Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Search Results

Collections Search Center
4 documents - page 1 of 1

Charles Lang Freer Papers

Creator:
Freer, Charles Lang, 1856-1919  Search this
Extent:
131 Linear feet (29 architectural drawings)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Diaries
Financial records
Correspondence
Photographs
Place:
China
Syria
Egypt
India
London (England)
Japan
Boston (Mass.)
Detroit (Mich.)
Washington (D.C.)
Kandy (Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka
Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka)
Date:
1876-1931
Summary:
The personal papers of Charles Lang Freer, the industrialist and art collector who founded the Freer Gallery of Art. The papers include correspondence, diaries, art inventories, scrapbooks of clippings on James McNeil Whistler and other press clippings, and photographs.
Scope Content:
The personal papers of Charles Lang Freer, the industrialist and art collector who founded the Freer Gallery of Art. The papers include correspondence, diaries, art inventories, scrapbooks of clippings on James McNeil Whistler and other press clippings, financial material, architectural drawings, and photographs.

Correspondence, circa 1860-1921, includes Freer's correspondence, 1876-1920, with artists, dealers, collectors, museums, and public figures; letterpress books contain copies of Freer's outgoing letters, 1892-1910; correspondence collected by Freer of James McNeill Whistler, and his wife Beatrix, 186?-1909, with Lady Colin Campbell, Thomas R. Way, Alexander Reid, Whistler's mother, Mrs. George W. Whistler, and others; correspondence of Whistler collector Richard A. Canfield, 1904-1913, regarding works in Canfield's collection; and correspondence of Freer's assistant, Katharine Nash Rhoades, 1920-1921, soliciting Freer's letters from his associates, and regarding the settlement of his estate.

Also included are twenty-nine pocket diaries, 1889-1890, 1892-1898, 1900-1919, recording daily activities, people and places visited, observations, and comments; a diary kept by Freer's caretaker, Joseph Stephens Warring, recording daily activities at Freer's Detroit home, 1907-1910. Inventories, n.d. and 1901-1921, of American, European, and Asian art in Freer's collection, often including provenance information; vouchers, 1884-1919, documenting his purchases; five volumes of scrapbooks of clippings on James McNeill Whistler, 1888-1931, labeled "Various," "Peacock Room," "Death, etc.," "Paris, etc.," and "Boston...London" ; three volumes of newsclippings, 1900-1930, concerning Freer and the opening of the Freer Gallery of Art.

Correspondence regarding Freer's gift and bequest to the Smithsonian Institution, 1902-1916; and photographs, ca. 1880-1930, of Freer, including portraits by Alvin Langdon Coburn and Edward Steichen, Freer with others, Freer in Cairo, China and Japan, Freer's death mask, and his memorial service, Kyoto, 1930; photographs of artists and others, including Thomas Dewing, Ernest Fenollosa, Katharine Rhoades taken by Alfred Stieglitz, Rosalind B. Philip, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Abbott H. Thayer, Dwight Tryon, and Whistler; and photographs relating to Whistler, including art works depicting him, grave and memorial monuments, works of art, the Peacock Room, and Whistler's memorial exhibition at the Copley Society.
Organization of the Papers:
This collection is organized into twelve series.

Series 1: Genealogical and Biographical Data

Series 2: Correspondence

Series 3: Diaries

Series 4: Freer Colleague Materials

Series 5: Art Inventories

Series 6: Financial Materials

Series 7: Exhibition Loan Files

Series 8: Biblical Manuscripts and Gold Treasure Files

Series 9: American School of Archaeology in China

Series 10: Printed Material

Series 11: Outsize Material

Series 12: Photographs
Biographical Note:
1854 February 25 -- Born in Kingston, New York

1873 -- Appointed accountant and paymaster of New York, Kingston and Syracuse Railroad by Frank J. Hecker (1846-1927)

1876 -- Moves to Indiana to work, with Hecker, for the Detroit and Eel River and Illinois Railroad

1880 -- Moves to Detroit, participates in organization of the Peninsular Car Works with Hecker

1883 -- Becomes vice president and secretary of Peninsular Car Company when it succeeds Peninsular Car Works

1883 -- Begins collecting European prints

1884 -- Peninsular Car Company constructs plant on Ferry Avenue

1887 -- Meets Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)

1887 -- Acquires proofs of 26 etchings, Venice, Second Series(1886), by James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

1887 -- Purchases a small Japanese fan attributed to Ogata Korin(1658-1715)

1887 -- Buys land on Ferry Avenue

1889 -- Meets Frederick Stuart Church (1826-1900) and Dwight William Tryon (1849-1925) in New York

1890 -- Commissions Wilson Eyre (1858-1944) to design house on Ferry Avenue, Detroit, Michigan

1890 -- On first trip to London, meets James McNeill Whistler(1834-1903)

1892 -- Moves to Ferry Avenue house

1892 -- Tryon and Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851-1938) undertake decoration of reception rooms

1893 -- Lends American paintings to World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago

1893 -- Purchases first piece of Chinese art, a small painting of white herons by an anonymous Ming dynasty (1368-1644) artist

1894 -- Begins yearlong trip around the world, which includes visit to the Whistlers in Paris and first trip to Asia, stopping in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), India, China, and Japan

1896 -- Meets Matsuki Bunkyo (1867-1940) in Boston

1899 -- Takes part in consolidation of railroad-car building companies then retires from active business

1900 -- Attends Exposition International Universelle in Paris

1900 -- Buys villa in Capri with Thomas S. Jerome

1901 -- Meets Siegfried Bing (1838-1905) in Paris and Ernest Fenollosa(1853-1908), who visits Freer in Detroit

1902 -- Meets Dikran Kelekian (1868-1951)

1902 -- Spends summer in Britain building Whistler collection

1902 -- Views Whistler's, Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room

1904 -- Purchases Whistler's Peacock Room

1904 -- Offers his art collections and funds to build a museum in which to house them to the Smithsonian Institution

1905 -- Smithsonian committee visits Freer in Detroit

1906 -- United States government formally accepts Freer's gift on January 24

1906 -- Freer signs Deed of Gift to Smithsonian Institution on May 5

1907 -- On second tour of Asia, meets Hara Tomitaro 1868-1939) in Yokohama, Japan

1908 -- Takes third trip to Asia, specifically to West Asia to study Rakka ware

1909 -- Tours Europe to study art museums

1909 -- On fourth trip to Asia, attends memorial ceremony for Fenollosa (d.1908 September) at Miidera, Japan, and meets Duanfang (1861-1911) in China

1910 -- On last trip to Asia, visits Longmen Buddhist caves in China

1911 -- Suffers stroke

1912 -- Lends selection of objects for exhibition at Smithsonian Institution

1913 -- Meets Eugene (1875-1957) and Agnes E. (1887-1970) Meyer

1913 -- Commissions Charles Adams Platt (1861-1933) to design museum building in Washington

1914 -- Meets Katharine Nash Rhoades (1885-1965) in Detroit

1915 -- Settles in New York City

1915 -- Site of future Freer Gallery of Art is determined

1916 -- Platt's plans for Freer Gallery are approved by Smithsonian Regents and Commission of Fine Arts and ground is broken in September

1918 -- After falling ill in Detroit, Freer travels to New York for treatment

1918 -- Work on the museum building is delayed by the war

1919 -- Freer appends codicil to will permitting acquisitions of Asian, Egyptian, and Near Eastern (West Asian) art

1919 -- Dies in New York City on 25 September and is buried in Kingston, New York

1919 -- Construction of Freer Gallery completed

1920 -- John Ellerton Lodge (1876-1942) is appointed director of the Freer Gallery

1923 -- Freer Gallery opens to the public on May 9

1930 -- Memorial ceremony for Freer is held at Koetsuji, Kyoto

Charles Lang Freer was an American industrialist who founded the Freer Gallery of Art. He was a well-known collector of Asian art, and strongly supported the synthesis of Eastern art and Western art. One of his most famous acquisitions was James McNeill Whistler's Peacock Room.
Index:
Index to cross-referenced correspondents in the series Charles Lang Freer correspondence

Beal, Junius E. -- See: -- Warring, Joseph Stephens

Black, George M. -- See: -- Saint-Gaudens, Augustus

Board of Education (Kingston, New York) See: Michael, M. J.

Bonner, Campbell See: University of Michigan

Boughton, George H. See: Yardley, F. C.

British Museum See: Binyon, Laurence; Hobson, R. L.

Brown, Harold H. See: Art Association of Indianapolis

Buchner, Evelyn B. See: Knoedler, M., and Company

Buckholder, C. H. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Butler, S. B. See: Unidentified correspondents

Carnegie Institute See: Balken, Edward Duff; Harshe, Robert B.

Carpenter, Newton H. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Caulkins, Horace James See: Pewabic Pottery

Chao, Shih-chin See: Gunn, Chu Su

Chicago & North Western Railway Co. See: Hughett, Marvin

Clark, Charles Upson See: Clark, Arthur B.

Cleveland Museum of Art See: Whiting, Frederic Allen

Columbia University See: Braun, W. A.; Gottheil, Richard; Hirth, Friederich

Commission of Fine Arts See: Moore, Charles

Corcoran Gallery of Art See: Minnigerode, C. Powell

Crocker, Anna B. See: Portland Art Association

Dannenberg, D. E. See: Karlbeck, Orvar

De Menoncal, Beatrice See: Lien, Hui Ch'ing Collection

De Ricci, Seymour See: Ricci, Seymour de

Defnet, William A., Mrs., See: Franke, Ida M.

DeMotte See: Vigouroux, J.

Detroit Institute of Arts See: Detroit Museum of Art

Detroit Publishing Company See: Livingstone, W. A.

Detroit School of Design See: George Hamilton; Stevens, Henry

DeVinne Press See: Peters, Samuel T.; Witherspoon, A. S.

Dyrenforth, P. C. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Eddy, Arthur J. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Eggers, George Williams See: Art Institute of Chicago

Farr, Daniel H. See: Robinson and Farr

Farrand School (Detroit) See: Yendall, Edith

Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago) See: Laufer, Berthold

Flagg, Frederick J. See: Allen, Horace N.

Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University See: Forbes, Edward; Pope, Arthur Upham; Sachs, Paul J.

French, M. R. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Fu, Lan-ya See: Pang, Lai-ch'en

Fujii, Yoshio See: Yoshio, Fujii

Gerrity, Thomas See: Knoedler, M., and Company

Goupil Gallery See: Marchant, William

Gray, William J. See: Barr, Eva

Great Lakes Engineering Works See: Hoyt, H. W.

Grolier Club See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Heinemann, W. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Holden, Edward S. See: West Point, U. S. Military Academy

Hudson, J. L. See: Weber, William C.

Hutchins, Harry B. See: University of Michigan

Hutchins, Charles L. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Kelekian, H. G. See: Kelekian, Dikran G.

Kent, H. W. See: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lee, Kee Son See: Li, Chi-ch'un

Levy, John See: Schneider, A. K.

Library of Congress See: Rice, Richard A.; Wright, Helen

Louvre (Paris, France) See: Midgeon, Gaston

Matsuki, Z. See: Matsuki, Kihachiro

McKim, Mead and White See: White, Stanford

Mills, A. L., Colonel See: Saint-Gaudens, Augustus

Miner, Luella See: Lien, Hui Ch'ing Collection

Minneapolis Institute of Arts See: Breck, Joseph; Van Derlip, John R.

Monif, R. Khan See: Rathbun, Richard

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston See: Lodge, John Ellerton

Naser, Katen & Nahass See: Katen, K.

Nordlinger, Marie, Miss See: Meyer-Riefstahl, Marie

Panama Pacific International Exposition See: Moore, Charles C.; Trask, John E. D.

Peabody Museum See: Morse, Edward Sylvester

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts See: Trask, John E. D.

Perry, Mary Chase, Miss., See: Pewabic Pottery

Philip, Ronald M. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Pope, G. D. See: Barr, Eva

Reinhart, A. G. See: Gottschalk, E.

Reitz, Sigisbert Chrétien Bosch See: Bosch-Reitz, Sigisbert Chrétien

Rutgers College See: Van Dyke, John C.

Saint-Gaudens, Augusta H. See: Saint-Gaudens, Augustus

Saint-Gaudens, Homer See: Saint-Gaudens, Augustus

Samurai Shokai See: Nomura, Yozo

San Francisco Art Association See: Laurvik, J. Nilsen

Scribner's, Charles, Sons See: Van Dyke, John C.

Shaw, Wilfred B. See: University of Michigan

Shirae, S. Z. See: Yamanaka and Company

Smith College See: Clark, Arthur B.

Smithsonian Institution See: Holmes, William Henry; Rathbun, Richard; Ravenel, Walcott, Charles D.

Society of Arts and Crafts (Detroit) See: Plumb, Helen

Societe des Beaux-Arts See: Reid, Alexander

Stevens, George W. See: Toledo Museum of Art

Stratton, Mary Chase Perry See: Pewabic Pottery

Tanaka, Kichijiro See: Yamanaka and Company

Tuttle, William F. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Union Trust Company (Detroit) See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

United States Military Academy See: West Point, U. S. Military Academy

University of Chicago See: Zug, George Breed

University of Pennsylvania, Univ. Mus. See: Gordon, George Bryon

Ushikubo, D. J. R. See: Yamanaka and Company

Wallis & Son See: Barr, Eva; Thompson, C. Croal Ward, Clarence See: Oberlin College

Warren, Edward K. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Warring, Stephen See: Warring, Joseph Stephens

Watkin, Williams R. T. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Watson, Margaret, Miss See: Parker, Margaret Watson

Whistler, Anna See: Stanton, Anna Whistler

Whiting, Almon C. See: Toledo Museum of Art

Williams College See: Rice, Richard A

Wright, F. G. See: Orbach and Company

Yatsuhashi, H. See: Yamanaka and Company
Index to cross-referenced correspondence in the series Whistler correspondence

Bell, William See: Unidentified correspondents

Brown, Ernest See: Painter Etchers' Society, Committee

Cowen, John T. See subseries: Charles Lang Freer Correspondence

Ford, Sheridan See: Reid, Alexander

Haden, Francis Seymour See: Painter Etchers' Society, Committee

Haden, Francis Seymour, Lady See: Haden, Deborah Whistler

Leighton, Frederick, Baron See: Campbell, Lady Colin

Moore, Albert See: Reid, Alexander

Morley, Charles See: Pall Mall Gazette

Morris, Harrison S. See: Reid, Alexander

Pennell, Joseph See: Miscellaneous typescripts

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts See: Reid, Alexander

Prange, F. G. See: Reid, Alexander

Societe des Beaux-Arts See: Reid, Alexander

Society of Portrait Painters See: Reid, Alexander

Stevens Fine Art See: Reid, Alexander

Studd, Arthur See: Miscellaneous typescripts

[Vanderbilt?], George, Mrs. See: George, Mrs.

Whistler, William McNeill, Mrs. See: Whistler, Nellie

Whistler Memorial Committee See: Miscellaneous typescripts
Related Material:
The Archives of American Art microfilmed portions of the Freer papers in 1992. The microfilm is available at the Archives of American Art's Washington D.C. office, the Freer Gallery of Art Library, and through interlibrary loan.
Provenance:
Gift of the Estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Topic:
Art, American -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Art, Asian -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Architecture -- Asia  Search this
Genre/Form:
Diaries
Financial records
Correspondence
Photographs
Citation:
Charles Lang Freer Papers. FSA A.01. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Identifier:
FSA.A.01
See more items in:
Charles Lang Freer Papers
Archival Repository:
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dc3f1a0e3e0-630c-48d4-ba28-485946b1d615
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-fsa-a-01
Online Media:

E.P. (Edgar Preston) and Constance Richardson papers

Creator:
Richardson, Edgar Preston, 1902-1985  Search this
Richardson, Constance, 1905-  Search this
Names:
Archives of American Art  Search this
Castano Galleries (Boston, Mass.)  Search this
Detroit Institute of Arts  Search this
Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum  Search this
Historical Society of Pennsylvania  Search this
Macbeth Gallery  Search this
National Collection of Fine Arts (U.S.)  Search this
National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)  Search this
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this
Philadelphia Museum of Art  Search this
White House (Washington, D.C.)  Search this
Peale family  Search this
Allen, Joseph  Search this
Allston, Washington, 1779-1843  Search this
Andrews, Wayne  Search this
Aram, Siegfried F.  Search this
Bishop, Isabel, 1902-1988  Search this
Bostick, William A.  Search this
Bouché, Louis, 1896-1969  Search this
Boyd, Julian P. (Julian Parks), 1903-  Search this
Castano, Giovanni, 1896-1978  Search this
Cohn, Harold  Search this
Copeland, Lammot du Pont  Search this
Culver, Charles B. (Charles Beach), 1908-1967  Search this
Fleischman, Lawrence A. (Lawrence Arthur), 1925-1997  Search this
Flexner, James Thomas, 1908-2003  Search this
Frankenstein, Alfred V. (Alfred Victor), 1906-1981  Search this
Fredericks, Marshall M., 1908-1998  Search this
Freeman, Michael W.  Search this
Garrison, Eve Josephson, 1903-2003  Search this
Groce, George C., 1899-  Search this
Hardy, Jeremiah Pearson, 1800-1889  Search this
Heil, Walter, 1890-1973  Search this
Hopper, Edward, 1882-1967  Search this
Jungwirth, Irene G. (Irene Gayas), 1913-  Search this
Krentzin, Earl, 1929-  Search this
Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1889-1953  Search this
Lee-Smith, Hughie  Search this
Lewis, W. S. (Wilmarth Sheldon), 1895-1979  Search this
Lynes, Russell, 1910-1991  Search this
Marsh, Reginald, 1898-1954  Search this
Mast, Gerald, 1908-1971  Search this
McDermott, John Francis, 1902-  Search this
Middeldorf, Ulrich Alexander, 1901-  Search this
Morse, John D., 1906-  Search this
Moser, Liselotte, 1906-1983  Search this
O'Keeffe, Georgia, 1887-1986  Search this
Oliver, Andrew, 1906-  Search this
Peale, Charles Willson, 1741-1827  Search this
Pleasants, J. Hall (Jacob Hall), 1873-1957  Search this
Ripley, S. Dillon (Sidney Dillon), 1913-2001  Search this
Rockefeller, John D., 1906-  Search this
Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich), 1908-1979  Search this
Rutledge, Anna Wells  Search this
Sellers, Charles Coleman, 1903-  Search this
Sheeler, Charles, 1883-1965  Search this
Simper, Fred, 1914-  Search this
Simpson, Corelli C. W.  Search this
Soria, Regina, 1911-  Search this
Spark, Victor D. (Victor David), 1898-1991  Search this
Speck, Walter, 1895-  Search this
Stevens, William B.  Search this
Valentiner, Wilhelm Reinhold, 1880-1958  Search this
Vose, Robert C. (Robert Churchill), 1911-1998  Search this
Watkins, Franklin Chenault, 1894-1972  Search this
Wedda, John  Search this
Woolfenden, William E. (William Edward), 1918-1995  Search this
Wyeth, Andrew, 1917-2009  Search this
Extent:
28.7 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Manuscripts
Interviews
Diaries
Transcripts
Sketches
Lectures
Place:
Detroit (Mich.)
Date:
1814-1996
bulk 1921-1996
Summary:
The papers of art historian E. P. Richardson measure 28.7 linear feet and date from 1814-1996, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1921-1996. Within the papers are scattered biographical materials; acquisition files for Richardson's personal art collection; professional and personal correspondence with colleagues, art historians and critics, artists, museums, galleries, and dealers; numerous writings, including manuscripts and research files for his published books, articles, and lectures; general research notebooks and files compiled by Richardson on a wide variety of art-related topics and artists; professional and committee files; as well as a smaller amount of Constance C. Richardson's papers.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of art historian E. P. Richardson measure 28.7 linear feet and date from 1814-1996, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1921-1996. Within the papers are scattered biographical materials; acquisition files for Richardson's personal art collection; professional and personal correspondence with colleagues, art historians and critics, artists, museums, galleries, and dealers; numerous writings, including manuscripts and research files for his published books, articles, and lectures; general research notebooks and files compiled by Richardson on a wide variety of art-related topics and artists; professional and committee files; as well as a smaller amount of Constance C. Richardson's papers.

Biographical materials include certificates, awards, and honorary degrees, membership information, personal and family photographs, a few sketches, and a transcript of an oral history Interview with E.P. Richardson conducted by the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1982.

There are acquisitions files for the Richardsons' personal art collection that invoices, photographs, correspondence with galleries and collectors, appraisals, price lists, and artwork examination forms.

Correspondence is with colleagues, art dealers, collectors, museums and museum curators, foreign scholars, organizations, galleries, artists, art historians and critics, publishers, editors, librarians, friends, and family. Topics regard purchasing art for various collections, consultations about art and collecting including authentications and attributions, publishing, general art history, lectures, and personal matters, among other topics. There is correspondence with the Archives of American Art, Castano Galleries, Lawrence Fleischman, James Thomas Flexner, Alfred V. Frankenstein, George Croce, Walter Heil, Earl Krentzin, Wilmarth Lewis, Russel Lynes, John Francis McDermott, Philadelphia Museum of Art, J. Hall Pleasants, Anna Rutledge, Charles Sellers, Smithsonian Institution, Regina Soria, Victor Spark, William Stevens, Robert Vose, William Woolfenden, and many others. Scattered correspondence with artists is with Isabel Bishop, Louis Bouche, William Bostick, Eve Garrison, Edward Hopper, Irene Jungwirth, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Hughie Lee-Smith, Reginald Marsh, Gerald Mast, Georgia O'Keeffe, Charles Sheeler, Walt Speck, and John Wedda, among many others. The greatest extent of correspondence is with Andrew Wyeth, Harold Cohn, and Frederick Simper. There is also personal correspondence with family and friends, and between E.P. and Constance Richardson.

E.P. Richardson's prominence as an art historian, writer, and expert on collecting is well documented through his prolific writings. Materials include drafts, notes, typescripts, and outlines for articles, exhibition catalog essays, and lectures. Also found are research files and publishing documentation for Richardson's books, including Washington Allston: A Study of the Romantic Artist in America (1948), Painting in America (1956), Charles Willson Peale and his World (1983), and American Romantic Painting (1944). There are also miscellaneous notes and four diaries. Two of the diaries comment on the social and cultural life of Detroit; the authenticity of paintings; Richardson's reflections on contemporary American painting, thoughts about museums, dealers, artists, and art historians (especially Wilhelm R. Valentiner); and travel.

Notebooks compiled by Richardson on a wide variety art-related topics cover nearly six decades. There are also numerous research files organized Richardson about individual artists and art history. And, the art collector files contain reference materials about art collectors and their collections including Lamont du Pont Copeland, Michael W. Freeman, Nelson Rockefeller, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Allen, and the Marquis de Somerlous. There are three index card file boxes containing bibliographic data on published books and articles.

Professional and committee files document Richardson's professional and consulting work for the Art Quarterly, Detroit Institute of Arts, National Collection of Fine Arts, the National Portrait Gallery, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the John D. Rockefeller III collection, Winterthur Museum, the White House, and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Constance C. Richardson's papers include business and professional correspondence with various institutions, most extensively with the Macbeth Gallery. In addition, there is a smaller amount of personal correspondence, photographs and slides of her artworks, printed materials, two illustrated notebooks on her work, and miscellaneous notes. Also included is Constance's artist palette.
Biographical / Historical:
Art historian, museum director, and writer E. P. (Edgar Preston) Richardson (1902-1985) served as director of the Detroit Institute of Arts (1945-1962) and Winterthur Museum (1963-1966). He was also a board member of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1966-1977 and, in 1954, co-founded the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

E. P. Richardson was born in 1902 in Glens Falls, New York and died in Philadelphia in 1985. He graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts in 1925 and studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for the three years following graduation. In 1930 he became educational secretary at the Detroit Institute of Arts, was quickly named assistant director in 1933, and served as director from 1945 to 1962. He left Detroit to take the position of director of the Winterthur Museum, where he remained until 1966. Richardson married Constance Coleman in 1931. Born in Berlin, Germany in 1905, Constance Coleman Richardson was an award-winning and widely exhibited realist style painter of American landscapes. She gave up painting in the 1960s and died in 2002.

While at the Detroit Institute of Arts, E. P. Richardson co-founded the Archives of American Art with Lawrence Fleischman, and served as the Archives' first director. Richardson was also art advisor to John D. Rockefeller III for over ten years, editor of Art Quarterly from 1938 to 1967, and a member of various boards, including the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian Arts Commission, and the National Portrait Gallery. He authored numerous books including ones on artists Washington Allston and Charles Willson Peale, and The Way of Western Art: American Romantic Painting (1939), Painting in America: The Story of Four Hundred and Fifty Years (1956), A Short History of Painting in America (1963), and American Art, an Exhibition of the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, 3d (1976).
Related Materials:
Related collections among the holdings of the Archives of American Art include an interview with E.P. Richardson dated February 6, 1978 conducted by Linda Downs; and several miscellaneous manuscripts that include an E.P. Richardson Letter to Rockwell Kent, June 15 1959; E.P. Richardson letters to Lawrence Arthur Fleischman, May 13, 1962 and August 22 1954; and a Yasuo Kunioshi letter to E.P. Richardson, July 25 1948.

Additional E.P. Richardson papers are found at the Detroit Institute of Arts and in the archives of the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel D46) including E.P. Richardson's research material on Jeremiah P. Hardy. These materials are housed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Library and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Edith Wilkinson first donated a letter to E. P. Richardson from herself in 1957. E.P. Richardson donated papers to the Archives of American Art in 1958 and 1960 and lent materials for microfilming in 1961. Addition material was donated by Constance Richardson in 1985, and by Martha Fleischman in 2003.
Restrictions:
Use of original material requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact References Services for more information.
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.
Occupation:
Authors -- Michigan -- Detroit  Search this
Art historians -- United States  Search this
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Painting, American  Search this
Art, American  Search this
Romanticism  Search this
Art -- History -- Study and teaching  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Manuscripts
Interviews
Diaries
Transcripts
Sketches
Lectures
Citation:
Edgar P. Richardson papers, 1814-1996, bulk 1921-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.richedga
See more items in:
E.P. (Edgar Preston) and Constance Richardson papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9f0a154af-52ef-402b-b06d-60a290eec749
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-richedga
Online Media:

E.P. (Edgar Preston) and Constance Richardson papers, 1814-1996, bulk 1921-1996

Creator:
Richardson, E. P. (Edgar Preston), 1902-1985  Search this
Richardson, Constance Coleman, 1905-2002  Search this
Subject:
Rutledge, Anna Wells  Search this
Simper, Fred  Search this
McDermott, John Francis  Search this
Speck, Walter  Search this
Stevens, William B.  Search this
Fredericks, Marshall M.  Search this
Castano, Giovanni  Search this
Soria, Regina  Search this
Lynes, Russell  Search this
Frankenstein, Alfred V. (Alfred Victor)  Search this
Hardy, Jeremiah Pearson  Search this
Pleasants, J. Hall (Jacob Hall)  Search this
Garrison, Eve Josephson  Search this
Bishop, Isabel  Search this
Allston, Washington  Search this
Woolfenden, William E. (William Edward)  Search this
Ripley, S. Dillon (Sidney Dillon)  Search this
Morse, John D.  Search this
Watkins, Franklin Chenault  Search this
Lewis, W. S. (Wilmarth Sheldon)  Search this
Marsh, Reginald  Search this
Sheeler, Charles  Search this
Kuniyoshi, Yasuo  Search this
Bostick, William A.  Search this
Jungwirth, Irene G. (Irene Gayas)  Search this
Oliver, Andrew  Search this
Simpson, Corelli C. W.  Search this
Andrews, Wayne  Search this
Valentiner, Wilhelm Reinhold  Search this
Middeldorf, Ulrich Alexander  Search this
Spark, Victor D. (Victor David)  Search this
Fleischman, Lawrence A. (Lawrence Arthur)  Search this
Sellers, Charles Coleman  Search this
Heil, Walter  Search this
Lee-Smith, Hughie  Search this
Bouche?, Louis  Search this
Moser, Liselotte  Search this
Flexner, James Thomas  Search this
Vose, Robert C. (Robert Churchill)  Search this
Cohn, Harold  Search this
Aram, Siegfried F.  Search this
Mast, Gerald  Search this
Krentzin, Earl  Search this
Groce, George C.  Search this
Peale, Charles Willson  Search this
Culver, Charles B. (Charles Beach)  Search this
Wedda, John  Search this
Boyd, Julian P. (Julian Parks)  Search this
O'Keeffe, Georgia  Search this
Wyeth, Andrew  Search this
Hopper, Edward  Search this
Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich)  Search this
Rockefeller, John D.  Search this
Copeland, Lammot du Pont  Search this
Freeman, Michael W.  Search this
Allen, Joseph  Search this
Peale family  Search this
Castano Galleries (Boston, Mass.)  Search this
Historical Society of Pennsylvania  Search this
Macbeth Gallery  Search this
Archives of American Art  Search this
Philadelphia Museum of Art  Search this
National Collection of Fine Arts (U.S.)  Search this
National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)  Search this
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this
White House (Washington, D.C.)  Search this
Detroit Institute of Arts  Search this
Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum  Search this
Type:
Photographs
Manuscripts
Interviews
Diaries
Transcripts
Sketches
Lectures
Place:
Detroit (Mich.)
Citation:
E.P. (Edgar Preston) and Constance Richardson papers, 1814-1996, bulk 1921-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Painting, American  Search this
Art, American  Search this
Romanticism  Search this
Art -- History -- Study and teaching  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Research and writing about art  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)10104
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212990
AAA_collcode_richedga
Theme:
Diaries
Research and writing about art
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_212990
Online Media:

Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman papers, 1837-1984, bulk 1935-1979

Creator:
Fleischman, Lawrence A. (Lawrence Arthur), 1925-1997  Search this
Subject:
Sellers, Charles Coleman  Search this
Ryder, Albert Pinkham  Search this
Burchfield, Charles Ephraim  Search this
Rattner, Abraham  Search this
Richardson, Edgar Preston  Search this
Richardson, Constance  Search this
Pollack, Peter  Search this
Watkins, Franklin Chenault  Search this
Bailey, Grace  Search this
Arms, John Taylor  Search this
Allston, Washington  Search this
Evergood, Philip  Search this
Eakins, Thomas  Search this
Culver, Charles B. (Charles Beach)  Search this
Bohrod, Aaron  Search this
Bailey, Truman E.  Search this
Krentzin, Earl  Search this
Gentle, Esther  Search this
Fleischman, Barbara  Search this
Marin, John  Search this
University of Michigan. Museum of Art  Search this
United States Information Agency  Search this
Whitney Museum of American Art  Search this
Archives of American Art  Search this
Kraushaar Galleries  Search this
American Federation of Arts  Search this
National Gallery of Art (U.S.)  Search this
Detroit Institute of Arts  Search this
Corcoran Gallery of Art  Search this
M. Knoedler & Co.  Search this
Kennedy Galleries  Search this
Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum  Search this
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this
Philadelphia Museum of Art  Search this
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Midtown Galleries (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Milwaukee Art Center  Search this
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Type:
Typescripts
Photographs
Citation:
Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman papers, 1837-1984, bulk 1935-1979. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painting, American  Search this
Art patrons Michigan Detroit  Search this
Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this
Philanthropists  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- United States  Search this
Theme:
Patronage  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)10245
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213339
AAA_collcode_fleilawr
Theme:
Patronage
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213339
Online Media:

Modify Your Search







or


Narrow By
  • Images
  • Finding aids