John Frederick Peto and Peto family papers, 1850-1983

This series contains biographical material documenting John Frederick Peto's life and career as an artist. Included are the certificate for his marriage to Christine Pearl Smith, two of his business cards, and written agreements with his daughter Helen giving her a clock and his cornet. Also found are items about his death in 1907, including his obituary, a lock of his hair "taken as he lay in his casket in his studio," and a memorial poem written by Samuel Callan. Helen Peto Smiley's notes on her father's artwork includes lists of artwork and prices, and miscellaneous items. Other writings include a brief essay on trompe-l'oeil painting in the United States, draft exhibition captions for Peto's artwork, and a brief biography of Peto written for an exhibition. Also found are a few items belonging to John Frederick Peto's father, Thomas Hope Peto, including business cards, and a ticket to the Centennial Exhibition in 1876 which includes his photograph.

Items are arranged in chronological order.

This series contains scattered the correspondence of John Frederick Peto and other family members. Found here are a brief letter and a postcard to Peto from his father, Thomas H. Peto, a letter congratulating Peto on reaching manhood signed by "Not a man", and three postcards sent by Peto to his daughter, Helen. Helen Peto Smiley's correspondence primarily consists of letters regarding the exhibition, sale, or reproduction of her father's artwork but also includes a letter from her grandmother and postcard from her mother. Also found in Helen's correspondence are letters to and from art critic Alfred V. Frankenstein who, in 1949, published an article about Peto's artwork that created new interest in the exhibition and purchase of his paintings. Miscellaneous correspondence includes two envelopes and a postcard addressed to Peto's wife, Christine, a copy of a letter from Alfred Frankenstein to the New York Graphic Society, and several letters to and from Helen's daughter, Joy Smiley Bejarano.

Correspondence is arranged chronologically within each folder.

Printed material consists primarily of exhibition catalogs and clippings about John Frederick Peto's career and artwork. Found here are three exhibition catalogs, including one for a exhibition of Peto's artwork at the Brooklyn Museum in 1950 which contains a critical biography by art critic Alfred Frankenstein. The 1949 article Frankenstein wrote about his discoveries of Harnett painting forgeries that were actually by Peto is included in the news clippings. Also found are news clippings about Peto, his family, and the exhibition of his artwork, two articles about Peto in the Kennedy Quarterly, and news clippings and other material about fellow still life artist William Harnett. Additional printed material documents Island Heights, New Jersey, where Peto lived, and the printing of a Peto stamp in 1974. Miscellaneous printed material includes announcements, brochures, and other items.

Items are arranged chronologically within each folder.

This series contains photographs and glass plate negatives of Peto, his family, his home and studio, and his artwork. Photographs of Peto include several portraits, Peto in his studio at Island Heights, New Jersey, with fellow artist William Harnett, and with family members. Additional photographs are of his wife Christine, his daughter Helen as a baby and young girl, and several other family members of the Peto family in Philadelphia, and of Christine's family, the Smiths, in Lerado, Ohio. Also found are photographs of the interior and exterior of Peto's home and studio in Island Heights, props he used for his paintings, photographs of Abraham Lincoln also used for his artwork, and miscellaneous photographs, some of which may have been taken by Peto. Also contained here are several photographs of Peto's artwork. Of the numerous glass plate negatives in this collection, some are also found among the photographs mentioned above, others have not been printed, but have been digitized and are available online.

Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers, though all have been digitized to provide access.

Found here is one small fragment of an oil sketch on paper of a landscape. This item is unsigned and undated, but may have been painted by John Frederick Peto.