Beal, Gifford, b. 1879 d. 1956
PainterNew York, N.Y. (Show Bio)
Gifford Beal sketches, sketchbooks and papers, 1902-1953
5.0 linear ft.
2 rolled docs
The papers of painter and muralist Gifford Beal measure 5 linear feet and date from 1889 to 2001. The bulk of the collection consists of artwork; some correspondence, printed matter, pictorial subject files, photographs, and writings are also found. Works of art are primarily sketches and sketchbooks in a wide variety of media. Seventy-six sketchbooks are found. Among the loose sketches are 28 oil paintings on wood board or panel, and fourteen large pastel drawings on canvas depicting dancing figures in a romantic style. Artwork by other artists in the collection include prints by Arthur B. Davies, Rockwell Kent, and Denys Wortman.
Biographical materials include membership certificates, a marriage certificate, and a travel journal kept by Beal's wife Maud on their honeymoon. Personal correspondence consists primarily of love letters with his wife. Three folders of professional correspondence contain letters from Joseph Pennell (1925); Federal Art Project staff from the Treasury Department including Ed Rowan, Edward Bruce, and Forbes Watson (1938); Walker Hancock (1951); and a series of letters signed "Hyde," from Crow Island, Massachusetts, which may have been written by Edward Hyde Cox (1953-1954).
Also found among the papers are printed materials such as exhibition catalogs, clippings, and reproductions of artwork; subject files containing clippings, photographs, and other pictorial references to common subjects of Beal's artwork; and a few personal photographs and photographs of works of art. Notes and writings are found among his sketchbooks, including one long autobiographical essay which may have been for a lecture, a few diary entries from 1942, and extensive notes on the color, form, and lighting of his sketching subjects.
Donated 1992 and 1993 by Gifford R. and William Beal, sons of Gifford Beal, in 2000 by family members Richard Goff, Lewis Goff, Margaret Alexander Beal, and Telka A. Beal and in 2007 by Gifford Beal c/o the Krausshar Galleries.
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- Collection has been digitized and is available via the Archives of American Art's website.
- The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
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