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Manuscript Collections
Manuscript collections in The Frick Collection and Frick Art Reference Library Archives consist primarily of art research files, gallery records, photographs of artists, and artists’ correspondence and personal papers that were donated to the Frick Art Reference Library. The research files of art scholars contain correspondence, photographs, notes, and printed material and include documentation of such artists as Gilbert Stuart and Gian Paolo Panini, as well as general research on early American artists and Western European art. The records of two galleries, the American Art Association, and Peter H. Davidson & Co., Inc., contain sales records, inventories, correspondence, and photographs of artwork. Artists are documented through collections of photographs and letters, photographs of artists in their studios, and papers of two artists, Charles Hawthorne and Raymond P. R. Neilson.
Below is a current list of Manuscript Collections, each with a brief description and links to the finding aid and catalog record when available.
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American Art Association Records, 1877–1924
Correspondence, approximately 1,000 photographs, notes, and printed material documenting selected auction sales conducted by the American Art Association.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO) |
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Architecture Images Collection, circa 1900–1920
Photographs and reproductions of examples of American architecture, including residences, public buildings, and religious buildings collected by Royal Cortissoz. Also includes photographs of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco, in 1915, and photographs of the interior of the Players Club, New York in 1907.
Catalog record (FRESCO)
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Artists’ Correspondence, 1596–1925
A collection of approximately twenty-five letters from various artists received by the Frick Art Reference Library as gifts. The artists lived mainly during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The subjects discussed in the letters are both personal and professional, including some references to the artists' works. The content of the letter is noted in the finding aid when possible; some letters are in French or Italian.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO) |
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Bignou Gallery Albums, circa 1930s –1940s
Thirty-three albums containing photographs and descriptions of artwork that passed through the hands of the Bignou Gallery (New York) during the 1930s and 1940s. The artists included are mainly French from the eighteenth through the twentieth century and include such luminaries as Cézanne, Corot, Dufy, Matisse, and Renoir.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO) |
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Charles K. Bolton Card Files, 1939
Research notes of Charles K. Bolton (Boston Athenaeum Librarian and author) for his unpublished manuscript, "Workers with Line and Color in New England 1620-1870: Biographical Notices of Artists and Art Craftsmen Born before 1845."
Catalog record (FRESCO)
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Theodore Bolton Card Files, 1922–1925
Notecards created by Frick Art Reference Library staff from material compiled by Theodore Bolton (art historian, artist, and librarian) for intended dictionary of early American oil painters. Cards contain biographical information on artists and descriptions of individual portraits.
Catalog record (FRESCO)
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Byers Family Art Collection Inventories, 1900–1977
This collection includes a handwritten volume, circa 1900; a 1935 typed inventory; and later lists that document the art collection of A.M. Byers, a prominent art collector and iron manufacturer in the Pittsburgh area, and his family.
Catalog record (FRESCO) |
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College Art Association of America Records, 1919–1938
Documents the research conducted by the College Art Association of America for their publication The Index of Twentieth-Century Artists, through correspondence, exhibition catalogs, press releases, and news clippings. Other material was gathered by the staff of Parnassus, another College Art Association publication.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO)
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Peter H. Davidson & Co., Inc. Records, 1951–1991
Artist files, stock books, subject files, photographs, and correspondence documenting the activities of Davidson’s New York art gallery in the 1970s and 1980s. Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO)
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Peter H. Davidson & Co., Inc. Weir Records, 1957–1991
Correspondence, photographs, provenance records, invoices, inventories, and printed material pertaining to Davidson’s association with the descendants of painter J. Alden Weir. Also concerns the creation of the Weir Foundation and the effort to designate Weir Farm, the home of J. Alden Weir, a national park.
Catalog record (FRESCO) |
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Catalog of the George Jay Gould Collection, 1945
The album catalogs the contents of the art collection of George Jay Gould, the railroad executive. Included are photographs and accompanying typed information for thirty-seven paintings. The artists represented are from the seventeenth through the nineteenth century and are mainly French; two works are by Dutch artists.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO) |
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Charles W. Hawthorne Papers, 1904–1947
Correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and research material regarding the work of Charles W. Hawthorne, American painter and founder of the Cape Cod School of Art.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO)
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Hesselius Family Papers, 1780–1822
Correspondence of the descendants of Gustave Hesselius, including his granddaughter, Elizabeth Henderson Wertmuller, her mother, Lydia Hesselius Henderson, and her aunt Mary Hesselius, as well as other relatives, concerning personal and business matters.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO) |
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Images of Artists, circa 1800s-1900s
Collection of images of more than seventy artists, including Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Jacob Maris, Edvard Munch, and Auguste Rodin.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO)
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Anna Kleinman Research Files on Rosalba Carriera, undated
Typescript photocopies of the English translations of the correspondence and diary of Rosalba Carriera (1675–1757), prominent Venetian Rococo portraitist. Originally in French and Italian, the documents were translated by Anna Kleinman. The collection also includes explanatory footnotes, biographical sketches of correspondents, and microfilm of the original documents.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO) |
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Katharine McCook Knox Research Files, 1924–1979
Drafts, research notes, and correspondence concerning Knox’s publication The Story of the Frick Art Reference Library: The Early Years (1979). Also contains material on her book about the Sharples family, other early American artists, portraits in the White House, and Library photographing expeditions.
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John Hill Morgan Research Files, 1922–1944
Correspondence, photographs, notes, printed material, and some drafts of John Hill Morgan’s writings on George Washington portraits and other early American paintings. Also contains information on the George J. Shepard/John J. Hughes/Ferdinand Danton fakes.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO) |
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Raymond P. R. Neilson Papers, circa 1930s–1950s
Diaries, notebooks, and other notes regarding the work of New York City portraitist, still-life painter, and art instructor Raymond P. R. Neilson. The collection also includes some correspondence regarding portrait commissions.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO) |
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Lawrence Park Diary, 1923
Lawrence Park’s diary of the Frick Art Reference Library photographing expedition to South Carolina in the spring of 1923.
Catalog record (FRESCO)
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Lawrence Park Research Files on Gilbert Stuart, 1920–1924
Correspondence concerning the provenance and authentication of paintings by Gilbert Stuart used in Park’s publication Gilbert Stuart: An Illustrated Descriptive List of His Works (1926).
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO) |
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Photographs of Artists in Their Studios, circa 1885–1890
Seventy-four photographs of artists in their studios from the collection of artist Frank Stokes, including Léon Durand Bonnat, Henri-Joseph Harpignies, Anna Elizabeth Klumpke, Jean-Paul Laurens, and Madeleine Jeanne Lemaire.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO) |
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J. Hall Pleasants Research Files, 1924–1959
Correspondence with Frick Art Reference Library staff and copies of the research notes of J. Hall Pleasants, an authority on early Maryland painters and their works.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO)
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William Suhr Conservation Ledgers, 1938–1957
Two ledgers recording William Suhr’s conservation work for The Frick Collection and other prominent museums, collectors, and dealers from 1938 to 1957. Each entry consists of the date work was begun, the owner’s name, the artist and title of the work, conservation treatment performed, the amount charged, and the date completed.
Catalog record (FRESCO)
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Juliette Tomlinson Research Files on Joseph Whiting Stock, 1976–1987
Correspondence and research of Juliette Tomlinson on the American folk artist Joseph Whiting Stock (1815–1855). The collection contains Tomlinson’s correspondence regarding paintings by Stock, photocopies of Stock’s personal documents and other biographical material, and some images.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO)
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Richard P. Wunder Research Files, 1948–1987
Research files of art historian Richard P. Wunder, containing artwork files, photographs, correspondence, writings, and notes. His research on Gian Paolo Panini forms the bulk of the collection, though Hyacinthe Rigaud, Emmanuel Leutze, and architectural and theater drawings are also featured in his research.
Online finding aid | Print version (PDF)
Catalog record (FRESCO) |
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