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Image for Series 1: Letters, 1850-1905, n.d.

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About the Jervis McEntee papers

All information on this page comes from A Finding Aid to the Jervis McEntee Papers, 1796, 1848-1905, in the Archives of American Art by Ellen Loll, in the Archives of American Art. (Printable Version of Finding Aid: PDF, 80 KB )

Biographical Information | Description of the Collection | How to Use the Collection

Biographical Information [+]

Jervis McEntee was born in Rondout, New York, July 14, 1828. He had early literary and artistic aspirations and studied under Frederic E. Church, who had himself studied under the Hudson River School master, Thomas Cole. McEntee was to maintain a close relationship with Church for the rest of his life. After an unsuccessful stint as a businessman, McEntee settled in New York in 1857 as one of the charter residents of Richard Morris Hunt's Tenth Street Studio Building. Since many of the other occupants were either bachelors or commuters, and since Mrs. McEntee was a lively, sympathetic hostess, the couple became the center of a spontaneous salon frequented by some of the best-known artists, writers, and actors of the time. After his wife died in 1878, McEntee stayed on, an increasingly neglected widower until his death in 1891. READ MORE

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Description of the Collection

Overview - Scope and Contents [+]

The papers of Hudson River School painter Jervis McEntee measure 1.2 linear feet and date from 1796 and 1850 to 1905. Letters from close friends and family members to McEntee include many from his mentor Frederic Edwin Church, and fellow artists Samuel Putnam Avery, George Henry Boughton, Sanford Gifford, Richard Henry, Eastman Johnson, Elizabeth B. Stoddard, John Ferguson Weir, Worthington Whittredge, and others. Papers relating to the McEntee family include obituaries, a family genealogy, and letters from and regarding family members. There are also papers relating to the Vaux family (McEntee's brother-in-law's family) and American architect and landscape artist Calvert Vaux, who designed a studio for McEntee. Of special significance are five volumes of diaries dating from 1872 through 1891 which provide a detailed depiction of the American art world in the 1870s and 1880s. READ MORE

The diaries provide a vivid, accurate impression of the life of a typical New York painter during and after the Gilded Age. There is much first-hand information on the inner workings of the National Academy and the Century Club, on the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, on efforts to revive the Art Union idea, on the vigorous growth of art societies and exhibitions throughout the country. The diaries reveal the economy of art during the period - prices, patterns of collecting and patronage, the artists' dependence on personal contacts through clubs, social gatherings, and influential friends. Descriptions of major events include the opening of the Metropolitan Museum and of the Brooklyn Bridge, the first major exhibition of French Impressionism in New York ("simply absurd, foolish and unlovely from any point of view"), and the Beecher-Tilton scandal.

McEntee's diaries offer researchers a valuable view of the everyday existence of a reputable American artist towards the close of the 19th century - how he painted, whom he associated with, how and to whom he sold his work, what he did when he was not working, what he thought of art, artists, and collectors. McEntee provides an account of the ultimately futile battle against the encroachment of European influences among both artists and collectors during this period. He writes in March 1877, "The Munich students work prevails, and the genuinely American productions are put aside to give prominence to the foreign looking art." According to McEntee, a certain painting by Whistler depicts "a woman dead or drunk by what is apparently the seashore, strewn with fragments of stale pound cake." The diaries also offer some clear insights into the character of several major artists who were McEntee's intimate friends: "Whittredge came to my room and sat until midnight and we talked, or rather he did for Whittredge generally does the talking." He is astonished to receive an invitation to join the Frederic E. Churches at the theatre because "I thought they only went to prayer meetings."

The five volumes of diaries are filled with McEntee's detailed thoughts, observations, activities, and encounters. Long passages describe his overwhelming anxieties over money and family difficulties. He is frequently lonely and depressed and always worried about his status as an artist.

The microfilm of the Jervis McEntee Diaries has been digitized and is available on the Archives' website. HIDE

Arrangement and Series Description

The Jervis McEntee papers have been arranged into five series, based on material type.

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Subjects

Index Terms

This collection is indexed in the online catalog of the Archives of American Art under the following index terms. People, families and organizations are listed under "Names" when they are creators or contributors and under "Subjects" when they are the topic of collection contents.

Subjects:
- Baker, George Augustus, 1821-1880
- Booth, Edwin, 1833-1893
- Whittredge, Worthington, 1820-1910
- Century Association (New York, N.Y.)
- National Academy of Design (U.S.)

Subjects-Topical:
- Bull Run (Va.), 1st Battle, 1861
- Artists -- New York (State) -- New York
- Hudson River school of landscape painting
- Art, Modern -- 19th century -- New York (State) -- New York
- Artists' studios
- Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
- Landscape painters -- New York (State) -- New York

Subjects-Geographical:
- Adirondack Mountains (N.Y.)
- Lake Champlain (N.Y.) -- Pictorial works
- Lake George (N.Y.) -- Pictorial works

Types of Materials:
- Diaries
- Sketches

Names:
- Anthony, A. V. S. (Andrew Varick Stout), 1835-1906
- Bellows, Henry W. (Henry Whitney), 1814-1882
- Boardman, Andrew
- Boughton, George Henry, 1834-1905
- Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893
- Casilear, John William, 1811-1893
- Chapin, E. H. (Edwin Hubbell), 1814-1880
- Church, Isabel
- Church, Frederic Edwin, 1826-1900
- Cropsey, Jasper Francis, 1823-1900
- DeForest, H. G.
- Derrenbacher, John
- Donoho, J. R., Mrs
- Gifford, Sanford Robinson, 1823-1880
- Gray, Henry Peters, 1819-1877
- Hart, William McDougal, 1823-1894
- Hicks, Thomas, 1823-1890
- Hubbard, Richard William, 1816-1888
- Huntington, Daniel, 1816-1906
- Husted, James W.
- Inness, George, 1825-1894
- Johnson, Eastman, 1824-1906
- Jourmans, E. L., Mrs
- Kensett, John Frederick, 1816-1872
- Lang, Louis, 1814-1893
- McEntee, James S.
- Meeks, Louisa B.
- Palmer, Erastus Dow, 1817-1904
- Sawyer, C. M.
- Shumway, Henry Colton, 1807-1884
- Stoddard, Richard Henry, 1825-1903
- Stone, William O. (William Oliver), 1830-1875
- Stribling, C. K.
- Sykes, Charles W.
- Thompson, Launt, 1833-1894
- Vaux, Calvert, 1824-1895
- Von Glumer, Francisca
- Ward, John Quincy Adams, 1830-1910
- Weir, John F. (John Ferguson), b. 1841
- Whittredge, Worthington, 1820-1910
- Wickes, E. T.
- Zarnnhus, E. L.
- Youmans, Kate

Provenance

The collection was acquired from several donors between 1959 and 1997. Letters were donated in 1959 by Charles E. Feinberg. The five volumes of diaries were donated in 1964 by Mrs. Helen S. McEntee. The remaining papers were donated by William Gaffken, director of the insurance company that acquired the McEntee family insurance business.

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How the Collection was Processed

The Jervis McEntee papers were reprocessed in 2004 and a finding aid prepared. At that time all earlier accessions were merged. Also in 2004, reel D180 of the microfilm of the five volumes of diaries was digitized. The remainder of the collection was digitized in 2007 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

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How to Use the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Jervis McEntee papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.

Available Formats

This collection has been digitized. View the Jervis McEntee papers online

The microfilm of the diaries was digitized in 2004, and the papers in 2007 and are available via the Archives of American Art's website.

Separated Materials

A diary was lent for microfilming in 1964 by the Adirondack Museum and is available on Reel D9.

How to Cite this Collection

Jervis McEntee papers, 1796, 1848-1905. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

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