Glass plate negatives of the Provincetown Art Colony, 1916, circa 2006

Collection Information

Size: 0.44 Linear feet; 0.116 Gigabytes

Summary: The glass plate negatives of the Provincetown Art Colony measure 0.44 linear feet and 0.116 GB and date from 1916 and include images believed to have been taken for A. J. Philpott's August 1916 Boston Globe article entitled "Biggest Art Colony in the World at Provincetown." In addition to the twelve glass plate images of artists at work in Provincetown, including George Elmer Browne and E. Ambrose Webster, the collection includes the original negative box, a circa 2006 photocopy of Philpott's article, and digital copies of the glass plates.

Biographical/Historical Note

The Provincetown Art Association was established by artists Gerrit Beneker, Oscar Gieberich, William Halsall, Charles Hawthorne, and E. Ambrose Webster, along with local business men and women, in 1914. By 1916, the town had become a refuge for artists and expatriates from post-World War I Paris and artists from New York, and the association held juried exhibitions, beginning in the summer of 1915. Boston Globe editor A. J. Philpott's article "The Biggest Art Colony in the World," published in August of 1916, cemented Provincetown's reputation.

Provenance

Eight negatives were donated 2006 by Stephen Borkowski, chair of the Provincetown Art Commission. Borkowski purchased the negatives at a flea market in Boston in 1996 or 1997. He was told they were from the estate of a Boston Globe photographer. Borkowski made the donation in honor of Vivian Bullaudy, friend and colleague who curated an exhibition on Provincetown artists. The additional four negatives were donated in 2008 jointly by Stephen Borkowski, chairman of the Provincetown Art Commission, and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum.

Related Materials

The Archives of American Art also holds the microfilm for the Provincetown Art Association records and photographs, 1914-circa 1975.

Language Note

English .

Digitization Note

This site provides access to the papers of Provincetown Art Association in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2019, and total 12 images.

Funding Note

This collection were digitized with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.