1912-1914
HAV-01-403-Z-K-203
GUSN-357990
A scrapbook containing materials related to the operations of the Boston Art Club from 1912-1914. Contains 98 pages, all of which are used, and measures 12 x 10 inches. Scrapbook contains newspaper clippings from publications such as the Boston Globe and Christian Science Monitor, copies of the Club rules, constitution, and by-laws, cards of admission, event and exhibition programs, exhibition catalogues, exhibition and event invitations, programs, and menus among other materials. The compiler of the scrapbook is unknown.
The scrapbook provides insight into the types of events hosted by the Boston Art Club during this time as well as the art styles that were popular. Artists mentioned span an array of artistic styles such as realism and impressionism. There were a small number of artists exploring other avant-garde and modern art styles, but they were in the minority. This provides insight into the changes occuring within the Boston Art Club and the greater local, national, and international art communities.
art (fine art)
artists (visual artists)
clubs (associations)
exhibitions (events)
scrapbooks
clippings (information artifacts)
invitations
exhibition catalogs
programs (documents)
menus
tickets
organizations (groups)
oil paintings (visual works)
watercolors (paintings)
bronzes (objects)
sculpture (visual work)
sets (architectural elements)
costume design
photographers
architects
musicians
scrapbooks
1 linear foot (1 scrapbook ; 12 x 10 inches)
MS004
Scrapbooks collection
2012
MS004.058
Gift
Gift of Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., 2012
Boston (Suffolk county, Massachusetts)
Hobbs & Warren Co. (Seller)
scrapbooks
Bacon, Henry, 1839-1912
Churchill, William Worcester, 1858-1926
Hardwick, Melbourne H., 1857-1916
Johnson, Marshall, 1850-1921
Aiken, Charles Avery, 1872-1965
Kronberg, Louis, 1872-1965
Pope, Alexander, Jr., 1849-1924
Tompkins, Frank H., 1847-1922
Enneking, John J., 1841-1916
Walker, Charles A. (Artist)
Graves, Abbott Fuller, 1859-1936
Gilman, Walter Page, 1862-1934
Carbee, Scott Clifton, 1860-1946
Dunbar, Harold C., 1882-1953
Hazard, Arthur Merton, 1872-1930
White, Clarence Scott, 1872-1965
Poole, A. F.
Oliver, Frederick W., 1876-1963
Monks, John A. S. (John Austin Sands), 1850-1917
Schneider, Theophile, 1872-1955
Garrett, Edmund H. (Edmund Henry), 1853-1929
Hallett, Hendricks A., 1847-1921
Brackett, Walter M., 1823-1919
Spaulding, Henry Plympton, 1868-1938
Ahl, Henry Hammond, 1869-1953
Kaula, William Jurian (American painter), 1871-1953
Pierce, Charles Franklin, 1844-1920
Sylvester, H.E. (Harry Elliott), 1860-1921
Pepper, Charles Hovey, 1864-1950
Halsall, William Formby, 1841-1919
Rogers, Franklin Whiting, 1854-1917
Speicher, Eugene Edward, 1883-1962
Blumenschein, Mary Shepard Greene, 1869-1958
Davis, Charles H. (Charles Harold), 1856-1933
Genth, Lillian Mathilde, 1876-1953
Beatty, John W. (John Wesley), 1851-1924
Hassam, Childe, 1859-1935
Beaux, Cecilia, 1853-1942
Garber, Daniel, 1880-1958
Vedder, Elihu, 1836-1923
Wendt, William, 1865-1946
Barone, Antonio, 1889-1971
Benson, Frank Weston, 1862-1951
Potthast, Edward, 1857-1927
Dougherty, Paul, 1877-1947
Brush, George de Forest, 1855-1941
Romanovsky, Dimitri, 1887-1971
Metcalf, Willard Leroy, 1858-1925
Johansen, John C. (John Christen), 1876-1964
Carlsen, Emil, 1848-1932
Cassatt, Mary, 1844-1926
Howe, William Henry, 1846-1929
Klumpke, Anna, 1856-1942
Chase, Adelaide Cole, 1869-1944
Wiles, Irving Ramsay, 1861-1948
Davies, Arthur B. (Arthur Bowen), 1862-1928
Brooke, Richard Norris, 1847-1920
Frieseke, Frederick C. (Frederick Carl), 1874-1939
Bunce, William Gedney, 1840-1916
Bonheur, Rosa, 1822-1899
Dean, Walter Lofthouse, 1854-1912
Burdick, Horace Robbins, 1844-1942
Dallin, Cyrus E. (Cyrus Edwin), 1861-1944
Pape, Eric, 1870-1938
Alexander, Clifford Grear, 1870-1954
Closson, William Baxter Palmer, 1848-1926
Emmerson, Charles Chase, 1874-1922
Furlong, Charles Wellington, 1874-1967
Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942
Lansil, Walter F. (Walter Franklin),
Quimby, Frederick G., 1863-1923
Cox, Kenyon, 1856-1919
Tyng, Griswold
Bakst, Léon, 1866-1924
Newkirk, Newton, 1870-1938
Madsen, Florence Jepperson, 1886-1977
Lowell, Guy, 1870-1927
Emerson, William Ralph, 1833-1917
Boston Art Club
Boston Globe
Christian Science Monitor
American Federation of Arts
Women's City Club of Boston
Master Builder Association (Boston, Mass.)
Art
Newspaper clippings
Handle with extreme care. Cover of scrapbook is damaged. Back cover of scrapbook has detached from spine. Spine itself has deteriorated. Pages have yellowed and are extremely fragile. Some pages are stuck together entirely or in part. Clippings and other items have entirely or patrially detached throughout.
Item
HAV-01-403-Z-K-203
Materials are in English.
The Boston Art Club is a group dedicated to exposing its members and members of the public to the world of fine art through the hosting of art exhibitions. The idea for the Boston Art Club was conceived in 1854 by a group of local artists including Benjamin Champney, Alfred Ordway, Samuel Lancaster Gerry, and Walter Brackett. They hoped to create a community of like-minded people while also providing artists opportunities to display and sell their art. The first official meeting of the Club was on January 1, 1855. In total, there were twenty founding members. Of this group, only six had trained in Europe; the rest had learned from local Boston artists or were self-taught.
The first exhibition of the Boston Art Club was hosted in 1855 at the Boston Athenaeum. The exhibition, held along with New York artists such as Frederick Church, Asher Durand, and John Kensett, was a massive success. In the aftermath, the group moved to a building on Bedford Street. They remained at this location until the outbreak of the American Civil War when the club suspended all activities.
The Art Club of Boston reopened in 1871. They did not have a permanent location, so they held exhibitions in the studios of members until they were able to rent a space on Boylston Street later that year. The Club stayed at this location until 1882 when they moved to 150 Newbury Street in Back Bay. Called the Club House, this location was built by William Ralph Emerson, the architect who won the national competition sponsored by the Club's five hundred members. Once the Club House opened, it became a popular place for artists, both nationally and internationally, to exhibit. William Merritt Chase, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, and Edmund Charles Tarbell are only a few of the artists who sent their work for exhibitions.
Despite the rise in popularity, the number of artist members was only a small portion of the total membership at the time. Wealthy Bostonians like Isabella Stewart Gardner had turned the Boston Art Club into what was closer to a social club. With so few artist members, conflict arose when a new generation of artists, inspired by the works of Matisse, Cezanne, and Picasso, pushed for changes to the artistic tastes of the Club. Around the same time, the 1913 Armory Show came to Boston and provided more interest in new and avant-garde art styles such as Modernism, Cubism, and Fauvism.
This led to unrest within the Club on how to best serve their members. From that point forward, the Club floundered and membership steadily dropped. As a result, the Club House closed in 1950 and is now the Snowden International School. Members continue to meet and host exhibitions in their studios. With the rise of the Internet, the Club created a virtual presence online and membership again grew. As of 2022, there are an estimated 250 active members. The Club is now more focused on appreciating and promoting art than hosting exhibitions.
Historic New England is committed to implementing reparative language description for existing collections and creating respectful and inclusive language description for new collections. If you encounter language in Historic England's Collections Access Portal that is harmful or offensive, or you find materials that would benefit from a content warning, please contact info@historicnewengland.org.
Sign up to our newsletter for our latest news and events
Loading...
