The collection is arranged as 6 series.
James Carroll Beckwith (1852-1917) was a portrait and landscape painter in New York, New York and a member of the National Academy of Design.
James Carroll Beckwith, often referred to as Carroll Beckwith, was born in 1852 in Hannibal, Missouri. He was raised in Chicago, Illinois. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Beckwith moved to New York City and studied art at the National Academy of Design until 1873, when he moved to France. In Paris, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and under Carolus-Duran. Painter John Singer Sargent was also one of Carolus-Duran's students and Beckwith shared a Paris studio with him until 1878.
When Beckwith returned to New York in 1878, he started teaching as a professor in the Art Students League departments of painting and drawing. He continued to teach there until 1882 and then for a second span of time from 1886 to 1887. He married Bertha Hall in 1887. Beckwith gained widespread recognition for his portraits and among his subjects are the artist William Merritt Chase and President Theodore Roosevelt. Beckwith is also known for created skillful copies of Old Masters paintings which he saw in galleries across Europe during his time abroad.
In 1894, Beckwith was elected as a member of the National Academy of Design. From 1910 to roughly 1912, he lived in Italy and France. He then returned to New York City and had a studio at 57 West 45th Street until his death in 1917.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2018 and is available on the Archives of American Art website. Materials which have not been digitized include blank pages, blank versos of photographs, and duplicates. In some cases, exhibition catalogs and other publications have had their covers, title pages, and relevant pages digitized. Some of the legal records regarding the Beckwith estate have not been digitized.
Material lent for microfilming is available on 35mm microfilm reels 1418, 1454, 4802 and 4803 at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
The collection, except for the estate related material, was initially lent for microfilming by the National Academy of Design in 1993. The National Academy of Design received Beckwith's papers as a gift in 1926 from the Bertha H. Beckwith estate. Beckwith related National Academy of Design correspondence and photographs were combined with the papers by the Academy. In 2018, the James Carroll Beckwith papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by the National Academy of Design via Maura Reilly, Executive Director. Papers on reels 1418, 1454 were lent for microfilming in 1978 by J. Carter Courtney, Beckwith's great-neice.
James Carroll Beckwith papers, 1871-circa 1991, bulk 1875-1917. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The collection was processed, prepared for digitization, and described in a finding aid by Rihoko Ueno in 2018 with funding provided by the Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
The Archives of American Art also has microfilm (reel 800) of a 1895 James Carroll Beckwith diary. The original is located at the New York Historical Society.
The papers of New York painter James Carroll Beckwith measure 3.2 linear feet and date from 1871 to circa 1991, bulk 1875-1917. The collection includes biographical material, correspondence, numerous diaries, writings, printed material, photograph albums, and photographs.
Biographical material mostly consists of estate papers related to disputes between the Beckwith Estate and the National Academy of Design. There is also one art inventory notebook titled "Record of Pictures."
Correspondence includes letters by Beckwith, his wife, and researchers concerning Beckwith's paintings and career. Notable correspondents include artists such as Carolus-Duran and William Anderson Coffin, the art dealer Roland Knoedler, as well as other colleagues.
The collection includes 38 of James Carroll Beckwith's diaries and one diary that belonged to his wife Bertha Beckwith. The artist's diaries contain sporadic entries describing teaching, traveling, and daily events.
Writings include Beckwith's autobiography
Printed materials consist of a sales catalog of Beckwith's work, clippings about Beckwith and John Singer Sargent, and a few exhibition catalogs and announcements.
Photographs include 2 albums and many board-backed prints. One album mostly contains travel photographs, the other is mostly dedicated to paintings by other artists in Europe. There are many photographs of Beckwith's paintings, mostly portraits. A few photographs of exhibition installations are also included.
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels 1418 and 1454) including letters from John Singer Sargent, Clyde Fitch, Edwin Howland Blashfield, Jacob Schiff, Richard Mansfield, and others, 4 cartoon sketches; a sketchbook which also includes a list of works, 1878-1892, and a few writings; 5 photograph albums and photographs, 1902-1917, of European travels, studios, homes, paintings, family, and friends, among them Samuel Clemens, Worthington Whittredge, and Robert Reid; Bertha Beckwith's diary, 1904; and printed material. Other material available only on microfilm includes a sketchbook, "Amsterdam August 10, 1887" (reel 4802) containing sketches for portraits, notes of Monet's composition at Giverny, a watercolor, and studies of hands; and photographs of portraits of Beckwith, Beckwith in his studio, and Beckwith with his Art Students League classes, 1888-1892 (reel 4803). The sketchbook and photographs were returned to the National Academy of Design after microfilming.
Biographical material mostly consists of James Carroll Beckwith estate papers. There are extensive legal records and some correspondence regarding settlements and disputes between the Beckwith Estate and the National Academy of Design, especially related to the management of the estate. In addition, there is an art inventory notebook titled "Record of Pictures" that lists titles, dimensions, and expenses of Beckwith's works in chronological order.
This series is in chronological order.
Most of the legal records documenting the disputes and settlements between the Beckwith Estate and the National Academy of Design have not been digitized. Blank pages of the notebook have not been digitized.
"Record of Pictures" Art Inventory Notebook
Estate Papers - General
Estate Papers - General
Correspondence includes letters by Beckwith, his wife, and researchers concerning Beckwith's selection into the National Academy of Design, his paintings, and career. Notable correspondents include Carolus-Duran, William Anderson Coffin, Roland Knoedler (art dealer), Frederick Dielman, Will Hicok Low, and the National Academy of Design. Some of the letters are photocopies.
The material in this series is divided into correspondence with James Carroll Beckwith and correspondence with his wife Bertha Beckwith. The correspondents are arranged alphabetically within these two groupings.
This series has been digitized in its entirety.
Beckwith, Bertha
Carolus-Duran
Dielman, Frederick
Knoedler, Roland
Low, Will Hicok
National Academy of Design
Unidentified Correspondents
Coffin, William Anderson
Gerrity, (Mr.)
Includes one letter from James Carroll Beckwith
Shleppy, Leon
This series consists of 38 of James Carroll Beckwith's diaries and one diary that belonged to his wife Bertha Beckwith. The artist's diaries contain sporadic entries describing studies and travel in Paris and Europe, teaching at the Art Students League, financial transactions, and other events. Clippings, calling cards, photographs are inserted in some volumes. Bertha Beckwith's 1911-1912 diary contains references to her Paris tour, entertainment, and acquaintances.
James Carroll Beckwith's diaries are arranged in the chronological order. Bertha Beckwith's diary is at the end of the series.
The bulk of this series has been digitized, except for blank pages.
Diary
Diaries
The main diary covers 1874-1878 and includes 2 pocked diaries in envelopes pasted onto the last page. The 2 pocket diaries cover 1873-1875 and 1876. Also included is a typed transcript of some entries from 1874-1875.
Diaries
Diary
Diaries
Diaries
Diaries
Diaries
Diaries
Diaries
Diaries
Diaries
Diaries
Diaries
Diaries
Diaries
Diaries
Diaries
Diaries
Diaries
Diary
Bertha Beckwith Diary
Writings include 2 notebooks of Beckwith's autobiography,
Notebooks are at the beginning of the series, followed by the rest of the writings arranged by document type such as essays, lists, and notes. Writings by others are at the end of the series.
The bulk of this series has been digitized, except for blank pages.
"Quotations, Scraps, Etc. - Student Days" Paris Notebook
Essay on Florence Portrait Exhibition Published in
Essays on Architecture
Lists of Artwork
Notes
Essay about James Carroll Beckwith by "L. F."
Printed materials include an annotated catalog of a 1918 sale of Beckwith's work at the American Art Galleries, clippings about Beckwith as well as clippings about John Singer Sargent, and a few exhibition catalogs and announcements.
The material in this series is in alphabetical order.
The bulk of this series has been digitized, except for the versos of clippings.
Clippings about James Carroll Beckwith
Clippings about John S. Sargent
Exhibition Catalogs and Announcement
James Carroll Beckwith Art Sales Catalog with Annotations
There are two photograph albums in this series: one mostly containing artwork from various museums in Europe, and the second album containing photographs taken during Beckwith's travels in Egypt as well as Greece, Italy and Holland. The travel photograph album also includes photographs of artist's models and artists Leon Bonnat, William-Adolphe Bougereau, Frank Holl, and others in their studios.
There are many board-backed photographs of Beckwith's paintings, mostly portraits of men and women. A few photographs of exhibition installations, such as a 1914 Beckwith exhibition at the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, and photographs of artwork by other artists from various museums in Europe are also included.
The photograph albums are at the beginning of the series, followed by a few exhibition installation photographs, artwork by Beckwith, and finally artwork by other artists and miscellaneous photographs.
The bulk of this series has been digitized, except for duplicates and blank versos of photographs.
Album of Artwork by Others in European Museums
Oversized album housed in Box 5, Folder 1.
Album of Travel Photographs
Oversized album housed in Box 6, Folder 1.
Exhibition Installation at Buffalo Fine Arts Academy
Exhibition Installation at Powell's
Paintings of Women
Paintings of Women - Undated (1 of 2)
Paintings of Women - Undated (2 of 2)
Portraits of Children
Portraits of Men
Oversized photograph housed in Box 5, Folder 2.
Portraits of Men
Portraits of Men
Portraits of Men
Portraits of Men
Portraits of Men - Undated
Portraits of Women
Portraits of Women
Portraits of Women
Portraits of Women - Undated (1 of 2)
Portraits of Women - Undated (2 of 2)
Paintings for Projects and Commissions
Photograph of Young Woman Inscribed to J. C. Beckwith
Other Artists' Paintings (1 of 2)
Oversized material housed in Box 5, Folder 3.
Other Artists' Paintings (2 of 2)
Other Artists' Sculptures