From Series 1: Dennis Miller Bunker Collection, 1882-1890, 1943, undated
Series 1: Dennis Miller Bunker Collection, 1882-1890, 1943, undated (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
This collection contains numerous letters to Bunker's friend Joseph Evans, a painter in New York City, and a few letters to Annie Page. These letters mostly document Bunker's life prior to meeting fiancée Eleanor Hardy and date from 1882 to 1889. He writes of his activities, working at Cowles Art School, current painting projects, mutual friends, and general news. Four bound volumes of letters dating from 1889-1890 are written to his fiancée and future wife, Eleanor "Nell" Hardy. The letters document Bunker's daily life as a painter, discussing his activities, his dislike of teaching, his plans for the future, current painting projects, working in his studio, his friends and other artists, their upcoming marriage, and general news. The letters appear to end upon their marriage in October, 1890 and his untimely death a few months later.
Miscellaneous letters include two letters to his friend Charles A. Platt, a landscape architect, a letter to his mother-in-law, Mrs. Alpheus Hardy, a letter from William Dean Howells congratulating him on his wedding, and a letter of appreciation from his students at Cowles Art School. The collection also houses a catalog from the Dennis Miller Bunker exhibition in 1943 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and a few miscellaneous printed items. Photographs of Bunker include a portrait taken at H. G. Smith Studio Building, a photograph of him in costume, and a copy print of a photograph of him in his studio.
| Box | Folder |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 (hol) | 1 | Bound Letters to Eleanor Hardy, Volumes 1 and 2, circa 1889-1890 |
| 1 (hol) | 2 | Bound Letters to Eleanor Hardy, Volumes 3 and 4, circa 1889-1890 |
| 1 (hol) | 3 | Letters to Joseph Evans, 1882-1885 |
| 1 (hol) | 4-5 | Letters to Joseph Evans, 1886 (2 folders) |
| 1 (hol) | 6-7 | Letters to Joseph Evans, 1887 (2 folders) |
| 1 (hol) | 8 | Letters to Joseph Evans, 1888-1889 |
| 1 (hol) | 9 | Letters to Annie Page, 1886-1887, 1889 |
| 1 (hol) | 10 | Miscellaneous Letters, 1886-1890, undated |
| 1 (hol) | 11 | Printed Material, 1943, undated |
| 1 (hol) | 12 | Photographs of Dennis Miller Bunker, circa 1886, undated |