Henry Sayles Francis Papers

ArchivalResource

Henry Sayles Francis Papers

1924-1983

Biographical information, correspondence, subject files, notebooks, photographs, clippings, price lists concern Francis' work at the Cleveland Museum of Art, his friendship with George Kates, and his interest in painter William Sommer. REELS 881-882: Primarily research material compiled by Francis and his wife Frances Merriman Francis for the Ten Thirty Gallery Sommer retrospective in 1946 and the Cleveland Museum of Art's William Sommer Memorial Exhibition, held November 1-December 10, 1950. Included are biographical material; correspondence of Henry Sayles Francis and other museum staff regarding Sommer, and copies and transcripts of Sommer's correspondence (including a few letters from Hart Crane); reminiscences of Sommer from friends and colleagues; exhibition catalogs; notebooks of information on Sommer's works; and a bibliography. REELS 3838-3841: Biographical information; correspondence, arranged chronologically, with colleagues, friends, dealers, collectors, and others; and subject/correspondence files, arranged alphabetically, on colleagues, dealers, exhibitions, and various art topics; photographs of Francis, juries (Charles Sheeler is in one), Matisse in his studio, Somerset Maugham, Frits Lugt, and his wife; and clippings relating chiefly to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Subject/correspondence file titles include: Jere Abbott, Sir Geoffrey Agnew, Winslow Ames, Harry W. Anderson Collection, R. Kirk Askew, Bernard Berenson (ca. 50 letters received), John Bergschneider, Walter Blodgett, Rowland Burdon-Muller, David Carritt, Charles Chetham, Cleveland Museum of Art, John I. Coddington, Ralph Tracy Coe, Contini Collection, Cooper Union, Richard S. Davis, Robert Tyler Davis, Harold S. Ede, Ross Edman, Everett Fahy, Julia Feininger, Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Howard C. Hollis, Charles Hopkinson, Michael Jaffeé, Harold Joachim, Lincoln Kirstein, Henry Adams LaFarge, Viktor Langen, Nicky Mariano, William Mathewson Milliken, Agnes Mongan, William Mostyn-Owen, Roger Hale Newton, Benedict Nicolson, Luisa Nicolson, Harold Woodbury Parsons, John Pope-Hennessy, Alan Priest, John Rewald, Marvin C. Ross, Henry Preston Rossiter, Paul Joseph Sachs, Meryle Secrest, Germain Seligman, Peter Shepherd, Theodore Sizer, William Sommer (exhibitions), Frederick A. Sweet, Daviel Varney Thompson, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, Gertrude Underhill, Peter Vanderbilt, Langdon Warner, Nancy and William Wixom, and Richard H. Zinser. UNMICROFILMED: Primarily letters from and material on George Norbert Kates, an authority on pre-communist China and Francis's lifetime friend and additional material on William Sommer. Kates material consists of ca. 1000 letters to Francis, ca. 1924-1984, concerning personal affairs, financial ventures, their research efforts and careers, and Kates's research on the 15th century Duchess Eleanor of Scotland. A significant number of letters from 1953 refer to Bernard Berenson and his art research and collection. Also included are a subject file on Kates' interest in Herman Hesse; and a file of Kates' research material on Duchess Eleanor of Scotland. Unmicrofilmed Sommer material includes a letter from Sommer to C.P. Marsh, 1931; a Christmas card from Josephine and Theodor Braasch to Sommer; a page of writings by Sommer; photographs of Sommer and of a studio; several sketches and drawings; and printed material. REEL 440 AND SCANNED One photograph of Sommer, microfilmed under Photos of Artists I, and scanned. The remaining unfilmed material consists of Francis's notebooks (4 v.) primarily about the history of European paintings, drawings and prints, including notes about individual works of art; financial records, including price lists of European works of art, ca. 1930-1969, price list, insurance values and appraisals of two collections from the Cleveland Museum of Art, ca. 1923-1957; and minutes from two accessioning meetings at the Museum, 1930 and 1931.

5 Linear feet, (partially microfilmed on 6 reels)

eng, Latn

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 11633218

Archives of American Art

Related Entities

There are 14 Entities related to this resource.

Sheeler, Charles, 1883-1965

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cv4k63 (person)

Painter; Irvington, N.Y. From the description of Charles Sheeler letter to E.P. Richardson, 1958 Sept. 16. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79265385 From the description of Oral history interview with Charles Sheeler, 1959 June 18 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79269772 Charles Sheeler (1883-1965) was a painter, lithographer, and photographer from Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y. From the description of Charles Sheeler papers, circa 1840s-1966,...

Parsons, Harold Woodbury, 1882-1968

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qr53j7 (person)

Berenson, Bernard, 1865-1959

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tz45t8 (person)

Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865 – October 6, 1959) was an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance. His book Drawings of the Florentine Painters was an international success. His wife Mary is thought to have had a large hand in some of the writings. Berenson was a major figure in the attribution of Old Masters, at a time when these were attracting new interest by American collectors, and his judgments were widely respected in the art world. Recent research has cast doubt on some...

Abbott, Jeremiah, 1790-1879

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6697p32 (person)

Cleveland Museum of Art. Department of Art History and Education

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dn822v (corporateBody)

Lugt, Frits, 1884-1970

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cj9630 (person)

Kates, George N. (George Norbert), 1895-1990

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g753b6 (person)

Art historian, curator of oriental art, author of CHINESE HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE (1947), THE YEARS THAT WERE FAT (1952), and THE ART OF BEING OLD (1956). Lived in China, 1933-40, 1943-45. From the description of George N. Kates letters, 1946-1960. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122594244 ...

Sommer, William, 1867-1949

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vq39jv (person)

William Sommer (1867-1949), designer, lithographer, and painter, was born in Detroit, Michigan. After an apprenticeship, study abroad, and work as a lithographer in New York, he came to Cleveland in 1907. In addition to working at the Otis Lithograph Company, Sommer developed an interest in modern approaches to painting. Over four decades, he vigorously pursued his calling as an artist, encouraged growth in Cleveland's artistic community, participated in federal art programs, and exhibited regul...

Mongan, Agnes

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6477nqd (person)

Agnes Mongan, art historian, curator and director at Fogg Art Museum. From the description of Oral history interview with Agnes Mongan, 1979 June 19-Aug. 30. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 657039442 From the description of Agnes Mongan interviews, 1979 June 19-Aug. 30. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 646397418 b. 1905, Somerville, Mass.; d. Sept. 15, 1996, Cambridge, Mass. From the description of Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. (Museum o...

Milliken, William Mathewson, 1889-1978

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6kh231q (person)

Director of the Cleveland Museum of Art (1930-1958). From the description of Papers, ca. 1885-1978. (Rhinelander District Library). WorldCat record id: 18242561 William Milliken (1889-1978) was a museum director from Cleveland, Ohio. He was the director of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1930-1958. From the description of Oral history interview with William Milliken, 1974 Dec. 27-1976 Mar. 13 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id:...

Tiepolo, Giovanni Domenico, 1726?-1804

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pk0qpj (person)

Italian painter; son and pupil of G.B. Tiepolo. From the description of Autograph letter signed : [n.p.], to an unidentified abbot, [n.d.]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270572601 ...

Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65m63m5 (person)

British novelist, playwright, and short story writer, most well-known for his autobiographical novel "Of Human Bondage". From the description of Letter, signed : St. Jean-Cap Ferrat (France), to James R. Parish, Brockton, Mass. 16 June 1961. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 62718967 William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was a British author. From the description of W. Somerset Maugham letters, 1919-1927. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 144652236 ...

Hitchcock, Henry-Russell, 1903-1987

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62n55px (person)

Architectural historian, critic, museum director, and influential teacher. Died 1987. From the description of Henry-Russell Hitchcock letters to Dorothy Stroud and John N. Summerson, 1946-1949. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 83551893 Architectural historian. From the description of Lectures on architecture, 1948 Jan.-May. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79723075 Hitchcock (1903-1987) was an architectural historian. From the description of Henr...

Francis, Henry Sayles, 1902-1994

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63s1h8v (person)

Henry Sayles Francis was born March 4, 1902 in Boston, Massachusetts to parents George Tappan Francis and Frances Coren Brown. After earning a degree in art history from Harvard University, Francis worked at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Francis worked at the Cleveland Museum of Art from 1927 to 1929. He left to serve as Assistant to the Co-directors at the Fogg Museum and returned to work at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1931. Francis served as Art Historian and Curator of Prints and Pai...