Letters to Weitenkampf, mainly from artists and collectors concerning examples of their works in the library's collection.
Among the correspondents are: John Taylor Arms, Samuel Putnam Avery, John W. Beatty, George Bellows, Frank W. Benson, George Biddle, James Britton, George Elmer Browne, Mary Cassatt, Royal Cortissoz, Frederick K. Detwiller, Olin Dows, Kerr Eby, Daniel C. French, Arnold Genthe, George O. Hart, Malvina Hoffman, Edward Hopper, Daniel Huntington, Rockwell Kent, Frederick Keppel, Richard Lahey, Will H. Low, Louis Lozowick, H. Siddons Mowbray, Frank A. Nankivell, Thomas W. Nason, Joseph Pennell, Preston Powers, Henry Ward Ranger, William T. Richards, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Lessing J. Rosenwald,Peter F. Rothermel, William Sartain, George H. Smillie, James D. Smillie, Harry Sternberg, Albert Sterner, Lorado Taft, Abbott H. Thayer, Dwight W. Tryon, Douglas Volk, Olin L. Warner, John F. Weir, Julian A. Weir, Harry Wickey, Irving R. Wiles, Thomas W. Wood, Charles H. Woodbury, George H. Yewell, Mahonri M. Young, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Curator; New York City. Chief of the Prints Division, New York Public Library.
Provenance:
Microfilmed 1956 by the Archives of American Art with other art-related papers in the Manuscript Division of the New York Public Library. Included in the microfilming project were selected papers of the Art Division and the Prints Division.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
An interview of Nancy Douglas Bowditch conducted 1974 January 30, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Bowditch speaks of her memories of early childhood; her father, George de Forest Brush, and his work; her relationship with her father; and her education and upbringing. She reminisces about Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Abbott H. Thayer, who were family friends, and their relationships with Brush; her family's home life, their travels in Europe; her family's relationship with Samuel Clemens and family; and her first husband, William Robert Pearmain, his family background, their marriage, his involvement with organized labor and social reform, and his early death from leukemia. She also recalls Douglas Volk and Barry Faulkner.
Biographical / Historical:
Nancy Bowditch (1890-1979) was a painter, a playwright, and costume and set designer. Bowditch was born in Paris, the second eldest child of painter George de Forest Brush. Brush made the artist-colony of Dublin, N.H. his American home, where Mark Twain and daughter Jean Clemens were neighbors. They spent considerable time in Paris and Italy. Nancy married William Robert Pearmain, a childhood neighbor and later, a pupil of her father, in 1909. Pearmain died of leukemia in 1912. Subsequently, she married Dr. Harold Bowditch whose father was instrumental in the development of Harvard University Medical School.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 38 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 others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
The microfilmed Alfred Williams Anthony papers contain letters, autographs, biographical data, and miscellaneous material collected by Anthony about 19th century artists.
Artists represented in the collection include: Edwin A. Abbey, Ernest Albert, Elizabeth A. Allen, Daniel C. Beard, Frank Beard, Samuel G. W. Benjamin, Albert Bierstadt, Nathaniel Blaisdell, Edwin H. Blashfield, Evangeline Blashfield, Charles W. Bolton, Victor D. Brenner, Sydney & Mrs. Burleigh, William M. Chase, Frederic E. Church, Harry Cochrane, William A. Coffin, Timothy Cole, Thomas Cole, Royal Cortissoz, Palmer Cox, Christopher Cranch, Felix O. C. Darley, Frederick Dellenbaugh, Frederick Dielman, Andrew J. Downing, Charles L. Eastlake, George W. Edwards, Daniel C. French, Edmund H. Garrett, Sanford R. Gifford, V. Gribayedoff, Henry W. Herbert, Elbert Hubbard, Daniel Huntington, Laurence Hutton, Ernest L. Ipshen, Norman W. Isham, F. Lynn Jenkins, John La Farge, Edward C. Leavitt, William J. Linton, Benson J. Lossing, Will H. Low, Jervis McEntee, George Merrill, John H. Mills, Thomas Moran, Samuel F.B. Morse,
A. R. Mullen, Thomas Nast, National Arts Club, Wilbur F. Noyes,Frederick B. Opper, Mrs. Archie M. Palmer, Erastus D. Palmer, William F. Paris, Carl R. Parker, Hiram Powers, Howard Pyle, Thomas B. Read, Albert Rosenthal, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, John Sartain, Walter Smedley, George F. C. Smillie, Francis H. Smith, Bayard Taylor, Col. Henry S. Taylor, John Trumbull, Henry T. Tuckerman, Union League Club, N.Y., D. B. Updike, Vasili Vereschagen, Charles Vezin, Douglas Volk, D. Everett Waid, John Q. A. Ward, Clara E. Waters, Robert W. Weir, J. Thomson Willing, Ellsworth Woodward, Mabel Woodward, William Woodward, and F. Hammond Wright.
Biographical / Historical:
Alfred Williams Anthony (1860-1939) was a theologian, author, and educator in Lewiston, Maine. He served in various roles for the General Conference of Freewill Baptists, the Maine chapter of the Religious Education Association, and the Committee on Goodwill between Jews and Christians. Anthony also served on the boards of trustees for Bates College, Hillsdale College, and Brown University.
Related Materials:
The New York Public Library Archives and Manuscripts Division holds the Alfred Williams Anthony collection, 1679-1944. Bates College Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library holds the Alfred Williams Anthony papers, 1872-1996 and the Dressler family collection of Alfred Williams Anthony Papers, 1802-1985.
Provenance:
Microfilmed 1956 by the Archives of American Art with other art-related papers in the Manuscript Division of the New York Public Library. Included in the microfilming project were selected papers of the Art Division and the Prints Division.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Primarily photographs; also clippings and writings concerning artists, mostly around the turn-of-the century. The items were gathered by Don Becker's mother, Fanny Granger-Dow, a student of William Merritt Chase and close friend to Edwin Blashfield and other artists of the period. In addition to Chase and Blashfield, other artists represented include Paul Wayland Bartlett, William Merritt Chase, F. Luis Mora, Auguste Rodin, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and Paul Swan.
Photographs are of Paul Wayland Bartlett in his studio (signed by Bartlett, 1908); a work of art by Edwin Howland Blashfield; a painting by Douglas Volk annotated to Blashfield "compliments of Samuel Shaw" and signed by 18 artists, including Daniel Chester French and John LaFarge, 1899; William Merritt Chase instructing a class at his New York art school and one of students in Chase's portrait class; works by F. Luis Mora; works by Auguste Rodin (one is annotated "A mon ami Monsieur Brownelle" and signed by Rodin); the Farragut Monument (signed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens); and three of Paul Swan in his studio.
Also found are a 1949 recital announcement; two clippings about Chase (1916); an obituary and a nine-page manuscript about Mora by Fanny Granger-Dow entitled "Character Sketches of Some of Our Younger Artists"; three magazine clippings with cartoons about artists; and a 1904 exhibition catalog for the Fifth Annual Exhibition of the American Society of Miniature Painters.
Provenance:
The collection was originally assembled by Fanny Granger-Dow, the mother of donor Don Becker. She was a student of William Merritt Chase and the family knew many artists of the period.
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.
REEL 2029: 41 group photographs of artists' outings. Appearing in one or more photos are: George R. Barse, Charles Bittinger, A.E. Blackmore, Robert F. Bloodgood, J.G. Brown, Frederick S. Church, Percival De Luce, William H. Drake, Charles H. Ebert, Homer F. Emens, L. Farragut, William B. Faxon, William C. Fitler, Arthur R. Freedlander, J.C. Guy, Seymour J. Guy, William St. John Harper, Carl Hirschberg, William H. Howe, Francis C. Jones, James Kinsella, L. Kleiser, Homer Lee, Joseph Lauber, William H. Lippincott, Will H. Low, George W. Maynard, Charles F. W. Mielatz, B. Mitchell, James C. Nicoll, Ivan G. Olinsky, John F. O'Sullivan, W. P. Phelps, William M. Post, Frederick Richardson, Roswell M. Shurtleff, William T. Smedley, Charles Y. Turner, Douglas Volk, and Giles Whiting.
Biographical / Historical:
Artists' Fellowship's purpose is to assist artists and their families in case of sickness, bereavement or distress. It grew out of the Helpful Society, founded 1868, and housed in the Tenth Street Studio Building. It became the Artists' Mutual Aid Society, whose name was changed in 1889 to the Artists' Aid Society. In 1925 the Society was incorporated as Artists' Fellowhip, Inc.
Provenance:
Donated 1980 by Artists' Fellowship, via Michael Engel II, President. The original negatives and album of vintage prints on reel 2029 were found in the offices of the National Academy of Design, where the Fellowship at one time maintained offices.
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.
Rights:
Identities of recipients of awards: Authorization to quote or reproduce for purposes of publication requires written permission from Artists' Fellowship, Inc. 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.
An interview of Russell Cowles conducted 1969 April 16, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. Cowles speaks of growing up in Iowa; Iowa landscapes; his education; working in Charles Cumming's studio; his studies at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design; working as an assistant to Barry Faulkner; his Prix De Rome fellowship, 1915-1920; his travels to China, Japan, Java and elsewhere; the Santa Fe art colony in the 1930s; dealers; his photographs; representational painting; his reaction to the Armory Show of 1913; his reading tastes; painting from memory. He recalls Kenyon Cox, Andrew Michael Dasburg, Dalzell Hatfield, and Douglas Volk.
Biographical / Historical:
Russell Cowles (1887-1979) was a painter, New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 41 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' 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 others.
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- Interviews Search this
The papers of painter and teacher Douglas Volk (1856-1935) and his father, sculptor Leonard Wells Volk (1828-1895), measure 12.4 linear feet and date from circa 1858-1965, 2008, with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1870-1935. Douglas Volk's papers document his life and career through biographical material, family and professional correspondence, writings and notes, diaries and journals, financial records, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork and sketchbooks, and photographs of the artist, his family, friends, and artwork. The papers also provide documentation of the formation and operations of the Sabatos Handicraft Society established with Marion Volk from the Volk's summer home, Hewnoaks, in Center Lovell, Maine. Scattered documentation of the life and work of Leonard Wells Volk, is found in biographical material, land records, letters, memoirs, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter and teacher Douglas Volk (1856-1935) and his father, sculptor Leonard Wells Volk (1828-1895), measure 12.4 linear feet and date from circa 1858-1965, 2008, with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1870-1935. Douglas Volk's papers document his life and career through biographical material, family and professional correspondence, writings and notes, diaries and journals, financial records, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork and sketchbooks, and photographs of the artist, his family, friends, and artwork. The papers also provide documentation of the formation and operations of the Sabatos Handicraft Society established with Marion Volk from the Volk's summer home, Hewnoaks, in Center Lovell, Maine. Scattered documentation of the life and work of Leonard Wells Volk, is found in biographical material, land records, letters, memoirs, and photographs.
Douglas Volk's papers form the bulk of the collection and document all stages of his life from his first visits to Europe during his teenage years, until his death. Biographical material includes address books, biographical notes, genealogical records of Volk's family, and a warranty deed for land purchased by Marion Volk in Center Lovell, Maine, in 1904.
Family correspondence is primarily between Douglas and Marion throughout their courtship and marriage, but also includes letters from other family members including daughter Marion Volk Bridge and sons Wendell and Gerome Volk. General correspondence is with colleagues, art galleries, societies, institutions and museums, schools and colleges, government agencies, and others. Also found are letters from artists including George de Forest Brush, Elliott Daingerfield, Cass Gilbert, Philip Leslie Hale, Swedish woodcarver Karl von Rydingsvard, and J. Alden Weir; and friends Felix Adler and Percival Chubb.
Douglas Volk's writings and notes are on art, art instruction for children, and the significance and influence of his father's work, particularly Leonard Volk's Lincoln life mask, and include drafts of his monograph "Art Instruction in Public Schools."
Financial records document day-to-day routine expense, as well as sales of artwork and other art-related transactions.
Printed material and a scrapbook of clippings and letters include press coverage of Douglas Volk's career from the early 1900s to 1918. An additional scrapbook provides documentation of the Sabatos Handicraft Society, including a copy of one of only three known editions of the society's publication The Fire Fly. Artwork includes sketches, two small oil paintings, and fifteen sketchbooks of Douglas Volk.
Photographs include portraits taken at various stages of Volk's career, family photographs, photographs of the main house at Hewnoaks and additional buildings, photographs of several artists including William Merritt Chase and Karl von Rydinsgsvard, photographs of world leaders including David Lloyd George, King Albert of Belgium, and General John J. Pershing, and photographs of artwork.
The papers of Leonard Wells Volk include seven volumes of his hand-written memoirs which document his relationship with Stephen A. Douglas, his first meeting with Lincoln, and his involvement with the Chicago Academy of Design. Also found are three letters including one written to Douglas Volk in 1887, and a memorandum related to the value of Leonard Wells Volk's Lincoln and Douglas statues at the Illinois State House. Photographs include three of Leonard Wells Volk, photographs of other family members including his wife Emily, photos of houses and woodland scenes, and photos of artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 2 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Douglas Volk Papers, circa 1870-1965, 2008 (11.85 linear feet; Boxes 1-12, 15-16, OVs 13-14)
Series 2: Leonard Wells Volk Papers, circa 1858-circa 1930 (0.45 linear feet; Boxes 11-12)
Biographical / Historical:
Chicago sculptor Leonard Wells Volk (1828-1895) created one of only two life masks of Abraham Lincoln. His son, painter and teacher Douglas Volk (1856-1935), was known for his figure and portrait paintings. Douglas Volk and his wife Marion Larrabee Volk established the Sabatos Handicraft Society, producing homespun woolen rugs and textiles from their summer home in Center Lovell, Maine.
Leonard Wells Volk was raised in New York State and Massachusetts, before moving to St. Louis to learn modeling and drawing. Around 1852 he married Emily Clarissa King Barlow, a cousin of Senator Stephen A. Douglas. Douglas took an interest in Volk's career and helped finance his trip to Rome and Florence between 1855 and 1857, where Volk studied art. On returning from Europe Volk settled in Chicago, opening a studio there and establishing himself as a leader in art circles and a founder of the Chicago Academy of Design. He served as president of the Academy (later the School of the Art Institute of Chicago) for eight years. Volk recorded his first meeting with Lincoln during the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates, and the subsequent 1860 sittings with Lincoln for the life mask, hands, and bust, in his memoirs. The mask served as a model for many sculptors who made later portraits of Lincoln. Volk's other important works include the Rock Island County Soldier's Monument in Rochester, New York (1869), statues of Lincoln and Douglas for the Illinois Statehouse (1876), a bust of Douglas, and the Douglas Tomb monument (1881) in Chicago.
In 1879 Volk returned to the United States and accepted a teaching position at Cooper Union. He was elected to the Society of American Artists in 1880 and married Marion Larrabee in 1881. In 1883 Volk became a founder of the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts and was appointed the first president of the subsequent Minneapolis School of Fine Arts in 1886, a position he held until 1893. During his time in Minneapolis, Volk purchased a summer studio and retreat in Osceola, Wisconsin, and he and Marion had four children: Leonard (1882-1891), Wendell (1884-1953), Marion (1888-1973) and Gerome (1890-1959).
In 1893 Volk returned to New York and accepted a position at the Art Students League, where he taught from 1893-1898, and also resumed his post at Cooper Union. He became interested in innovative ways to teach art and art history to children, and in 1895 the National Academy of Design printed his essay "A Plea for Art in the Public Schools," in its annual exhibition catalog. He was elected an associate of the Academy in 1898, becoming a full academician in 1899.
In 1898, looking to provide the family with a summer retreat, Marion Volk purchased property with a friend in Center Lovell, Maine, an area already enjoyed by the couple's friends, George de Forest Brush and Percival Chubb. The property was divided in 1901 and Marion added to her half creating a lot of approximately twenty-five acres. The Volks renovated the house, which they named Hewnoaks, and eventually built four more cottages and a studio for Douglas Volk on the property. During this period Marion Volk was working with handwoven wool on traditional area looms using fruit and vegetable hand-dyes and designs based on motifs from Native American art. In 1902 the Volks held the founding meeting of the Sabatos Handicraft Society at Hewnoaks, and the property became the hub of a Center Lovell community effort to produce rugs, textiles, and other handicrafts using traditional methods. Daughter Marion worked with her mother, and son Wendell, a printmaker and woodcaver, operated the Hewn Beam Press, printing pamphlets and a newsletter entitled the Fire Fly: A Periodical of Fearless Endeavour. Swedish-born wood carver Karl von Rydingsvard offered classes on wood carving at Hewnoaks, assisted by Wendell Volk.
Douglas Volk worked to make the Hewnoaks handicraft movement a success, but focused primarily on his own painting. The Maine woods provided endless inspiration and the setting for many of his paintings and murals, which primarily depicted romanticized historical subjects in Colonial America and reflected his traditional academic training. One of his best known works, The Boy with the Arrow (1903), a portrait of his son Leonard "Leo" Volk who died at the age of eight, is now in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Volk taught at the National Academy of Design from 1910-1917. He served as recording secretary and then on the council for the organization from 1910-1919. His acclaimed intimate portraits of friends and acquaintances, including Felix Adler (1914) and William Macbeth (1917), were painted during this period. In 1919 Volk was one of a group of artists commissioned by the National Art Committee to paint major figures from World War I. He subsequently painted portraits of King Albert of Belgium, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and General John J. Pershing, and recorded his meetings and sittings with the three men in his journals.
For the last fifteen years of his life Volk, using his father's life mask, painted a series of portraits of Abraham Lincoln, one of which hangs in the Lincoln Bedroom at The White House.
At least fifteen years prior to her death in 1925, Marion Volk's involvement in handicrafts at Hewnoaks declined, while Douglas Volk continued to focus on his own work. Wendell Volk's career in civil engineering took precedence over his interest in weaving and woodcarving and both he and his brother Gerome moved West in 1909. Following Douglas Volk's death in Fryeburg, Maine in 1935, Wendell Volk and his wife Jessie, also an artist, ultimately took possession of Hewnoaks. Wendell died in 1953, but the property was eventually bequeathed by Jessie Volk to the University of Maine and now operates as an artist colony.
Separated Materials:
Volumes 1, 3, 6-7, 9, and 10 of Leonard Volk's memoirs form part of the Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana in the Library of Congress.
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel 4280) including correspondence of Leonard Volk and photographs of his artwork. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The George Arents Research Library, Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York first lent material for microfilming in 1989. Most of the material was then donated in 2004–2005 by Jessie J. Volk, the daughter-in-law of Douglas Volk, who also bequeathed the Volk estate including additional Volk papers to the University of Maine. In 2006, University officials arranged for an auction of much of the property of the estate including the remaining family papers. The Volk Family estate auction was conducted by Cyr Auction Co., in Gray, Maine, on July 19, 2006. Several individuals purchased parts of the papers at that auction and subsequently donated them to the Archives. Those donors are: David Wright, who acquired the 1875 journal and Brush letters and donated them to the Archives in 2006; Dr. Christine Isabelle Oaklander, who purchased the account book, 1873–1875, and donated it to the Archives in honor of Judith Ellen Throm in 2007, and also donated additional letters and a photograph in 2008; and Mary K. and John F. McGuigan Jr., who purchased correspondence (1120 letters), speeches, lectures, articles, checks, check stubs and miscellaneous items and donated them to the Archives in 2015. In 2007, the University of Maine Foundation via Amos Orcutt donated the 1934 journal and 60 photographs.
John F. McGuigan Jr. and Mary K. McGuigan have purchased and donated additional archival materials to the Archives, including the Mary K. McGuigan and John F. McGuigan Jr. artists' letters collection, and 69 letters now among the Sylvester Rosa Koehler papers.
In 2007, the University of Maine Foundation via Amos Orcutt donated the 1934 journal and 60 photographs that were part of the Volk Family estate, but not included in the June 19, 2006 auction.
In 2019 Dr. Christine Isabelle Oaklander donated additional material purchased at auction, primarily photographs and some printed material.
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.
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 circa 1903-circa 1918 scrapbook primarily contains press coverage of Douglas Volk's career, including clippings reviewing exhibitions and other events, documentation of the activities of the National Academy of Design, and scattered letters including one each from artists Charles Dana Gibson, Cass Gilbert, and John La Farge.
Scrapbook 1900-1927 concerns the Center Lovell community's activities in rug making, textiles, and other handicrafts. The scrapbook includes photos of Marion Volk, her daughter Marion, son Wendell, and other community members making rugs, as well as letters and news clippings relating to their work. It includes a catalog and program of a "Handicrafts Exhibition" (1901), and one of only three known editions of the publication The Fire Fly, A Periodical of Fearless Endeavour, which were hand-printed on the Hewn Beam Press by Wendell Volk and A. E. Hanson.
The circa 1903-circa 1918 scrapbook primarily contains press coverage of Douglas Volk's career, including clippings reviewing exhibitions and other events, documentation of the activities of the National Academy of Design, and scattered letters including one each from artists Charles Dana Gibson, Cass Gilbert, and John La Farge.
Loose enclosures include an announcement for a woodcarving and weaving class offered by Karl von Rydingsvard and Wendell Volk, hand-printed by Wendell Volk.
Collection 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.
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:
Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers, circa 1858-1965, 2008, bulk circa 1870-1935. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Series includes two announcements and a pamphlet for the exhibition of Volk's Lincoln portrait With Malice Toward None, as well as eight announcements and catalogs for other exhibitions, including an Exhibition of Paintings by American Artists (1915) at the American Art Gallery, George P. Perkins. Clippings about Volk include reviews of exhibitions and articles about him including a 2008 article in Antiques magazine titled "Douglas Volk and the Arts and Crafts in Maine," by Arlene M. Palmer. This article is a rich source of information about the history of the Hewnoaks artist colony. Other clippings and miscellaneous material include news articles about Abraham Lincoln, David Lloyd George and the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, and articles on art.
Art-related bulletins and pamphlets include a Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art recording the 1915 purchase of Volk's portrait of Felix Adler; two Bulletins of the National Arts Club (1923, 1925); and Volk's menu from a National Academy of Design dinner (1915) signed by attendees.
Of note is a mounted clipping of the London News article which included Volk's 1873 sketch of a church ruined by an earthquake in Italy, the first instance of his work appearing in the press. The clipping is annotated by Volk.
Also found is printed material related to Abraham Lincoln and Leonard Well Volk's monument to Stephen A. Douglas. Two folders of reproductions of artwork, some by other artists, may have been used by Volk as source material.
Collection 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.
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:
Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers, circa 1858-1965, 2008, bulk circa 1870-1935. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Douglas Volk's papers form the bulk of the collection and document all stages of his life and career from his first visits to Europe during his teenage years, until his death. Posthumous material primarily comprises family correspondence, financial material, and photographs, and a 2008 Antiques magazine article on the Volk family's activities at Hewnoaks.
Arrangement:
Douglas Volk's papers are arranged as 9 subseries.
Missing Title
1.1. Biographical Material, circa 1897-circa 1929 (0.75 linear feet; Boxes 1, 12, OVs 13, 14)
1.2. Correspondence, circa 1870-1960 (4.54 linear feet; Boxes 1-5, 12)
1.3. Writings and Notes, 1886-1933 (1 linear foot; Boxes 5-6)
1.4. Diaries and Journals, 1873-1935 (0.2 linear feet; Box 6)
1.5. Financial Records, 1873-1953 (2.5 linear feet; Boxes 7-9)
1.6. Printed Material, 1873-2008 (0.53 linear feet; Boxes 9, 12, OV 13)
1.7. Scrapbooks, 1900-1927 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 9-10)
1.8. Artwork and Sketchbooks, circa 1870-circa 1934 (0.78 linear feet; Boxes 10, 12, OV 13)
1.9. Photographs, circa 1880-1942 (0.95 linear feet; Boxes 10-12, OV 13)
Collection 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.
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:
Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers, circa 1858-1965, 2008, bulk circa 1870-1935. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Series provides scattered documentation of Chicago sculptor Leonard Wells Volk's life and career through biographical material, checks, land records, letters, memoirs, printed material, and photographs of Volk, his family, and artwork.
Biographical material consists of 4 fragments with notes on Volk's family, colleagues, artwork, and Stephen A. Douglas.
Found are two canceled checks from 1894, and land records which include an 1865 receipt for a house and an 1887 deed for land in Florida. Also found are 1892-1894 letters from the United States Land Office and the Alchua County Tax Collector's office in Gainesville, Florida, including 6 diagrams/plats of Volk family land.
Letters and memoranda include an 1887 letter from Leonard Wells Volk to Douglas Volk enclosing six photographs of scenes in Illinois; an 1886 memorandum written for Volk's wife in case of his sudden death, regarding the value of the Lincoln and Douglas statues at the Illinois State House, which describe his financial investment in the creation of the statues and their subsequent value; a copy of an 1887 letter to the editor of the Chicago Tribune regarding an error the publication printed about the making and disposition of his Lincoln life casts; and an 1895 letter from S. S. McClure, Limited, regarding the use of Volk's memoirs.
Of particular note are seven volumes of Volk's memoirs which were handwritten in pencil in stenographic notepads, probably between 1885 and 1887, and record Volk's youth, his training in Italy, his artistic career, and his sightseeing trips. Volume 4 recounts his first visits to London, Paris, Rome, and Florence in the mid-1850s, financed partially by Stephen A. Douglas. Volume 5 recalls his journey home, and his first meeting with Lincoln during Lincoln's 1858 senate election campaign and the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Later volumes record his move to Chicago and his involvement with the American Academy of Design. The numbering used for the memoirs in this finding aid was established by Volk researcher John Hoffman who, after consulting the other volumes of Volk's memoirs at the Library of Congress (volumes 1, 3, 6-7, and 9-10) numbered the volume that Volk numbered as 10 and 12, as number 12, and supplied the number 13 to the final volume. Dates in parentheses are the approximate dates of Volk's life as covered in the memoirs.
Photos of Leonard Volk and family include Leonard Volk in the studio carving his bust of Lincoln with his bust of Stephen A. Douglas in the background, a portrait of Volk taken in Rome in 1871, and a copy of a later portrait. Also found are a studio portrait of Volk's wife, Emily Clarissa King Barlow Volk, and several photos of houses and scenes in woods and camps, at least five of which include Emily Volk and probably other family members.
Photos of artwork by Volk include photos of his Lincoln statue installed in Rochester, New York, as well as photos of two men at the statue; photos of his Lincoln life mask, hands, and bust, and a photo of Volk's statue of Stephen A. Douglas. Of additional note is a carte de visite showing a plaster model of the Douglas tomb by Chicago photographer, John Carbutt.
Printed material is primarily related to Volk's Lincoln life mask and hands but also includes a review of Blanc's Grammar of Painting and Engraving (1883) in which Volk is quoted.
Arrangement:
Records are arranged as one series.
Collection 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.
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:
Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers, circa 1858-1965, 2008, bulk circa 1870-1935. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
General correspondence is with friends, colleagues, galleries, museums, art institutions, art societies, publishers, universities and colleges, and United States Government agencies. There are letters from artists including Edwin Howland Blashfield, William Merritt Chase, Elliott Daingerfield, Cass Gilbert, Philip Leslie Hale and Lilian Westcott Hale, Karl von Rydingsvard, and J. Alden Weir. Six folders of letters from George de Forest Brush and his wife Mary (Mittie) Taylor Whelpley Brush, reveal details about Brush's education in Europe, his experiences in Wyoming and Canada in the 1880s, and his later career. The letters also document the close relationship between the Brush and Volk families, recording their mutual sympathy and support during times of illness and bereavement, including the death of the Brush's infant son, Alfred, from cholera shortly after his birth in 1886, and Leonard Volk's death in 1891.
Also found is correspondence with writer and leader of the Ethical Society of St. Louis, Percival Chubb, and Volk family friend and founder of the Ethical Culture movement, Felix Adler and his wife Helen Goldmark Adler. Correspondence with the Buffalo Fine Arts Gallery, Albright Art Gallery includes personal and business related correspondence with Cornelia B. Sage Quinton, which documents, among other things, the gallery's purchase of Volk's Lincoln portrait for $5000.
Correspondence with Beck Engraving Company relates to plates produced by the company from Volk's Lincoln portrait. Correspondence with Charles L. Hinton relates to Hinton's work on the Lincoln medal made from a portrait of Lincoln by Volk and produced by Whitehead & Hoag. Correspondence with Whitehead & Hoag also relates to Hinton's work.
Correspondence with Fred'k Southack & Alwyn Ball Jr. Inc. relates to Volk's New York City studio lease in the mid-1920s.
National Academy of Design records include minutes of meetings and letters from Edwin Howland Blashfield, when Volk was the National Academy's Recording Secretary in the early 1920s. Correspondence with the Portland Society of Art documents the purchase by Cyrus H. K. Curtis of Volk's Lincoln portrait With Malice Toward None which Curtis donated to the Society in 1927.
Correspondence with the United States Military Academy Museum, West Point relates to Volk's portraits of Major-General John G. Foster (1930), and Major-General Gordon Granger (1931).
One folder contains carbon copies of some of Volk's letters from 1920. These copies relate primarily to his contemporary portraits of government and military subjects and include letters directly to, or relating to, David Lloyd George, Brand Whitlock, Comte d'Arschot, and John J. Pershing.
Arrangement:
Records are arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Collection 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.
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:
Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers, circa 1858-1965, 2008, bulk circa 1870-1935. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Photographs of Douglas Volk include portraits taken throughout his career, including four by Doris Ulmann, photos of Volk in the studio, and with family members and friends.
Studio photographs of Volk show him working on his painting Father Hennepin Discovering the Falls of St. Anthony (1905), and a painting installed at the Minnesota State Capitol. Some of these photographs are mounted on what appear to be pages from a dismantled scrapbook.
Photos with family and friends include a circa 1880 tintype of Douglas and Marion, and a series of circa 1880s albumen photographs, including some in which Douglas Volk, Leonard Volk, and other family members can be identified. These are possibly related to the photographs of unidentified camps/lakes/woods, some of which may have been taken in the Adirondacks and/or at the Volk's summer retreat in Osceola, Wisconsin. Also found is a group photo taken at the National Arts Club New Year's Eve carnival in 1921.
Individual photos of family members include photos of the Volk children, Gerome, Marion (with her children), and Wendell Volk. Two studio portraits are possibly of Marion Larrabee Volk as they are very similar to a portrait identified as her by the Lovell Historical Society. However, other photographs in this collection which picture Marion with Douglas, raise questions as to the identity of the person in the folder labeled "Marion Volk."
Photos of others include studio portraits of actresses, including Agnes Huntington; a photo of William Merritt Chase inscribed "To my friend Douglas Volk" (circa 1880s); a photo of Karl and Mrs. von Rydingsvard with Wendell Volk; a photo of an unidentified sculptor; a series of photos of boys and men apparently involved in battle re-enactment; and photos of the subjects of Volk's 1919 portraits, including David Lloyd George and King Albert of Belgium.
Photos of places include several of Volk at Hewnoaks, and photos showing the Hewnoaks Rambling Timbers and Viking Court buildings in the early 20th century. Also found are three photographs of the interior of the Minneapolis School of Fine Arts, including one of a class in progress.
Photos of Volk's artwork include one showing Volk's work at an undated exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Photos of artwork by others include six cyanotypes, and several photos of wood carved furniture, one identified as being by Karl von Rydingsvard. Other wood-carved furniture pictured may also be by von Rydingsvard, and/or possibly Wendell Volk.
Collection 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.
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:
Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers, circa 1858-1965, 2008, bulk circa 1870-1935. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers, circa 1858-1965, 2008, bulk circa 1870-1935. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers, circa 1858-1965, 2008, bulk circa 1870-1935. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers, circa 1858-1965, 2008, bulk circa 1870-1935. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers, circa 1858-1965, 2008, bulk circa 1870-1935. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers, circa 1858-1965, 2008, bulk circa 1870-1935. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers, circa 1858-1965, 2008, bulk circa 1870-1935. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Douglas Volk and Leonard Wells Volk papers, circa 1858-1965, 2008, bulk circa 1870-1935. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
