An interview of S. Morton Vose conducted 1986 July 24-1987 April 28, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Vose speaks of the pervasive effect of his family's art gallery upon his life; studying languages at Harvard College; his affiliation with the gallery from 1927 on; the increasing emphasis on American painting during his career at the Vose Gallery, and the gradual de-emphasis on European work. He reminisces about some Vose Gallery clients, especially Maxim Karolik, and some art dealers; he discusses a traveling exhibition he was involved in; he speaks of the gallery's relations with prominent museum personnel, such as William Reinhold Valentiner and E.P. Richardson. Vose also discusses the pitfalls of appraising art collections, his father's last years, and the firm's move, and his recent work on a dictionary of American painters. He recalls William Morris Hunt, Thomas Robinson, Leopold Seyffert, Catherine Morris Wright, Maxim Karolik, Elizabeth Paxton, Paul Sample, John Whorf, Hermann Dudley Murphy, Winslow Homer, James Fitzgerald, Arthur Healey, and many others.
Biographical / Historical:
Seth Morton Vose (1909-2007) was an art dealer and art historian from Brookline, Massachusetts.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 25 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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.
Restrictions:
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Occupation:
Art historians -- Massachusetts -- Brookline Search this
Art dealers -- Massachusetts -- Brookline Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
0.4 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 1 reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Date:
[ca. 1880-1961]
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence; photographs; sketches and pages from a sketchbook; drawings; certificates; notes; a book; and clippings.
REEL 1052: Correspondence, mostly between Whorf and family members; pages from a scrapbook of clippings and photographs, 1912-1926; 2 National Academy of Design certificates; a drawing, 1913, done by Whorf as a child; photographs of Whorf, his family (including one of his grandfather, ca. 1880), and of his paintings; and clippings, 1924-1961.
UNMICROFILMED: A postcard from Ruth and Loring Dodd; a 1934 letter from a patron; 6 photographs, including The Beachcombers (a painter's club); a street scene (ca. 1890's) taken by John's father, commercial photographer, Harry C. Whorf, photographs of Harry C. Whorf (1890s), John Whorf's work, and of a John Singer Sargent painting; certificates of membership in the National Academy of Design; notes on color; 17 sketches in pencil, crayon and water color (1911); 21 clippings; and an inscribed copy of Harry Kemp's PROVINCETOWN TIDEWAYS (c 1947).
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; Provincetown, Mass.
Provenance:
Materials on reel 1052 lent for microfilming 1975 by Nancy Whorf Kelly, Whorf's daughter. Portions were subquently donated along with unmicrofilmed material, 1983.
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.
