This bulk of this collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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 the collection was donated by the National Academy of Design in 2018. The trustees' ledger book in series 6 was donated in 1979 by Warder Cadbury of the Adirondack Museum; it is unclear how Cadbury acquired the ledger. Microfilm reels 798-799 containing transcriptions of minutes were given to the Archives by Lois Fink in 1974.
National Academy of Design records, 1817-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Hilary Price and Caroline Donadio in 2018. The Minutes and Committee Files series was processed by National Academy of Design project archivist Anna Bekker is 2013, and preliminary processing of the entire collection was completed by other Academy archivists prior to donation. Series 18: Artist Files was further processed by Stephanie Ashley and digitized in 2020.
The bulk of Series 18: Artist Files was digitized in 2020. Items not digitized include some printed material, such as catalogs which are available online through other institutions, and material which was not digitized due to fragility.
A small portion of the collection is available on 35mm microfilm at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan including several photographs of dinners and the 1924 annual exhibition jury (reel N738); handwritten transcriptions of minute books of treasurers' reports, 1825-1919, meetings of members and committees of the Academy and other institutions, associations and societies, transcribed (incomplete) by Academician George W. Maynard (reels 798-799); a ledger of the accounts of the Trustees of the National Academy of Design, "Trust No. 2," 1854-1860 (reel 3161), a student register of the Antique School, 1826-1892, and a Student Register of the Life School, 1835-1897 (reel 5051). Not all microfilmed materials were donated.
The collection is arranged as nineteen series.
The National Academy of Design (1825- ) based in New York City, is a tripartite organization consisting of a membership body of artists, a school, and an exhibition program. The Academy was founded in 1825 by a group of professional artists with the mission to promote the fine arts in America through exhibition and education. Originally named the New York Drawing Association, the Academy was the first organization in the United States established and managed by professional artists. Samuel F.B. Morse, the Academy's first president, was influenced by the organization of the Royal Academy in London, which was comprised of professional artist members and elected government council, an art school, and a venue for exhibitions. After unsuccessful negotiations to unite with the American Academy of Fine Arts, the New York Drawing Association reformed as the National Academy of The Arts of Design on January 19, 1826. Among the founders were mostly young artists who became prominent figures in American art, including Frederick S. Agate, Thomas Cole, Thomas S. Cummings, Asher B. Durand, John Frazee, Charles C. Ingham, Henry Inman, Gerlando Marsiglia, Samuel F. B. Morse, Samuel L. Waldo, and Charles Cushing Wright.
The first Academy members were elected in January 1826, and levels of membership were established shortly thereafter. Originally there were four levels of Academy membership: associates, academicians, artists, and honorary corresponding members. The category of artists was eliminated in 1829, and the honorary member category, established to recognize American artists living outside New York, distinguished foreign artists, and patrons and friends of the Academy, was eliminated in 1862 (the constitution was not amended with this change until 1896). Since 1869, the residency requirement for election to active membership was eliminated and membership was opened to all American artists. In 1920, the classification of honorary corresponding member was re-introduced to recognize representatives of other national academies. With the 1997 constitution, the honorary corresponding member classification was again eliminated, and in 1994 the associate category was eliminated.
Artists are proposed for membership by academicians through the membership committee and are elected for life by a sixty percent majority, based on recognized excellence and significant contributions to the field. Procedures and rules for nominating and choosing new academicians changed over the years, as detailed in the constitutions. Associates were at one time required to present a portrait of themselves upon election and academicians were required to provide an additional representative work upon election. With the elimination of the category of associate in 1994, only one representative work is currently required. These works of art become part of the Academy's permanent collection.
The original classes of professional artists were painting, sculpture, architecture, and engraving. These professional classes were modified over the years. In 1936 the engraving class was made more comprehensive, including all of the graphic arts. Watercolor was added as a class in 1943 and was codified in the 1945 constitution. However, the division into five distinct classes started to create difficulties in how specific works of art were to be categorized. In 1981 the council eased the rules regarding separate media classification so that members could submit a work in any medium to the annual exhibitions regardless of the class to which they had been elected. The constitution of 1994 restated four professional classes—painting, sculpture, graphics, and architecture—which were further reduced in the 2011 constitution to two: visual arts and architecture.
Until 2009, the governing body of the Academy was the council. The seven officers of the council were president, vice-president, treasurer, assistant treasurer, corresponding secretary, assistant corresponding secretary and recording secretary, all of whom were required to be academicians. In 2009, a new constitution provided for a board of governors, replacing the council. The five officers of the board of governors are chair, vice-chair, president, vice-president, and treasurer. Only the offices of president and vice-president are required to be held by academicians.
Central to the Academy's mission, the school began with an anatomy lecture for the New York Drawing Association, delivered by Dr. Frederick G. King in November 1825. The first drawing session took place in November 1826 in the Old Alms House at City Hall Park with two academicians and twenty students. In the school's early years, professional artists met with students to draw from plaster casts of antique sculpture in the academic tradition. Both lectures and studio training were central the school's early curricula. Life classes, the practice of drawing from live models, were introduced in 1837, but only to advanced male students. A life class for women was not instituted until 1857, even though women were allowed membership to the Academy since its beginning. Due to financial difficulties at the Academy, the school was forced to move locations and shut down its operations for extended periods. Mounting dissatisfaction and frustration led several students and Lemuel E. Wilmarth, one of the school's leaders and first full-time professional instructor, to leave the Academy in 1875 and form a new school, the Art Students League. While charging tuition was unpopular, the Academy realized that it was necessary to ensure the school's sustainability, and implemented fee structures with varying success over the second half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th. Eventually, tuition was established by 1951, when the school was reopened at a new location, 5th Avenue and 89th Street.
Exhibitions have always been an important activity for the Academy, even prior to the opening of the National Academy Museum in 1979. Since 1826, the Academy has held annual exhibitions intended to reflect contemporary art currents in America. Any American artist was eligible to submit work to be reviewed by a jury of selection, comprised of academicians. Throughout the 19th century, the annual exhibitions at the Academy were one of the most significant and influential in the country. The selection process for these exhibitions was a critical topic, at times actively discussed in the press, and continually undergoing modification and change. In addition to the Annuals, the galleries of the Academy were often rented or loaned to outside organizations such as the American Watercolor Society, Audubon Artists, and the National Association of Women Artists. The galleries also mounted special exhibitions curated by its members and hosted a certain number of travelling exhibitions organized by other museums or art organizations. The museum, opened in 1979, hosted and presented major exhibitions, many focusing on historic European subjects.
The records of New York City's National Academy of Design measure 92.7 linear feet and date from 1817-2012. The records pertain to all three constituents of the tripartite organization consisting of the Academy, a membership body of artists founded in 1825; the school, founded at the same time to promote arts education; and the exhibition program, inaugurated in 1826. Extensive administrative records include minutes, committee files, director files, annual reports, constitutions, and correspondence and subject files of council officers. Exhibition records, also substantive, date to the Academy's first annual exhibition and include gallery and special exhibitions, as well as exhibitions at the Academy's museum, established in 1979. The collection also includes gifts and funding files, especially relating to endowments and prizes; membership records; National Academy Association records; Ranger Fund assignments; extensive files pertaining to the school's administration, courses of instruction, registrations, and attendance; twenty scrapbooks containing clippings and ephemera; Society of American Artists records; correspondence and ephemera from other organizations; transcripts from oral histories with Academy members; extensive photographic material documenting artists, members, the school, exhibitions, buildings, and artwork created by Academy members; artist files containing correspondence, writings, and sketches from those associated with the Academy; and assorted printed material and ephemera.
The Academy minutes and committee files consist of official, original, and transcribed proceedings for the council, annual, business, and some committee meetings, as well as related correspondence, reports, financial documents, notes, drafts, and ballots pertaining to the Academy's administration and activities from its 1825 founding until 2006. As an organization actively engaged in the development of art and art education in the United States, the Academy minutes and committee files are a valuable resource on subjects and topics in the Academy's history; in particular, its founding, administration, school, and exhibition program.
Director files date from 1942-1990 and document the activities of four of the Academy's chief administrators, including Vernon Porter (1950-1966), Earl Tyler (1966-1967), Alice Melrose (1967-1977), and John H. Dobkin (1978-1990). Items include correspondence, memoranda, minutes, and printed material.
Annual reports, dating from 1828-2003, summarize the activities of the Academy over the course of a year, and may include presidents' reports, treasurers' reports, audits of financial operations by public accountants, and printed annual reports containing summaries from multiple council officers. Information pertains to the year's activities including finances, exhibitions, membership, the school, committee activities, awards, and other business.
Academy constitutions date from 1826-2012 and include the printed constitutions and by-laws as well as constitutional proposals. Constitutions and by-laws name the current council officials, professors, academicians, associates, and honorary members, and state the mission and guidelines for operation in regards to membership, officers, annual meetings, elections, school, exhibitions, and how the constitution can be amended or altered. Constitutional proposals contain amendment drafts, alterations, and related correspondence.
Council officer files, dating from 1848-1980, contain the correspondence and subjects files of Academy officers—presidents, vice presidents, corresponding secretaries, and treasurers—concerning all matters of Academy business and operations including membership, gifts and funds, the federal charter, exhibitions, juries, the school, scholarships, committee affairs, anniversaries, publicity, administrative matters, resignations, and relationships with other organizations.
General administrative files date from 1825-1982 and include ledgers, certificates, correspondence, and legal documents pertaining to the Academy's founding, building, financial accounts, art collection, and other administrative matters.
Exhibition files, dating from 1826-2003, document the Academy's long exhibition history and includes annual, gallery, special, and museum exhibitions. Files may include exhibition catalogs, photographs, press clippings, sales records, and correspondence related to jury selection, awards and prizes, and logistical planning. Files pertaining to the Academy's annual exhibitions comprise a bulk of the series. Held since 1826, the Annuals were organized and curated by Academy members, and considered to be an important and sweeping survey of contemporary American art.
Gifts and funding files date from 1860-2009 and include financial documents, ledgers, legal material, and correspondence concerning the bequests, endowments, donations, and other gifts that financed the operations of the Academy and school. A significant number of records pertain to the Abbey Trust Fund and the Archer M. Hunting Fund.
Membership files, 1826-2012, document Academy members, honorary members, fellows, and the nominations and elections whereby members were voted into the Academy. Materials include registers, certificates, nomination ledgers and proposals, candidate biographies, and ballots.
The National Academy Association files date from 1911-1959 and contain a constitution, plan, and agreement, as well as correspondence, meeting minutes, and reports for the Association, incorporated in 1912 with the aim to erect a building shared by several New York art societies. At the time of incorporation, the Association consisted of members from the National Academy of Design, American Water Color Society, American Institute of Architects, Architectural League of New York, New York Water Color Club, National Sculpture Society, Municipal Art Society, Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, Mural Painters, Society of Illustrators, and a number of city representatives and citizens.
The Ranger Fund assignment files, 1919-2008, document the distribution of artworks by living American artists to institutions throughout the United States, in accordance with the will of Henry Ward Ranger. The Ranger Fund was initiated to stimulate public interest in the work of contemporary American painters in 1919, when the Academy received a bequest from Henry Ward Ranger, totaling $400,000. Ranger stated in his will that the capital should be invested and the income used as a purchase fund to facilitate gifts of paintings by living American artists to arts institutions throughout the United States. Files document the assignment of particular works of art to institutions through the official agreement, related correspondence, and in some instances, photographs of the artwork.
Extensive school records, dating from 1826-2008, contain administrative files, enrollment records, course files, student affairs files, and printed material documenting all aspects of the school's activities aligned with the Academy's mission to educate aspiring professional artists. A bulk of this series consists of student course registrations, documented in registers, then on index cards beginning in the 1930s. While information collected varied over the decades, registrations document student names and the year, and may additionally include course name, instructor, and cost.
Twenty Academy scrapbooks document the organization's activities from 1828-1939 and include clippings and ephemera. Three of the scrapbooks are devoted to specific topics, including one for the Society of American Artists, one for both the Society of American Artists and the Society of American Fakirs, and one for the Academy's centennial exhibition.
The Society of American Artists files, 1878-1906, document the formation of the Society as a departure from the Academy in 1877, its independent operations and activities, and its eventual consolidation with the Academy in 1906. The Society's members have included Edwin Abbey, James Carroll Beckwith, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Eakins, George Inness Jr., John La Farge, Albert Pinkham Ryder, among many others.
Files from other organizations date from 1817-1997 and may include correspondence, ledgers, and printed material. Many of these organizations had business with the Academy, and records pertain to events, meetings, and exhibitions. Notable organizations include the American Academy of Fine Arts, American Federation of Arts, American Watercolor Society, Art Students League, Fine Arts Federation of New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Etching Club, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and Salmagundi Club.
Oral history transcripts date from 2002-2007. Eight comprehensive interviews, conducted by Avis Berman for the Academy, are with Academy members and cover all aspects of the artists' lives, including family, early life, beginning career, mentors, contemporaries, influences, patrons, awards, residencies, as well as the artists' relationship with the Academy. The interview transcripts provide first-hand accounts of the organization, particularly from circa 1940 up to the time of the interview. Artists interviewed include Will Barnet, Hyman Bloom, Richard Haas, Ellen Lanyon, Jules Olitski, Bernard Olshan, Paul Resika, and Dorothea Rockburne.
Photographic material, dating from 1845-2010, includes a wide variety of formats and processes including 19th and 20th photographic prints, glass plate negatives, copy prints, contact sheets, slides, and 35mm negatives. Subjects include artists and others associated with the Academy, the school, exhibitions and events, Academy buildings, artwork, and reference photographs. Many 19th century photographs contain descriptive annotations. Supplementary inventories and guides prepared by Academy archivists are scattered throughout the series.
Artist files date from 1826-2004 and include the correspondence, writings, manuscripts, diaries, exhibition catalogs, and clippings of many notable artists involved with the Academy, including Asher B. Durand and Rembrandt Peale. Of particular note are two notebooks Durand gifted to the Academy, both containing notes and sketches from anatomy lectures.
While printed material is scattered throughout, the final series collects a small number of additional announcements, brochures, clippings, illustrations, and other ephemera not filed in other series.
The series is arranged as five subseries. The original order of the minutes and committee files have undergone several alterations over the years. Subseries 1.4 and 1.5 both contain extensive committee records. Minutes and reports (1.4) are arranged chronologically while committee files (1.5) have been arranged alphabetically.
The National Academy of Design minutes and committee files consist of official, original, and transcribed proceedings for the council, annual, business, and some committee meetings, as well as related correspondence, reports, financial documents, notes, drafts, and ballots pertaining to the Academy's administration and activities from its 1825 founding until 2006.
As an organization actively engaged in the development of art and art education in the United States, the Academy minutes and committee files are a valuable resource on subjects and topics including the Academy's history; the formation, development, contents, and loans of its art collection; art and design education; Academy exhibits and public programs; relationships with other art and educational organizations in the United States and Europe, including Columbia University, New York University, National Arts Club, and many others; interactions with officials of the City of New York; the Academy's role in shaping the architectural and sculptural environment of New York City and Washington, DC; contemporary art movements and schools; the development of American art, and the integral role that Academy members, faculty, and students played in that development; the role of women artists at the Academy; and the Academy's involvement in the standardization of materials for painters and sculptors, such as analysis of colors in oil and pigments.
Official council minutes (subseries 1.1) have been approved by the appropriate governing body and consist of seven bound volumes of handwritten minutes and, after May 1894, unbound typewritten pages housed in folders and boxes. The official minutes were copied from the handwritten notes in bound books, identified as the original council minutes (subseries 1.2). Official minutes contain the proceedings of the council, officers, trustees, and committees, as well as related records inlaid or pasted among the pages. These items include council officers' reports, resolutions, correspondence, occasional drafts and notes, constitutions and by-laws for some of the early years, obituaries of Academy members, and other assorted materials. Gaps in the official minutes may be filled in or appear to be more complete in the original minutes.
Original council minutes (subseries 1.2) are the most original of the minutes and consist of handwritten notes in bound books, supposedly from draft notes taken during meetings. Minutes are comprised of the proceedings of the council, officers, trustees, and committees, and related material including drafts, notes, leaflets, brochures, and correspondence. The distinction between official and original minutes essentially disappeared after 1916. Minutes after 1916 are arranged in subseries 1.4.
The council minutes excerpts (subseries 1.3) are handwritten summaries of the Academy minutes, thought to have been prepared from 1915-1919 by the Academy librarian George W. Maynard. Occasionally, reports, loose notes (some of which might be initial draft notes from meetings), and bookmarks with short annotations presumably created in the late 1970s are included. Box 4, folder 10 contains handwritten committee reports, agreements, and other documents referred to in the council minutes, requested to be transcribed, but ultimately not transcribed. The excerpts for 1863-1878 were typed at some point and are included in this subseries. All excerpts are indexed: indices for the years 1825-1863 are included in their respective folders; an index for the years 1863-1909 is in box 3, folder 13; an index for the years 1909-1916 is in box 4, folder 11; and an index for the years 1916-1919 is in box 4, folder 16. The last folder contains correspondence related to the transcription project.
Minutes and reports (subseries 1.4) include proceedings for the council, annual, business, election, and committee meetings, as well as annual, financial, librarian, and committee reports. Committees include or have included the Abbey Fund, building, exhibition, executive, finance, membership, nominating, school, Ranger Fund, women's, and various ad-hoc committees. Over the years the structure, powers and duties of committees were modified. Occasional correspondence, notes, exhibition catalogues, and handwritten texts (mostly original drafts of minutes) are included. This is especially true for the period 1897-1913, when handwritten drafts and notes of minutes were more or less consistently incorporated with typewritten minutes in chronological order.
Committee files (subseries 1.5) contain the same types of materials found in subseries 1.4, including committee minutes, reports, and related material.
Minutes and Reports
School Committee
School Committee
School Committee
School Committee
Director files include correspondence, memoranda, minutes, and printed material relating to National Academy of Design chief administrators Vernon Porter (1950-1966), Earl Tyler (1966-1967), Alice Melrose (1967-1977), and John H. Dobkin (1978-1990). Correspondence is with council officers and others addressing routine administration, school affairs, exhibitions, election of honorary members, bills and accounting, and other daily business. Files for Porter comprise the bulk of the series and a few are arranged by subject, including one concerning the publication of a book by then president, Eliot Clark, on the history of the Academy.
Annual reports summarize the activities of the National Academy of Design over the course of a year, and may include presidents' reports, treasurers' reports, audits of financial operations by public accountants, and printed annual reports containing summaries from multiple council officers. Presented at the annual meeting, the president's report summarized the year's activities including exhibitions, membership, the school, committee activities, awards, and other business. Early presidents' reports were handwritten and prepared to be delivered at annual meetings, while later reports were included in printed booklets distributed to members. Some files contain drafts and correspondence related to the presidents' reports. Treasurers' reports are quite detailed, providing income, expenses, balances, and debts, as a result of the Academy's activities. These financial reports are usually supplemented by a summary of transactions and general assessment of the financial health and sustainability of the organization. For the years 1983-1985, the annual report was included in the second half of that year's annual exhibition catalog. Not all files contain all types of reports or information. See folder titles for more detail about a particular year.
Files are arranged chronologically.
The series is arranged as two subseries, each arranged chronologically.
This series includes printed constitutions and by-laws as well as constitutional proposals. The earliest constitution was adopted in 1826 and names the current council officials, professors, academicians, associates, and honorary members, and states the mission and guidelines for operation in regards to membership, officers, annual meetings, elections, school, exhibitions, and how the constitution could be amended or altered. The by-laws outline the rules by which council officials, members, professors, and visitors will abide. The second constitution, adopted in 1829, also includes the act of incorporation, passed in 1828. The constitution and by-laws were reprinted every three to fifteen years to reflect amendments, alterations, and new leadership and members. Some constitutions include inventories of the Academy's property. The constitution from 1943 includes a list of artworks in the Academy's collection, and the constitution from 1952 lists all property owned by the Academy, including furniture, books, and artwork. Many copies of the constitutions and by-laws are annotated.
Constitutional proposals include amendment drafts, alterations, and related correspondence.
The series is arranged as four subseries.
This series predominantly contains the correspondence and subjects files of National Academy of Design council officers, including presidents, vice presidents, corresponding secretaries, and treasurers. Presidents' correspondence comprises the bulk of this series and relates to all matters of Academy business and operations including membership, gifts and funds, the federal charter, exhibitions, juries, the school, scholarships, committee affairs, anniversaries, publicity, administrative matters, resignations, and relationships with other organizations. Other records include speeches, addresses, and printed material. The remaining subseries (5.2-5.4) contain correspondence of vice presidents, corresponding secretaries, and treasurers. Annual reports by council officers are arranged in series 3.
General administrative files include ledgers, certificates, correspondence, and legal documents pertaining to the National Academy of Design's founding, building, financial accounts, art collection, and other administrative matters. General correspondence consists primarily of early letters received by council officers from individuals and organizations regarding finances, donations, exhibitions, invitations, and cooperation between the Academy and other art organizations including the American National Gallery Committee, Ladies' Art Association, and the Washington Monument Association of the City of New York. The "Building Scrip.", a large ledger in box 126, contains blank and signed bonds sold to investors of a new Academy building.
The series is arranged as five subseries. Files are arranged chronologically within each subseries.
Exhibition files document the National Academy of Design's commitment to exhibiting American art, achieved through its long history mounting annual, gallery, special, and museum exhibitions. Files may include exhibition catalogs, photographs, press clippings, sales records, and correspondence related to jury selection, awards and prizes, and logistical planning.
Annual exhibition files (subseries 7.1) document the Academy's member-curated annual exhibitions, which since 1826, have presented a survey of contemporary art in America. Up until 1900, the documentation of the annual exhibitions consists primarily of the exhibition catalogs, press clippings, and other printed material such as invitations and tickets. Catalogs provide details on participants, and many from the late 19th century contain illustrations by the artists and notes by prominent art critics such as Charles M. Kurtz. Documentation for 20th century exhibitions may additionally contain correspondence; financial material including price lists and receipts; exhibition and jury committee records; photographs of artwork, installations, and juries; guest books; entry forms and submission guidelines; and voting ballots. Annual exhibitions have typically been held in the spring, and certain years include winter or autumn annual exhibitions as well.
Gallery exhibition files (subseries 7.2) pertain to those exhibitions organized by outside organizations or groups who rented or borrowed the space from the Academy, including the American Society of Painters in Watercolor, Audubon Artists, and the National Association of Women Artists. These exhibitions provided a source of revenue for the Academy or were organized as a benefit for the outside organization. Items may include exhibition catalogs, clippings, correspondence, lists, and rental agreements.
Special exhibition files (subseries 7.3) pertain to exhibitions organized by the Academy and featuring works by Academy members. This includes exhibitions organized to correspond with America's centennial in 1876, the Academy's own centennial in 1925, and exhibitions of Academy artists organized in other locations including New Zealand and Fort Worth, Texas. Items found in this subseries may include catalogs, lectures and essays, correspondence, and other records pertaining to sales, curatorial, advertising, fundraising, and lenders.
Museum exhibition files (subseries 7.4) relate to exhibitions mounted by the Academy museum, opened in 1979, independent of the Annuals and member generated shows. Museum exhibitions included many travelling exhibitions that originated elsewhere and visited the Academy museum.
The final subseries (7.5) contains general exhibition files that overlap between exhibition types.
Abstract of Pictures Exhibited
Reviews
Reviews
Reviews
Ephemera
Reviews
Reviews
61st Annual Exhibition, Catalog and Reviews
1st Annual Summer Exhibition of American Painting, Catalog
Reviews
Winter Exhibition, Financial Records
110th Annual Exhibition
Catalogs (copies)
Alcoa Caribbean Art Competition
H. K. Brown Statues and Busts, Catalog (copies)
Loan Exhibition
The series is arranged as two subseries.
Gifts and funding files include financial documents, ledgers, legal material, and correspondence concerning the bequests, endowments, donations, and other gifts that financed the operations of the National Academy of Design.
Academy gifts and funding files (subseries 8.1) document estate bequests, donations, and gifts. Estate bequests detail property, trusts, and establishment of awards, medals, or prizes to distinguished artists in the benefactor's name. Donations and gifts can include contributions of money, books, or artwork for the Academy to employ or sell. Notable funds were provided by Arthur M. Huntington, who left the Academy a generous endowment and a 5th avenue property, while also establishing the Fellowship Fund to solicit money from former and prominent members.
School gifts and funding files (subseries 8.2) contain much of the same material found in the Academy subseries, with the distinction that these funds were specifically allocated to support students and school operations. Notable among these are the Pulitzer Prize Scholarship Fund and the John Chancellor Paris Prize fund, both of which were awarded to exceptional art students to help finance their studies abroad. Additional information on scholarship and prize applicants and recipients are arranged in the school series, under student affairs (subseries 12.4).
The series is arranged as three subseries.
Membership files document National Academy of Design members, honorary members, fellows, and the nominations and elections whereby members were voted into the Academy.
Member registers and certificates (subseries 9.1) document membership at the academician and associate levels. Registers provide names of members, and a few ledgers track member payments and addresses. Official certificates, signed by the Academy president, further document associate and academician membership in the 19th century. Due to the gap in years of registers and certificates, the most complete record of membership is a listing created circa 1987, which documents members initial election and level for the years 1826-1987 (box 37, folder 11).
Nomination and election files (subseries 9.2) document the process by which new members were elected. Proposal forms vary over the decades, from an early list of names submitted by current members, to more elaborate forms later, containing endorsers and letters of recommendation. Candidate biographies only began to be prepared in the mid-1950s. These printed and illustrated brochures provided voters with an overview of the nominated artists in the four professional classes of painting, sculpture, graphics, and architecture, for membership at either the academician or associate level. Also filed here are ballots used by current members for selection, and one file pertaining to the nomination and election of officers and council.
The final subseries (9.3) documents fellows and honorary members to the Academy through registers, diplomas, and certificates.
The National Academy Association files contain a constitution, plan, and agreement, as well as correspondence, meeting minutes, and reports for the National Academy Association, incorporated in 1912, with the aim to erect a building shared by several New York art societies. At the time of incorporation, the Association consisted of members from the National Academy of Design, American Water Color Society, American Institute of Architects, Architectural League of New York, New York Water Color Club, National Sculpture Society, Municipal Art Society, Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, Mural Painters, Society of Illustrators, and a number of city representatives and citizens. Their shared goals were to develop and encourage the study of fine arts, aid artists and associations of artists, disseminate knowledge of and stimulate interest in fine arts, provide space for classes, exhibitions, lectures, and accommodations. The final goal, the erection of an Arts Center, never came to fruition. In 1958, refunds were issued by the Association's board of trustees to each of the organizations who contributed money at the 1912 incorporation.
Correspondence
Plan and Agreement
Constitution and Meeting Minutes
The Ranger Fund assignment files document the distribution of artworks by living American artists to institutions throughout the United States, in accordance with the will of Henry Ward Ranger. The Ranger Fund was initiated to stimulate public interest in the work of contemporary American painters in 1919, when the National Academy of Design received a bequest from Henry Ward Ranger, totaling $400,000. Ranger stated in his will that the capital should be invested and the income used as a purchase fund to facilitate gifts of paintings by living American artists to arts institutions throughout the United States.
Files document the assignment of particular works of art to institutions through the official agreement, related correspondence, and in some instances, photographs of the artwork. Requests include questionnaire forms completed by requesting institutions regarding the nature of the building and public accessibility. Also included are lists of paintings for assignment and assignment location, as well as related correspondence. Purchases includes lists of artworks purchased with the Ranger Fund and related correspondence.
A stipulation of the Ranger Will was that the National Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, be able to acquire any artwork purchased with the Ranger Fund during a certain period of time after the artist's death. Smithsonian Institution files here contain annual reports with the purchases from each year and their assignments. Correspondence between the Smithsonian Institution and the Academy inform on the council's decision to assign particular paintings purchased with the Ranger Fund, detail purchases and allocations, and discuss whether or not to bring a painting into the National Gallery's collection within the designated time period.
A spreadsheet in box 43, folder 7 catalogs all assigned works from 1919-2007 and includes purchase date, price, original assignee, current assignment, and Smithsonian Institution accession date, when applicable.
The series is arranged as five subseries.
School records contain administrative files, enrollment records, course files, student affairs files, and printed material documenting all aspects of the school's activities.
Administrative files (subseries 12.1) contain material on the school's history and associations, including its 1948 closing and subsequent reopening in 1951, its affiliation with Columbia University in the early 20th century, and its failed merger with New York Academy of Art in 1992. Also found are analytics and expense reports on the school's performance, an extensive comparative study that was commissioned in 1928 to measure the school against similar institutions, and a detailed historical survey compiled in 1919 with summaries of the school's operations since its founding. Other material consists of licensing documents related to the school's official accreditation, and material on the school supply store that was run both by students and outside vendors.
The bulk of enrollment files (subseries 12.2) is comprised of student registration and attendance records. Student course registrations were documented in registers, then on index cards beginning in the 1930s. While information collected varied over the decades, registrations document student names and the year, and may additionally include course name, instructor, and cost. Additional files contain prospectuses, financial aid and scholarship information, applications, and immigration forms for international students.
Course files (subseries 12.3) include calendars, course descriptions, assignments, exams, and information on models used for figure classes. Teacher files are also included here, and contain letters of application, clippings, course proposals, photographic material, and legal contracts.
Student affairs files (subseries 13.4) are comprised of material directly related to the student body. Included are lists of notable students and alumni, material on the student association and student petitions, records of the recipients of awards and prizes, and information regarding War services and death notices, which includes correspondence with the Veterans Administration and announcements of students who passed away during service in World War I and World War II, or in the influenza epidemic of 1918.
Printed materials (subseries 12.5) relate to the promotion and advertising of the school, and include booklets, brochures, bulletins, notices posted for students and faculty, newspaper clippings, and articles containing school and faculty mentions.
Petitions
Twenty National Academy of Design scrapbooks document the organization's activities from 1828-1939 and include clippings and ephemera. Clippings from contemporary periodicals illuminate perception of the Academy in the public press, or pertain to academicians and persons related to the Academy. Topics include exhibition reviews and announcements; jury of selection activities and decisions; Academy elections; awards, prizes, honors and scholarships; school affairs; building news; and obituaries both in the press and published by the Academy. Ephemera includes announcements, invitations, tickets, programs, flyers, circulars, stationary, constitutions, and forms for student applications, certificates, and awards. A few lists and some correspondence are also found among the scrapbooks. Three of the scrapbooks are devoted to specific topics, including one for the Society of American Artists, one for both the Society of American Artists and the Society of American Fakirs, and one for the Academy's centennial exhibition. Additional description for thirteen of the notebooks was prepared by an Academy archivist and is filed in box 56, folder 11.
The Society of American Artists files document the formation of the Society as a departure from the National Academy of Design in 1877, its independent operations and activities, and its eventual consolidation with the Academy in 1906. Included are an article about the formation of the Society, correspondence, constitutions, incorporation records, exhibition files, a financial ledger, minutes, and records pertaining to the society's consolidation with the Academy. The Society's members have included Edwin Abbey, James Carroll Beckwith, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Eakins, George Inness Jr., John La Farge, Albert Pinkham Ryder, among many others.
Article, "A New Departure in American Art" (1878) by George William Sheldon
Certificate of Incorporation
Constitutions
Constitutions
Constitutions
Correspondence
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Exhibition, James McNeil Whistler
Exhibitions
Financial Records
Union with the National Academy of Design
Files from other organizations may include correspondence, ledgers, and printed material. Many of these organizations had business with the National Academy of Design, and records pertain to events, meetings, and exhibitions. Records of the New York Etching Club are particularly robust, and contain the Club's minutes and member certificates. Other notable organizations include the American Academy of Fine Arts, American Federation of Arts, American Watercolor Society, Art Students League, Fine Arts Federation of New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and Salmagundi Club.
The series is arranged alphabetically with a few certificates from various organizations arranged at the end.
American Academy of Fine Arts, Mercantile Library Association, and Metropolitan Museum of Art
Oral histories were conducted by Avis Berman for the National Academy of Design from 2002-2007. The comprehensive interviews are with Academy members and cover all aspects of the artists' lives, including family, early life, beginning career, mentors, contemporaries, influences, patrons, awards, residencies, as well as the artists' relationships with the Academy. Some oral histories were untaken by the Abbey Fund, and deal at length with the artists' murals, including Ellen Lanyon and Richard Haas. Some narrators played an active role in the Academy, occupying leadership positions on the board or various committees. The interview transcripts provide first-hand accounts of the Academy, particularly from circa 1940 up to the time of the interview. Topics addressed include the Academy's history, reputation, place in the 20th century art world, race and diversity, projects and initiatives, funding, and leadership.
The series is arranged as six subseries.
Photographic material includes a wide variety of formats and processes including 19th and 20th photographic prints, glass plate negatives, copy prints, contact sheets, slides, and 35mm negatives. Subjects include artists and others associated with the National Academy of Design, the school, exhibitions and events, Academy buildings, artwork, and reference photographs. Many 19th century photographs contain descriptive annotations. Supplementary inventories and guides prepared by Academy archivists are scattered throughout.
Artists and others associated with the Academy (subseries 17.1) consists of portraits of artists and groups of people—including members, juries, and council officers—at exhibitions, dinners, council meetings, and other gatherings. There are several folders of photographs of Henry Ward Ranger over three decades, some with Academy colleagues. One folder contains photographs belonging to Academy member Francis Lathrop, depicting a workshop, believed to belong to William Morris (includes supplemental correspondence, 1968-1986). One civil war photograph was sent to the president of the Academy by Joseph Jackson, depicting union soldiers and thanking the Academy for its inspiring work.
Photographs of the Academy school (subseries 17.2) depict teachers, students, classrooms, models, and instruction. Some classes are identified, such as George W. Maynard's class, and James Carroll Beckwith's "antiques class". Also included are photographs of student artworks, exhibitions, critiques, scholarship winners, and extracurricular activities. Student artwork includes predominantly figurative paintings, sculptures, and murals.
Exhibition and event photographs (subseries 17.3) include the Academy centennial exhibition, exhibitions not held at the Academy, ceremonies, galas, and the 175th anniversary celebration.
Building photographs (subseries 17.4) include copy prints of illustrations and renderings of proposed building sites, floor plans, and interior and exterior views of many of the Academy's buildings.
Artwork photographs (subseries 17.5) depict work by Daniel Huntington and George W. Maynard (many with annotations), murals by John Holmer and Gifford Beal, as well as medals, portrait paintings, figurative sculpture, sculptural relief, and religious murals.
Reference photographs (subseries 17.6) include figure studies, landscapes, and locations abroad including Egypt, Italy, the Middle East, Northern Europe, and Spain.
Glass plate negatives housed in
Italy
Italy
Middle East
Northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe
Artist files include correspondence, writings, manuscripts, diaries, and printed material relating to many notable artists involved with the National Academy of Design, including Timothy Cole, Moseley Isaac Danforth, Asher B. Durand, Rembrandt Peale, John Singer Sargent, Benjamin West, and Worthington Whittredge.
The bulk of the material consists of correspondence and memoranda related to the nomination and acceptance of individual artists as associates and academicians of the National Academy of Design, and documents the involvement of artists as both recipients of nominations as well as in the capacity of nominating and seconding colleagues.
Other material includes files on specific donor bequests resulting in the disposition of artwork by William Stanley Haseltine, Kenyon Cox, and William Trost Richards, to various art institutions throughout the United States. These files contain correspondence with the donors and recipient institutions, and lists of the artwork dispersed through these bequests.
In addition to the above, other records of particular note include: correspondence and transcripts of extensive and detailed letters from Timothy Cole about many aspects of his life and work; two notebooks belonging to Asher B. Durand, containing notes and sketches from anatomy lectures; Rembrandt Peale files, which contain technical painting notes and an extensive lecture titled, "Notes of the Painting Room;" and two notebooks belonging to Daniel Huntington with lists of pictures. Records relating to Moseley Isaac Danforth include correspondence with Danforth followed by correspondence with his descendants regarding the disposition of his papers and other items in his estate. Also found is a diary recording Danforth's 1827 journey to England and notes on his education at the Royal Academy, records of bills and accounts from that time period, and biographical material including examples of Danforth's bank note engravings and a handwritten copy of his will.
Records are arranged alphabetically by name of artist, primarily in files spanning a range of artists, whose names are listed at the folder level. Some artists are represented in individual named files housed at the beginning of the letter of the alphabet to which they belong, with occasional sub-files arranged by subject as necessary.
Abbey-Augur
Blashfield, Edwin
Bryant, William Cullen
Bacher-Bellows
Bennett-Birney
Blauvelt-Bosworth
Bouché-Bros
Brown-Browning
Bruestle-Butler
Cole, Thomas
1844 item is a photocopy
Cole, Timothy
Cole, Timothy, Letters
Cole, Timothy, Letter Transcripts
Cole, Timothy, Letter Transcripts
Cole, Timothy, Letter Transcripts
Cox, Kenyon
Additional records relating to Kenyon Cox can be found with the William Stanley Haseltine Haseltine-Cox collection records.
Craig, Thomas, Autograph Book
Cafferty-Cavallito
Chamberlain-Comden
Clover-Coleman
Collens-Costigan
Couse-Crane
Cresson-Curran
Danforth, Moseley Isaac, Biographical Material
Danforth, Moseley Isaac, Correspondence
Danforth, Moseley Isaac, Correspondence
Danforth, Moseley Isaac, Diary
Danforth, Moseley Isaac, Loose Papers with Diary
Danforth, Moseley Isaac, Printed Material
Danforth, Moseley Isaac, Subscriber's List for Portrait of De Witt Clinton
Drummond, Samuel
Dunlap, W. M.
Dunsmore, John Ward
Dunsmore, John Ward
Durand, Asher Brown
Durand, Asher Brown, Notebook
Durand, Asher Brown, Notebook
Dabo-Davidson
Davis-de Francisi
Defty-de Luce
de Maine-Dessar
Detwiller-Dielman
Di Valentin-Duveneck
Eakins, Thomas C.
Elliot, Charles Loring
Earle-Evergood
French, Daniel Chester
Fabri-Fiske
Flagg-Fulton
Gifford, Sanford Robinson
Gaertner-Gimpel
Glackens-Granville-Smith
Graves-Gute
Haseltine, William Stanley, Haseltine-Cox Collection, Correspondence and Lists
Includes a detailed, personal letter to Haseltine's daughter Helen from Worthington Whittredge following her father's death, in which Whittredge expresses his high opinion of Haseltine as a person and an artist, and recounts specific memories of her father.
Haseltine, William Stanley, Haseltine-Cox Collection, Disposition to Institutions A-D
Haseltine, William Stanley, Haseltine-Cox Collection, Disposition to Institutions E-L
Haseltine, William Stanley, Haseltine-Cox Collection, Disposition to Institutions M-T
Haseltine, William Stanley, Haseltine-Cox Collection, Disposition to Institutions U-W
Haseltine, William Stanley, Index Cards of Artwork #1-50
Haseltine, William Stanley, Index Cards of Artwork #51-93
Hinton, Charles L.
File includes documentation of Hinton's receipt of the Havemeyer Traveling Scholarship fund.
Hughes, Ball
Huntington, Daniel, Correspondence
Huntington, Daniel, Notebook
Huntington, Daniel, Notebook, Transcription for circa 1832-circa 1891
Huntington, Daniel, Notebook
Huntington, Daniel, Notes and Fragments
Huntington, Daniel, Printed Material and Photographs
Hackley-Harer
Harmon-Hays
Heintzelman-Hill
Hine-Hyde
Ingham, Charles C.
Inman, Henry
Inness-Isham
Jackson-Josset
Kensett, John Frederick
Kappel-Kerchove
Kerr-Kyle
Lacombe-Lawrie
Lawson-Litchfield
Lober-Lukeman
MacCameron-Mattson
Maverick-Meyerowitz
Mielatz-Morton
Moschowitz-Murray
Nagler-Noble
Oakley-Osgood
Peale, Rembrandt, Notebook Fragments
Peale, Rembrandt, "Introduction to Notes of the Painting Room," Published Copy
Peale, Rembrandt, "Notes of the Painting Room," Handwritten Volume
Peale, Rembrandt, "Notes of the Painting Room," Handwritten Volume
Peale, Rembrandt, Research on Peale Notebooks
Pennell, Joseph
Paddocks-Paxton
Peabody-Pitz
Platt-Putnam
Quartley, Arthur-Quackenbush, Larry J.
Ranger, Henry Ward
Ranger, Henry Ward, Catalogs of Public Sale
Ranger, Henry Ward, Catalogs of Public Sale
Ranger, Henry Ward, Catalogs of Public Sale
Richards, T. Addison
Richards, William Trost, Brewster Bequest, Correspondence
Richards, William Trost, Brewster Bequest, Lists of Artwork and Institutions
Richards, William Trost, Brewster Bequest, Institutions A-C
Richards, William Trost, Brewster Bequest, Institutions D-N
Richards, William Trost, Brewster Bequest, Institutions P-Y
Robinson, Theodore
Rand-Reynard
Ricci-Roberts
Robertson-Ryerson
Sargent, John Singer
Shirlaw, Walter
Suydam, James S, Sudyam Collection
Includes a handwritten memoir about Sudyam written by Sanford Robinson Gifford.
Saarinen-Silverman
Sluyter-Spicer-Simson
Springweiler-Symons
Taft-Tyson
Ufer-Vonnoh
West, Benjamin
Whittredge, Worthington
Walcott-Weir
Weir-Whorf
Wickey-Wyeth
Yates-Zsilly
Printed material includes announcements for exhibitions and lectures; auction material for Mary J. Morgan's art collection; brochures for the centennial and an Academy building; assorted clippings; commemorative stamps for Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Samuel F.B. Morse; dinner menus and invitations to balls; illustrations of exhibitions, buildings, and individuals; and historical maps of the New England area. Additional printed material is scattered throughout the collection.
Dinner Menus, Programs, and Invitations