This bulk of this collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
National Academy of Design records, 1817-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Family and professional correspondence; exhibition and sales records; sketches; sketchbooks; photographs and printed materials documenting the career and activities of Alexander James.
A marriage certificate; a genealogy of the James family; autobiographical notes; passports for James and his wife Frederika Paine James; a diary with entries by both James (1907) and his mother (1921); loose pages from diaries kept by James and his wife (intermittent, 1917-1939). Correspondence to and from James family members, including eight letters from his father, William James; letters to and from colleagues, friends, museums, galleries, clients, and posthumous exhibition correspondence. Correspondents include Abbott Handerson Thayer, Rockwell Kent, and Eric Gugler.
There are also biographical notes on Abbott Handerson Thayer; a notebook containing James' description of his gesso techniques; Frederika James' notes on her husband's paintings and her account of a family trip to France; reminiscences of James by Barry Faulkner and Thornton Wilder; exhibition files containing correspondence, lists of works, address lists, guest books, clippings and catalogs (1937-1978); commission files; a card file with information on James' paintings, exhibitions and sales; sketches of landscapes and people including sketches of his father and John Singer Sargent.
Five sketchbooks (one too faint to film); an oil study of his father; three watercolors of Giverny, France; three pigment studies (unfilmed); 12 woodcuts by Julius J. Lankes; and a sketch of James by his brother, William James; expense journals; bank records; tax returns; insurance figures for paintings; a notebook of sales' records; price lists; invoices and receipts for materials; deeds; a will; certificates of name changes; photos of James, his studio and his work; photos and a photo album of William James and other family members; two albums of exhibition photos; photos of two sketches of James, one by John Singer Sargent, and the other by Barry Faulkner.
Arrangement:
Reels 4195-4201: I. Biographical materials. II. Family correspondence. III. General correspondence. IV. Writings. V. Exhibition files. VI. Commission files. VII. Card file. VIII. Art works. IX. Financial materials. X. Legal materials. XI. Photographs. XII. Photograph albums. XIII. Printed materials. Chronologically arranged except for commission files which are arranged alphabetically by name of subject.
Biographical / Historical:
Portrait painter. The younger son of psychologist William James (1842-1910), brother of painter William James (1882-1961), and nephew of novelist Henry James, Alexander James was actually christened Francis Temple Tweedy James in 1890. In 1925 he had his name officially changed to Alexander Robertson James. Later in life he dropped the Robertson and became Alexander James. He studied with Abbott Handerson Thayer and was a close friend of John Singer Sargent and Rockwell Kent.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives on microfilm only (reel 3828) is a bound volume containing 37 letters from William James to his youngest son, Alexander James, one letter from his mother, Alice Howe Gibbens James, and 11 postcards.
Provenance:
Donated 1986 by Michael James, the son of Alexander James, except for the bound volume on reel 3828 which was lent for microfilming.
Rights:
Reel 3828: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from Alexander R. James, Glandore, County Cork, Ireland. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
The papers of painter Shirley Gorelick measure 4.8 linear feet and date from 1939-2008, 2016, with the bulk of the material dating from 1939-1980s. The collection documents Gorelick's life and career through biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, scattered writings, professional files recording her involvement with art collectives and galleries owned and/or run by women, printed and photographic material, and nine sketchbooks and loose sketches.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter Shirley Gorelick measure 4.8 linear feet and date from 1939-2008, 2016, with the bulk of the material dating from 1939-1980s. The collection documents Gorelick's life and career through biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, scattered writings, professional files recording her involvement with art collectives and galleries owned and/or run by women, printed and photographic material, and nine sketchbooks and loose sketches.
Biographical material includes resumes and some early employment and education records. Personal correspondence primarily records the first years of Gorelick's marriage and provides insight into her early career through detailed correspondence with her husband, Leonard Gorelick. Professional correspondence is with multiple art galleries, organizations, and institutions primarily relating to exhibitions, pricing of her artwork, sales, and press reviews of her work, including by Lawrence Alloway who corresponded with Gorelick.
Scant writings include artists statements and notes as well as two papers Gorelick wrote as a student.
Professional files include price lists and an inventory of Gorelick's fine art collection, and also document her involvement with SOHO 20 and Central Hall Gallery and her contribution to The Sister Chapel installation.
Printed material documents Gorelick's extensive exhibition history through announcements, catalogs, and press reviews of her solo and group exhibitions and related awards.
Gorelick's sketchbooks comprise 9 volumes with some additional loose sketches enclosed, primarily containing figure studies in pencil. The series also includes an etching and a pencil study.
Photographic material provides what appears to be a comprehensive catalog of Gorelick's artwork from the 1960s through the 1980s, including slides and photos of many of her paintings, intaglio prints, and silverpoint drawings, as well as some of the models Gorelick worked with repeatedly. Also found are photos of Gorelick including portraits, studio photos, and photos of her with friends, colleagues, and family, and of Gorelick at events including exhibition openings and installations.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as seven series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1942-2000 (Box 1; 7 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1939-1994 (Box 1; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1942-circa 1980s (Box 1; 4 folders)
Series 4: Professional Files, circa 1960-1996, 2016 (Box 1; 7 folders)
Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1940s-2008 (Boxes 2-3, OV 7; 1.8 linear feet)
Series 6: Sketchbooks, circa 1960s-circa 1980s (Boxes 2, 6; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographic Material, 1960s-1990s (Boxes 3-5; 1.7 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
New York and Washington, D.C. painter Shirley Gorelick (1924-2000) is known primarily for her large-scale portraits in acrylic. Gorelick described her work as "psychological portraiture," that depicted couples and families through an intimate and empathic lens.
Gorelick was born Shirley Fishman in Brooklyn, New York. Her education involved studying with Chaim Gross, Moses Soyer, and Raphael Soyer, and then with Serge Chermayeff at Brooklyn College where she earned her B. A. in 1944. Gorelick subsequently earned an M. A. at Teachers College, Columbia University, briefly attended the Hans Hofmann School of Art in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and also studied with Betty Holliday in Port Washington, Long Island. In 1944 Gorelick married Leonard Gorelick, a dentist with a passion for art and science.
Gorelick's early work was influenced by Cubism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism, but she ultimately gravitated towards realistic, figurative portraits painted from photographs and direct observation. While working primarily in acrylic, she was also known for her silverpoint drawings and intaglio prints. Working with middle-aged couples and family groups repeatedly in the 1970s and 1980s, Gorelick's work explores the psychological state of her subjects as they directly engage the viewer.
In 1973, Gorelick was a founding member of Central Hall Gallery, a cooperative run by all women artists in Port Washington. She also had six solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows at SOHO 20, the second all-women artist-run exhibition space in New York City. She was one of thirteen women artists who collaborated on The Sister Chapel, painting a nine-foot portrait of Frida Kahlo for the installation which premiered at P.S. 1 in Long Island City in 1976.
Gorelick's work was widely exhibited, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s, and she is represented in the collections of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum, among others.
Gorelick died in Washington D.C. in 2000.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art in 2021 and 2022 by Jamie Gorelick, Shirley Gorelick's daughter.
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.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The scattered papers of portrait painter Margaret Fitzhugh Browne date from circa 1904 to 1960 and measure 0.2 linear feet. The bulk of the collection consists of photographs of Browne's painted portraits and other works of art. Also found are scattered genealogical materials.
Scope and Contents:
The scattered papers of portrait painter Margaret Fitzhugh Browne date from circa 1904 to 1960 and measure 0.2 linear feet. The bulk of the collection consists of photographs of Browne's painted portraits and other works of art. Also found are scattered genealogical materials.
Biographical / Historical:
Margaret Fitzhugh Browne was a portrait painter active in Boston, Massachusetts.
Browne studied at the Massachusetts Normal Art School, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School, and with Frank Benson and Joseph De Camp. She began her career as a portrait painter in 1910, was the art editor for the Boston Evening Transcript from 1919-1920, and was a member of the Grand Central Galleries, New York.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 1975 and 1982 by Emily Wainwright Browne, Margaret Fitzhugh Browne's sister.
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.
Occupation:
Portrait painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
The papers of painters Emily and Jean Paul Selinger measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1882 to 1918. The collection provides scattered documentation of the lives and work of the Selingers through biographical materials, family correspondence, photographs, and printed material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painters Emily and Jean Paul Selinger measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1882 to 1918. The collection provides scattered documentation of the lives and work of the Selingers through biographical materials, family correspondence, photographs, and printed material.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Emily Harris Mcgary Selinger (1848-1927) was a painter, author, and poet in Boston, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Emily was originally from Wilmington, North Carolina, and was instrumental in establishing the Normal Art School in Louisville, Kentucky. She was known for her still-life and floral paintings.
Emily's husband, Jean Paul Selinger (1850-1909), was a landscape and portrait painter in Boston, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He opened a summer studio in Glen House, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in the mid-1880s.
Provenance:
A portion of the papers was donated in 1982 by Charles and Gloria Vogel when acquired through research on White Mountain artists. Additional material was donated in 1982 by Marion C. Keaney, through her grandparents, the D. H. Remingtons, who were neighbors of Emily Selinger's mother, Mrs. McGary.
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.
The papers of artist Isabella Howland measure 1.2 linear feet and date from 1899-1979. The collection documents her career through biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, writings, printed material, artwork, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter, sculptor, caricaturist, and portraitist Isabella Howland measure 1.2 linear feet and date from 1899-1979. Correspondence makes up about a third of the collection, with the remainder comprised of biographical material, writings, printed material, photographs, and artworks.
Correspondence is found between Isabella Howland and other artists or dealers. Among these are Eugenie Gershoy, Henry Strater, Edith Halpert, Peggy Bacon, Forbes Watson, Jerry Bywaters, Adolph Dehn and Dorothea Greenbaum. Letters from Juliana Force, the first director of the Whitney Museum of American Art, are present. Many invitations to exhibit are included. The collection includes a small number of letters with Howland's family. She maintained written communication with several individuals over decades.
The biographical material contains Isabella Howland's handwritten notes and typed documents about her life. Some legal documents and financial records are present. The writing series includes her story 'Willy Nilly' with accompanying illustrations of animals, in addition to some other writings. The artwork series includes sketches and sketchbooks from childhood into adulthood. Photographs include images of Howland as well as her paintings and portraits.
Arrangement:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1901-1972 (4 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1917-1973 (22 folders; Box 1)
Series 3, Writings, 1935-1964 (8 folders; Box 1)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1928-1976 (5 folders; Box 1)
Series 5: Photographs, circa 1900-1979 (4 folders; Box 1, OV 2)
Series 6: Artwork, 1899-circa 1940s (8 folders; Box 1, OV 2)
Biographical / Historical:
Isabella Howland (1895-1974) lived and worked in New York City. She drew portraits, painted on canvas, sketched on paper, and sculpted caricature busts of people in the art world. She wrote that she could do anything with her hands.
Howland had many friends in the art world and regularly received requests to exhibit at museums. She became known as an accomplished portrait artist, and she was commissioned many times to execute drawings or sculptures. She dabbled in writing and illustrating stories, and produced a set of 33 Christmas cards featuring two monks.
Provenance:
Donated between 1975-1976 by Mrs. Martha Craig and Barbara Summer. Three photographs of works of art were donated by Eugenie Gershoy in 1979.
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:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Portrait painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Caricaturists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of Massachusetts portait painter and watercolorist Charles Hopkinson date from 1892 to 1993 and measure 1.4 linear feet. The papers are comprised primarily of 17 sketchbooks and loose sketches. Also found are printed materials and three photographs of Hopkinson, as well as writings about Hopkinson written by his daughter Joan Hopkinson Shurcliff and her husband William Shurcliff.
Also found at the Archives is a small miscellaneous manuscript collection of five letters to Chauncey Stillman from Charles Hopkinson.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Massachusetts portrait painter and watercolorist Charles Hopkinson date from 1892 to 1993 and measure 1.4 linear feet. The papers are comprised primarily of 17 sketchbooks and loose sketches. Also found are printed materials and three photographs of Hopkinson, as well as writings about Hopkinson written by his daughter Joan Hopkinson Shurcliff and her husband William Shurcliff.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 4 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Writings and Notes, 1987-1993 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Printed Material, 1988-1991 (2 folders; Box 1)
Series 3: Photographs, 1938-1961 (1 folder; Box 1)
Series 4: Sketchbooks and Artwork, 1892-1957 (1.2 linear feet; Box 1-3)
Biographical / Historical:
Portrait and watercolor painter Charles Hopkinson (1869-1962) was active in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Hopkinson married fellow art student Angelica Rathbone in 1893. The pair divorced by 1899 while living in France. Afterwards, Hopkinson travelled to Roscoff, Brittany where he produced many watercolor and oil paintings. He returned to Massachusetts and married Elinor Curtis in 1903. Together, they had five daughters, Harriot (Mrs. Alfred Rive), Mary (Mrs. John Heysham Gibbon, Jr. later Mrs. Lovell Thompson), Isabella (Mrs. James Addison Halsted), Elinor (Mrs. James Henderson Barr), and Joan (Mrs. William Asahel Shurcliff).
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels N-68-106, 482, 486, 515, 634-639) including biographical material, family correspondence, writings, business records, printed materials, and 96 sketchbooks. While six of the sketchbooks were later donated, all other loaned materials was returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Portions of the collection were loaned for microfilming between 1969-1973. Charles Hopkinson's daughters and granddaughters, Joan Hopkinson Shurcliff, Harriot Rive, Elinor Barr, Mrs. John M. Clarke and Mrs. James Masek, donated additional material in 1973 and 1992.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. research center. Please 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.
6.5 Cubic feet (16 boxes, 188 pieces of original artwork)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Black-and-white photographic prints
Pastels (visual works)
Advertisements
Business records
Date:
circa 1936-1995
Summary:
The collection documents the development and evolution of the Breck Girl, a highly successful and long-lived advertising campaign whose hallmark was its vision of idealized American womanhood through correspondence, photographs, paintings, and print advertisements.
Scope and Contents:
188 pieces of original advertising art (mostly pastel drawings), and photographs, correspondence, and business records, documenting the development and evolution of the Breck Girls advertising campaign. Original advertising art includes portraits of famous models, such as Cheryl Tiegs, Brooke Shields, Kim Basinger, and Erin Gray. Artists represented include Charles Sheldon and Ralph William Williams. The 2006 addendum consists of approximately one sixth of one cubic foot of papers relating to Cynthia Brown's selection as a Breck Girl, 1988 and her induction into the Breck Hall of Fame.
Arrangement:
Collection divided into four series.
Series 1: Company history, 1946-1990
Series 2: Photographs, 1960-1995
Series 3: Print ads, 1946-1980
Series 4: Original artwork, 1936-1994
Biographical / Historical:
Dr. John Breck is credited with developing one of the first liquid shampoos in the United States, in Springfield Massachusetts in 1908; Breck is also credited with introducing the first ph-balanced shampoo, in 1930. During the early years of the business, distribution remained localized in New England, and the product was sold exclusively to beauty salons until 1946. Advertising for the brand began in 1932, but appeared only in trade publications, such as Modern Beauty Shop.
Edward Breck, son of the founder, assumed management of the company in 1936. Breck became acquainted with Charles Sheldon, an illustrator and portrait painter who is believed to have studied in Paris under Alphonse Mucha, an artist noted for his contributions to Art Nouveau style. Sheldon had achieved some measure of fame for his paintings of movie stars for the cover of Photoplay magazine in the 1920s, and had also done idealized pastel portraits for the cover of Parents magazine. He created his first pastel portraits for Breck in 1936, launching what would become one of America's longest running ad campaigns. When the company began national advertising (and mass distribution) in 1946, the campaign featured Sheldon's 1937 painting of seventeen-year old Roma Whitney, a spirited blonde. Ms. Whitney's profile was registered as Breck's trademark in 1951. When he retired in 1957, Sheldon had created 107 oil paintings and pastels for the company. Sheldon was known to favor ordinary women over professional models, and in the early years of the campaign, the Breck Girls were Breck family members, neighbors or residents of the community in which he worked; company lore holds that nineteen Breck Girls were employees of the advertising agency he founded in 1940. A Breck advertising manager later described Sheldon's illustrations as, "illusions, depicting the quality and beauty of true womanhood using real women as models." The paintings and pastels form a coherent, if derivative, body of work which celebrates an idealized vision of American girlhood and womanhood, an ideal in which fair skin, beauty and purity are co-equal.
Ralph William Williams was hired to continue the Breck Girls campaign after Sheldon's retirement. Between 1957 and his death in 1976, Williams modified the Breck Girl look somewhat through the use of brighter colors and a somewhat heightened sense of movement and individuality. The advertising manager during his tenure recalled that Aat first Williams continued in Sheldon' manner, but in later years, as women became more independent, he would take care to integrate each girl' particular personality; he studied each girl and learned her special qualities. During these years, Breck Girls were identified through the company's sponsorship of America's Junior Miss contests. Williams work includes pastels of celebrities Cybil Shepard (1968 Junior Miss from Tennessee), Cheryl Tiegs (1968), Jaclyn Smith (1971, 1973), Kim Basinger (1972, 1974) and Brooke Shields (1974) very early in their careers.
By the 1960s, at the height of its success, Breck held about a twenty percent share of the shampoo market and enjoyed a reputation for quality and elegance. Ownership of the company changed several times (American Cyanamid in 1963; Dial Corporation in 1990). The corresponding fluctuations in management of the company and in advertising expenditures tended to undermine the coherence of the national advertising campaign. In addition, despite William's modifications, the image had become dated. Attempts to update the image misfired, further limiting the brand's coherence and effectiveness. Finally, increased competition and an absence of brand loyalty among consumers through the 1970s and 1980s helped push Breck from its number one position into the bargain bin. The Breck Girl campaign was discontinued around 1978, although there have been at least two minor revivals, first in 1992 with the Breck Girls Hall of Fame, and again in 1995 when a search was begun to identify three new Breck Women.
Scope and Content: The 188 pieces of original advertising art (62 oil paintings on board, 2 pencil sketches on paper, and 124 pastels on paper) and related photographs, correspondence and business files in this collection document the development and evolution of the Breck Girl, a highly successful and long-lived advertising campaign whose hallmark was its vision of idealized American womanhood. The collection is a perfect fit with other 20th century Archives Center collections documenting the efforts of American business to reach the female consumer market. The Estelle Ellis Collection (advertising and promotions for Seventeen, Charm, Glamour and House & Garden and many other clients) the Cover Girl Collection (make-up), the Maidenform Collection (brassieres), and the Tupperware Collections offer a prodigious body of evidence for understanding the role women were expected to play as consumers in the 20th century.
These advertising images also offer fertile ground for research into the evolution of popular images of American girlhood and womanhood. The research uses of the collection derive primarily from its value as an extensive visual catalog of the ideal types of American women and girls, arising and coalescing during a period in which 19th century ideals of womanhood were being revisited (the depression, the war years, the immediate post-war period) and continuing, with slight modifications and revisions, through several decades during which those historical ideals were being challenged and revised.
Related Materials:
Several items of packaging, 1930s-1980s are held in the former Division of Home and Community Life (now Division of Cultural and Community Life); an 18k gold Breck insignia pin is in the former.
Provenance:
The Dial Corporation through Jane Owens, Senior Vice President, Gift, June 1998.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Mr. Flagg offers to clean a sketch by Washington Allston which Mrs. Johnson owns, and asks to purchase it as well.
Biographical / Historical:
Jared Bradley Flagg, an Episcopalian priest, painter, writer and founder of the Yale Art Library, was the nephew of painter Washington Allston, and wrote the Life and Letters of Washington Allston. Johnson (b. Laura Winthrop) wrote prose and poetry, including Poems of Twenty Years (1874), 800 Miles in an Ambulance (1899), and The Life and Poems of Theodore Winthrop (1884). Her father, Francis Bayard Winthrop, Jr. of New Haven, Conn., collected works of art, including those of Allston.
Other Title:
Mrs. Oliver Templeton Johnson papers (microfilm title)
Provenance:
Donated 1961 by Winslow Ames, grandson of Laura Winthrop Johnson.
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:
Portrait painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
Diaries with sketches (1908-1910), writings and notes.
Biographical / Historical:
Harold Dunbar (1882-1953) was a portrait and mural painter of Belmont and Chatham, Mass. Dunbar also worked in New York. He conducted summer art classes in Chatham, Massachusetts, from 1915 on.
Provenance:
The donor, Elliot Orr, was a friend of Dunbar.
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.
The photographs of painter Edwin Burrage Child measure 2.2 linear feet and date from 1902-1936. Included in this collection are original photographic prints and copy prints; 101 negatives; 59 glass plate negatives; and one folder of miscellaneous papers including a sketch by Edwin Burrage Child. Photographs depict artwork, interiors, furniture, and people.
Scope and Contents:
The photographs of Edwin Burrage Child measure 2.2 linear feet and date from 1902-1936. Included in this collection are original photographic prints and copy prints; 101 negatives; 59 glass plate negatives; and one folder of miscellaneous papers including a sketch by Edwin Burrage Child. Photographs depict artwork, interiors, furniture, and people.
Photographs of people and other subjects depict several portrait images of Edwin Burrage Child, as well as many photographs and negatives of unidentified groups and events, children, men building a log cabin structure at Child's Dorset, Vermont home, and several models for painting.
Photographs of landscapes, buildings, and animals include a series of landscape photographs of Central Park, complete with the city in the background; many images of the Dorset, Vermont landscape with Child's house and barn structures depicted; landscapes with rainclouds and lightning, also in Dorset, Vermont; and images of horses attached to carriages and wagons, and cows and sheep, as well as several images of a dead horse on the streets of a small town.
Photographs of interiors, furniture, and lighting are made up primarily of copy prints and negatives, and include images of pieces of furniture, light fixtures and sconces, as well as entire interior rooms of what is probably Child's Dorset home. Additionally, photographs of Child's studio with paintings hung on walls are also found here.
Photographs of artwork make up the bulk of the collection, with original prints, copy prints, negatives, and glass plate negatives of primarily portrait paintings by Edwin Burrage Child. Many of the original photographic prints have been annotated on the backs with descriptive information about the portrait model, where they are from, and their occupation. Some annotations contain anecdotal information about Child's interactions or experiences with the sitters, and have been written by Child's youngest son, Sargent Burrage Child. While some of the descriptive information has been identified as written by both Edwin Burrage Child and Sargent Burrage Child, some writing could not be identified. A set of glass plate negatives without prints also depicts several of Child's landscape paintings. Additionally, a dismantled photograph album contains original prints of Child's portraits of men, women, and children, as well as containing the most descriptive information of all the prints in the collection.
Miscellaneous papers contains a sketch with note by Edwin Burrage Child; a handwritten letter in pencil, on Child's stationery, by Child; a typed exhibition inventory of portraits in the Washington, D. C. exhibit, "Portraits by Edwin Burrage Child," in 1930; and a copy of the 5 x 7 glass plate negatives box that previously stored glass plate negatives.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series. Glass plate negatives are housed in Series 6 and are closed to researchers.
Missing Title
Series 1: Photographs of People and Other Subjects, circa 1908-circa 1936 (15 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Photographs of Landscapes, Buildings, and Animals, 1903-circa 1936 (24 folderst; Box 1)
Series 3: Photographs of Interiors, Furniture, and Lighting, circa 1902-circa 1936 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 4: Photographs of Artwork, 1902-1936 (28 folders; Boxes 2-3, 6)
Series 5: Miscellaneous Papers, circa 1930 (1 folder; Box 3)
Series 6: Glass Plate Negatives, 1910-circa 1930 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 4-5)
Biographical / Historical:
Edwin Burrage Child (1868-1937) was a landscape and portrait painter who lived and worked in New York City and Dorset, Vermont, and was most known for his male portraiture.
Child was born in Gouverneur, New York in 1868 to Jonathan Bush Child and Sarah Burnham. In the 1880s, Child attended Amherst College and received art lessons during the summers from artist Margaret C. Whiting (1860-1946). In 1890, he graduated from Amherst College and moved to New York City to pursue a career as an artist, becoming a student in 1891 at the Art Students League. Child's artistic debut was in 1892 at the National Academy of Design annual exhibition. From 1891 to 1895, he studied under painter, muralist, and stained-glass designer John LaFarge (1835-1910), and worked as his assistant from 1896-1901. Edwin Burrage Child then spent many years working as an illustrator and writer for leading periodicals such as Scribner's, Harper's, McClure's, and others.
As a landscape painter, Child was awarded a medal at the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition in St. Louis in 1904, and the majority of his landscapes were modeled from his summer home in Dorset, Vermont. In 1908, his focused moved to easel painting -- primarily landscapes and portraits. Child was most known for his portraits of intellectual males, with sitters including Senator Dwight M. Morrow, Governor Wilbur L. Cross of Connecticut, Professor John Dewey, and painter Ivan G. Olinsky, among many others. His work appeared in shows at the National Academy of Design and the Society of Independent Artists in New York, as well as the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. He also had many one-man shows over the years, primarily in New York City. In 1930, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. held an exhibition of his portraits.
Child was married to Anna Gertrude Sykes in 1894, and they had three children: Katherine E. (1895-1966), Bradford (1896-1948), and Sargent Burrage (1900-1972). Child also made furniture as a hobby and remodeled his home in Dorset Hollow, as well as Gray's Tavern, which later became the Dorset Village Public Library. Additionally, he was a frequent lecturer, speaking at colleges and universities, including Yale, Michigan State College, Columbia, City College of New York, and Massachusetts State College at Amherst. Child spent the last ten years of his life living in Dorset, Vermont, and died in 1937.
Provenance:
The Edwin Burrage Child photographs were transferred to the Archives of American Art on June 6, 1979, from the National Collection of Fine Arts (NCFA) Library.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Glass plates are housed separately and not available to researchers. 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.
Edwin Burrage Child photographs, 1902-1936. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
This collection of papers measures 0.2 linear feet, dates from circa 1820-1932, and provides scattered documentation of the lives of painter Rembrandt Peale and his wife Harriet. There are seven letters from Peale which discuss his Patriae Pater portrait of George Washington and his subsequent attempts to gain a commission from Congress for his equestrian portrait of the first president, as well as illuminating his opinion on patronage for the arts. The collection also contains a copy of Peale's lecture on "Washington and his Portraits," a page with drawings of Roman coins by Peale, two codicils to Harriet Peale's will, printed material including a pamphlet for Peale's The Court of Death and a catalog of sale for Harriet Peale's estate, and photographs of Rembrandt and Harriet Peale.
Scope and Content Note:
This collection of papers measures 0.2 linear feet, dates from circa 1820-1932, and provides scattered documentation of the lives of painter Rembrandt Peale and his wife Harriet. The papers contain seven letters from Peale to various individuals, including Massachusetts senator Elijah Hunt Mills, that document his attempts to seek recognition and recompense from Congress for his portraits of George Washington and illuminate his opinions on patronage of the arts. Also found here is a copy of Peale's lecture on "Washington and his Portraits," and legal papers consisting of two codicils to Harriet Peale's will which list the disposition of Rembrandt Peale paintings in her possession. There is a page with drawings of Roman coins by Peale, printed material including a pamphlet for Peale's popular allegorical painting The Court of Death, and a catalog of sale for Harriet Peale's estate. Photographs picture Rembrandt and Harriet Peale respectively, circa 1850.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as one series.
Biographical Note:
Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860) was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and was the second son of painter Charles Willson Peale. He was known primarily for his historical paintings and portraits, particularly those of George Washington. Peale painted his first Washington portrait in 1795 at the age of 17, in a sitting arranged by his father. From 1795-1800 he traveled in Maryland and the South painting portraits, and from 1801-1803 studied with Benjamin West in London.
Peale returned to Europe from l808 to l8l0, and spent most of his time in Paris where he was inspired to take up historical painting. From 1813-1822 he lived in Baltimore where, in 1814, he established a museum for paintings and natural history that later became known as the Peale Museum. Peale's most famous allegorical painting, Court of Death, was completed in 1820 and was one of the most popular paintings of the decade.
In 1822 Peale moved to New York City where he embarked on an attempt to paint what he hoped would become the "Standard likeness" of Washington. In the process he reviewed portraits by other artists including John Trumbull, Gilbert Stuart and his father, as well as his own 1795 picture which had never truly satisfied him. His resulting Patriae Pater, completed in 1824, depicts Washington through an oval window, and is considered by many to be second only to Gilbert Stuart's iconic Athenaeum painting of the first president. Peale subsequently attempted to capitalise on the success of what quickly became known as his "Porthole" picture, collecting tesimonials praising the portrait from people who had known the president, and lobbying Congress, in vain, for a commission to paint an equestrian portrait of Washington. Despite his failure to gain such a commission, "Patriae Pater" was purchased by Congress in 1832 and still hangs in the U.S. Capitol.
Peale subsequently produced over 70 replicas of the "porthole" picture and in the late 1850s delivered a series of lecture entitled "Washington and his Portraits" along the East coast. He was also an accomplished writer and lecturer on natural history, and was among the founders of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, a president of the American Academy, and a founder of the National Academy.
Related Material:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the following collections relating to Rembrandt Peale: the Albert Duveen collection of artists' letters and ephemera, 1808-1910, includes an 1855 September 8 letter from Rembrandt Peale to an unidentifed person, available on 35 mm microfilm reel D9 (frames 848-850); Printed material relating to Rembrandt Peale, 1830-1862, lent for microfilming by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1855, is available on microfilm reel P29; and the Charles Henry Hart autograph collection, 1731-1912, contains a lithograph by Peale available on 35mm microfilm reel D5 (frame 103).
Provenance:
In 1960, Lawrence A. Fleischman donated one letter. Six items were donated by Charles E. Feinberg in 1962. An additional 35 items were transferred from the National Collection of Fine Arts Library to the Archives in 1979.
Restrictions:
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
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:
Portrait painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Slides and photographs of Rann's work; watercolors; one oil portrait of a child; clippings; exhibition material; and an autobiographical sketch.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; Provincetown, Mass. Worked primarily as a portrait painter.
Provenance:
These papers were donated by Mrs. Ruth R. Jones in 1974.
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 -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
Portrait painters -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
Woodbury, Charles H. (Charles Herbert), 1864-1940 Search this
Extent:
0.8 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Oil paintings
Sketchbooks
Watercolor paintings
Photographs
Charcoal drawings
Date:
circa 1870-1961
bulk 1870-1900
Summary:
The papers of Boston area portrait painter Rose Lamb date from circa 1870 to 1961, with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1870 to 1900, and measure 0.8 linear feet. The collection contains a diploma; letters from artists, writers, historians, and others, including nine letters from former teacher and friend William Morris Hunt; photographs of unidentified people and artwork by Lamb; and original artwork, including a sketchbook, charcoal drawings, watercolors, and two oil paintings.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of Boston area portrait painter and drawing instructor Rose Lamb date from circa 1870 to 1961, with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1870 to 1900, and measure 0.8 linear feet. The collection contains a diploma; letters from artists, writers, historians, and others, including nine letters from former teacher and friend William Morris Hunt; photographs of unidentified people and artwork by Lamb; and original artwork, including a sketchbook from circa 1870, charcoal drawings, two watercolors, and two oil paintings. Artwork depicts landscapes, children, and other figure studies.
Series 2: Correspondence, 1878-1914, 1952-1961 (Box 1; 5 folders)
Series 3: Photographs, circa late 1800s (Boxes 1-2; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Artwork, circa 1870-late 1800s (Box 1-2, OV 3; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Rose Lamb (1843-1927) was a portrait painter and drawing instructor of Boston, Massachusetts. Lamb was born in Boston to a prominent family and was a student of William Morris Hunt and Helen Knowlton during the 1870s. Though she did not exhibit often during her lifetime, she was a successful portraitist specializing in portraits of children. Lamb was an active member of Boston society, befriending many artists, writers, and other cultural figures, and her portraits were in great demand among prominent Boston families. She traveled to Europe in 1881, 1890, and 1914, perhaps taking art classes while there in 1881. In 1884, and possibly later, she assisted George Bartlett as a drawing instructor at the South Boston School of Art. In 1900 she suffered a severe illness and stopped painting. For the remainder of her life she instead pursued travel and social activities. Rose Lamb died in 1927.
Use of the 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:
Art teachers -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
Portrait painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
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:
Portrait painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
The papers of Boston portrait painter Marie Danforth Page measure 5.9 linear feet and date from 1867 to 2016. The papers document her career in Boston, Massachusetts, through biographical material, correspondence, subject files, personal business records, printed material, artwork, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Boston portrait painter Marie Danforth Page measure 5.9 linear feet and date from 1867 to 2016. The papers document her career in Boston, Massachusetts, through biographical material, correspondence, subject files, personal business records, printed material, artwork, and photographic material.
Biographical information includes award certificates and diplomas, biographical sketches, family records, membership cards, notes, notebooks, and some writings by others. The series also contains material on the artist's husband Calvin G. Page.
There is correspondence with Marie Danforth Page from family, friends, colleagues, museums, and galleries. Notable correspondents include Abbott H. Thayer, Elizabeth Bartol, George Bellows, Frank W. Benson, Aldro T. Hibbard, Jonas Lie, and Cecilia Beaux. There is also posthumous correspondence with Calvin G. Page concerning memorial exhibitions for Marie Danforth Page, and a fair amount correspondence with other family members such as daughters Margaret and Susan.
Subject files consist of card files of artwork, meeting minutes and other material for The School of the Museum of Fine Arts Council (Boston) and the Hazeltine Portrait Committee, and records related to memorial exhibitions of Marie Danforth Page's artwork.
Personal business records include estate papers, lists of artworks, loan receipts, insurance records, and insurance policies.
Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, annual reports, books, bulletins, magazines, and clippings. Works of art consist of printing plates, handmade Christmas cards, sketchbooks, and drawings.
Photographs are albums, prints, and glass plate negatives of Page, artwork, exhibitions, and other people and places.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1869-1952 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 1, 7)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1867-2011 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 3: Subject Files, circa 1901-1949 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1867-1951 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1882-2016 (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 2-4)
Series 6: Artwork, 1881-1940 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 4, 7)
Series 7: Photographic Material, circa 1880-1940 (1.9 linear feet; Boxes 4-8, OVs 9-11, GPN Box 12)
Biographical / Historical:
Marie Danforth Page (1869-1940) was a portrait painter in Boston, Massachusetts. Page was a member of the conservative Boston School of Painting. She studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with Frank W. Benson and Edmund Tarbell, from 1890 to 1895. She married Dr. Calvin Gates Page in 1896.
In 1904, Page took a summer course at Harvard with Denman Ross, and she also studied informally with Abbott Handerson Thayer. She was a charter member of the Guild of Boston Artists, active in the Copley Society, and on the Board of Visitors of the Museum of Fine Arts School.
Provenance:
The Marie Danforth Page papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1985 by Danforth Page Fales and H. Gordon Fales, Page's grandchildren. Additional material was donated in 2020 by Danforth Page Fales.
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.
Occupation:
Portrait painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
The papers of Boston portraitist and painter Polly Thayer (Starr) (1904-2006) measure 21.6 linear feet and 0.807 GB and date from 1846 to 2008, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1921-2008. The papers document Thayer's personal life and career as a painter, portraitist, and pastel artist. Found within the papers are biographical materials, extensive family papers, correspondence with artists and art venues, interviews, writings, subject files, organization files, exhibition files, art inventory records, printed and digital materials, five sketchbooks, artwork, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Boston portraitist and painter Polly Thayer (Starr) (1904-2006) measure 21.6 linear feet and 0.807 GB and date from 1846 to 2008, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1921-2008. The papers document Thayer's personal life and career as a painter, portraitist, and pastel artist. Found within the papers are biographical materials, extensive family papers, correspondence with artists and art venues, interviews, writings, subject files, organization files, exhibition files, art inventory records, printed and digital materials, five sketchbooks, artwork, and photographs.
Biographical material includes a marriage certificate, school records, inventories of possessions, passports, files about the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake in Japan, and a few personal and scattered financial documents such as invoices and receipts for various art related expenses.
Extensive family papers on many of Polly Thayer's immediate and extended family members include obituaries, condolence letters, writings, and printed materials. The most voluminous files are about Polly Thayer's husband Donald Carter Starr, her mother Ethel Randolph Thayer, and her father Ezra Ripley Thayer.
There is limited correspondence with friends and and colleagues, including Royal Cortissoz, Philip Hofer, Tasha Tudor (photocopies), Dorothy Koval, the curator who wrote about Thayer for her first show at Vose Galleries in 2001, as well as two art consultants who helped Thayer inventory her artwork. The bulk of the correspondence is with museums, galleries, and other venues such as the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Copley Society of Boston, and Vose Galleries.
Interviews with Polly Thayer include transcripts as well as sound and video recordings. There is also a sound recording of poet and professor Doris Abramson discussing Catherine Sargent Huntington.
Writings include typescript and handwritten drafts of essays, notebooks, and notes on assorted topics. The bulk of the material was written by Thayer, with a few writings by others.
Subject files are found for people and general interests. The "People" files are collected documents about Thayer's friends, colleagues, artists, and portrait subjects. The files include short biographies, articles, obituaries, a few photographs, two videocassettes and one sound recording. The most voluminous files are on Francis DeLancey Cunningham, the Howe family, Rose Nichols, May Sarton, John Brooks Wheelwright, and Agnes Yarnall. Thayer's "Interests" files consist of articles and clippings on various topics such as animals, humor, and pacifism.
Organization files contain materials related to Polly Thayer's charitable contributions, club memberships and affiliations, including The Chilton Club, Nucleus Club, Religious Society of Friends, and Trustees of Reservations, among others. These files contain seven sound recordings.
Exhibition files contain exhibition catalogs, reviews, clippings, notes, inventory price lists, and other materials about Thayer's solo and group shows.
Art inventory records consist of dismantled binders of inventories that also include photographs of artwork and descriptive information such as the title, medium, and dimensions. There are also photographic inventories of works of art arranged by subject, and several partial art inventories.
Printed materials include two scrapbooks compiled by Polly Thayer's mother containing articles about Thayer, magazines, journals, exhibition catalogs, brochures, exhibition invitations, postcards, clippings, and miscellaneous materials. Digital materials consist of inventories and digitized audio interviews.
Five sketchbooks include figure drawings, portrait sketches, and landscape sketches. Also found are loose drawings of animals, landscapes, and people.
Disbound binders of photographs contain images of works of art that are grouped by subject, including portraits, landscapes, and "mystical/flowers/animals," as well as personal photographs of Polly Thayer and family members, houses, social events, pets, and friends. There is one small disbound photograph album of houses and properties.
Arrangement:
The Polly Thayer papers were organized and inventoried by curator Dorothy Koval and other art consultants prior to arriving at the Archives of American Art, and most likely do not reflect the original order by Polly Thayer. The Archives has maintained the arrangement imposed by Koval for the bulk of the papers.
This collection is arranged as 13 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1921-2007 (0.8 linear feet; Box 1, 22, 0.582 GB; ER01-ER02)
Series 2: Family Files, 1846-2006 (2 linear feet; Box 1-3, 22)
Series 3: Correspondence, 1929-2008 (1.3 linear feet; Box 3-5)
Series 4: Interviews, 1995-2004 (0.2 linear feet; Box 5, 0.196 GB; ER03)
Series 5: Writings, 1922-2006 (1.7 linear feet; Box 5-6)
Series 6: Subject Files, circa 1900-2008 (3.3 linear feet; Box 7-10)
Series 7: Organization Files, 1931-2008 (1 linear feet; Box 10-11, 0.029 GB; ER04)
Series 8: Exhibition Files, 1928-2006 (1.9 linear feet; Box 11-13)
Series 9: Art Inventory, circa 1940-1999 (4.6 linear feet; Box 13-17)
Series 10: Printed Material, 1900-2006 (1.8 linear feet; Box 17-19, 22)
Series 11: Sketchbooks, 1930-circa 1970 (0.3 linear feet; Box 19, 23)
Series 12: Artwork, 1927-circa 1990 (0.4 linear feet; Box 19, 23, OV 25)
Series 13: Photographs, 1898-2006 (2.1 linear feet; Box 19-21, 24)
Biographical / Historical:
Polly Thayer (Starr) (1904-2006) was a Boston painter of portraits, landscapes, and still lifes.
After graduating from Westover School, Thayer traveled to China, Korea, and Japan with her brother and mother. While in Japan, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 struck just as their ship was about to leave Yokohama. In the devastation that followed, their ship was used as a hospital and Polly Thayer assisted with nursing the injured.
Thayer's first solo exhibition was held on New Year's Eve, 1930 at the Doll & Richards gallery in Boston. The Globe reviewer declared it "surely settles her status as one of the foremost painters in the country." The success of the exhibition led to numerous portrait commissions --any of them exhibited at Wildenstein gallery in New York City --and launched Thayer's career as a portrait artist. Her portrait subjects include Judith Anderson, Jacques Barzun, Maurice Evans, Lewis Galantiere, Robert Hale, May Sarton, John Wheelwright, and Agnes Yarnall, among others. Additional galleries that subsequently gave Thayer solo shows were the Sessler Gallery in Philadelphia; Contemporary Arts and Pietrantonio Galleries in New York; and in Boston the Guild of Boston Artists, Grace Horne Galleries, Child's Gallery, The Copley Society, the St. Botolph Club and the Boston Public Library.
In 1933, Polly Thayer married Donald Starr, a Boston lawyer and avid sailor. They married in Italy and honeymooned in Paris while he took a break from a sailing trip around the world on his schooner "Pilgrim." They had two daughters, Victoria and Dinah.
In 1942 Thayer joined the Society of Friends (Quakers) which became an important part of her life and identity. She was active in many educational, charitable and cultural institutions and local clubs. Thayer had long been fascinated by the dynamics, meaning and variety of visual experience. In 1981 the Friends Journal published her essay "On Seeing," a paper she continued to refine until she was ninety-seven.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Polly Thayer began focusing more on landscapes and still lifes and continued to be prolific artist, exhibiting in numerous solo and group exhibits in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. In her later years she renewed an early affiliation with Vose Galleries which she maintained for the rest of her life. In 2001, she was the only living artist whose work was included in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts exhibition "A Studio of Her Own" and a banner of her portrait of May Sarton hung over the entrance to the Museum.
Polly Thayer (Starr) died on August 30, 2006.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds an oral history interview of Polly Thayer conducted May 12, 1995-February 1, 1996, by Robert F. Brown.
The Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust holds archival materials and artwork by Polly Thayer.
Provenance:
The Polly Thayer (Starr) papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Polly Thayer in 1998 and again in 2008 by Thayer via Stephanie S. Wright, executor. A notebook was donated in 2016 by Dinah Starr, daughter of Polly Thayer (Starr) and merged with the rest of the collection.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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.
Two letters to Anna C. Allen, June 11, 1846 and October 12, 1848.
Biographical / Historical:
Portrait painter; Boston, Mass.
Provenance:
Donated 1955-1962 by Charles E. Feinberg, an active donor and friend of AAA.
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:
Portrait painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
Topic:
Portrait painting -- 19th century -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
Portrait and historical painter; Boston, Mass and London, England.
Provenance:
Purchased 1956 by the Archives of American Art.
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:
Portrait painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
