20.3 Linear feet ( (partially microfilmed on 10 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Place:
New York N.Y. -- Photographs
Date:
1883-1962
Scope and Contents:
Photographs, scrapbooks, printed material, correspondence and business records.
UNMICROFILMED MATERIAL: 4 photograph albums, glass negatives and photographs of works of art by society members; exhibition records; bank records and check stubs; scrapbooks and clippings on the New York Architectural League; and books on Karl Bitter and John Quincy Adams Ward.
REEL D132: 414 photographs and reproductions of sculpture by society members. Information on the back of photographs includes artist, title, location, dimensions, date, price and material.
REEL NJ1: Complete run of National Sculpture Review, the quarterly publication put out by the National Sculpture Society from Dec. 1951 to Spring 1962.
REELS 488-494: Financial and general correspondence; financial records, ledgers, cash books, tax records and check books; a catalog distribution book; publications and clippings; War Memorials Project material; a constitution, membership lists, minutes and an exhibitors' roster.
REEL 3097: Lantern slides of the work of 262 sculptors and views of New York City.
REEL 3161: Mimeographed copies of minutes of the Council of the National Sculpture Society, 1951-1952, kept by Katherine Lane Weems, Chairman of the Library and Research Committee, 1951, and Recording Secretary, 1952.
Biographical / Historical:
Founded in 1893 The society works with architects, art councils, and sponsoring committees in selecting sculptors to execute new works. Assists governmemt art councils with advice on rules for competitions and in preparing exhibitions. Conducts research, maintains an archives and library, and sponsors exhibitions and competitions.
Provenance:
Material on reel D132 lent for microfilming by the National Sculpture Society, 1964. All other material was donated by the society, 1964-1972.
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.
REEL NOR 1: Correspondence, including letters and cards from Remington to his wife, Eva Adele Caten Remington, and with admirers and associates, including Edwin Austin Abbey, Albert J. Beveridge, Poultney Bigelow, Frederick Stuart Church, Powhatan Clark, Samuel L. Clemens, Royal Cortissoz, Homer Davenport, Richard H. Davis, Gen. George A.Forsyth, Childe Hassam, John Hay, A. Barton Hepburn, Arthur Hoeber, W. D. Howells, Carter P. Johnson, Rudyard Kipling, Daniel S. Lamont, Nelson A. Miles,W.L. Palmer, Howard Pyle, Julian Ralph, Theodore Roosevelt, Owen Wister, Gen. Leonard Wood, admirers and associates; and catalogs.
REEL 902: 11 brief letters from Remington to his friend Julian Ralph, and 1 letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Daniel W. Lord regarding Lord's apparent interest in New Mexico; a poem in Remington's hand; an autographed menu from a dinner of the Authors Club, New York City; and dedications in books written by Remington.
REEL 3470: A photocopy of a letter from Remington to "My Dear Colonel," March 21, 1903.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, sculptor, etcher, and illustrator New Rochelle, New York and Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Provenance:
Material on reel NOR 1 lent for microfilming by the Ogdenburg Public Library and Remington Memorial, 1956. Material on reel 902 lent for microfilming by Mr. & Mrs. Robert Benkert and Louis Fisher, 1974. Material on reel 3470 donated by Mrs. Miles Reber, 1981.
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.
Correspondence with family, artists, and others, 1887-1925; legal and financial documents, 1887-1925; printed materials, 1888-1925; sketches, drawings, and blueprints, undated 1916-1920; and certificates, 1915-1918.
Correspondence consists of a chronological series, 1887-1925, containing letters and postcards from John White Alexander, Samuel P. Avery, William A. Clark, Frank Edwin Elwell, John Flanagan, Daniel Chester French, Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company, Gorham Company, J. Scott Hartley, John LaFarge (undated), Charles Loring, Frederick MacMonnies, Charles Sprague Pearce, Auguste Rodin, Frederic Wellington Ruckstull, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and scattered letters from other nineteenth century artists regarding the execution of works, commissions, exhibitions and expositions in Paris and the United States, among them the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904) and the Exposition Universale (1899-1900), and Bartlett's illness and death in 1925.
The remainder of the correspondence, arranged by subject, includes letters from Bartlett's father, Truman Howe Bartlett, 1899-1913, many written from Boston where he taught in the architecture department of MIT, or from New Hampshire where he kept a studio, and letters to Paul regarding his father's entry in the National Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1925; correspondence with the American Club of Paris, 1903-1906, regarding Bartlett's membership; correspondence with the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, 1905-1907 (some from Joseph Pennell) regarding exhibitions; correspondence regarding commissions, including Lafayette, McClellan, General Warren, Library of Congress and other statues; postcards from artists, 1892-1895; and miscellaneous letters.
Legal documents relate to the Lafayette statue, 1900, and also include Bartlett's death certificate. Financial records, 1899-1922, consist of bank statements, checkbooks, bills and receipts for casting, photography, dues and rent. Clippings and a scrapbook deal with Bartlett's Lafayette statue. Other printed material includes articles on various Bartlett sculptures and other sculptors, exhibition catalogs, passes and announcements, yearbooks from the American Club of Paris, 1905-1909, and material from the American Art Association of Paris, including a 20 p. booklet by Bartlett giving the history of the group, and an invitation, 1906, to an auction to benefit the victims of the San Francisco earthquake.
Also included are sketches by Bartlett and his father, undated and ca. 1913; oversized drawings, plans and prints for monuments, statues, and the Capitol ceiling, undated and 1916-1920; postcards depicting Bartlett's sculpture; and certificates from the National Academy of Design and the Panama Pacific International Exposition.
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor and portraitist; Paris, France and Washington, D.C. Bartlett was born in Connecticut and raised in France where he entered the Ecole des Beaux Arts and also studied under Emmanual Fremiet and Auguste Rodin. His early sculpture focused on animals and his piece "Bear Tamer" was presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1891 and exhibited in the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. After 1895, he produced a number of public monuments, sculptures, and historical portraits including the figures of Columbus and Michelangelo for the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress, the Lafayette statue presented to France, and the pediment for the House wing of the U.S. Capitol. Bartlett died in Paris of blood poisoning on September 20, 1925.
Related Materials:
Additional Paul Wayland Bartlett papers also located at: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming by the Tudor Place Foundation, Inc., 1994. The Tudor Place Foundation inherited the papers in 1994 with the estate of Armistead Peter III of Tudor Place. Peter III was married to Caroline, the daughter of Bartlett's wife by her first marriage to Mahlon Odgen-Jones. After Bartlett's death in 1925, Suzanne cared for his papers, and donated the bulk of them to the Library of Congress in 1954. The papers she retained passed on to Caroline, and at her death to Armistead Peter III.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
A letter to Palmer from Frederic Edwin Church, written from Jaffa, Palestine.
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor; Albany, N.Y. Was self-taught. Was an expert joiner, patternmaker, and cameo cutter as well.
Provenance:
This typescript was prepared by the donor, David Huntington, in March 1957 from the original letter owned by Palmer's grandson, Joseph Gavit. Huntington writes, "I have had to do a minimum of editing. Church seldom used periods. He generally punctuated with dashes, or if the sentence ended at the margin he might not even write a dash. Where there would be a period, a double space has been left. If a word has been crossed out the typist has indicated dashes over the word."
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The papers of sculptor and portrait painter Henry Kirke Brown measure 1 linear feet and date from 1836 to 1893. The collection includes Brown's correspondence with his wife, Lydia Louise Udall, his nephew, Henry Kirke Bush-Brown, and other family members. Also included are letters from artists George Catlin, George Fuller, Sanford R. Gifford, James Reid Lambdin, Louis Lang, Erastus Dow Palmer, Hiram Powers, Horatio Stone, and others; five news clippings; and miscellaneous notes.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor and portrait painter Henry Kirke Brown measure 1 linear feet and date from 1836 to 1893. The collection includes Brown's correspondence with his wife, Lydia Louise Udall, his nephew, Henry Kirke Bush-Brown, and other family members. Also included are letters from artists George Catlin, George Fuller, Sanford R. Gifford, James Reid Lambdin, Louis Lang, Erastus Dow Palmer, Hiram Powers, Horatio Stone, and others; five news clippings; and miscellaneous notes.
Brown's lengthy letters to his wife reveal his devotion to her and the conflict he felt between his art and his personal life. He discusses his work, including progress on his statue of George Washington, located in Union Square, New York City. Letters to his family from Rome and Florence allude to his awe of Italy's monuments. Also included are letters from Washington, D.C. during Brown's tenure as a member of the U.S. Art Commission in the 1860s.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Henry Kirke Brown (1814-1886) was an American sculptor and portrait painter born in Leyden, Massachusetts and died in Newburgh, New York.
Provenance:
The Henry Kirke Brown papers were donated to the Archives of American in 1981 by Dorothy Young, who acquired the papers from her husband, an art dealer.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
To Leonard Myers: May 23, 1872, concerning personal matters; Sept. 7, 1875, about the statue "The West," to be exhibited at the Centennial; Dec. 28, 1875, concerning storage for a statue; and Feb. 16, inviting Myers to a social event.
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor; Washington, D.C. Myers was a Congressman.
Provenance:
Microfilmed by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for the Archives of American Art, 1955.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
The papers of William Couper date from 1872 through 1971 with the bulk of the material dated 1872 through 1908. The collection consists of 0.9 linear feet of letters, photographs, and printed material that document William Couper's career as a sculptor and his family life. Letters are from Couper and his wife to his parents, and to his brother John, discussing family matters, his art training, his travels, and his work in New York. There are also several letters from his father-in-law, sculptor Thomas Ball.
Scope and Content Note:
The William Couper papers span the years 1872 to 1971 with the bulk of the material dated 1872 to 1942, and measure 0.9 linear feet. They consist of letters, photographs, and printed material that document William Couper's career as a sculptor. Letters are from Couper and his wife to his parents, and to his brother John, discussing family matters, his art training, his travels, and his work in New York. There are also several letters from his father-in-law, sculptor Thomas Ball. An index of the letters and transcripts of approximately 70 of the letters were prepared by Couper's nephew Monroe Couper and are filed within the collection.
Also found within the papers are 0.4 linear feet of photographs of Couper and family members, his home in Florence, Italy, and a photograph album and unbound photographs of his art work. There are also clippings and 3 theater programs for productions in which William Couper performed.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 3 series:
Series 1: Letters, 1874-1908 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet; reel 5883)
Series 2: Photographs, 1886-1887 (Box 2-3; 0.4 linear feet; reel 5883)
William Couper was born September 20, 1853 in Norfolk, Virginia, son of John Diedrich Couper and Euphania Monroe Couling Couper. He acquired an interest in sculpture from time spent at his father's company, Couper Marble Works.
After studying at the Cooper Institute in New York, Couper won a scholarship to the Royal Academy at Munich in 1875. Disliking the atmosphere in Munich, he took a place in the studio of Thomas Ball in Florence, Italy in the same year. Couper married Mr. Ball's daughter, Eliza Chickering Ball in 1878, and remained in Florence for over two decades, returning to New York to open a studio in 1897.
In 1901, Couper received a bronze medal at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. His notable works include a series of thirteen heroic busts of scientists for the American Museum of Natural History, a relief sculpture for the Sailors' Memorial in Annapolis, a statue of Capt. John Smith at Jamestown, and a portrait bust of John D. Rockefeller.
Couper retired in 1913 and died later in 1942 in Easton, Maryland.
Provenance:
The William Couper papers were donated by the artist's nephew Monroe Couper to the Archives of American Art in 1992.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
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.
Millar, Addison T. (Addison Thomas), 1860-1913 Search this
Extent:
2 Items (sound cassettes)
39 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
1990 May 8-August 27
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Monica Borglum Davies conducted 1990 May 8-August 27, by Robert Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Monica Borglum Davies (1903-1997) was the daughter of Solon Borglum (1868-1922), sculptor.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 14 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
Davies discusses childhood memories in Silvermine, Connecticut; her father, sculptor Solon H. Borglum, and her mother Emma Vignal. She recalls their artist friends, including Daniel Putnam Brinley and Addison Millar; her father's candid personality; her mother's family, which took in young American artists in Paris as boarders, including her father and Alphaeus Cole; Paul Manship as her father's student; tensions between the Solon and Gutzon Borglum families; Borglum's service with the YMCA in France 1918-19; his establishment of schools for American sculptors in Paris and New York, 1920-22 (School for American Sculpture); purchase of large figurative works by St. Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie, NYC; sudden death of her father and support received by the family from friends.
Topic:
Sculpture, Modern -- 19th century -- United States Search this
Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- United States Search this
Sculptors -- United States -- Interviews Search this
Function:
Art Schools -- France -- Paris
Art Schools -- New York (State) -- New York
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
11.8 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 1 reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1942-ca. 1995
Scope and Contents:
Personal and professional files, the bulk consisting of research material used in publications and his teaching career at Stanford University. Included are correspondence, writings, notes, artists' files, photographs and printed material. A portion of Elsen's files on Seymour Lipton have been microfilmed.
REEL 4047 (0.6 linear ft.): Correspondence between Elsen and Lipton, 1955-1984, including an autobiographical letter written April 1960 by Lipton; draft manuscripts by Elsen, "The Sculpture of Seymour Lipton," with comments by Lipton and his family on Elsen's manuscript, 1965 and 1967, "The Sculpture of Seymour Lipton as a Portrait of the Artist," 1963, and "The Inclusive Sculpture of Seymour Lipton," 1969; writings and notes by Lipton, including his reflections on aesthetics, 1942, and an autobiographical note, 1960; ca. 70 photographs of Lipton's works executed between 1936 and 1968, and nine of exhibition installations at Betty Parsons Gallery, 1958, and the Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, 1965; a few clippings; and exhibition catalogs, 1960-1967.
UNMICROFILMED (11.2 ft.): Personal documents, including draft card, army papers, certificates and awards, and a school yearbook; correspondence with art historians, artists, publishers and others; research files for publications on Auguste Rodin, including Elsen's catalog for the 1981 exhibition "Rodin Rediscovered" at the National Gallery of Art, Paul Jenkins (1973), Law, Ethics and the Visual Artists (1979), and others; transcripts of interviews with Leon Golub, Oct. 12, 1986 (20 p.) and Miriam Schapiro, Nov. 9, 1986 (40 p.), both regarding artistic freedom; teaching files; artists' files; and files on various other art topics.
Biographical / Historical:
Art historian and educator; Stanford, California. Died 1995. Author of several publications on Auguste Rodin, and on sculptors Seymour Lipton, Paul Jenkins, James Rosati, and other general works on sculpture and art appreciation, including Purposes of Art: Introduction to the History of Appreciation of Art.
Related Materials:
Papers of Albert Edward Elsen, 1965-1994, are also located at Stanford University's University Archives.
Provenance:
Lipton related material on reel 4047 donated 1987 by Elsen. He donated an additional 0.2 ft. on Lipton in 1991. The remainder donated 1995 by his widow, Sharon Elsen.
Philadelphia Pa. -- Centennial Celebrations -- Photographs
Date:
1875-1930
Scope and Contents:
Subjects include Persian miniatures and receipts for paintings exhibited at the Philadelphia Sesqui-Centennial, the facade of the now demolished Art Club of Philadelphia, the construction of the Memorial Hall art gallery for the Centennial Exhibition and the finished galleries containing sculptures, the Smith Memorial, and sculptures in Fairmount Park, including works by Henry Baerer, Donato Barcaglia, G. B. Bashanellifusi, Francesco Barzaghi, Cyrus Edwin Dallin, Daniel Chester French, Mabel Saxe Gould, Idusch & Son, Herman Kirn, Heinrich Manger, Edward Stauch, Carl Johann Steinhauser, and Ugo Zannoni.
Provenance:
Microfilmed in 1990 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Philadelphia City Archives. 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.
5.7 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 3 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Date:
[187-]-1979
Scope and Contents:
Biographical material, correspondence, writings, art works, legal and financial records, scrapbook, photographic and printing material, and printed matter.
Biographical materials include a copy of Henry Hudson Kitson's birth certificate; his confirmation certificate; a copy of the death certificate of his father, John Kitson; a photograph of the honorable mention certificate received by Theo Ruggles (Kitson) for "Young Orpheus" from the Societe des Artistes Francais, 1890; a letter of reference for her from sculptor George F. Bissell, 1901; her will; calling cards from those who attended her funeral, 1932; biographical data on Henry Kitson; genealogical data on the Kitson family; an incomplete list of works by the Kitsons compiled by Dorothy Patricia Cavanagh; and a diary by Henry Kitson, 1902-1904, containing brief entries pertaining to his daily life and work.
Personal and professional correspondence includes letters from Theo to Henry from Paris, 1890, including an illustrated letter to "my own darling child" (? Henry Kitson) describing her award ceremonies at the Salon, an illustrated letter to her father, written from Rome, describing the city, a letter from Henry Kitson to Miss Tower, ca. 1899, about putting the Minutemen Memorial in Tower Park, Lexington, Mass., letters from him to his wife, 1903, and to "Babsy" (his daughter, Theo), undated, with sketches for constructing a fence and a stone wall, a letter from Alexander J. Schottes, 1905?, containing descriptions and sketches of the studios of Daniel Chester French, Charles Grafly, Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Louis Saint-Gaudens, copies of letters from Kitson to the secretary of Queen Wilhelmina of Holland requesting photos preparatory to making a bust of the Queen, letters from the War Dept. to the Kitsons about their work at Vicksburg, Miss., and letters to Theo from the Gorham Manufacturing Company. Posthumous correspondence includes letters to the Kitsons' son John, his wife Helen, and her sister, Dorothy P. Cavanagh, from sculptor Lee Lawrie, sculptor Milton Horn and his wife, Estelle.
Writings include a poem by Henry Kitson; a description of a "Visit to a Bronze Foundry" (Gruet, Fils, Paris), author unknown, undated; reminiscences by sculptor Lee Lawrie; and a remembrance of Lawrie by Dorothy P. Cavanagh, 1963.
Art works include a childhood sketch by Theo Kitson of her home in Brookline, Massachusetts; sketches of animals; several sketches by her, possibly for monuments; unidentified sketches, chiefly of possible monument designs, probably by one of the Kitsons; a rendering by an architectural firm of a bas-relief designed by Henry Kitson, 1935; 2 caricatures of Kitson by Hiram Jay; an etching by Robert Kitson, 1891; various sketches of Japanese figures and costumes by Hiroshi Yoshida, 1910; and 2 pastels by T. (?) Walser of "Stonegate" (?), home of the Kitsons in Framingham Centre, Mass. Also iIncluded are 4 steel dies for bas-reliefs.
Legal records 1895-1940, include specifications for the Soldiers' Memorial, Vicksburg, Miss., numerous contracts for works by the Kitsons, copyright receipts and certificates, and deeds for sale of real estate. Financial records, 1882-1946, include invoices for casting for Henry Kitson, his bank statements, 1931-32, and his promissory notes.
A large scrapbook, 1888-1954, annotated by Dorothy P. Cavanagh, contains clippings, genealogical information on the Kitson family, photos of works by the Kitsons, personal photographs, correspondence, including letters from Henry Kitson to his future wife, 1892, and postcards to her and their children, a humorous resolution about the "Regiment of Macaroonies," written by Henry Kitson's friends in Paris, 1888, invitations, agreements for sculpture, copies of speeches given at the University of Minnesota for the Student Soldier Memorial Monument dedication.
Photographs are of the Kitsons, their family, homes, studios, Paris, ca. 1900, and their work, including photos of oxen hauling the granite boulder for the base of the "Volunteer" by Theo Kitson from Quincy, Mass. to Vicksburg, Miss., 1904, and scenes of the dedication of the monument. In addition, there are 7 photos of "Work in Progress" by Ellin and Kitson and Company for the Equitable Building, New York, 1887, a photo of the Astor Memorial, Trinity Church, New York, which the firm also worked on, and 6 undated photographs of works by Samuel Kitson.Also included are glass negatives of the Kitson's work.
Printed materials date from 1884-1979.
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptors; Boston, Mass. Henry Hudson Kitson's actual name was Harry Kitson. Theo(dora) Alice Ruggles became his student in 1886 at the age of 15; in 1893 they were married and were notable monumental and portrait sculptors by the turn of the century. They had three children: Theo (also known as Babsy or Babbins), Dorothy and John. Three years after Theo's death, in 1935, Henry married Marie Hobron.
Related Materials:
Additional Kitson letters also located at: New York Historical Society.
Provenance:
The donor, Dorothy P. Cavanagh, was the sister of the Kitsons' daughter-in-law Helen (wife of John), and was writing a biography on the Kitsons up until her death in 1986. The microfilmed material was originally loaned by Cavanagh June 28, 1982 and September 12, 1986, and then donated upon her death by her nephew and executor, Paul Bennet. The unmicrofilmed material was donated by Cavanagh in 1973 and 1976.
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.
