Watson, Forbes, b. 1880 d. 1960

Forbes Watson papers, 1900-1950

14.5 linear ft. (partially microfilmed on 16 reels)

Papers concern Watson's involvement in the New Deal Public Works of Art Project and the Treasury Dept. Section of Fine Arts, his work as an art critic for the New York Evening Post and The New York World, editor of The Arts and other publications, lecturer, writer, and with art related activities during World War II.

REELS D47-D57: Biographical material; photographs of Bruce; general correspondence, 1917-1953; writings; scrapbooks of newspaper columns; files and scrapbooks on The Arts; writings and related material for contributions to art publications such as American Magazine of Art, Parnassus, Magazine of Art, and for lectures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Students League, and elsewhere; correspondence, writings, photographs and other material relating to his work with Edward Rowan on the PWAP and the Treasury Dept. Section of Fine Arts projects; material related to his World War II art activities; and photographs and printed material relating to Nan Watson.

Also included are extensive files on artists and colleagues, containing correspondence, photographs and printed material. The Edward Bruce file contains writings, speeches by Watson written for Bruce, a 1943 catalog of the Edward Bruce Memorial Collection held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1938-1939, correspondence regarding contributions by artists for the purchase of a Bruce painting, including letters from artists to Ellsworth Bunker, treasurer of the fund. Included is a letter, 1934 July 26, from Bruce regarding the PWAP and his philosophy behind the Section of Fine Arts.

Other files include Alexander Archipenko, Milton Avery, Kenneth Bald, George Bellows, Robert Blum, Constantin Brancusi, John Breeze, Alexander Brook, Fiske Boyd, Clarence K. Chatterton, Howard Cook, J. Halley Cox, Kenyon Cox, Alfred Di Giorgio Crimi, Arthur Dove, Olin Dows, Joseph Albert Duveen, Susan Eakins, Hamilton Easter Field, David Fredenthal, Karl Free, William Glackens, Rosella Hartman, Winslow Homer, Mitchell Jamieson, Avery Johnson, Robert Edmond Jones, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Julian E. Levi, Ward Lockwood, William Loreel, Sherman C. Loudermilk, George Luks, John R. McDermott, Edward Millman, Albert K. Murray, Horace Pippin, Maurice Prendergast, Edward Reep, Glenn H. Rounds, Albert Pinkam Ryder, John Singer Sargent, Jayson J. Schoener, Charles Shannon, Dwight C. Shepler, Sidney Simon, Samuel D. Smith, Raphael Soyer, Szukalski, Freder Jensen Vidar, Rudolph Von Ripper, Max Weber, William Zorach, and others. The files may include writings by Watson and others, printed material, photographs, and letters. The Whitney Studio Club file contains a calendar/scrapbook kept by Watson, containing exhibition announcements, catalogs, clippings, and a few notes, 1924-1930; and a list of exhibitions at the Whitney Studio Galleries, 1928-1930.

REELS 1192-1194: Photographs, primarily of the work of artists involved in PWAP and the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, 1934-1942; of museum administrators, art dealers and government officials; architecture and interiors; and of unidentified paintings and sculpture. Included is a photo of Henri Matisse taken by A. E. Gallatin, Nice, France, March, 1932 (reel 1193).

REEL 3480: A letter to Watson from painter Charles Burchfield of April 12, 1925, regarding an editorial on juries and censorship by Watson (appearing in the April issue of ARTS magazine), and a carbon copy of Watson's reply.

REEL 4361: An oil painting by Nan Watson, annotated on its stretcher: "Mrs. William Patterson, Grandmother of Nan Watson, Edinburgh, Scotland. Painted by Nan Watson."

UNMICROFILMED: Original art works, including a pastel drawing by Symeon Shimin, a lithograph, "Election Night" by Glenn O. Coleman; and a lithograph, "Colorado State Greetings," 1937, by Peppino Mangravite; and ten photographs by Charles Sheeler of architecture in New York City, ca. early 1920's, published in The Arts, Aug. 1923.

Donated 1961 by Mrs. Forbes Watson, widow of Watson. 79 photographs microfilmed with Photographs of Artists 1. See Photos Artists 1 finding aid for list.

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