Charles Henry Hart autograph collection, 1731-1912
Hart, Charles Henry,
b. 1847
d. 1918
Art historian, Author
Philadelphia, Pa.
Collection size: 2 v. (226 items on 1 microfilm reel)
Collection Summary: 167 letters from painters and sculptors assembled by Charles Henry Hart. Forty-three artists write to Hart, eighteen to Asher Brown Durand, thirteen to Thomas Benedict Clarke, nine to John Trumbull, eight to John Durand, five to Charles Lanman, three to William James Stillman, and fifty-eight to various individuals. Also included are five receipts, two signed exhibition announcements, and 26 prints, mostly artist portraits.
The actual title of the letterbooks is The History of Art in America as Told in a Remarkable Collection of Autograph Letters and Documents of Celebrated American Artists of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Century.
Biographical/Historical Note: Charles Henry Hart Art (1847-1918) was a historian, lawyer, writer, and director, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1882-1904. He published widely on the subject of eighteenth and nineteenth-century portraiture in the United States.
The collection was received as an anonymous gift to the Archives in 1954. It has been assumed that Hart assembled the letters and related material. He may have obtained the letters written to Asher B. Durand from Durand's son, John. Original collation of the collection was two letterbooks.
How to Use this Collection
- Microfilm reel D5 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
- Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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