About the Charles M. Kurtz papers

Born in 1853 to Davis Brook Kurtz (1826-1906), an attorney, and Julia Wilder, Charles Kurtz enjoyed a genteel upbringing. The Kurtz family originated in Darmstadt, Germany, and migrated to America in the eighteenth century. D.B. Kurtz, a leading member of the Lawrence County bar, was also a vice-president of the National Bank of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. As a local representative of many important railroad and business interests, he accumulated assets estimated at one million dollars by the time of his death, just three years before that of his son, Charles, the eldest of his five children. Unlike his brothers Louis, who also became an attorney, and Edward, a professor at Columbia University, Charles eschewed a professional career to enter the art world, as did his sisters Emily, an artist, and Catherine, a musician.

After his graduation from Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, Kurtz visited the Centennial Exposition, held in 1876 in Philadelphia, before coming to New York to study art at the National Academy of Design. These two activities foreshadowed the direction that his career would eventually take. As the chronology indicates, his early efforts revolve around writing for a variety of publications, most notably, his own National Academy Notes. In 1881 he took what was to be the first of many trips abroad to survey the art scene in Europe. Later in his career, his fascination with foreign art and his own entrepeneurial interests led him to become an outspoken opponent of tariffs on imported art.

Kurtz's personal life changed significantly in 1884 when he met Julia Stephenson, a physician's daughter and fledging art student from Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Throughout their courtship and after their marriage the couple was frequently separated. Consequently, they wrote lengthy letters which document not only their personal relationship but also Kurtz's aspirations and activities in the art world.

With his appointment as one of Halsey C. Ives's (1847-1911) chief assistants of the Fine Arts Department of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1891, Charles Kurtz's career achieved international stature. Among the most notable European artists he introduced into this country through circulating exhibitions were the Glasgow School, the Danish School, the Hungarian artist, Mihaly Munkacsy, and the subject of his final exhibition, the Spanish artist, Sorolla.

Throughout his life, Kurtz was plagued by health problems and, in 1899, illness forced him to resign as Assistant Director of Fine Arts for the United States for the Paris Exposition of 1900. Throughout the following decade, his work was increasingly interrupted by ill health. His death in 1909 at the age of 54, while sudden, was not entirely unexpected. However it most certainly cut short a cosmopolitan career that encompassed virtually every aspect of the art world and the pertinent issues of the day.

Kurtz is remembered for his editorial work with the National Academy of Design; as Art Director for the Southern Exposition, 1883-1886, and the St. Louis Exposition, 1894-1899 (where he introduced the Glasgow School of Painting); and as Assistant Chief/Director for the World's Columbian Exposition, the 1900 Paris Exposition, and the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. He was also director of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy.

Date

Event

1855

Charles McMeen Kurtz born

1876

receives B.S. degree from Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania

1876-78

studies at the National Academy of Design, N.Y. with Lemuel Wilmarth and William Morgan; writes a column, "New York Letters," for The Courant published in New Castle, Pennsylvania

1878

edits a small daily paper published during a "National Camp Meeting for the promotion of Holiness" held that summer in New Castle, Pa.; its critical stance resulted in his public denouncement and earned him a reputation as a journalist in western Pennsylvania; receives M.A. from Washington and Jefferson College

1878-79

becomes the local editor of The Guardian of New Castle

1879

publishes The Daily Reporter, a financial success

1881

publishes the first issue of National Academy Notes; travels in Europe, spending time in England, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France (Paris)

1881-82

prepares Illustrated Notes for Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition

1882

writes "Art Notes" in The New York Tribune and resigns Dec. 23rd

1882-83

accepts position to write for Music and Drama, a new daily paper

1883

becomes the general manager of the American Art Union; exhibits a large collection of Art Union paintings in Buffalo, N.Y. and Louisville, Ky., where they became part of the Southern Exposition's first great art display

1883-86

accepts offer to become Director of the Art Department, Southern Exposition, Louisville, Kentucky

1884

edits Art Union magazine until December; applies for position to head the Art Department of the New Orleans World's Fair in September

1884-86

accepts a position offered by the American Art Association; terminates uncongenial relationship in March, 1886

1885

writes catalogues for the sale of the George Seney Collection and for the Watts exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; October 1, marries Julia Stephenson (1861-1931), daughter of Dr. A. T. Stephenson of Harrodsburg, Kentucky; they had two daughters who survived them: Julia Wilder Kurtz (1889-1977, and Isabella Starkweather Kurtz (1901-1991); another daughter, Elizabeth Stephenson Kurtz (1896-1897), predeceased them

1886

terminates employment with the Art Association; daughter, Elizabeth Stephenson Kurtz, born

1886-87

manages the circulation of Mihaly Munkacsy's Christ Before Pilot for Charles Sedelmeyer to American venues: New York, Boston, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Nashville, Phildelphia, Indianapolis; tour generates $90,000 in ticket receipts

1889-91

February 24, appointed art critic ("Art Notes") and book reviewer for New York Daily Star; later literary and art editor of the Sunday Star

1890

writes for the Sunday edition The Press, a New York paper

1891

writes for The World; art editor for The New York Recorder; contributes to the New York Truth

1891-93

contributes to Chicago Evening Post ; writes artist biographies for The Chicago Graphic, a regional magazine; appointed Assistant Chief of the Department of Fine Arts of the World's Columbian Exposition

1894

contributes column, "Art at the Exposition" to St. Louis Life

1895

tours Denmark, Scotland, and France during the summer on behalf of the St. Louis Exposition

1894-99

appointed Director of the Art Department of the St. Louis Annual Exposition

1896

elected member of The Japan Society, London

1897

daughter, Elizabeth (Daisy), dies

1898

receives a diploma and medal "in recognition of valuable services in connection with the Fine Arts Exhibit" from the directors of the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition, Omaha

1899

appointed Assistant Director of Fine Arts for the United States Commission to the Paris Exposition of 1900; resigned in July due to ill health

1901-04

appointed Assistant Chief of the Department of Art of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, August

1901

daughter, Isabella Starkweather Kurtz, born

1902

receives honorary Ph.D from Washington and Jefferson College "in recognition of distinguished ability and services as an art critic and writer"

1905

receives the cross of the Order of Merit from Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria; appointed Director, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy and Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, in January; exhibits Glasgow paintings at Albright Art Gallery from November until the following April

1906

writes Academy Notes, a bulletin pubished by the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy and the Albright Art Gallery; father, D.B. Kurtz, dies in Newcastle, Pennsylvania

1907

accused of importing German pictures free of duty for exhibition purposes and then selling some for profit

1908

Honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree conferred by Washington and Jefferson College

1909

Charles M. Kurtz dies in Buffalo, New York on March 21

1910

Sale of the private collection of Charles M. Kurtz at auction, Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, February 24-25

1931

Widow, Julia Stephenson Kurtz dies October 30

1977

Daughter, Julia Wilder Kurtz, dies

1991

Daughter, Isabel Starkweather Kurtz, dies in Buffalo, N.Y.; remaining Charles M. Kurtz Papers bequeathed to the Archives of American Art and the National Academy of Design, New York

Résumés and reminiscences consist of a press release/résumé by Charles M. Kurtz, "A New Appointment," on his appointment as Assistant Director of the U. S. Exposition, 1900 Paris World's Fair; a biography of Kurtz; and a reminiscence by Kurtz's daughter, Isabella Starkweather Kurtz. HIDE

Many of the names noted in the description of Kurtz's personal and professional correspondence represent individuals of interest to art historians and those studying American social history. Although some merely record a brief professional contact with Kurtz (e.g. Stanford White sending regrets), they do place the individual at a certain place in time. Several correspondents who contacted Kurtz throughout his career solely on behalf of personal concerns (e.g. his college fraternity) have not been noted. In the case of a letter written on behalf of a well known individual or organization by someone whose name may not be immediately recognizable, the appropriate identification has been indicated in brackets the first time it appears, e.g. James Grant [for John Wanamaker].

The correspondence between Kurtz and his wife is among the richest in the collection and most interesting for its descriptive commentaries on late 19th century life. Consequently the most successful method of using the Kurtz papers is for the researcher to identify a date and/or event for which information is needed (e.g. the blizzard of 1888) and then read their correspondence for that period. Another approach for arriving at useful information (e.g. a description of the Baltimore collector, Benjamin Walters' house) is to consult the chronology and ascertain Kurtz's itinerary during a given period. He invariablycomments on notable people, places and the ambiance in the cities that he visited while managing various expositions and exhibitions. Gaps in the correspondence between husband and wife usually correspond to periods when they were living or travelling together.

Many letters are illustrated (see Appendix for a list of these), usually by Kurtz himself. The majority of these are to his wife. Some may be difficult to decipher because a fire scorched some of the letters while they were in the possession of the Kurtz family.

Reel 4805 contains letters, primarily from artists and art committee members; concerning loans for the Southern Exposition, Louisville, Kentucky (Aug.16-Oct.25, 1884) and related details. Frequent correspondence to and from Charles Kurtz to his fiancée Julia Stephenson is regularly interspersed beginning in September, 1884. Many of the letters from E. Wood Perry refer to the Art Union; others from Kurtz refer to the Art Association. HIDE