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Edward H. Dwight Papers

Creator:
Dwight, Edward H., 1919-1981  Search this
Names:
American Museum of Natural History  Search this
Cincinnati Historical Society  Search this
Louisiana State Museum  Search this
Mohammed Center for Restricted Communications  Search this
National Audubon Society  Search this
R. Havell & Son  Search this
Peale family  Search this
Audubon, John James, 1785-1851  Search this
Audubon, Maria R. (Maria Rebecca), 1843-1925  Search this
Audubon, Victor Gifford, 1809-1860  Search this
Bachman, John  Search this
Bakewell, Benjamin  Search this
Bell, John G.  Search this
Coffin, Annie R.  Search this
Corwine, Aaron H.  Search this
Duncanson, Robert S., 1821-1872  Search this
Fries, Waldemar H., 1889-  Search this
Gifford, George Edmund  Search this
Held, John, 1947-  Search this
Laning, Paul F.  Search this
Lichtner, Ruth  Search this
Lichtner, Schomer, 1905-2006  Search this
Martin, Maria  Search this
McDermott, John Francis, 1902-  Search this
Peale, Charles Willson, 1741-1827  Search this
Peale, James, 1749-1831  Search this
Peale, James, 1789-1876  Search this
Peale, Raphaelle, 1774-1825  Search this
Peale, Rembrandt, 1778-1860  Search this
Tyler, Morris F.  Search this
Extent:
20.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Business records
Typescripts
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Sketches
Date:
1821-2001
bulk 1950-1979
Summary:
The papers of Cincinnati art historian, museum director, and Audubon and Peale scholar, Edward H. Dwight (1919-1981), measure 20.4 linear feet and date from 1821-2001, with the bulk of the material dating from 1950-1979. Dwight's papers include biographical material, writings by Dwight, and research files on John James Audubon, Raphaelle Peale, and others, documenting Dwight's extensive contribution to the study of American painting, particularly naturalist, portrait, and still-life painting.

There is a 1.8 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection that includes Peale research material consiting of a catalog; correspondence, including letters related to Raphael Peale an C.C. Seller's miniatures; photographs, negatives and transparencies; printed material; catalog and accessioning informatino reagaring works of art; and writings by Dwight. Materials date from circa 1930-2001.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Cincinnati art historian, museum director, and Audubon and Peale scholar, Edward H. Dwight (1919-1981), measure 20.4 linear feet and date from 1821-2001, with the bulk of the material dating from 1950-1979. Dwight's papers include biographical material, writings by Dwight, and research files on John James Audubon, Raphaelle Peale, and others, documenting Dwight's extensive contribution to the study of American painting, particularly naturalist, portrait, and still life painting.

Dwight's biographical material includes two address books, a calendar, a small amount of personal correspondence including letters and postcards from Schomer and Ruth Lichtner, and printed material documenting his work as a museum curator and director.

Writings and notes include correspondence about Dwight's writings, drafts and typescripts of articles on Audubon and other artists, and lecture notes.

The bulk of the collection comprises Dwight's research material on Audubon and includes correspondence related to his research with scholars, collectors, publications, museums, and libraries, including: the American Museum of Natural History, the Audubon Society, the Cincinnati Historical Society, the Louisiana State Museum, Annie R. coffin, Waldemar H. Fries, John Francis McDermott, and the collections of G. Edmund Gifford, Jr., Paul F. Laning, and Morris Tyler.

Copies of Audubon's correspondence, including letters from Audubon's father-in-law, Benjamin Bakewell, son Victor G. Audubon, and grandchildren, form a substantial portion of Dwight's research files. Notes and card files reflecting Dwight's research by categories such as life event, activity, geographical area, and subject of study, further illuminate his research and provide cross references to the Audubon letters and other material.

Data compiled and supplemented with reproductions of Audubon's artwork forms another substantial portion of Dwight's research, and provides detailed information about individual Audubon works and works attributed to him.

Dwight's subject files on Audubon house collated research on individuals, subjects, and events that intersected with Audubon's life and work, as well as Audubon research from other sources and scholars. They include copies of documents, such as the journal of Audubon collaborator John G Bell, and a scrapbook of granddaughter, Maria Audubon; documents relating to Audubon collaborators such as John Bachman and Maria Martin; material related to collections of Audubon's work; and information concerning editions of his prints, such as the Havell Edition, engraved and hand-colored by the firm of Robert Havell Sr. and Jr. in the 1830s.

Printed material used by Dwight in his research includes original American newspapers, from states including New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, dating from 1821 to the 1870s, which include articles on Audubon, as well as later magazines, journals, catalogs, and news clippings on Audubon. A small number of photographs, slide transparencies, and negatives of Audubon's artwork can be found at the end of the series.

Dwight's research material on Raphaelle Peale, Charles Willson Peale, Rembrandt Peale, James Peale, and other Peale family members, includes correspondence requesting and responding to requests for information; material collated by subject on Peale collectors, family history, miniatures, portraits, silhouettes, still lifes, and other subjects; and photographs of artwork.

Other research files document Dwight's interest in other artists such as Aaron H. Corwine, Robert S. Duncanson, and artists from the Cincinnati area in general. They include catalogs of data compiled on individual works of art, subject files, notes and index card files, printed material, and photographs of artwork. Of special note are eleven issues of John Held, Jr.'s, mail art correspondence sent to Dwight by the Mohammed Center for Restricted Communications.

There is a 1.8 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection that includes Peale research material consiting of a catalog; correspondence, including letters related to Raphael Peale an C.C. Seller's miniatures; photographs, negatives and transparencies; printed material; catalog and accessioning informatino reagaring works of art; and writings by Dwight. Materials date from circa 1930-2001.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as six series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1944-1980 (8 folders; Box 1, OV 20)

Series 2: Writings and Notes, 1954-circa 1979 (0.9 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 3: Audubon Research Material, 1821-circa 1979 (13 linear feet; Boxes 1-14, OVs 20-23)

Series 4: Peale Research Material, circa 1930-2001 (1.9 linear feet; Boxes 14-16)

Series 5: Other Research, 1881-1980 (2.7 linear feet; Boxes 16-19)

Series 6: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1930-2001 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 24-26)
Biographical / Historical:
Cincinnati art historian and museum director, Edward H. Dwight (1919-1981), conducted extensive research on American painting, in particular the works of John James Audubon, Charles Willson Peale, and Raphaelle Peale. He was also credited with rediscovering the Cincinnati artist, Aaron H. Corwine.

Dwight attended Yale and Cornell Universities, and studied art at the Cincinnati Art Academy and the School of Fine Arts of Washington University, St. Louis. From 1946 he held posts, including curator of American Art, at the Cincinnati Art Museum, until becoming director of the Milwaukee Art Center in 1955. In 1962 he left Milwaukee to direct the Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute Museum of Art, where he remained until the end of his career. He was the author of numerous articles for publications including Antiques, Audubon, Art in America, The Art Gallery, The Art Quarterly, and Canadian Art, and lectured widely on contemporary art, Spanish painting, and American painting.

In 1955 Dwight published the article "Aaron Houghton Corwine: Cincinnati Artist" in Antiques magazine. With this, and the exhibition, Rediscoveries in American Painting (1955), which he launched at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Dwight revived interest in this all but forgotten painter.

Dwight wrote many scholarly articles on Audubon's life and work throughout his career, in addition to writing catalogs for, and curating, exhibitions of Audubon's work. In 1960 he was awarded a $7,500 fellowship from the Ford foundation to pursue a reevaluation of Audubon, and to reexamine some long-held assumptions and exagerrations about Audubon's life and personality. He focused primarily on the artist-naturalist's original drawings and paintings, especially portraits and pictures of birds, animal life, and insects. Dwight was awarded an additional fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1973, to continue his research on Audubon.

Dwight's scholarly interest also extended to Raphaelle Peale and the Peale family of artists. In the 1960s and 1970s he wrote and published several articles about Raphaelle Peale, his father, Charles Willson Peale, and his brothers, Rembrandt and James. Dwight was working on a book about the family, and a catalog raisonné of Raphaelle Peale, when he died.

Dwight was an accomplished photographer and his work was included in at least eight exhibitions from 1951 to 1972, including two one-man exhibitions at Louisiana State University (1952), and Weyhe Gallery (1972).
Provenance:
The Audubon materials were donated to the Archives of American Art by Dwight's widow, Ruth R. White, in 1982-1983. The Peale material was donated in 2002 by the Barra Foundation, Inc., which had received them from Ruth R. Dwight as they relate to the Foundation's mission to support scholarship in cultural history in the Philadelphia area. In 1983, the Barra Foundation loaned the documents to Dr. William H. Gerdts, an art historian, who was to continue Dwight's work on a catalog raisonné of Raphaelle Peale. Dr. Gerdts made limited use of the materials and the Barra Foundation then transferred them to the Archives of American Art in 2002.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference 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:
Museum curators -- Ohio -- Cincinnati  Search this
Artists -- Ohio -- Cincinnati  Search this
Art historians -- Ohio -- Cincinnati  Search this
Painters  Search this
Museum directors -- Ohio -- Cincinnati  Search this
Topic:
Still-life painting  Search this
Mail art  Search this
Art, American  Search this
Painting, American  Search this
Portrait painting  Search this
Genre/Form:
Business records
Typescripts
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Sketches
Citation:
Edward H. Dwight papers, 1821-2001, bulk 1950-1979. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.dwigedwa
See more items in:
Edward H. Dwight Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw98efa0eea-a8f2-4b13-a7cc-32c48cd081a9
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-dwigedwa
Online Media:

Edward H. Dwight Papers, 1821-2001, bulk 1950-1979

Creator:
Dwight, Edward H., 1919-1981  Search this
Subject:
McDermott, John Francis  Search this
Laning, Paul F.  Search this
Peale, Rembrandt  Search this
Peale, Charles Willson  Search this
Tyler, Morris F.  Search this
Corwine, Aaron H.  Search this
Coffin, Annie R.  Search this
Peale, James  Search this
Gifford, George Edmund  Search this
Held, John  Search this
Fries, Waldemar H.  Search this
Duncanson, Robert S.  Search this
Peale, Raphaelle  Search this
Martin, Maria  Search this
Lichtner, Schomer  Search this
Bell, John G.  Search this
Peale, James  Search this
Audubon, John James  Search this
Audubon, Victor Gifford  Search this
Audubon, Maria R. (Maria Rebecca)  Search this
Bakewell, Benjamin  Search this
Bachman, John  Search this
Lichtner, Ruth  Search this
Peale family  Search this
American Museum of Natural History  Search this
Louisiana State Museum  Search this
Cincinnati Historical Society  Search this
National Audubon Society  Search this
Mohammed Center for Restricted Communications  Search this
R. Havell & Son  Search this
Type:
Business records
Typescripts
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Sketches
Citation:
Edward H. Dwight Papers, 1821-2001, bulk 1950-1979. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Still-life painting  Search this
Mail art  Search this
Art, American  Search this
Painting, American  Search this
Portrait painting  Search this
Theme:
Research and writing about art  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7613
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209775
AAA_collcode_dwigedwa
Theme:
Research and writing about art
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209775
Online Media:

Woodbridge -- Cupola Hill Garden

Former owner:
Perkins, Stephen  Search this
Tyler, Morris F.  Search this
Tyler, Delia  Search this
Tyler, Victor M.  Search this
Tyler, Leonard S.  Search this
Tyler, Ernest F.  Search this
Tyler, Audobon  Search this
Hitchcock, Alice  Search this
Hitchcock, Harry  Search this
Crosby, Sumner McKnight  Search this
Crosby, Sarah T.  Search this
Architect:
Orr, Douglas  Search this
Landscape architect:
Kycia, Douglas S.  Search this
Photographer:
Radford, Jennifer  Search this
Provenance:
Garden Club of New Haven  Search this
Collection Creator:
Garden Club of America  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Place:
Cupola Hill (Woodbridge, Conn.)
United States of America -- Connecticut -- New Haven County -- Woodbridge
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes a garden description, slide list, garden plan and information sheet done by GCA researcher Jennifer Radford. The garden is noted for its formal garden and how it contrasts with the looser formal areas.
General:
"Two generations of the same family have developed the garden at Cupola Hill, an old property. Open fields and woodland surround the gently north-sloping land. Fieldstone retaining walls were built to accommodate the slope and provide level terraces around the house. Two-tier borders in an L-shape centered on a pergola circled by boxwood, and anchored at the corners by arborvitae, formed earliest garden."
"A cutting garden due south of the pergolas with a central rose arbor leading to a small fountain is screened from the main garden. The mature arborvitae are now a major feature in this quite formal section of the garden. A magnificent white oak stands on the open lawn. The gazebo has been there since 1901. South of the driveway circle are flowering trees and shrubs in an open lawn; a berm beside the driveway is planted with shrubs, native plants and spring bulbs."
"The property was acquired by the second generation in 1990. They have restored the garden, relocated mature evergreens, extended the retaining walls in a free form which complements the 1970's pool, added the pool terrace, and planted the new raised area with a mix of alpines, perennials and evergreens. At the edge of the woodland and around the gazebo, a naturalistic shade garden has been developed. Color is extended to the north by the quarter-circle bed of perennials and the rose garden."
"Four and a half acres on a 20.5 acre property make up the garden area. Spatially the effect is generous. The traditional formal section contrasts with the looser informal areas under the trees and the somewhat tight treatment edging the house terraces, providing great visual interest. In addition this old garden is beautifully maintained by current owners who are skillful horticulturists."
Persons associated with the property include: Stephen P. Perkins (former owner in 1837); Morris F. and Delia Tyler (formers owner in 1891); Victor Morris Tyler (former owner in 1909); Leonard S.Tyler (former owner in 1909); Ernest F. Tyler (former owner in 1909); Audobon Tyler (former owner in 1909); Alice and Harry Hitchcock (former owners in 1927); Sumner McKnight Crosby (former owner in 1940); Sarah W. Crosby (former owner); Douglas Orr (architect in 1940 to 1941); Douglas S. Kycia (landscape architect in 1991 from Bethany, CT).
Related Materials:
Cupola Hill Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (40 35 mm. slides)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Gardens -- Connecticut -- Woodbridge  Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Identifier:
AAG.GCA, File CT192
See more items in:
The Garden Club of America collection
The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / Connecticut
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Gardens
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6c5089ede-2bc2-435b-aae6-a5ecb3d7a354
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref21673

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