Overview
Collection Information
Size: 6 Microfilm reels, 195 items on 6 microfilm reels
Summary: The microfilmed Reynolds Beal papers contain sketchbooks, art works, notes, photographs, and printed material. Much of the material relates to William Merrit Chase. Microfilmed on Reels 278-282 and Reel 286 are a biographical sketch; 169 sketchbooks (1874-1938); a folder of 32 "Japanese Prints," mostly watercolors; a letter to Beal from his father (1896); three clippings; a book, Song of the Sea (1891), illustrated by Beal; and a diary kept while traveling around Long Island and Martha's Vineyard with his brother, Albert (1896).
Also microfilmed on Reel 286 is material relating to William Merrit Chase's classes at Shinnecock Hills, including Beal's notes on Chase's critical comments while studying with Chase; comments from Chase on museums in Holland; photographs of Chase's 10th Street studio and Shinnecock Hills studios; a catalog of the Chase retrospective, National Arts Club, (1910); clippings and miscellaneous printed material; a diary kept by Beal (1891), "Trip to Newfoundland with Albert [Beal],"describing fishing and his sketching activity; and a notebook with expense accounts and pencil sketches (1899).
Biographical/Historical Note
Reynolds Beal (1866-1951) was a painter and printmaker in Rockport, Massachusetts known for his marine and landscape paintings. His brother was Gifford Beal (1879-1956), a painter, printmaker, and muralist. Reynolds Beal studied naval architecture at Cornell University before going on to study painting with William Merritt Chase in Shinnecock, Long Island and with Henry Ward Ranger in Europe. He is considered a modernist and he helped found the Society of Independent Artists and the New Society of Artists alongside George Bellows, Childe Hassam, John Sloan, William Glackens, and Maurice Prendergast.
Provenance
Materials on reels 278-282 and frames labeled as 1-85 on reel 286 lent for microfilming 1972 by Robert Campbell, Shore Galleries, Boston, Mass. Reel 286, frames labeled as 1-60 were lent by Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Morrell through Chapellier Galleries.
Related Materials
The Archives of American Art holds the Alger Beal papers relating to Reynolds and Gifford Beal, circa 1890-1965.
Language Note
English .
Location of Originals
- Reels 278-282 & 286 (fr.1-85): Originals returned to Shore Galleries, Boston, Mass., after microfilming.
- Reel 286 (fr. 1-60): Originals returned to Chapellier Galleries after microfilming.
