John White Alexander papers

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John White Alexander papers

1775-1968

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw917c89625-97e2-4dce-a5e6-4cbf6627b78e

The papers of the painter, muralist, and illustrator John White Alexander measure 11.9 linear feet and date from 1775 to 1968, with the bulk of materials dating from 1870 to 1915. Papers document Alexander's artistic career and many connections to figures in the art world through biographical documentation, correspondence (some illustrated), writings, 14 sketchbooks, additonal artwork and loose sketches, scrapbooks, photographs, awards and medals, artifacts, and other records. Also found is a souvenir engraving of a Mark Twain self-portrait.Biographical Information includes multiple essays related to Alexander, his family, and others in his circle. Also found is an extensive oral history of Alexander's wife Elizabeth conducted in 1928. Correspondence includes letters written by Alexander to his family from New York and Europe at the start of his career, and later letters from fellow artists, art world leaders, and portrait sitters of Alexander's. Significant correspondents include Charles Dana Gibson, Florence Levy, Frederick Remington, Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry James, John La Farge, Francis Davis Millet, and Andrew Carnegie. Correspondence includes some small sketches as enclosures and illustrated letters.Certificates and records related to Alexander's career are found in Associations and Memberships, Legal and Financial Records, and Notes and Writings, which contain documentation of Alexander's paintings and exhibitions. Scattered documentation of Alexander's memberships in various arts association exists for the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Academy in Rome, the National Academy of Design, the Onteora Club in New York, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany, the Ministère de L'Instruction Publique et des Beaux-Arts, the Union Internationale des Beaux Arts et des Lettres, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Notes and Writings include speeches written by Alexander, short stories and essays written by his wife, and articles by various authors about Alexander. Extensive documentation of the planning and construction of the Alexander Memorial Studio by the MacDowell Club is found, along with other awards, medals, and memorial resolutions adopted by arts organizations after Alexander's death.Artwork includes fourteen sketchbooks with sketches related to Alexander's commercial illustration and cartooning, murals, paintings, and travels. Dozens of loose drawings and sketches are also found, along with two volumes and several dozen loose reproductions of artwork, among which are found fine prints by named printmakers. Many sketches are also interspersed throughout the correspondence. Eight Scrapbooks contain mostly clippings, but also scattered letters, exhbition catalogs, announcements, invitations, and photographs related to Alexander's career between 1877 and 1915. Additional Exhibition Catalogs and later clippings, as well as clippings related to the career of his wife and other subjects, are found in Printed Materials.Photographs include many portraits of Alexander taken by accomplished photographers such as Zaida Ben-Yusuf, Aimé Dupont, Curtis Bell, Elizabeth Buehrmann, and several signed Miss Huggins, who may have been Estelle Huntington Huggins, a New York painter and photographer. Portraits of others include Alexander's friends William Merritt Chase and Edward Austin Abbey. Also found are photographs of groups, juries, family, friends, and studios in New York, Paris, and New Jersey, and a handful of scenic photographs of Polling, Bavaria, where Alexander had an early studio. A large number of photographs of works of art are found, many with annotations. Among the photographs of murals are a small collection of snapshots of the Carnegie Institute murals in progress. Miscellaneous artifacts include a palette, several printing plates, and an inscribed souvenir engraving of a self-portrait caricature of Mark Twain.

Archives of American Art

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6630336

Archives of American Art

Related Entities

There are 14 Entities related to this resource.

La Farge, John, 1835-1910

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wm1gzt (person)

John LaFarge (1835-1910) was president of the Society of American Artists. From the description of John La Farge letter to Frank B. Bigelow, 1904 Oct. 5. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 613316806 John La Farge (1835-1910) was a painter, muralist, sculptor, and stained glass artisan. In 1904 he was serving as president of the Society of American Artists. From the description of John La Farge letter to Frank B. Bigelow, 1904 Oct. 15. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 7...

Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63t9f52 (person)

Robert Lewis (later changed to "Louis") Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on November 13, 1850. He attended the University of Edinburgh intending to become a civil engineer like his father, but ill health curtailed his studies and prompted him to travel to warmer climates. This inspired Stevenson to write stories, novels and essays about his travels. While in France he met American artist Fanny Osbourne. The two fell in love, and in 1879 Stevenson traveled to California, where he...

Alexander, John White, 1856-1915

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tm8dk3 (person)

John White Alexander (1856-1915) was a painter, muralist, and illustrator of New York, N.Y. From the description of John White Alexander papers, 1870-1942. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220166405 Painter; Paris, France and New York, N.Y. From the description of John White Alexander letter to Miss de Sansseur, [undated]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122515765 American painter. From the description of Autograph letters signed (4) : "The Chel...

Millet, Francis Davis, 1846-1912

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65m67q5 (person)

Painter, author, war correspondent, and illustrator. From the description of Letter : Washington, D.C., to [Edward E.] Ayer, 1910 Dec. 3. (Newberry Library). WorldCat record id: 38860956 Artist. From the description of Letter of Francis Davis Millet, 1912. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79454555 The American painter, draftsman, lithographer, muralist and writer Francis Davis Millet was born in Mattapoisett, Mass. He served in the Union army in 1864, and ...

Whistler, James McNeill, 1834-1903

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ns0s96 (person)

American painter, etcher and author. From the description of Autograph letters, signed with his name : Lindsey Houses, Chelsea, and 28 Wimple Street, to [James Key] Caird and J.E. Millais, [n.d.]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270588842 From the description of Autograph letter signed : London, to Miss Cobden, [May 1881/1884]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270587769 From the description of Autograph letter signed : Chelsea, London, to Waldo Story, the sculptor, pos...

MacDowell Club of New York.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hn2731 (corporateBody)

James, Henry, 1843-1916

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6765dm0 (person)

James was an American novelist, short story writer, critic and dramatist. From the description of Henry James transcripts of letters to others, 1873-1915. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 612731792 From the guide to the Henry James transcripts of letters to others, 1873-1915., (Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University) Henry James was born in New York, NY, in 1843. During his lifetime, he was a literary and art critic (writing for Natio...

Abbey, Edwin Austin, 1852-1911

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68p8xxh (person)

E. A. Abbey was a painter. Born in Philadelphia, he was self-taught and initially employed in a wood engraver's shop. In 1872, Abbey began working as an illustrator for Harper's. He also painted murals, including those for the Boston Public Library and Pennsylvania Capitol. From the description of Letter, 1874 November 26 : to L. Prang. (Winterthur Library). WorldCat record id: 84665753 Abbey was an American artist and illustrator who moved to England in 1878 and remained th...

Levy, Florence N. (Florence Nightingale), 1870-1947

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gq7093 (person)

Arts administrator and educator, New York City. From the description of Florence Nightingale Levy papers, 1899-1946 (bulk 1908-1926). (New York University, Group Batchload). WorldCat record id: 58778959 Florence Nightingale Levy (1870-1947) was an art editor and educator of New York City. From the description of Florence Nightingale Levy papers, 1890-1947. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122378702 From the guide to the Florence Nightingale Levy papers, 18...

Gibson, Charles Dana, 1867-1944

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h996pf (person)

American artist and illustrator. From the description of Autograph letter signed : New York, to Small, Maynard & Co., [n.d.]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 269577087 Charles Dana Gibson was an American graphic artist, noted for his creation of the "Gibson Girl", an iconic representation of the beautiful and independent American woman at the turn of the 20th century. Gibson owned a 700-acre estate in Islesboro, Me., where he and his wife spent an increasing amount of tim...

Chase, William Merritt, 1849-1916

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c53mjq (person)

Painter, art instructor; New York, N.Y. From the description of William Merritt Chase letter, 1911 Nov. 21. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122599930 William Merrit Chase (1849-1916) was a painter and instructor from New York, N.Y. and Shinnecock Hills, Long Island. From the description of William Merrit Chase photographs, [ca. 1895]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 744425314 Painter and instructor; New York, N.Y. and Shinnecock Hills, Long Island. ...

Remington, Frederic, 1861-1909

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pk0ghd (person)

Frederic Remington was born October 4, 1861 in Canton, New York. He was educated at the Vermont Episcopal Institute and attended Yale University. He worked as a cowboy, scout, and ran a sheep and mule ranch in the west. He married Eva Caten on October 1, 1884. Remington was a painter, sculptor and illustrator of Indians, cowbnoys and the American soldier at war. His travels took him to Germany, Russia, North Africa, Cuba and all over North America. Frederic Remington died December 26, 1909 in Ne...

Alexander, Elizabeth A., d. 1947.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b32g7n (person)

Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60w8nz7 (person)

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. From the description of Carnegie autograph collection, 1867-1945. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122682758 From the guide to the Carnegie autograph collection, 1867-1945, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.) Andrew Carnegie was an industrialist and philanthropist. From the description of Address of Mr. Andrew Carnegie before the Pitt...