Photo lot 87-2P, United States National Museum Department of Anthropology photograph collection relating to Native Americans, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The microfilmed Charles Allen Munn collection relating to Charles Willson Peale, John Trumbull and Benjamin West contain a diary of Charles Willson Peale (1788-1789); letters, an account book (1816), and a letter book (1809-1810) of John Trumbull; and a brief manuscript autobiography of Benjamin West.
The Charles Willson Peale papers include a diary kept in Philadelphia and Annapolis (May 30, 1788-May 5, 1789). Peale writes about working on his drawing machine "for taking perspective views;" people sitting for portraits; techniques in painting; repairing pictures; travel conditions between Philadelphia and Annapolis; the operation of his Philadelphia Museum; recipes for preserving birds and animals; business and travel expenses; experiments in making bifocals; social activities; and acquaintances.
John Trumbull papers include correspondence, accounts, and a corrected proof of an original manuscript of a description of Trumbull's pictures. The Benjamin West papers consist of an undated autobiography.
Biographical / Historical:
Charles Allen Munn (1859-1924) was an editor, publisher, and art patron in New York, New York.
Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) was a painter, inventor, and naturalist known for his portraits of leading figures in the American Revolution, and for founding the Peale Museum (later the Philadelphia Museum), one of the first major museums in the United States.
John Trumbull (1756-1843) was a painter known for his paintings depicting the leaders and events of the American Revolution.
Benjamin West (1738-1820) was an American painter known for his historical and religious paintings. He was historical painter to the court for George III and Surveyor of the King's Pictures, as well as the second President of the Royal Academy. Many American artists traveled to London to study under him, including Charles Willson Peale and John Trumbull.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art holds the Charles Willson Peale diaries and exhibition announcement, 1765-1826; the John Trumbull collection, 1790-[ca. 1800]; Papers from John Trumbull's paint box, 1794-[ca. 1830]; Theodore Sizer research material on John Trumbull, 1790-1952; and the Benjamin West collection, 1771-circa 1879. Also found at the Archives of American Art are the microfilmed Mary Jane Peale and Peale family selected papers, circa 1815-1897; microfilmed selected Peale family papers, 1803-1854; microfilmed selected papers from the Peale-Sellers collection, circa 1767-1904; microfilmed Augusta Barker papers, 1875-1887; microfilmed John Trumbull papers, 1787-1843; the microfilmed Canning collection of papers relating to John Trumbull, 1799; the microfilmed John Trumbull collection at the Gilcrease Institute, 1820-1831; microfilmed Benjamin West selected papers from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1755-1819.
The American Philosophical Society holds the Peale-Sellers Family Collection, 1686-1963 and the Peale family papers, 1705-1898. The Library of Congress holds the John Trumbull papers, 1786-1841; Princeton University Manuscripts Division holds the John Trumbull Collection, 1768-1842; Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library holds the John Trumbull papers, 1800-1842; Yale University Manuscripts and Archives Repository holds the John Trumbull papers, 1750-1961. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania holds assorted Benjamin West collections; Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library holds the Benjamin West papers, 1762-1829.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1968 by Fordham University Library.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
The Charles Henry Hart autograph collection dates from 1731-1917 and measures 1.71 linear feet comprised of 232 letters, portrait prints, and other documents signed by American artists. There is a .01 linear foot (6 items) unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 that includes a letter from Winslow Homer to Mr. Clarke, November 28, 1892; typed and annotated lists of autographs of artists in the collections of Charles Henry Hart; handwritten note about English painter and engraver, John Keyse Sherwin, undated; handwritten note regarding Gennearino Persico, miniature artist, July 18, 1826.
Scope and Contents:
The Charles Henry Hart autograph collection dates from 1731-1917 and measures 1.71 linear feet comprised of 232 letters, portrait prints, and other documents signed by American artists. There is a .01 linear foot (6 items) unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 that includes a letter from Winslow Homer to Mr. Clarke, November 28, 1892; typed and annotated lists of autographs of artists in the collections of Charles Henry Hart; handwritten note about English painter and engraver, John Keyse Sherwin, undated; handwritten note regarding Gennearino Persico, miniature artist, July 18, 1826.
Originally titled by Hart as "The History of Art in America as Told in a Remarkable Collection of Autograph Letters and Documents of Celebrated American Artists of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Century," the collection includes letters and other items signed by Thomas Anshutz, John J. Audubon, William Merritt Chase, Frederic Edwin Church, John Singleton Copley, Kenyon Cox, Thomas Eakins, Jervis McEntee, Samuel F.B. Morse, Charles Willson Peale, Raphaelle Peale, Rembrandt Peale, Rubens Peale, Titian Peale, James Daivd Smillie, Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Sully, Abbott Handerson Thayer, John Vanderlyn, Elihu Vedder, John Quincy Adams Ward, Benjamin West, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, and many others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 2 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Charles Henry Hart autograph collection, 1731-1917 (226 items; Box 1-5)
Series 2: Unprocessed Addition, 1826-1892 and undated (6 items; MMS folder 6)
Biographical / Historical:
Charles Henry Hart (1847-1918) was a historian, lawyer, writer, and director, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1882-1904. Widely, he published on the subject of 18th and 19th century portraiture in the United States.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the personal papers of Charles Henry Hart, dating from 1774-1930, bulk 1888-1918.
Papers of Charles Henry Hart, 1888-1894, are also located at The New York Public Library Archives & Manuscripts.
Provenance:
The Charles Henry Hart autograph collection was donated to the Archives of American Art in 1954 as an anonymous gift. It is assumed that Hart assembled the letters. Original collation was two letterbooks entitled "The History of Art in America as Told in a Remarkable Collection of Autograph Letters and Documents of Celebrated American Artists of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Century." Additional six items donated in 2021 by Ty West, who found the compiled material among his grandfather-in-law's belongings.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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.
Files on ca. 150 American artists and art subjects, selected from Duveen's art reference files. Included are photographs of paintings in other collections, auction and exhibition catalogs, miscellaneous publications.
Files include: Francis Alexander, Washington Allston, William H. Bartlett, Ben-Zion, Thomas Birch, Joseph Blackburn, Ralph A. Blakelock, Charles F. Blauvelt, Peter Blume, Emile Branchard, Albertis D. O. Browere, John G. Brown, Jonathan Buddington, James E. Buttersworth, Carra, Dennis M. Carter, Mary Cassatt, George Catlin, Centurion, Paul Cezanne, Moura Chabor, Marc Chagall, T. Chambers, Jean Charlot, Thomas Cole, John Constable, George Cope, John S. Copley, Ralston Crawford, Jasper F. Cropsey, Arthur B. Davies, Charles Despiau, Roland Detre, Thomas R. Dibble, Enrico Donati, William Doriani, Thomas Doughty, Jessie Drew-Bear, Robert S. Duncanson, Dunlap, Asher B. Durand, George H. Durrie, Frank Duveneck, Evert Duyckinck, Thomas Eakins, Jacob Eichholtz, Louis M. Eilshemius, Charles L. Elliott, Robert Field, Emil Ganso, Pablo Gargallo, Jan Gelb, Paul Gillman, Christian Gullager, George H. Hall, Chester Harding, William M. Harnett, George Harvey, William J. Hays, George P. A. Healy, Edward L. Henry, John Hesselius, Edward Hicks, Thomas Hicks, Holland House, Charles Fevret de Saint-Memin, Winslow Homer, S. A. Hudson, Daniel Huntington, Henry Inman, George Inness, John W, Jarvis, Eastman Johnson, Henrietta Johnston, John Johnston, Hilde B. Kayn, Dikran K. Kelekian, Fitz Hugh Lane, Ernest Lawson, M. F. Lefferts, William R. Leigh, Abraham Lincoln, George B. Luks, Edward G. Malbone, Alfred H. Maurer, Louis Maurer, McKay, Alfred J. Miller, Louis C. Moeller, Samuel F. B. Morse, John Neagle, Donald Organ, Bass Otis, Walter Pach, Charles W. Peale, James Peale, Rembrandt Peale, William Penn, Enoch W. Perry, F. E. H. Philippoteaux, Charles P. Polk, T. B. Pope, Rufus Porter, William M. Prior, Walter Quirt, William T. Ranney, Reinhardt, Frederic Remington, Louisa Robins, Severin Roesen, Thomas P. Rossiter, Peter F. Rothermel, Charles M. Russell, Edward Savage, William Sawitzky, Nikol Schattenstein, Christian Schussele, D. Serres, James Sharples, Morris Shulman, John Smibert, Sergei Soudeikin, Haim Soutine, Frederick R. Spencer, Albert Stewart, Robert Street, William J. Strong, Gilbert Stuart, C. (Charles ?) Sullivan, Thomas Sully, Arthur F. Tait, G. Tirrell, John Trumbull, John Vanderlyn, Pieter Vanderlyn, William Von Schlegell, Samuel L. Waldo, Abraham Walkowitz, George Washington, Elbert Weinberg, Julian A. Weir, Thomas B. Welch, Adolph U. Wertmuller, Benjamin West, Anne Whitney, Arnold Wiltz, William E. Winner, S. Wood, and Thomas W. Wood.
The Saint-Memin, Stuart, B. West and Wertmuller files contain material from Albert Rosenthal relating to the above artists.
Arrangement:
Files are arranged alphabetically by artist and subject, rolls NDU1-NDU3; publications and other miscellany were filmed on rolls NDU4-NDU5.
Biographical / Historical:
Albert Duveen was an art dealer and collector with offices in New York, N.Y., specializing in early American art. He was a cousin to Joseph Duveen (1869-1939), 1st Baron Duveen, president of Duveen Brothers art dealers.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1958 by Duveen.
Restrictions:
The Archives does not own the original papers. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm.
This collection measures 0.3 linear feet and consists of 19 items dated 1771-circa 1879, relating to expatriate painter Benjamin West. West, who settled in London and was renowned for his portraits and his paintings of historical events, was the first internationally known American painter. The collection provides scattered documentation of West's activities including during the time of his appointment as historical painter to King George III, and contains letters from West, artwork including 2 engravings of the artist, 2 pages of West's accounts, and a ticket to a lecture at the Royal Academy of Art.
Scope and Content Note:
This collection measures 0.3 linear feet and consists of 19 items dated 1771-circa 1879, relating to expatriate painter Benjamin West. West, who settled in London and was renowned for his portraits and his paintings of historical events, was the first internationally known American painter. The collection provides scattered documentation of West's activities including during the time of his appointment as historical painter to King George III, and contains scattered letters from West, two engravings of the artist, prints, and ephemera.
Twelve letters are written to prominent politicians such as John Adams and Robert R. Livingston, Jr., the U.S. Minsister in Paris, close friend and portraitist John Green, and others. There are two pages of accounts documenting West's association with John Boydell. In 1786, Boydell, an alderman for the City of London and a publisher of books, illustrations and engravings, launched an ambitious project to commission the best artists in England, including West, to provide illustrations for an edition of Shakespeare's plays. Also found is a ticket to a lecture at the Royal Academy of Art.
Artwork includes two engravings of West, a print of his birthplace, a print of a late 18th century portrait of West by Jonathan Spilsbury, and an ink drawing after Benjamin West of John Singleton Copley's son and daughter, circa 1879.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as one series.
Biographical Note:
Expatriate painter Benjamin West (1738-1829) was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania and worked in Pennsylvania and New York before settling in London as a portrait painter and historical painter to King George III. West initially studied with local artist William Williams in Pennsylvania and began painting portraits in Pennsylvania and New York in the 1750s. Around 1760 he traveled to Italy to study art and then settled in London as a portrait painter and remained in Europe for the rest of his life. He received many commissions under the patronage of George III and in 1772 was appointed historical painter to the King.
A leader in neoclassicism and a mentor to many young English and American artists including John Constable, Charles Willson Peale, Gilbert Stuart, and John Singleton Copley, West became the first American artist to receive international recognition. Among his best-known works are Death of General Wolfe (1770) and Penn's Treaty with the Indians (1772). In these, and other historical paintings, he maintained the compositional elements of neoclassicism but departed from tradition by painting historical figures in the clothing of their period, rather than in classical attire.
West was a co-founder of the Royal Academy of Arts with Sir Joshua Reynolds, and served as the Academy's president from 1792-1815.
Benjamin West died in London in 1820.
Provenance:
The Benjamin West collection was acquired through gifts and purchases from various sources between 1955 and 1981. Nine letters and 2 engravings were donated by Charles Feinberg, 1955-1958; 2 additional letters were lent by Feinberg for microfilming in 1967 and subsequently purchased by AAA in 1968. Account book pages were purchased from Walter R. Benjamin Autographs, circa 1960, and one letter was purchased from Charles Hamilton Autographs, Inc., in 1963. A wood engraving was transferred from the National Portrait Gallery Library in 1981; the sources of an ink drawing and a print are unknown.
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.
Two pages of West's accounts document his transactions with John "Alderman" Boydell between 1786-1792, including payment for prints of West's Battle of the Boyne (1781), probably Oliver Cromwell Dissolving the Long Parliament (1782), and Ophelia and Laertes (1792) which was included in Boydell's Shakespeare folio.
Twelve letters from West include a 1771 letter (with transcript) to his friend, 18th century portrait artist John Green, whom West had known in Pennsylvania and who briefly joined West in London in 1774. Largely autobiographical in content, the letter describes how West "imbarked [sic] on Historical painting" and comments how he has been "so fare successfull in it that I find my pictures sell for a prise [sic] that no living artist ever received before."
Other letters provide scattered documentation of West's association with high-profile politicians and landowners and include letters to: John Adams, November 1783, inviting Adams and "friends" (including John Jay with whom Adams signed the Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolution), to see the "Queen's House;" the U.S. Minister in Paris, Robert R. Livingston, Jr., June 1804 (with transcript), regarding West's medal and diploma from the "Department of the Fine Arts in the National Institute;" Taylor, March 1805, accepting an invitation from the Duke of Norfolk to the "annual dinner of the Society for the Encoragement [sic] of Arts;" Mr. T. Smith, December 1806, regarding a portrait of Sir Philip Sidney which West is painting; Wm. Wallace, January 1807, regarding an account; to Richard H. Davis, May 1809, offering to sell Davis the painting "Venus & Adonis by Titian," with Davis's response on the reverse; Sir William, June 1810, regarding visists from the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Gloucester to West's exhibition; S. Bourne, General Consul of the U.S. in Amsterdam, inquiring about a loan to a London goldsmith that was never repaid; Joseph Nollekins, March 1815, regarding recommendation of a sculptor, Mr. Franzone; Isaac Solly, April 1815, declining an invitation to a dinner; and a letter of thanks to Sir John Leicester, April 1819.
Artwork consists of two engravings of West including a stipple engraving by David Edwin, circa 1800, a print depicting West's birthplace, a print of a late 18th century portrait of West by Johanthan Spilsbury, and an ink drawing after Benjamin West of John Singleton Copley's son and eldest daughter, circa 1879. Also found is a ticket for Mr. Bishop to a lecture at the Royal Academy of Art.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
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:
Benjamin West collection, 1771-circa 1879. 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
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:
Benjamin West collection, 1771-circa 1879. 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
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:
Benjamin West collection, 1771-circa 1879. 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
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:
Benjamin West collection, 1771-circa 1879. 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
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:
Benjamin West collection, 1771-circa 1879. 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
