W. J. (William James), Aylward. William J. Aylward letter to Samuel T. Shaw, 1922 February 15. Samuel T. Shaw papers, 1889-1946. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of New York City art patron and collector Samuel T. Shaw measure 1 linear feet and date from 1889 to 1946. The collection includes correspondence, personal business records, and printed material, mostly related to the various prizes Shaw funded for paintings in exhibitions at the Salmagundi Club.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York City art patron and collector Samuel T. Shaw measure 1 linear feet and date from 1889 to 1946. The collection includes correspondence, personal business records, and printed material, mostly related to the various prizes Shaw funded for paintings in exhibitions at the Salmagundi Club.
Correspondence includes letters to and from artists, most of whom were recipients of awards for paintings funded by Shaw. Notable correspondents include Frank Benson, William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, and many others. There is also correspondence regarding art expositions, art loan requests, and drafts for event invitations.
Personal business records includes material on prizes funded by Shaw, dinners Shaw held in honor of various artists, lists, receipts and invoices, the sale of Shaw's art collection, club records, and other miscellany.
Printed material includes catalogs and clippings on artists who won prizes for their paintings. There is also an obituary for Samuel Shaw and a few catalogs of exhibitions of his art collection.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 3 series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1895-1944 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 2: Personal Business Records, 1889-1946 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1899-1945 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Samuel T. Shaw (1861-1945) was a New York-based collector and patron of American art. Shaw was co-proprietor of the Grand Union Hotel in New York City, along with Simeon Ford, for over thirty years and was also a nationally known art collector and patron of the arts. He was a member of the National Academy of Design, Salmagundi Club, Society of American Artists, and other art organizations.
Through his membership at various art clubs like Salmagundi, Shaw sponsored artists by establishing cash prizes for paintings which won best picture at exhibitions. Shaw also held dinners in honor of artists who were the recipients of the awards, and sometimes the paintings were purchased by Shaw for his collection. By World War I, Shaw supposedly had one of the largest private collections of American art in the country and many of the artworks he purchased were displayed at the Grand Union Hotel.
Shaw married Joan Baird, who passed away in 1914, the same year that the Grand Union Hotel closed. In 1916, he married Amalia Luzzatto. In 1926, the American Art Galleries sold the bulk of Shaw's collection in an auction. Shaw continued his patronage of the arts and gave out awards from roughly 1904 to 1944. The dinners he hosted for artists were regularly written about in newspapers and magazines such as The New Yorker.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds a color reproduction of a landscape painting by Samuel T. Shaw, which is inscribed by him and signed by 44 artists.
Provenance:
The Samuel T. Shaw papers were donated to Archives of American Art in 2018 by the National Academy of Design via Maura Reilly, Executive Director.
The "list of paintings owned by Samuel Shaw" was donated by by Harry Zehner Jr. in 1976. Zehner found this item among the papers of his aunt who ran an insurance brokerage in New York.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Citation:
Samuel T. Shaw papers, 1889-1946. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
The bulk of this series consists of correspondence with artists, most of whom were recipients of awards for paintings funded by Shaw. Notable correspondents include Frank Benson, William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, F. Luis Mora, Hobart Nichols, Charles Rosen, and others. Some of the artist letters are illustrated. There are a few telegrams and letters from Samuel Shaw's wife Amalia, correspondence regarding art expositions, requests from various museums for loans of artwork from Shaw's private collection, and a few letter drafts which Shaw used as templates for dinner invitations.
Arrangement:
Correspondence is in alphabetical order. Correspondents with three or more letters have their own individual folders, whereas correspondents with less than three letters are placed in "miscellaneous" alphabetical files.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Collection Citation:
Samuel T. Shaw papers, 1889-1946. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
