The Coulton Waugh and Waugh Family papers measure 27 linear feet and date from 1751-1974 with the bulk of material dating from 1838 to 1974. The collection contains material from this family of artists living and working in Provincetown, Cape Cod, New York City, and England, including Coulton Waugh, Frederick Judd Waugh, Samuel Bell Waugh, and scattered material from Elizabeth Waugh, Ida Waugh, and Odin Waugh. Biographical materials, correspondence, diaries, writings, book project files, teaching files, business records, printed material, scrapbooks, photographs, and artwork are found.
Scope and Contents:
Coulton Waugh and Waugh Family papers measure 27 linear feet and date from 1751-1974 with the bulk of material dating from 1838 to 1974. The collection contains material from this family of artists living and working in Provincetown, Cape Cod, New York City, and England, including Coulton Waugh, Frederick Judd Waugh, Samuel Bell Waugh, and scattered material from Elizabeth Waugh, Ida Waugh, and Odin Waugh. Biographical materials, correspondence, diaries, writings, book project files, teaching files, business records, printed material, scrapbooks, photographs, and artwork are found.
The Coulton Waugh papers comprise the bulk of this collection and include scattered biographical material; professional and personal correspondence concerning family, friends, arts organizations, and comics; a diary, notebooks, drafts of short stories, and other writings; book project files relating to three publications by Coulton Waugh: The Comics (1947), "Junior Editors" series, and How to Paint With a Knife (1971); teaching files from Waugh's painting classes; business records regarding the Hooked Rug and Ship Model Shop, Storm King Art Center, Hudson River Prints company, and scattered sales lists, receipts, insurance records, and leases; clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs relating to Waugh and reproductions of works of art; twenty-three daily comics scrapbooks containing clippings; scattered photographs including portraits and snapshots of Coulton Waugh, photos of buildings, and of works of art; and extensive sketchbooks as well as comic mock-ups and other original artwork by Waugh.
The Frederick Judd Waugh papers include scattered biographical materials; personal and professional correspondence, much of which relates to exhibitions, and sales; business records; drafts of Waugh's Patch Pocket Stories, and other short stories and notes; printed material relating to Waugh's career as well as souvenirs; photo albums, potraits and snapshots of Frederick Judd Waugh, and photos of works of art; and original sketches and drawings.
The Samuel Bell Waugh papers include scattered biographical materials; correspondence containing letters from artists, family and arts organizations; a 1838 diary with a transcript and writings about Waugh by others; business records; printed materials; photographs including portraits of Samuel Bell Waugh and photos of works of art; and a sketchbook, sketches and drawings, and a self-portrait.
Assorted Waugh family papers include papers of Clara Waugh, Elizabeth Waugh, Gwen Waugh, Ida Waugh, and Odin Waugh. There are also biographical sketches and genealogical writings for the Waugh family. There is correspondence of Elizabeth, Gwen and Ida Waugh; writings and notes by Elizabeth Waugh, Clara Waugh, and by others regarding the Waugh family; business records for the Waugh family and Elizabeth Waugh; printed material relating to the Waugh family; scrapbooks compiled by Elizabeth Jenkinson (mother of Elizabeth Waugh), and a travel scrapbook; photograph portraits of family members and group photos, snapshots of groups of family members, photos of Waugh family homes, exhibitions, works of art, and a photo album of works of art; artwork and artifacts including sketches by Elizabeth Waugh, Ida Waugh, Odin Waugh, and unsigned sketches.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 4 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Coulton Waugh papers, circa 1896-1974 (Box 1-13, 20-28, 31, 33-34, 35-53, 55-56; 20 linear feet)
Series 2: Frederick Judd Waugh papers, circa 1870-1966 (Box 13-17, 28, 30, 32; 4.3 linear feet)
Series 3: Samuel Bell Waugh papers, 1838-1910 (Box 17, 26-27, 29, 54; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 4: Assorted Waugh Family papers, 1751-1974 (Box 18-19, 30-32, 46, 49; 1.5 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
The Waugh family consists of three generations of artists including portraitist Samuel Bell Waugh (1814-1885), landscape artist Frederick Judd Waugh (1861-1940), and cartoonist, painter, and writer Coulton Waugh (1896-1973). The family lived and worked in Provincetown, New York City, Cape Cod, and England.
Born in Pennsylvania in 1814, Samuel Bell Waugh's developed a reputation for being a portraitist in Philadelphia. He travelled to Italy in the 1840s where he spent seven years painting large panoramas. Samuel and his wife Ida had one daughter, also named Ida. Waugh's second wife Eliza studied art under her husband and produced miniture portraits. In 1861, Eliza and Samuel had one son named Frederick Judd. Samuel Bell Waugh died in 1885.
Frederick Judd Waugh attended military school but ultimately enrolled in to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. With his wife Eugenie (Gene), Frederick went to Europe where he settled on Sark in the Channel Islands. He painted landscape and marine scenes during his time in England. Eugenie and Frederick's son Frederick Coulton was born in Cornwall, England in 1896. Also, the couple had a daughter named Gwenyth. The family returned to the United States and settled in Cape Cod, the Maine coast, and New Jersey.
Coulton Waugh studied at the Art Students League in New York City where he sketched portraits of people he encountered on the streets. Ultimately, Coulton settled in Cape Cod with his first wife Elizabeth Jenkinson who was a writer and artist. Together, they owned a shop for model ships and hooked rugs. In the 1940s, Coulton wrote daily comic strips and in 1947 wrote a history of the medium entitled The Comics. He wrote and illustrated Dickie Dare, Hank, and Sam of the Seven C's, among others. Coulton Waugh's second wife, Odin, was an artist who illustrated some of her husband's comic strips.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in several installments from 1977-1983 by Odin Waugh Buchanan, Coulton Waugh's widow.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
