Olin Levi Warner was born in 1844 in Suffield, Connecticut and worked as an artisan and a telegraph operator before pursuing his art education and career. In 1869, Warner traveled to Paris to study under Francois Jouffroy at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He was in Paris when the Republic was declared and served in the French Foreign Legion for a short while before resuming his studies. In 1872 he returned to the United States and set up a studio in New York.
An early proponent of the French Beaux-Arts style, Warner was a founding member of the Society of American Artists in 1877 and joined the National Academy of Design in 1888. By the end of Warner's lifetime, he had become a well-known sculptor, helping to popularize bas-relief in the United States. A few of Warner's notable works include a series of medallions depicting Native American Indian Chiefs, an 1876 bust of President Rutherford B. Hayes, the 1883 nude
The papers of sculptor Olin Levi Warner measure 1.9 linear feet and date from 1857 to 1962 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1857 to 1899. The collection documents Warner's art student days in Paris and his career as a sculptor, primarily in New York City. Found are scattered biographical materials and writings, including a speech by Warner about the Paris Commune of 1871; personal and professional correspondence; clippings, catalogs, and other printed material; sculpture project files; and photographs of Warner, his studio, his family, and notable figures who sat for him, including artist J. Alden Weir, and his artwork.
Found are biographical materials, including a speech written by Warner about the Paris Commune of 1871, awards, and membership records for several art organizations, including the Fine Arts Federation of New York.
Personal and business correspondence written by Warner, his wife, and his daughter is with family and friends. Warner's correspondents include artists Albert Pinkham Ryder, Clarence Cook, and Wyatt Eaton, among others. Of note are letters written from Warner to his family during the time he spent in Paris from 1869 to 1872 studying art and serving in the Foreign Legion.
Also found are scattered project files for a few of his notable sculptural projects, including his statue of Massachusetts governor Charles Devens, the Hodgkins Medal designed as the Smithsonian Institution's seal, work for the Chicago World's Fair, and bronze work produced by the Jno. Williams Foundry.
Printed materials include clippings and exhibition catalogs for the Society of American Artists, the National Sculpture Society, and the World's Columbian Exposition.
Photographs in the papers are of Warner, his family, home, and studio, works of art, and a few notable sitters, including the artist J. Alden Weir.
The collection is arranged into five series.
A portion of the Olin Levi Warner papers were originally loaned to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1972 by Rosalie Warner Jones, Warner's daughter. Rosalie Warner Jones and her sister, Frances O. Warner, and Rosalie's daughter Frances Follin Jones, donated the collection in several accretions between 1972 and 1977. This gift included the majority of the loaned materials, excluding one sketchbook. Additional materials were transferred to the Archives in 2005 from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming on reel 270. All of the material was later donated, except for one sketchbook which was returned to the lender, and is not described in the collection container inventory.
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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
The bulk of this collection was digitized in 2013 and is available on the Archives of American Art's website. Materials which have not been scanned include photographs of artwork, duplicates, blank pages in bound volumes, and blank versos of photographs. In some cases, exhibition catalogs and other publications have had their covers, title pages, and relevant pages scanned.
Material lent for microfilming is availalbe on 35mm microfilm reel 270 at the Archives of American Art reading room and through interlibrary loan.
Olin Levi Warner papers, 1857-1962 (bulk 1857-1899). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The bulk of the collection was microfilmed as separate accretions and loans on reels 270, 414, and 3746-3747, except for the materials transferred from the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 2005. All earlier accessions were merged and re-processed by Vanessa Catanzaro, Joan Lord, and Erin Corley in 2004 and 2005, and a finding aid prepared as part of the Terra Foundation for American Art Digitization Project. The collection was scanned in 2013 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
This series contains official documents for Warner's membership in several art organizations, including the Fine Arts Federation of New York and the Society of American Artists, and from Warner's time in France, including his admission form to the French Foreign Legion. Also found are death announcements and other memorial material, including a memorial paper read before the National Sculpture Society by W. C. Brownell. Additional items of note are drafts of a speech written by Warner about the Paris Commune of 1871. Oversized materials include Warner's Mason membership certificate and documentation from a U.S. diplomatic office in France, and two awards received for his artwork.
This series has been scanned in its entirety.
Materials are arranged by document type.
Awards
Oversized material housed in OV 4.
Membership Documents
Oversized material housed in OV 4.
Memorial Materials
Oversized material housed in OV 4.
Speech Drafts
Speech Drafts
Oversized material scanned with Box 1, Folder 1.
Oversized material scanned with Box 1, Folder 2.
Oversized material scanned with Box 1, Folder 3.
This series contains family and personal correspondence. Family correspondence is found for Olin Levi Warner, his wife Sylvia Martinache Warner, and their daughters Rosalie Warner Jones and Frances O. Warner.
Warner's family correspondence is primarily with his parents, his wife Sylvia, and his extended family. Warner's personal correspondence is with friends, including Charles Erskine Scott Wood, Albert Pinkham Ryder, W. C. Brownell, Clarence Cook, Wyatt Eaton, and his business correspondence is primarily with people interested in commissioning sculptures. Topics covered in this series include Olin Warner's studies; his life in Paris from 1869 to 1872, including the establishment of the French Third Republic; and the artist's work up to the time of his death.
Sylvia Martinache Warner's correspondence consists of sympathy notes following her husband's death; various personal matters; and the management of the artist's work by Mrs. Warner and her daughters..
This series has been scanned in its entirety.
Materials are arranged alphabetically by correspondent name.
A-O Miscellaneous
Includes letters from Wyatt Eaton and Albert Pinkham Ryder
Oliver, Michael
P-W, Miscellaneous
Includes letters from John Quincy Adams Ward
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Includes typescript transcriptions of letters.
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Warner, Olin Levi and Family
Wood, C.E.S.
Concern for Olin Levi Warner
Condolences for Olin Levi Warner
A-B, Miscellaneous
Includes letters from Herbert Adams and Paul Wayland Bartlett
Brownell, W.C. and Gertrude
C-N, Miscellaneous
Includes letters from Lockwood de Forest, J. Scott Hartley, H.A. MacNeil, Kenneth Hayes Miller
National Sculpture Society
Includes letters from W.C. Brownell, and Daniel Chester French
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
P-R, Miscellaneous
Ryder, Albert Pinkham
S-W, Miscellaneous
Includes letter from J. Alden Weir
Warner, Olin Levi
Wood, C.E.S.
X-Z, Miscellaneous
Letters to Rosalie Warner Jones and Frances O. Warner
Letters from Cooper Union, Caro Ely, Lloyd Goodrich, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Caro Lloyd Strobell, W.S. Budworth and Son, and Sylvia Warner
Unsigned and Illegible
This series contains materials such as receipts, contracts, and correspondence documenting some of Warner's sculptural projects. Projects with a significant amount of material include a statue of Massachusetts governor Charles Devens; the Hodgkins Medal, designed as the Smithsonian Institution seal; sculptural work for the Chicago World's Fair; and works produced by the Jno. Williams Foundry.
This series has been scanned in its entirety.
Materials are arranged alphabetically by project name.
Charles Devens Statue
Jno. Williams Foundry
Library of Congress Doors
Smithsonian Seal
Oversized material housed in OV 4.
World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago World's Fair)
Miscellaneous contracts and receipts
Oversized material scanned with Box 1, Folder 45.
This series contains assorted printed materials including exhibition catalogs for the Society of American Artists and the National Sculpture Society; a catalog for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair; information from clubs to which Warner belonged; newspaper and magazine clippings; promotional materials and a booklet highlighting Warner's doors for the Library of Congress; and miscellaneous materials such as programs and booklets.
The bulk of this series has been scanned. Duplicates and blank pages in bound volumes have not been scanned. In some cases, exhibition catalogs and other publications have had their covers, title pages, and relevant pages scanned.
Materials are arranged by document type.
Clippings
Oversized material housed in OV 4.
Club and Association Membership Listings
Exhibition Catalogs
Exhibition Catalogs
Exhibition Catalogs
Miscellaneous
Oversized materials scanned with Box 1, Folder 48.
Photographs are of Warner, his family, sitters, and artwork. Included are photographs of Warner in his New York City studio and with his wife and two daughters. Two photographs of note are of Warner standing with an unfinished Caryatid for the Skidmore Fountain project. Also found are photographs of the exterior of Warner's New York home and studio, an unidentified exhibition, and photographs of some of the many people Warner sculpted, including the artist J. Alden Weir. Additional photographs are of Warner's completed sculptures, medals, or other works.
The bulk of this series has been scanned. Photographs of artwork, duplicates, and blank versos of photographs have not been scanned.
Materials are arranged by photographic subject.
Photographs of Artist and Family at Home and Studio
Photographs of Olin Levi Warner Standing with Caryatid for Skidmore Fountain
Photographs of Exterior of Warner Home and Studio
Photograph of Exhibition
Photographs of Sitters
Includes photographs of J. Alden Weir, Governor Buckingham, Chief Joseph, and President Hayes.
W. C. Brownell
Oversized material housed in OV 4.
Governor Buckingham
General Charles Devens
Dancing Nymph
Diana
Library of Congress Doors
Oversized material housed in OV 4.
Native American Series
Skidmore Fountain
Various Sculptures
Various Sculptures
Portraits of Olin Levi Warner
Oversized material scanned with Box 2, Folder 10 and Box 3, Folder 3.