73 Items (Letters, written in ink, ball point, graphite, typewriter)
26 Items (Stamps)
3 Items (Photographs)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Place:
USA -- Tennessee -- Nashville
Date:
1831-1979
Scope and Contents:
This collection is an amalgamation of letters written and recieved by prominent figures in 19th and 20th century American Art. Included in the collection is a significant portion of letters from Abbott Thayer to correspondents from his circle of family, friends and art world figures such as Maria Oakey Dewing and Samuel Coleman.
Arrangement:
Organized alphabetically by author.
Biographical / Historical:
Beginning in his youth Thomas Brumbaugh collected autographed correspondence. Mr. Brumbaugh's collecting instincts resulted in a unique collaborative collection providing a glimpse into the lives of a variety of 19th and 20th century American artists, such as Abbott Thayer. Brumbaugh was a professor of fine arts at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and author of many articles on American art and artists.
Local Numbers:
FSA A2009.06
Other Archival Materials:
Thomas B. Brumbaugh research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and other artists, 1876-1994 (bulk 1960s-1994); Also located at Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Correspondence between Read family members, Thomas Buchanan Read, Mary Pratt Read, Mary Alice Read, and Harriet Denison Butler Read, and notable military, literary, political, and artistic figures, particluarly of the 19th century. Correspondents include Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Edwin Church, William Whiteman Fosdick, Harriet Goodhue Hosmer, Ludwig Knaus, Hiram Powers, Thomas Addison Richards, Randolph Rogers, John Sartain, William Wetmore Story, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Philip Sheridan, James Garfield, and William Tecumseh Sherman, among others.
Biographical / Historical:
Thomas Buchanan Read was a poet, a portrait and history painter, and sometime sculptor, and worked in the U.S. and abroad.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1979 by Denison L. Burton.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
llustration of three children sitting by a fireplace, bordered by poem by J. G. Whittier.
Arrangement:
In Series 2, Box 7, Folder 2.
Local Numbers:
AC0058-0000002.tif (AC Scan No.)
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270. Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The papers of lithographer Louis Prang date from 1848 to 1932 and measure 1.2 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material, writings, art work, card samples, printed material, and photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of lithographer Louis Prang date from 1848 to 1932 and measure 1.2 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material, writings, art work, card samples, printed material, and photographs.
Biographical material includes a Prussian arrest warrant for Prang, a passport, a receipt for household purchases, patent and membership certificates, and a photocopy of a letter from John Greenleaf Whittier.
Writings are primarily typescripts of lectures by Prang and a typescript "Lithographic Process Used by Louis Prang" by the donor, E. Wrightson Christopher, and a hand-written page concerning a card design competition by Clarence Cook.
Art work consists of a pencil drawing executed by Prang, possibly as a school assignment. Printed material consists of a book of color separation proofs, a sales book of samples of Prang's products, and catalogs for Easter and Valentine cards. Photographs are of Prang, family members, his residence, events, and colleagues.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 5 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1852-1906 (Box 1-2, OV 5; 8 folders)
Series 2: Writings, 1880-1898 (Box 1; 5 folders)
Series 3: Art Work, circa 1848 (Box 2; 1 folder)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1873-1889 (Box 1-4; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 5: Photographs, 1874-1932 (Box 1-2, OV 5; 8 folders)
Biographical Note:
Louis Prang (1824-1909) of Boston, Massachusetts, was a lithographer and wood engraver, famous for his chromolithographic reproductions of major works of art as well as for a series of publications used for art education in public schools. Because his company was first to make commercially printed greeting cards available to the public, Prang is often referred to as the "father of the American Christmas Card."
Louis Prang was born on March 12, 1824 in Breslau in what is now Poland. He was the only son among the seven children of a French Huguenot father Jonas Louis Prang and a German mother, Rosina Silverman. Louis Prang learned to dye and print calico as an apprentice in his father's shop. After traveling as a journeyman in Europe, he became involved in revolutionary activity against the Prussian government in 1848. Prang went to Switzerland, emigrated to the United States and settled in Boston in 1850, marrying Rosa Gerber in the following year.
Between 1848 and 1856, Prang supported himself by making wood engravings to illustrate various publications. In 1856, he joined with Julius Mayer and formed the partnership of Prang and Mayer, lithographic and copper plate manufacturers. The business continued until 1860 when Prang became sole owner, changing the name to L. Prang and Co. The firm printed business cards, announcements and other forms of ephemera and soon branched into the production of maps of Civil War sites and novelty items including albums and sets of picture cards decorated with a wide variety of images that became popular collectibles.
In 1864, Prang visited Europe to study the latest techniques in German lithography. He returned to Boston to create high quality reproductions of major works of art using a lithographic process he called "chromos." In 1874, he began producing greeting cards for the popular market in England and began selling the Christmas card in the United States the next year, resulting in his being called the "father of the American Christmas card." Also in 1874, Prang began publishing books for drawing and elementary art study for public schools. This latter activity proved so successful that he formed the Prang Educational Company in 1882. During this time, Prang shared his residence and his work with the family of his son-in-law, lithographer Karl K. Heinzen, who married Prang's daughter Rosa.
Through a merger in 1897, L. Prang and Co. became the Taber-Prang Company and moved from Boston to Springfield, Massachusetts. Two years following the death of his first wife in 1898, Prang married Mary Dana Hicks, an art teacher and author associated with the Prang Educational Company. Prang had retired from active business in 1899 and traveled extensively for the next decade. He became ill and died while en route to view an Exposition in Los Angeles in 1909.
Louis Prang died on June 14, 1909, in Los Angeles, California.
Related Material:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is the Mary Margaret Sittig research material on Louis Prang.
Provenance:
The Louis Prang papers were donated in 1989 by Thomas West Christopher, M.D., son of E. Wrightson Christopher who compiled the papers while he was a publisher of greeting cards. A photocopied letter and a sales book of samples were donated separately and have unknown provenances.
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.
Brumbaugh, Thomas B. (Thomas Brendle), 1921- Search this
Extent:
11 Items (Letters, written in ink, ball point, graphite)
1 Photograph
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Correspondence
Date:
1818-1847
Scope and Contents:
This folder is an amalgamation of letters written and recieved by prominent figures in 19th and 20th century American art. Included in the folder are letters by Robert Reid, Hugo Robus, Thomas Prichard Rossiter, Eugene Speicher, John Greenleaf Whittier and Peter A.B. Widener.
Arrangement:
Organized alphabetically by author.
Biographical / Historical:
Erastus D. Palmer was an American sculptor. He sculpted portrait busts and religious bas-reliefs in a style that combined neoclassical idealism and realism. His most famous sculpture is "The White Captive," which depicts a young girl who has been captured by Native Americans.
Robert Reid was an American artist who studied in New England and Paris. He began by painting French peasants, but became known for his murals and stained glass designs. Some of his work can be found in the Congressional Library in Washington, D.C.
Hugo Robus was an American painter and sculpture from Ohio. He studied in the United States and Paris, and then taught at the Modern Art School in New York. He worked in a very lyrical cubist style, usually with people as his subject.
Thomas Prichard Rossiter was an American painter born in New Haven, Connecticut. He traveled throughout Europe, painting portraits along the way, and he kept a studio in Paris. He painted mostly portraits, but also completed a series of paintings depicting the life of Christ.
John Frederick Kensett was an American artist and engraver who worked in New Haven, Connecticut, and New York City.
Henry Rox was a German artist who studied in Berlin and Paris before settling in the United States in 1938, where he taught at many universities, including Mount Holyoke College. He is known for fruit and vegetable photo-sculptures.
Eugene Speicher was an American realist painter from Buffalo, New York. He attended the Art Students League, and then studied in Europe for a few years. He was considered a leading portrait artist in America at the time, favoring female subjects. Speicher won numerous awards for his work, and was appointed Director of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1945.
Max Weber was a Russian-born Jewish-American cubist. He studied with Matisse, Rousseau, and Picasso in Paris. Weber helped introduce cubism to America.
John Greenleaf Whittier was an American Quaker poet. Whittier was an ardent abolitionist who was extremely influenced by the doctrines of humanitarianism, compassion, and social responsibility found in Quakerism. He was a founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, and worked as a lobbyist. He is remembered today for his patriotic poetry, and his poems that were later turned into hymns.
Paul Hayne was an American poet who Whittier references in his letter to the publishers Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Hayne had just died, and his son, W.H. Hayne, wanted to edit his later poems for publication.
Widener (1834-1915) was an American businessman from Pennsylvania. During the Civil War, he supplied meat to the Union Army. By investing in trolley cars and public transit services, Widener became quite successful and wealthy. He was an avid art collector whose collection included works by Rembrandt, Edouard Manet, and Auguste Renoir. He is considered one of the top 100 wealthiest Americans of all time.
Local Numbers:
FSA A2009.06 6
Other Archival Materials:
Thomas B. Brumbaugh research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and other artists, 1876-1994 (bulk 1960s-1994); Also located at Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
