Moffett, Ross E., b. 1888 d. 1971
Landscape painter, PainterProvincetown, Mass. (Show Bio)
Ross and Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett papers, ca.1870-1992
7.8 linear ft. (on 8 microfilm reels)
Reel(s): D80, 4924-4929, 5044
Primarily papers of Ross Moffett, including biographical material, correspondence, sketches, sketchbooks, project files, printed material, photographs, slides, and financial records, relating mainly to Moffett's participation as an artist and resident in the Provincetown, Mass. community. Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett's papers consist mainly of letters to her father, a journal, photographs, art work, and reproductions of her work. Material has been annotated by Moffett's biographer Josephine Couch Del Deo.
REELS 4924-4929: Correspondence, 1915-1972 (0.6 ft.), primarily concerns a family owned Iowa farm and general news from Moffett's sister, Faye. Other correspondents include his cousin and Undersecretary of Interior in the Eisenhower administration, Clarence Davis, his aunt, Fannie Gelvin, Edwin Dickinson and other artists, collectors, and dealers, among them Charles Burchfield and Frank Rehn, and letters relating to Moffett's participation in WPA art projects. Project files, 1954-1969 (1.2 ft.), contain correspondence, printed material, and photographs on Moffett's work on the Eisenhower murals in Abilene, Kansas; his fight to protect the Province Lands (1959-1962) and to establish the Cape Cod National Seashore (1963-1969); his published history of the first 33 years of the Provincetown Art Association, "Art in Narrow Streets"; and the controversy involving the conversion of the Provincetown Center Methodist Church into the Chrysler Museum. Printed material, 1916-1992, (1.5 ft.) regards Moffett's career as an artist as well as other artists that interested him, and include press releases, newspaper clippings, magazine clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs.
Photographs, 1900-1975, include portraits of Moffett, his studio, his artwork, artwork of other Provincetown artists, Provincetown scenery and daily life, and installations at the Provincetown Art Association Gallery. Slides (not microfilmed) are of the Art Association, Iowa farmland and the Chrysler Museum. Art work consists of 32 sketches (pencil on paper) and 85 annotated sketchbooks (43 x 35.1 cm. or smaller), 1913-1969 (4 are by Dorothy Gregory Moffett), mostly pencil on paper, containing nautical scenes and landscapes of Provincetown, Mass. and Florida, figure studies, and studies for paintings and murals, 1913-1970. A small amount of financial records consist of an account book, 1953-1971, with some entries for art expenses, and several receipts.
REEL 5044 (1 ft.): The papers of Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett include Gregory family letters, ca. 1870-1917, among them letters written by her grandfather, John Milton Gregory, first president of the University of Illinois, to her father, Grant Gregory, ca. 1870-1895; Moffett's correspondence with her father, ca. 1912-1943, while she studied art at Woodstock, N.Y., New Hope, Pa., and Provincetown, Mass., referring to her finances, classes, instructors, fellow students, materials and critiques; miscellaneous letters to Dorothy from friends and family, ca. 1915-1974, include personal letters from fellow students, business affairs, and letters of support and condolence prior to and upon the death of Ross Moffett, 1970-1971.
Original art work by Dorothy includes pencil drawings, ca. 1926-1930, lithographs, ca. 1925-1935, and etchings, ca. 1926-1930. Photographs are of Dorothy, her family, and friends, ca. 1913-1930 and 1950. Included is one of Robert Henri's 1914-1915 Art Students League class.
Other material includes a file on Moffett's aunt, Julia Gregory, ca. 1939-1947, containing correspondence and a will; an illustrated journal, "My European Trip," 1910-1911; a newspaper article about Ross and Dorothy, 1975; the Moffett family history; and an account book, 1945-1954, listing sales of reproductions and other information.
REEL D80: 150 letters relating to art organizations and museums, 1921-1956, and letters relating to government art projects, 1933-1940; ca. 50 clippings; records of the Provincetown Art Association and the Emergency Committee for the Protection of Province Lands; and miscellaneous publications.
Location of Originals: Reel D80: Originals in Syracuse University, New York.
Material on reel D80 lent for microfilming 1962 by Ross Moffett. Remainder donated 1974 by his widow, Dorothy Lake Gregory Moffett (d. 1975), via Ross Moffett's biographer, Josephine Del Deo, who turned them over in installments. Funding for the processing and microfilming of material on reels 4924-29 was provided by a grant from the Ellis L. Phillips Foundation, Boston, Mass. Archaeological material and artifacts received with the papers were donated to the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology, Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.
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