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William Page and Page Family papers, 1815-1947, bulk 1843-1892

Creator:
Page, William, 1811-1885  Search this
Subject:
Page, William  Search this
Page, Sophia Stevens  Search this
Olmstead, Mary  Search this
Olmstead, Bertha  Search this
O'Donovan, William Rudolph  Search this
Lowell, James Russell  Search this
Hicks, Thomas  Search this
Fenton, Rueben  Search this
Cushman, Charlotte  Search this
Curtis, George William  Search this
Briggs, Charles F. (Charles Frederick)  Search this
Beecher, Thomas Kinnicut  Search this
Tilton, Theodore  Search this
Wilmarth, Lemuel Everett  Search this
Stark, William  Search this
Sumner, Charles  Search this
Scranton, William Walker  Search this
Shaw, Francis George  Search this
Beecher, Henry Ward  Search this
Phillips, Wendell  Search this
Garrison, William Lloyd  Search this
Perry, E. W. (Enoch Wood)  Search this
National Academy of Design (U.S.)  Search this
Type:
Photographs
Sketches
Poems
Drawings
Diaries
Citation:
William Page and Page Family papers, 1815-1947, bulk 1843-1892. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Works of art  Search this
Portrait painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Portrait painting -- 19th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8925
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211111
AAA_collcode_pagewill
Theme:
Diaries
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211111
Online Media:

William Page and Page Family papers

Creator:
Page, William, 1811-1885  Search this
Names:
National Academy of Design (U.S.)  Search this
Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887  Search this
Beecher, Thomas Kinnicut, 1824-1900  Search this
Briggs, Charles F. (Charles Frederick), 1804-1877  Search this
Curtis, George William, 1824-1892  Search this
Cushman, Charlotte, 1816-1876  Search this
Fenton, Rueben  Search this
Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879  Search this
Hicks, Thomas, 1823-1890  Search this
Lowell, James Russell, 1819-1891  Search this
O'Donovan, William Rudolph, 1844-1920  Search this
Olmstead, Bertha  Search this
Olmstead, Mary  Search this
Page, Sophia Stevens, 1827-1892  Search this
Page, William, 1811-1885  Search this
Perry, E. W. (Enoch Wood), 1831-1915  Search this
Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884  Search this
Scranton, William Walker  Search this
Shaw, Francis George, 1809-1882  Search this
Stark, William, 1825-1873  Search this
Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874  Search this
Tilton, Theodore, 1835-1907  Search this
Wilmarth, Lemuel Everett, 1835-1918  Search this
Extent:
11.06 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Sketches
Poems
Drawings
Diaries
Date:
1815-1947
bulk 1843-1892
Summary:
The papers of the portraitist and art theorist William Page and the Page family measure 11.06 linear feet and date from 1815 to 1947, bulk 1843-1892. In addition to the papers of William Page, the papers include documents related to Page's wife's career as a writer and records documenting their personal lives and the lives of their family members. Types of documents found include personal documents and artifacts, correspondence, essays, lectures, diaries, poems, notes and notebooks, financial records, legal records, published works, clippings, catalogs, photographs, and artwork.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of the painter William Page and the Page family measure 11.06 linear feet and date from 1815 to 1947, with the bulk of papers dating from 1843 to 1892. Papers contain records related to the life and career of William Page, president of the National Academy of Design from 1871 to 1873 and prominent portraitist and art theorist of his day. Also found are records related to his wife's career as a writer and records documenting their personal lives and the lives of their family members. Types of documents found include personal documents and artifacts, correspondence, essays, lectures, diaries, poems, notes and notebooks, financial records, legal records, published works, clippings, catalogs, photographs, and artwork.

Correspondence includes the personal and professional correspondence of William and Sophia Page, and their parents, siblings, and children. Significant correspondents include Thomas Hicks, Enoch Wood Perry, William Stark, Theodore Tilton, Lemuel Wilmarth, Wendell Phillips, William Walker Scranton, Francis G. Shaw; James Russell Lowell, Charles Frederick Briggs, George W. Curtis, Charlotte Cushman, Thomas K. Beecher, Mary Olmsted, and Bertha Olmsted.

Writings include the essays and lectures of William Page, as written by him and revised by Sophia Page in the late 1870s, as well as Sophia's writings as a columnist in Europe in the 1850s. Notes, notebooks, diaries, and poems are also found. Personal Business Records include business records related to the sale and exhibition of artwork as well as financial and legal documents. A small number of memoranda and documents related to Page's work at the National Academy of Design are also found. Printed Materials include exhibition catalogs, published works by William and Sophia Page, and clippings and articles about Page.

Photographs consist mainly of portraits, most of them mounted cabinet photographs or cartes-des-visites, some of which appear to have been used as studies for Page's painted portraits. Among those pictured are William Page, James Russell Lowell, Henry Ward Beecher, Reuben Fenton, Wendell Phillips, Charles Sumner, William R. O'Donovan, and William Lloyd Garrison. Many of the photographic portraits are unidentified. Artwork includes sketches, drawings, prints, and a small number of notes made by Page in the course of painting portraits.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 7 series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials and Artifacts, 1847-1917 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1815-1942 (Boxes 1-4, 9-10; 3.2 linear feet)

Series 3: Notes and Writings, 1839-1888, 1949 (Boxes 4-5, OV 10; 1.3 linear feet)

Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1848-1932 (Boxes 5 and 9; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 5: Printed Materials, 1845-1938 (Boxes 5-7, 9, OV 11; 1.6 linear feet)

Series 6: Photographs, 1845-1947 (Boxes 7-9, OV 12, MGP 5-6; 1.4 linear feet)

Series 7: Artwork, 1856-1874 (Box 8, OV 13-16, rolled documents 17-19; 0.6 linear feet and 3 rolled documents)
Biographical Note:
The painter William Page was born in 1811 in Albany, NY. He attended public schools in New York City, and after working briefly in the law firm of Frederick de Peyster, was placed in the studio of the painter/engraver James Herring in 1825, where he received his first formal art training. He took classes at the National Academy of Design the year it was formed, in 1826, under Samuel F.B. Morse, and in 1827 he was awarded one of the National Academy's first annual student prizes.

Page joined the Presbyterian church and attended Phillips Academy and Amherst with the intention of becoming a minister, but his artistic ability won out, and by 1830 he was painting commissioned portraits in Albany, Rochester, and New York. He married Lavinia Twibill in 1833, and they had three daughters between 1834 and 1839. He joined the American Academy and served on its board of directors in 1835. He exhibited at the American Academy, the National Academy of Design, the Boston Athenaeum, and other venues throughout the 1830s. Favorable reviews brought steady portrait commissions, including John Quincy Adams and the New York governor William L. Marcy. He was made a full member of the National Academy in 1837.

In the 1840s, Page's reputation and maturity as a painter grew. His first wife left him around 1840, and in 1843 he married Sarah Dougherty. The couple moved to Albany, Boston, and back to New York seeking portrait commissions and patronage. He became friends with the poet James Russell Lowell and the writer and publisher Charles Frederick Briggs, two writers and editors who helped to promote his artwork in Boston and New York and published his theoretical writings. In 1844, Lowell dedicated his first published book of poetry to Page, and the following year, Briggs published a series of articles by Page in the Broadway Journal, entitled "The Art of the Use of Color in Imitation in Painting." The series described Page's arduous experiments with color and glazes, and his ideas about correspondences between spirituality and the natural world as expressed in art.

In 1850, Page traveled to Florence, Italy, where he painted several copies of the works of Titian in the galleries of the Uffizi and Pitti palaces, studying his use of color and further developing his own experimental techniques. He became friends with the sculptor Hiram Powers, who introduced him to the writings of Emmanuel Swedenborg, a Christian metaphysician whose ideas fueled Page's interest in the spiritual aspects of art. In 1852, Page moved to Rome, a city with an international artists' community and a strong market for art. Page found a loyal following in Rome's large circle of American ex-patriates, including the sculptors Thomas Crawford and Harriet Hosmer, the actress Charlotte Cushman, and the poets Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, all of whom sat for portraits by Page.

In 1854, Page's second wife left him amidst public scandal, and he sank deep in debt to his bankers at Packenham and Hooker, an English firm that by 1856 had a lien on all the paintings in his studio. That same year Page met Sophia Stevens Hitchcock, an American widow traveling in Rome with Bertha Olmsted, Frederick Law Olmsted's sister. Hitchcock was from Barnet, Vermont and came to Europe after her first husband died in 1852 after only a year of marriage. She traveled to England and Paris, where she wrote regular columns on local customs and events for the New York Tribune that were published under the by-line "An American Woman in Paris." She and Page met in Rome in 1856, and in October 1857, after Page traveled back the United States to obtain a divorce from Sarah Dougherty, he and Sophia married.

The couple stayed in Rome until 1860. His wife's three brothers, all businessmen, helped to promote his artwork in Europe and America. Page's paintings of this period include several Venus subjects, one of which was championed by his most loyal patrons, who raised $3000 by subscription to buy the painting for the Boston Athenaeum. A later Venus painting was rejected from the Paris salon for indecency, a controversy that was later leveraged for publicity in a touring exhibition in the United States.

The Pages returned to the United States in 1860 and settled in Tottenville, New York. They had six children between 1858 and 1870. Page had a studio at Eagleswood, NJ, and later in the Studio Building on 10th Street in Manhattan, where he held a large exhibition in 1867. In the 1860s, he painted a self-portrait and a companion portrait of Sophia set in Rome, as well as a series of civil war heroes including Robert Gould Shaw, Winfield Scott, and David Farragut. Photographs played a consistent part in Page's technique of portraiture, and he is known to have worked with the photographer Matthew Brady, who attended art classes early on with Page, as well as the photographers Sarony and Charles Williamson, who taught classes on drawing from enlarged photo-transparencies. Brady photographs taken for Page include David Farragut and Reuben Fenton.

Page lectured frequently on Titian and Venetian art, a subject in which he was considered an expert, and on painting technique and his philosophical ideas about nature, art, and spirituality. In 1871, Page was elected the president of the National Academy of Design, a post he held until 1873, but his poor health following a collapse in 1872 limited his accomplishments in office. Despite these limitations, he continued to paint, including portraits of General Grant, an idealized portrait of the president based on early photographs and Charles Sumner. He also became interested in portraiture of William Shakespeare around this time, and his studies resulted in a book, Shakespeare's Portraits, a bust based on existing portraiture, and a full-length portrait entitled "Shakespeare Reading," based on Page's measurements of a supposed death mask in Darmstadt, Germany, which he went to inspect against the advice of his doctor in 1874.

In 1877, another collapse left Page incapacitated for the remainder of his life. Sophia Page tried editing and publishing his writings and lectures, but with little success. Page died in 1885. A life marked by personal scandal ended the same, when two of his daughters from his first marriage contested his will, tying up his estate in a lengthy and public probate trial. Their suit was dismissed in 1889, and Sophia Page died in 1892.

This biography relies heavily on Joshua Taylor's William Page: The American Titian (1957).
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds materials lent for microfilming (reel 1091) including letters from Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, Lydia Maria Child, Charlotte Cushman, James Russell Lowell, Charles A. Dana, and others. Lent material was returned to the donor and is This material is not described in the container listing of this finding aid.
Provenance:
A portion of the collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Mrs. Lesslie S. (Pauline Page) Howell, William Page's grandaughter, in 1963. William S. Page, Pauline Page Howell's nephew, donated additional papers in 1964 and 1973. Pauline Page Howell and William S. Page also loaned a group of letters to the Archives in 1964 which were microfilmed on reel 1091 and then returned to the donors. Mrs. Howell's son, William Page Howell, donated material in 1980.

Letters of Charles F. Briggs to James Russell Lowell (Series 2.2) were a part of Pauline Page Howell's 1963 donation to the Archives of American Art. They had been given to Mrs. Howell by Charlotte Briggs, daughter of Charles F. Briggs, because of her father's lifelong friendship with William Page. Letters from Lowell to Briggs are in the James Russell Lowell papers in Houghton Library at Harvard University.
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.
Topic:
Works of art  Search this
Portrait painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Portrait painting -- 19th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Sketches
Poems
Drawings
Diaries
Citation:
William Page and Page Family papers, 1815-1947, bulk 1843-1892. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.pagewill
See more items in:
William Page and Page Family papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw98de7b472-afbe-4b16-bbf1-c573fb9dcac6
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-pagewill
Online Media:

Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974

Creator:
Jacques Seligmann & Co.  Search this
Subject:
Hauke, Cesar M. de (Cesar Mange)  Search this
Glaenzer, Eugene  Search this
Haardt, Georges  Search this
Seligman, Germain  Search this
Seligmann, Arnold  Search this
Parker, Theresa D.  Search this
Waegen, Rolf Hans  Search this
Trevor, Clyfford  Search this
Seligmann, René  Search this
Seligmann, Jacques  Search this
De Hauke & Co., Inc.  Search this
Jacques Seligmann & Co  Search this
Eugene Glaenzer & Co.  Search this
Germain Seligmann & Co.  Search this
Gersel  Search this
Type:
Gallery records
Citation:
Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Mackay, Clarence Hungerford, 1874-1938 -- Art collections  Search this
Schiff, Mortimer L. -- Art collections  Search this
Arenberg, duc d' -- Art collections  Search this
Liechtenstein, House of -- Art collections  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- France -- Paris  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
World War, 1939-1945 -- Art and the war  Search this
La Fresnaye, Roger de, 1885-1925  Search this
Art, Renaissance  Search this
Decorative arts  Search this
Art treasures in war  Search this
Art, European  Search this
Theme:
Art Gallery Records  Search this
Art Market  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)9936
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212486
AAA_collcode_jacqself
Theme:
Art Gallery Records
Art Market
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_212486
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  • View Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974 digital asset number 1
Online Media:

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:

Chester Dale papers

Creator:
Dale, Chester, b. 1883  Search this
Names:
Allentown Art Museum  Search this
Amherst College  Search this
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
National Gallery of Art (U.S.)  Search this
Parrish Art Museum  Search this
Batigne, Claire  Search this
Batigne, Renee  Search this
Braque, Georges, 1882-1963  Search this
Burkhardt, Rudy  Search this
Cantor, Irving  Search this
Cassatt, Mary, 1844-1926  Search this
Cooper, Maria  Search this
Cooper, Veronica  Search this
Cézanne, Paul, 1839-1906  Search this
Dale, Mary Towar Bullard, 1892-1984  Search this
Dale, Maud, 1875-1953  Search this
Dallas Museum of Art  Search this
Dalí, Gala  Search this
Dalí, Salvador, 1904-1989  Search this
Dmitri, Ivan, 1900-1968  Search this
Dufy, Raoul, 1877-1953  Search this
Elizabeth, Queen of Great Britain, II, 1926-  Search this
Frost, Robert, 1874-1963  Search this
Hamilton, Edith, 1867-1963  Search this
Ingersoll, R. Sturgis (Robert Sturgis), b. 1891  Search this
Kahlo, Frida  Search this
Kessel, Dmitri  Search this
MacNeil, Neil  Search this
Mayes, Herbert R., 1900-1987 (Herbert Raymond)  Search this
Mellon, Paul  Search this
Mellon, Timothy  Search this
Orozco, José Clemente, 1883-1949  Search this
Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973  Search this
Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957  Search this
Salles, Georges  Search this
Wyeth, Andrew, 1917-2009  Search this
Wyeth, Jamie, 1946-  Search this
Wyeth, Nicholas  Search this
Extent:
8.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Sound recordings
Travel diaries
Place:
Europe -- description and travel
Date:
circa 1883-2003
bulk 1920-1970
Summary:
The papers of New York art collector Chester Dale measure 8.4 linear feet and date from circa 1883-2003. Dale amassed one of the world's most complete collections of nineteenth and twentieth century French art, was a collector of eighteenth century American portraitists, and a patron and collector of twentieth American artists including George Bellows and Mary Cassatt. The bulk of the collection dates from 1920 to 1970 and documents Dale's activities through biographical material, correspondence, memoirs and other writings, purchase, sales and estate records, printed material, scrapbooks, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York art collector Chester Dale measure 8.4 linear feet and date from circa 1883-2003. Dale amassed one of the world's most complete collections of nineteenth and twentieth century French art, was a collector of eighteenth century American portraitists, and a patron and collector of twentieth American artists including George Bellows and Mary Cassatt. The bulk of the collection dates from 1920 to 1970 and documents Dale's activities through biographical material, correspondence, memoirs and other writings, purchase, sales and estate records, printed material, scrapbooks, and photographs.

Biographical material comprises brief genealogical and biographical notes on Dale's father's side of the family; four pieces of miscellaneous artwork; several certificates, membership cards, and programs; circa six unidentified dictaphone recordings; and a home movie of an unidentified social event.

Correspondence provides scattered documentation of Dale's activities as a collector and benefactor, including correspondence relating to gifts to various museums such as the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as posthumous gifts to the Allentown Art Museum and Amherst College. Also documented is Dale's election as president of the National Gallery of Art in 1955. There are several letters to and from Salvador and Gala Dali, copies of two letters from Diego Rivera, and letters from other friends and business associates, including historian Georges Salles. Over one third of the correspondence consists of condolence telegrams and letters sent to Mary Dale following Dale's death. Other correspondence documents Mary Dale's work as exhibition chairman for the Parrish Museum of Art, and includes letters from Andrew, Jamie, and Nicholas Wyeth.

Writings include typed drafts of Dale's memoirs which recall the beginning of his career in banking, and include stories of his early experiences in buying art. Dale credits the highly discerning and influential eye of his first wife, Maud Dale, for guiding him in his early selections, and his memoirs recall his unconventionally direct way of doing business with the Paris art dealers. Two travel diaries record a 1904 trip to Europe, and five trips to Europe and the Caribbean between 1949 and 1953. Writings by others include several essays on Dale by various authors, several essays on art by Maud Dale, and a typed draft of a manuscript on Dale's life by Neil MacNeil.

Extensive inventories, estate appraisals, and will disbursement records document the contents of the Chester Dale collection in Series 4. Also found here are receipts for specific purchases of works by Cezanne, Cassatt, Dali, Dufy, Picasso, and others.

Printed material includes catalogs for auction sales annotated with sales prices and other purchase information; catalogs of Dale's collection; and exhibition catalogs and announcements for the Parrish Museum of Art during Mary Dale's tenure as exhibition chairman. Some of the catalogs include essays by Maud Dale. News clippings and magazine articles document press coverage of Dale's activities at home and abroad.

Scrapbooks contain additional printed material, primarily news clippings, documenting press coverage of Chester Dale's life from the 1920s until his death. One of the scrapbooks includes multiple photographs of Dale and others, including a photo of Frida Kahlo and Jose Orozco. An additional scrapbook of photographs and clippings documents Mary Dale's life before and after her marriage to Dale.

Photographs are of Dale, Mary Dale, Maud Dale, family, friends, and colleagues. There are photographs of Dale and Mary Dale with artists including George Braques, Salvador and Gala Dali, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, and Jamie and Nicholas Wyeth; and friends and associates Renee and Claire Batigne, Veronica "Rocky" Cooper and Maria Cooper, Robert Sturgis Ingersoll, Edith Hamilton with Robert Frost, Neil MacNeil, Herbert Mayes, and Paul and Timothy Mellon. There are individual photos and three photograph albums of Dale's various residences and his collection, including photographs taken shortly before his death at his Plaza Hotel apartment showing some of his favorite pictures. Photographers include Rudolph Burkhardt, Irving Cantor, Ivan Dmitri, and Dmitri Kessel. There are also many photographs of exhibition openings and museum events, especially events at the National Gallery of Art, including the presentation of Dale's gift of Dali's The Sacrament of the Last Supper to the museum in 1956, and the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II of England's visit to the museum in 1957. Photographs also include photographs of artwork in Dale's collection.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as seven series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1897-circa 1960, 2003 (Boxes 1, 7-8; FC 20; 0.45 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1911-1984 (Box 1; 0.9 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, 1904-1963 (Boxes 2, 8; 0.55 linear feet)

Series 4: Chester Dale Collection, circa 1930-1968 (Boxes 2-3; 1 linear foot)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1925-circa 1972 (Boxes 3-4, 8, OV 9; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 6: Scrapbooks, circa 1920s-1963 (Box 4, BVs 10-14; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 7: Photographs, circa 1883-1972 (Boxes 4-6, 19, BVs 15-17, OV 18; 3.3 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
New York art patron and collector of French and American art Chester Dale (1883-1962), made his fortune as a banker who pioneered the sale of public utility securities. He began purchasing French paintings in the mid-1920s and retired from the investment security business in 1935 in order to focus full time on the acquisition of art.

Dale was encouraged to begin collecting art by his first wife, Maud Dale, who was an artist, a writer, and a former chairman of the Exhibition Committee of the Museum of French Art. With the benefit of his wife's knowledge, passion, and perception, Dale began to lay the foundation of his collection in 1926, and amassed circa seven hundred pictures within ten years. His collection is considered to be one of the most complete collections of nineteenth and twentieth century French art in the world, and includes some of the finest examples of works by Braque, Corot, Delacroix, Degas, Derain, Dufy, Leger, Matisse, and Renoir, as well as by artists representative of the French tradition in art including Modigliani, Picasso, Rivera, and Van Gogh.

Although primarily interested in French art, Dale also collected and encouraged American artists. He was a patron of George Bellows and Salvador Dali, and had his portrait painted by both artists. Dale presented the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art with their first Dali paintings, the latter being The Sacrament of the Last Supper. Dale also purchased works by Mary Cassatt, representative works by "the Eight," and examples of eighteenth century American portraitists John Smibert, Gilbert Stuart and Thomas Sully. In the early 1940s he visited Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Mexico, and Rivera subsequently completed a portrait of Dale in 1945.

Dale served as a trustee to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Chicago Art Institute, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He made the first of a series of gifts to the National Gallery of Art when it opened in 1941. In 1955 he was elected president of the museum, by which time his collection occupied ten of its galleries. Dale bequeathed the bulk of his remaining collection to the National Gallery in his will. This final gift included eighty of his favorite pictures, which had been located in his Manhattan apartment at the Plaza Hotel up until his death.

A year after the death of Maud Dale in 1953, Dale married Mary Towar Bullard, whom he had employed as his secretary for twenty-five years. Mary Dale oversaw the disbursement of her husband's estate, following Dale's death from a heart attack in 1962.
Related Materials:
Holdings at the Archives of American Art also include the Chester Dale papers concerning George Bellows, 1919-1956, comprising correspondence, a photograph, and invoices relating to Chester Dale's relationship with George Bellows and Dale's interest in artwork by Bellows; and the Chester Dale eulogy, consisting of one 35 minute, 9 second sound tape reel of a eulogy delivered by an unidentified speaker.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 1972 by Mary Dale, Chester Dale's second wife, and in 1985 by Mary Dale's estate.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D. C., Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate 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.
Occupation:
Art dealers -- France -- Paris  Search this
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Art, French--19th century  Search this
Art, French--20th century  Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Art, Modern--19th century--Collectors and collecting  Search this
Motion pictures (visual works)  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Sound recordings
Travel diaries
Citation:
Chester Dale papers, circa 1883-2003, bulk 1920-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.daleches
See more items in:
Chester Dale papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw97b399200-a24e-48c3-83e9-5cfd2ec5892c
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-daleches
Online Media:

Chase Viele papers, 1957-1961

Creator:
Viele, Chase  Search this
Subject:
Beard, W. H. (William Holbrook)  Search this
Le Clear, Thomas  Search this
Sellstedt, Lars Gustaf  Search this
Richardson, Edgar Preston  Search this
Citation:
Chase Viele papers, 1957-1961. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, American  Search this
Painting, Modern -- 19th century -- New York (State) -- Buffalo  Search this
Portrait painting -- 19th century -- New York (State) -- Buffalo  Search this
Theme:
Research and writing about art  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)5759
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)208598
AAA_collcode_vielchas
Theme:
Research and writing about art
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_208598

James Carroll Beckwith diary (in the New York Historical Society), 1895

Creator:
Beckwith, J. Carroll (James Carroll), 1852-1917  Search this
Subject:
Sargent, John Singer  Search this
Citation:
James Carroll Beckwith diary (in the New York Historical Society), 1895. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, American -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Portrait painting -- 19th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Portrait painting -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)5887
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)208727
AAA_collcode_beckjaca
Theme:
Diaries
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_208727

Jacob Eichholtz daybook, 1804-1817

Creator:
Eichholtz, Jacob, 1776-1842  Search this
Citation:
Jacob Eichholtz daybook, 1804-1817. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Artists' writings  Search this
Portrait painting -- 19th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7000
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209133
AAA_collcode_eichjaco
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209133

Charles Merrill Mount papers relating to Gilbert Stuart, [ca. 1950-1960]

Creator:
Mount, Charles Merrill, 1928-1995  Search this
Subject:
Stuart, Gilbert  Search this
Citation:
Charles Merrill Mount papers relating to Gilbert Stuart, [ca. 1950-1960]. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Portraits -- Ireland -- Expertising  Search this
Portrait painting -- 18th century -- Expertising  Search this
Portrait painting -- 19th century -- Expertising  Search this
Theme:
Research and writing about art  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8036
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210206
AAA_collcode_mounchar
Theme:
Research and writing about art
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210206

Papers relating to John Beaufain Irving, [ca. 1966]

Creator:
Sarkisian, Lillian Winfred Scott  Search this
Subject:
Irving, John Beaufain  Search this
Citation:
Papers relating to John Beaufain Irving, [ca. 1966]. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Portrait painting -- 19th century -- History  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8709
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210890
AAA_collcode_sarklill
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210890

Ammi Phillips papers, 1958-1959

Creator:
Phillips, Ammi, 1788-1865  Search this
Citation:
Ammi Phillips papers, 1958-1959. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Portrait painting -- 19th century -- History -- New York (State)  Search this
Folk art  Search this
Theme:
Research and writing about art  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8815
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211000
AAA_collcode_philammi
Theme:
Research and writing about art
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211000

Rembrandt and Harriet Peale collection, circa 1820-1932

Creator:
Peale, Rembrandt, 1778-1860  Search this
Peale, Harriet Cany, 1800-1869  Search this
Subject:
Peale, Rembrandt (Court of death)  Search this
Washington, George  Search this
Type:
Photographs
Drawings
Citation:
Rembrandt and Harriet Peale collection, circa 1820-1932. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art -- Economic aspects  Search this
Painting, Modern -- 19th century  Search this
Portrait painting, American  Search this
Coins, Roman  Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8841
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211026
AAA_collcode_pealremb
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211026
Online Media:

Thomas Eakins letters, 1866-1934

Creator:
Eakins, Thomas, 1844-1916  Search this
Subject:
Gérôme, Jean Léon  Search this
Fussell, Charles Lewis  Search this
Crowell, William J.  Search this
Crowell, Frances Eakins  Search this
Couture, Thomas  Search this
Wallace, J. Laurie (John Laurie)  Search this
Sartain, William  Search this
Richards, Frederick de Bourg  Search this
Hallowell, William R.  Search this
Place:
Paris (France) -- description and travel
Citation:
Thomas Eakins letters, 1866-1934. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Painting, American  Search this
Portrait painting, American  Search this
Portrait painting -- 19th century -- United States  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8854
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211039
AAA_collcode_eakithom
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211039
Online Media:

George Fuller papers, 1832-1959

Creator:
Fuller, George, 1822-1884  Search this
Citation:
George Fuller papers, 1832-1959. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Portrait painting -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this
Painting, Modern -- 19th century -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8923
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211109
AAA_collcode_fullgeor
Theme:
Diaries
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211109

Sanford Robinson Gifford papers, 1840s-1900

Creator:
Gifford, Sanford Robinson, 1823-1880  Search this
Subject:
Whittredge, Worthington  Search this
Bierstadt, Albert  Search this
Type:
Photographs
Diaries
Sketchbooks
Place:
Europe -- description and travel
Egypt -- description and travel
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Citation:
Sanford Robinson Gifford papers, 1840s-1900. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Works of art  Search this
Landscape painters -- New York (State)  Search this
Hudson River school of landscape painting  Search this
Landscape painting -- 19th century -- New York (State)  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8974
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211161
AAA_collcode_giffsanf
Theme:
Diaries
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211161
Online Media:

George C. Groce papers, 1938-1967

Creator:
Groce, George C., 1899-  Search this
Subject:
Wollaston, John  Search this
Cooper, John  Search this
Foote, Henry Wilder  Search this
Richardson, Edgar Preston  Search this
Wallace, David H.  Search this
Baker, Charles  Search this
Citation:
George C. Groce papers, 1938-1967. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 17th-18th centuries -- History -- United States  Search this
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- History -- United States  Search this
Portrait painting, American  Search this
Theme:
Research and writing about art  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)8991
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211179
AAA_collcode_grocgeor
Theme:
Research and writing about art
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211179

Healy family papers, 1816-1973

Creator:
Healy family  Search this
Subject:
Healy, G. P. A. (George Peter Alexander)  Search this
Healy, Thomas Cantwell  Search this
Citation:
Healy family papers, 1816-1973. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)9661
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211869
AAA_collcode_healheal
Theme:
Diaries
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211869

George P.A. Healy letters, 1846-1848

Creator:
Healy, G. P. A. (George Peter Alexander), 1813-1894  Search this
Subject:
Allen, Anna C.  Search this
Citation:
George P.A. Healy letters, 1846-1848. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Portrait painting -- 19th century -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)10306
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213508
AAA_collcode_healgpal
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213508

Thomas Sully letters, 1831-1870

Creator:
Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872  Search this
Subject:
Mercur, Rodney Augustus  Search this
Sully, Thomas  Search this
Citation:
Thomas Sully letters, 1831-1870. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Portrait painting -- 19th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)10333
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213539
AAA_collcode_sullthol
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213539

Photographs of Eastman Johnson portraits, 1963

Creator:
Thieme, A. C.  Search this
Subject:
Johnson, Eastman  Search this
Citation:
Photographs of Eastman Johnson portraits, 1963. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Portrait painting -- 19th century  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)10428
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213815
AAA_collcode_thiea
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213815

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