Andrew Longacre who also donated the material on reels 1046-1048 in 1982; material on reel 3091 donated 1981 by the NMAA-PG 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.
The Artists' Fund Society records, microfilmed on Reel P24 contain a manuscript of the constitution (1837); a memorial to the U.S. Congress that the Revenue Bill should include a tax on every foreign print or picture brought into the United States for protection of American Artists, signed by John Neagle, President of the Artists' Fund Society (1841 August 27); and a list of members (1855 October). Also included on Reel P28 are minute books (1835-1843), 302 pages, index on frames 699-703; proof sheets of the charter and by-laws of the Society, corrected and signed by John Sartain; letters of acceptance to honorary membership (1837-1838), index on frame 857; miscellaneous autograph letters and notes from artists and others (1836-1858), index on frame 879.
Biographical / Historical:
The Artists' Fund Society of Philadelphia (est. 1835) created a fund for "mutual advancement and relief," as well as the goal of providing financial assistance to artists and their families in times of adversity.
Related Materials:
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts holds the Artists' Fund Society records, 1835-1868. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania holds the Artists' Fund Society's Minutes and papers, 1835-1858.
Provenance:
Microfilmed by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for the Archives of American Art, 1955.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Bound pamphlets and reprints, 1781-1857, from Neagle's library, including material on the American Academy of Fine Arts, John Trumbull, National Academy of Design, transactions of the American art union, John R. Clark and a discourse by S.F.B. Morse.
Biographical / Historical:
Portrait painter; Philadelphia, Pa.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming, 1954, by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Portrait painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Files on ca. 150 American artists and art subjects, selected from Duveen's art reference files. Included are photographs of paintings in other collections, auction and exhibition catalogs, miscellaneous publications.
Files include: Francis Alexander, Washington Allston, William H. Bartlett, Ben-Zion, Thomas Birch, Joseph Blackburn, Ralph A. Blakelock, Charles F. Blauvelt, Peter Blume, Emile Branchard, Albertis D. O. Browere, John G. Brown, Jonathan Buddington, James E. Buttersworth, Carra, Dennis M. Carter, Mary Cassatt, George Catlin, Centurion, Paul Cezanne, Moura Chabor, Marc Chagall, T. Chambers, Jean Charlot, Thomas Cole, John Constable, George Cope, John S. Copley, Ralston Crawford, Jasper F. Cropsey, Arthur B. Davies, Charles Despiau, Roland Detre, Thomas R. Dibble, Enrico Donati, William Doriani, Thomas Doughty, Jessie Drew-Bear, Robert S. Duncanson, Dunlap, Asher B. Durand, George H. Durrie, Frank Duveneck, Evert Duyckinck, Thomas Eakins, Jacob Eichholtz, Louis M. Eilshemius, Charles L. Elliott, Robert Field, Emil Ganso, Pablo Gargallo, Jan Gelb, Paul Gillman, Christian Gullager, George H. Hall, Chester Harding, William M. Harnett, George Harvey, William J. Hays, George P. A. Healy, Edward L. Henry, John Hesselius, Edward Hicks, Thomas Hicks, Holland House, Charles Fevret de Saint-Memin, Winslow Homer, S. A. Hudson, Daniel Huntington, Henry Inman, George Inness, John W, Jarvis, Eastman Johnson, Henrietta Johnston, John Johnston, Hilde B. Kayn, Dikran K. Kelekian, Fitz Hugh Lane, Ernest Lawson, M. F. Lefferts, William R. Leigh, Abraham Lincoln, George B. Luks, Edward G. Malbone, Alfred H. Maurer, Louis Maurer, McKay, Alfred J. Miller, Louis C. Moeller, Samuel F. B. Morse, John Neagle, Donald Organ, Bass Otis, Walter Pach, Charles W. Peale, James Peale, Rembrandt Peale, William Penn, Enoch W. Perry, F. E. H. Philippoteaux, Charles P. Polk, T. B. Pope, Rufus Porter, William M. Prior, Walter Quirt, William T. Ranney, Reinhardt, Frederic Remington, Louisa Robins, Severin Roesen, Thomas P. Rossiter, Peter F. Rothermel, Charles M. Russell, Edward Savage, William Sawitzky, Nikol Schattenstein, Christian Schussele, D. Serres, James Sharples, Morris Shulman, John Smibert, Sergei Soudeikin, Haim Soutine, Frederick R. Spencer, Albert Stewart, Robert Street, William J. Strong, Gilbert Stuart, C. (Charles ?) Sullivan, Thomas Sully, Arthur F. Tait, G. Tirrell, John Trumbull, John Vanderlyn, Pieter Vanderlyn, William Von Schlegell, Samuel L. Waldo, Abraham Walkowitz, George Washington, Elbert Weinberg, Julian A. Weir, Thomas B. Welch, Adolph U. Wertmuller, Benjamin West, Anne Whitney, Arnold Wiltz, William E. Winner, S. Wood, and Thomas W. Wood.
The Saint-Memin, Stuart, B. West and Wertmuller files contain material from Albert Rosenthal relating to the above artists.
Arrangement:
Files are arranged alphabetically by artist and subject, rolls NDU1-NDU3; publications and other miscellany were filmed on rolls NDU4-NDU5.
Biographical / Historical:
Albert Duveen was an art dealer and collector with offices in New York, N.Y., specializing in early American art. He was a cousin to Joseph Duveen (1869-1939), 1st Baron Duveen, president of Duveen Brothers art dealers.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1958 by Duveen.
Restrictions:
The Archives does not own the original papers. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm.
Letters, writings, business records, sketches and printed material.
Reel 3909: Letters from Neagle to Mary Sully Neagle, his children and a draft of a letter to Thomas Sully, and others; two journals kept by Neagle, "History of Painting, 1817" and "Lessons in Landscape Painting, 1827"; loose sheets of autobiographical matters such as "Thomas Sully's palette," an 1850 cashbook; a sketch of John Brown by Neagle; and a lease cosigned by George Catlin, 1822.
Reel 3910: Notebooks kept by Neagle including "Hints for a painter with regard to his study, 1837," "a volume containing discussions of artists such as Titian and Raphael, and another providing technical information on cleaning pictures and recipes.
Arrangement:
Reel 3909: I. Correspondence, 1825-1859. II. Journals, 1817, 1827. III. Writings, 1826-1832. IV. Business records, 1850. V. Sketch. VI. Printed matter, 1826.
Reel 3910: I. Notebooks, 1825-1837.
Biographical / Historical:
Portrait painter; Philadelphia, Penn. Neagle studied under Bass Otis. Influences on Neagle's work include Thomas Sully and Gilbert Stuart. Neagle's painting "Pat Lyon at the Forge" was exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy in 1827 and brought him notoriety. Neagle married Sully's step-daughter, Mary, in 1826.
Provenance:
The American Philosophical Society owns five Neagle notebooks, of which the APS filmed three. The Archives pruchased a copy of the film, and filmed the remaining two notebooks along with Neagle correspondence, printed matter and writings.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Topic:
Art, American -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Landscape painting -- Study and teaching Search this
Five volumes of notebooks and account books documenting personal activities, financial matters, information on art and artists.
REEL P23 (fr. 453-512): Commonplace book, May 1839, handwritten by Neagle, with note by Charles Henry Hart that the book was commenced on the above date, but much of the matter was copied from a book of memorandums kept by Neagle years before.
REELS 3656-3657: Four volumes of notebooks and account books documenting personal activities, financial matters, information on art and artists. The memorandum of articles loaned lists prints and books, when and to whom they were loaned and sometimes, when they were returned. Items loaned include Burke on the Sublime, Price on Picturesque, as well as others. The blotter discusses commissions, sitters, prices and dates, in the form of individual entries for most days. The cash book lists cash received, cash paid and the amount of money owed by each client. Student notebook includes a recipe for "Mastick Varnish" and quotations of Mengs, Reynolds and Lawrence as well as color samples from Sir Thomas Lawrence's palette as copied by Thomas Sully.
Biographical / Historical:
Portrait painter; Philadelphia, Penn. aAt 14 years, Neagle apprenticed with Thomas Wilson, a coach and ornamental painter. Through Wilson, Neagle met and studied under Bass Otis. Influences on Neagle's work include Thomas Sully and Gilbert Stuart. Neagle's painting "Pat Lyon at the Forge" was exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy in 1827 and brought him recognition and a reputation as a fine painter. In addition to painting, he devoted his attentions to the Pennsylvania Academy, the Artists' Fund Society, and art theory.
Provenance:
Commonplace book microfilmed by AAA in 1955. Remainder microfilmed with other art-related collections at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania as part of the Archives of American Art's Philadelphia project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Portrait painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
The collection of artists' letters compiled by Mary and John McGuigan Jr. measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1794-1938. The collection is comprised of a group of letters, writings, and signed documents to and from a variety of artists, art administrators, art critics, historians, and art-related organizations assembled from multiple sources. It also includes associated printed material with some documents and a few photographs, including carte de visites and cabinet cards.
Scope and Contents:
The collection of artists' letters compiled by Mary and John McGuigan Jr. measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1794-1938. The collection is comprised of a group of letters, writings, and signed documents to and from a variety of artists, art administrators, art critics, historians, and art-related organizations assembled from multiple sources. It also includes associated printed material with some documents and a few photographs, including carte de visites and cabinet cards.
Item descriptions included in the container listing were provided by Mary and John McGuigan and illuminate the wide range of artists and types of material represented in the collection. While some of the letters document routine transactions such as responses to requests for information, and transmittals of autographs, others document specific artist commissions and projects, exhibition and financial arrangements, business relationships, family events, and travels. The collection includes documentation of portrait painters, including Chester Harding and Rembrandt Peale; nineteenth century landscape artists and artists of the Hudson River School including Albert Bierstadt, George Henry Boughton, Samuel Colman, Jasper Francis Cropsey, and George Inness; sculptors including Daniel Chester French whose letters include sixty-three letters to Charles Dupuy, the caretaker of French's summer home in Massachusetts; publishers such as Mathew Carey, in letters from John Neagle; and the activities of arts institutions such as the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
In addition to those mentioned above, letters and signed documents are from Washington Allston, William Holbrook Beard, Eugene Benson, William Tilden Blodgett, Jr., James Renwick Brevoort, Frederic Edwin Church, James Claghorn, John Singleton Copley, Kenyon Cox, F.O.C. Darley, Joseph DeCamp, Frank Duveneck, John Mackie Falconer, Horatio Greenough, Childe Hassam, Ignaz Michael Marcel Gaugengigl, George Healy, George Hollingsworth, William Morris Hunt, Daniel Huntington, Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington, Henry Inman, Hugh Bolton Jones, Thomas Dow Jones, Louis Ashton Knight, Charles Robert Leslie, Will Low, Frederick William MacMonnies, Frank Blackwell Mayer, Samuel F. B. Morse, Erastus Dow Palmer, Rubens Peale, Elizabeth Robins Pennell, Tobias (Toby) Edward Rosenthal, John Singer Sargent, George Henry Smillie, Marie Spartali Stillman, William James Stillman, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Abbott Handerson Thayer, Charles Yardley Turner, Stephen Arnold Douglas Volk, William Walcutt, Henry Antonio Wenzler, Benjamin West, Stanford White, Worthington Whittredge, and others.
The collection also includes a friendship album belonging to William Tilden Blodgett, Jr., with poems, sketches, and botanical watercolors, eight photographs including carte de visites and cabinet cards with images of George Hollingsworth, Thomas Dow Jones, Louis Ashton Knight, Henry Antonio Wenzler, and William Walcutt, and two photographs of a model used by Francis Blackwell Mayer when painting The Burning of the Peggy Stewart.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 1 series.
Biographical / Historical:
Mary K. McGuigan and John F. McGuigan Jr. are art historians and collectors in Milford, Pennsylvania.
Provenance:
John F. McGuigan Jr. and Mary K. McGuigan purchased these letters and generously donated them to the Archives of American Art between 2000 and 2019. The McGuigans have purchased and donated additional archival materials to the Archives, including a portion of the Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers. In 2017 the McGuigans donated an addition to the Sylvester Rosa Koehler papers, including sixty-nine letters from A. Barry, Truman Howe Bartlett, William Merritt Chase, Timothy Cole, Edward Henry Clement, Cyrus Edwin Dallin, Robert Swain Gifford, George Inness, Anna Lea Merritt, Stephen Parrish, John Sartain, Francis Hopkinson Smith, and Frederic Porter Vinton.
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.
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.
