The bulk of the collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by J. F. McCrindle, a great-grandson of Mosler, in 1976 and 1977, having been previously lent to AAA for microfilming. A photograph album was donated in 1993 by Paul M. Hertzmann, a dealer who acquired it through purchase. Additional materials were donated in 2008 and 2009 by McCrindle via John T. Rowe, president and CEO of the Joseph F. McCrindle Foundation.
Portions of the collection were processed and microfilmed on reels 4284-4285 and 1201 at some point after accession; this microfilm is no longer in circulation. In 2009, the Joseph F. McCrindle Foundation funded the conservation of Mosler's Civil War diary, an illustrated notebook, an account book, and a photo album dedicated to Edith Mosler. Digital images documenting work before and after conservation are available at the Archives of American Art offices. All previously filmed and unfilmed accessions were merged, fully processed, arranged, and described by Stephanie Ashley, and the collection was digitized, in 2012 with funding provided by the Joseph F. McCrindle Foundation.
Henry Mosler papers, 1856-1929. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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Henry Mosler (1841-1920) worked primarily in Ohio, New York City, and Europe as a painter of portraits and scenes of rural life in Europe. Mosler served as an artist correspondent for
Born in Silesia (Poland) in 1841, Henry Mosler immigrated to New York City with his family in 1849. In the early 1850s the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Mosler received art instruction from James Henry Beard, becoming an accomplished portrait painter and an active participant in the Cincinnati art scene.
Following the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Mosler became an artist correspondent for
Immediately thereafter, Mosler relocated to Dusseldorf for two years and attended the Royal Academy, followed by six months in Paris where he studied with painter Ernest Hébert. In 1866 Mosler returned to Cincinnatti where his portraits and genre scenes enjoyed growing popularity.
In 1875 Mosler traveled to Munich and two years later settled in Paris from where he enjoyed critical and financial success both in Europe and in the United States. Mosler was known for his genre paintings of peasant life in rural Brittany and he became a regular participant in Salon exhibitions and won honorable mention in the Salon of 1879, when his painting
Mosler returned to the United States temporarily during this period, including a trip in 1885-1886 to visit the West and collect material for paintings of Native American life.
In 1894 Mosler returned to the United States and settled in New York, where he became a popular teacher and an active participant in the New York art scene. In 1895 he was made an associate member of the National Academy of Design, and in his last decades took up landscape painting during summers in the Catskill mountains, and produced genre paintings depicting scenes from colonial and rural life. Mosler continued to enjoy widespread popularity until his death in 1920.
The papers of painter Henry Mosler (1841-1920), who began his career in Cincinnati, Ohio, lived in Germany and Paris for at least 2 decades, and finally settled in New York, measure 4.8 linear feet and date from 1856-1929. The collection documents Mosler's life and career through biographical material, personal and professional letters from members of the military, museums, family, friends and colleagues, writings including an 1862 Civil War diary, personal business records, printed material, artwork and sketchbooks, and photographs of Mosler, his family, colleagues and artwork.
Biographical material includes passports for Mosler's travel during the Civil War and to the American West in 1875-1876, as well as identification cards and awards from Mosler's years in Germany and Paris, including the Ordre National Légion d'Honneur awarded to him in 1892.
Letters record Mosler's service as an aide-de-camp for the Army of Ohio and his activities as an artist correspondent for
Writings and notes include an 1862 Civil War diary and two illustrated notebooks from 1862 and 1863 containing sketches, and travel and financial notes. Also found are two biographical accounts of Mosler's career and poems by various authors, many inspired by Mosler's paintings.
Personal business records include an account book documenting Mosler's income and expenses from 1869-1878 and 1886-1892, and Library of Congress copyright certificates for four of Mosler's pictures.
Printed material documents Mosler's career in the United States and Europe through news clippings, a brochure, and an exhibition catalog for an 1897 exhibition of his paintings at Galleries of Pape Bros.
Artwork and sketchbooks include six sketches and an engraving by Mosler, and two books containing sketches by Mosler and other artists including James Henry Beard. The series also contains one ink drawing each by Leon Germain Pelouse and E. Hillery.
Photographic material includes albums and individual photographs of Mosler in his studio and with others including his immediate and extended family, and students. Also found are photos of artists including Gabriel Ferrier, Ernest Hébert and Thomas Buchanan Read, Brigadier General R. W. Johnson and opera singers Emma Nevada Palmer and Renée Richards. Photographs of artwork are primarily found in 2 oversized albums dedicated by Mosler to his children, Edith Mosler and Gustave Henry Mosler respectively.
The collection is arranged as 7 series:
Identification cards include: an 1864 entrance card for the Dusseldorfer Kunstler-Verein Malkasten, a card for the Konigl Akademie der bild Kunste in Munich, 1875-1876, a Carte D'Exposant for the Exposition Universelle of 1889, with a photograph of Mosler, and Mosler's 1892 Ordre National Légion d'Honneur. Passports are for 1863, requesting Mosler's safe passage during the Civil War, and for 1874, for his travel to the American West. Also found is a 1920-1921 entry for Mosler in
Identification Cards and Notes
Inoculation Certificate and Lock of Hair
Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur
oversized material housed in OV 10
Passports
oversized material housed in OV 10
oversized material scanned with Box 1, F3
oversized material scanned with Box 1, F4
Letters are primarily written to Mosler with scattered letters written by him. Of particular note is a letter to his parents written from 3 miles outside Corinth, Mississippi on 22 May 1862 in which he describes the scene during the Siege of Corinth following the Battle of Shiloh.
Calling/congratulation cards were sent in response to Mosler's winning the gold medal at the Paris Salon in 1888 and being awarded the Ordre National Légion d'Honneur in 1892.
Correspondents include members of the military regarding his service in 1861-1863 and can be found in several places. A folder of Civil War letters includes Brigadier General R. W. Johnson's request for Mosler to serve as aide-de-camp, and a March 1863 letter from a friend (Bradley?) encamped at Murfreesboro and referring to the building of fortifications there following the Second Battle of Murfreesboro. Letters from
Other letters are from museums and art associations, Mosler family members, including Mosler's children, artist Gustave Henry Mosler and Edith Mosler, friends and colleagues including artists James Henry Beard, Julien Dupré, Gabriel Ferrier, François Flameng, Ernest Hébert, William Henry Howe, Heinrich Mücke (history painter and Mosler's Düsseldorf professor), J. Francis Murphy, William Ordway Partridge, and Leon Germain Pelouse, among others. Letters from the Ministere de l'Instruction Publique et des Beaux-Arts include the 1879 purchase certificate for Mosler's painting
Letters from the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States confirm Mosler's election as a Member-at-Large to the order in 1896. Also found is a list of autographs of Cincinnati Artists representing a petition to suggest that the Cincinnati Museum purchase Mosler's painting
Many of the letters are in French and German.
See Appendix for an extened list of correspondents in Series 2.
The bulk of the series is arranged alphabetically by correspondent in general files or in named files if there are 5 or more letters from an individual correspondent. A group of files arranged by subject can be found at the beginning of the series.
This appendix is taken from an existing list compiled at some point after the collection was accessioned and is intended to assist in identifying correspondents, as many signatures are difficult to decipher or illegible. Completeness and accuracy of the list cannot be guaranteed.
Calling/Congratulation Cards
Calling/Congratulation Cards
Empty Envelopes
Empty Envelopes
Illegible Signatures
Illegible Signatures
Illegible Signatures
List of Autographs of Cincinnati Artists
A, General
B, General: Ba
B, General: Be
B, General: Bo-Bu
C, General: Ca-Ci
C, General: Cl-Cu
Civil War Letters
Constant, Benjamin
D, General: Da
D, General: De-Di
D, General: Do-Dy
de Czachórski
Dubouchet, H.
Dupré, Julien
E, General
F, General
Ferrier, Gabriel
Ferrier, Gabriel
Fertiault, F.
Flameng, François
Fuster, Charles
G, General
H, General
Hassaurek, Frederick
Hébert, Ernest
Hébert, Ernest
Howe, William Henry
I, General
J, General
K, General
L, General
Lefebvre, Jules
M, General: Ma.
M, General: Me
M, General: Mi-Mu
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States
Ministère del'Instruction Publique et des Beaux Arts
Mosler Family
Mosler, Henry
Murphy, J. Francis
N, General
(includes letter from Mosler to the
O, General
P, General
Partridge, William Ordway
Pelouse, Leon Germain
R, General
S, General: Sa-Se
S, General: Sh-Si
S, General: Sk-Su
T, General
Townsend, George Alfred
U, General (United States Army, Department of Interior etc.)
V, General
Vidal, E.
W, General
Webber, C. T.
Worms, Henry and Ida
Y-Z, General
Of particular note in this series is Mosler's 1862 Civil War diary (with transcript) and two illustrated notebooks, 1862 and 1863, containing diary entries, poems, sketches, financial tallies and names and addresses. The diary contains records of sketches Mosler made for
Writings by others include biographical accounts of Mosler's life: a Historical Press Association typescript entitled "Henry Mosler, Genre Painter," and a handwritten account of Mosler's career by an unidentified author. Also found are handwritten poems, many of them dedicated to Mosler and/or inspired by his paintings and with accompanying notes and letters. They include poems by J. C. Beard, William J. Dennis ("My Eighty-Third Christmas"), Oscar Edgar (3 poems), François Fertiault (10 poems), Charles Fuster, Alice C. Hall, Roger Miles (2 poems), Berthe Nordez, and Thomas Buchanan Read. Also found is the poem "Acrostic" written by Lt. H. Millard at Shiloh in 1862.
Civil War Diary
Civil War Diary Transcript of 1862 item
Illustrated Notebook
Illustrated Notebook
Notes and Poem (possibly by Mosler)
Biographical Accounts of Mosler's Life
Edited Galley of "Henry Mosler, Artist," by John L. Covington
oversized material housed in Box 6
Poems by Authors B-F
Poems by Authors H-W
Poems by Authors with Illegible Signatures/Unsigned
oversized material scanned with Box 3, F5
This series includes Library of Congress copyright certificates for Mosler's pictures
Account Book
Library of Congress Copyright Certificates
Life Insurance Receipts
Sara Mosler's Will
The bulk of this series consists of news clippings, primarily about Mosler from American and French newspapers. Also found is a brochure about Mosler and a catalog of an 1897 exhibition of his paintings. Miscellaneous items include an 1887 menu of a "Diner offert a Monsieur Mosler par ses Eleves" from the cafe of the Hotel Del'Elusee.
Brochure About Mosler
Catalog, Galleries of Pape Bros.,
Miscellaneous
News Clippings
News Clippings
News Clippings
News Clippings
News Clippings
News Clippings
News Clippings of Poems
Artwork by Mosler includes an undated engraving, 4 sketches (1858, 1893, 1898 and undated), a pencil sketch of Sara Mosler on her deathbed in 1903 dedicated to Mosler's children, and an ink drawing for Edith Mosler on her birthday in 1903. Also found are an oil portrait on a scallop shell; an 1890s book that contains sketches by Mosler and various artists including James Henry Beard, E. L. Ravenshaw, Lillian Greene and L. C. Mitchell; and an autograph book belonging to Edith Mosler, 1885, containting sketches by Mosler and others.
Artwork by others includes a handwritten menu with a watercolor illustration signed by Garbriel Ferrier, J. Whitelaw Reid and others, a circa 1880 ink drawing by Leon Germain Pelouse; and an ink drawing of soldiers by E. Hillery.
Etching and Sketches
oversized material housed in OV 11
Oil Portrait on Scallop Shell
Sketchbook
Artwork by Mosler and Others, Autograph Book of Sketches
Artwork by Mosler and Others, Sketchbook
Artwork by Others
oversized material housed in OV 10
oversized material scanned with Box 4, F6
oversized material scanned with Box 4, F1
Photos of Mosler include two of Mosler in his studio, including an 1860 photograph taken in Cincinnati, one photo of Mosler in his studio with a group of students, and an early small framed head portrait.
Photos of family include photos of Mosler and his wife, children, and grandchildren in 2 dismantled albums and 1 bound album. Album 2 also contains a 1906 pencil sketch by Mosler dedicated to Gustave and a watercolor sketch. Photos of others include artists such as Gabriel Ferrier, Ernest Hébert, and Thomas Buchanan Read, art critic Gustave Ollendorf, opera singers Emma Nevada Palmer and Renée Richards, and General R. W. Johnson, who appointed Mosler as aide-de-camp in the Civil War.
Photographs of artwork include 2 albums dedicated to Edith Mosler and Gustave Henry Mosler respectively, containing photos of Mosler's paintings. The album dedicated to Edith also contains one photo of Mosler in his studio.
Photos of Mosler
oversized material housed in Box 6
Mosler and Family
Mosler and Family
Album 1 Contents
Album 1 Contents
Album 1 Contents
Album 1 Contents
Album 2 Contents
Album 2 Contents
Album 2 Contents
Album 2 Contents
Album 3
Glass Plate Negative Prints
Glass Plate Negative Prints
Photos of Others
Photos of Others
Photos of Others
Photos of Others
Photos of Others, "Munich Artists," Ambrotype
"Album of Pictures by Henry Mosler to Edith Mosler,"
(includes photo of Mosler; oversized material housed in Boxes 7-9)
"Album of Pictures by Henry Mosler to Gustave Henry Mosler,"
oversized material housed in BV 12
Loose Photos
oversized material housed in Box 6
Prints from Glass Plate Negatives
Photos of Artwork by Others
oversized material scanned with Box 5, F1
oversized material scanned with Box 5, F23
(includes photo of Mosler; oversized material scanned with Box 5, F21)
(includes photo of Mosler; oversized material scanned with Box 5, F21)
(includes photo of Mosler; oversized material scanned with Box 5, F21)
oversized material scanned with Box 5, F22