Samuel Putnam Avery papers, 1857-1902

Collection Information

Size: 3 Microfilm reels, 800 items on 3 microfilm reels

Summary: The microfilmed Samuel Putnam Avery papers contain correspondence, including letters, calling cards, and sketches from American and European artists, among them Albert F. Bellows, Eugene Benson, Edwin H. Blashfield, Rosa Bonheur, Adolph W. Bouguereau, Samuel Colman, Clarence Cook, Jasper F. Cropsey, F. O. C. Darley, Charles F. Daubigny, John Durand, Sanford R. Gifford, E. D. E. Greene, Augustus Hoppin, Victor Hugo, John La Farge, Jules Lefebvre, Jervis McEntee, Charles H. Moore, William S. Mount, Thomas A. Richards, Launt Thompson, Henry T. Tuckerman, and James McNeill Whistler; five diaries (1871-1882) detailing annual buying trips to Europe; catalogs; clippings; and miscellaneous publications pertaining to the Avery Art Gallery.

Biographical/Historical Note

Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) was a wood engraver, art dealer, and collector in New York, New York. He was a founder and trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Avery took annual trips to Europe in the 1870s during which he commissioned art for clients. Avery also founded the Avery Architectural Library at Columbia University and donated his collection of etchings and lithographs to the New York Public Library.

Provenance

Lent for microfilming 1964 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Related Materials

The New York Public Library Manuscripts and Archives Division holds the Samuel Putnam Avery papers, 1822-1904. The New York Historical Society holds the Samuel Putnam Avery letters to William D. Murphy, 1902-1903. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Thomas J. Watson Library holds the Samuel Putnam Avery Papers, ca. 1850-1905.

Language Note

English .

Location of Originals

• Originals in Metropolitan Museum of Art.