Albert Rosenthal papers, 1860-1940

Collection Information

Size: 2.4 Linear feet

Summary: Correspondence, printed material, and photographs relating to Rosenthal's work, primarily as a portrait painter and collector of American art and artists' papers. Some material pertains to Rosenthal's father, the engraver Max Rosenthal.

Included are: biographical notes and articles by and about Rosenthal and his father, Max; writings by Albert about his father; and reproductions of Albert's work.

Rosenthal's research material on early American art consists of articles on artists, notes about portrait painters, typescript copies of letters of or about early American artists, among them Rembrandt Peale, G.P.A. Healy, and John Rampage, several original letters, including 5 from John Quincy Adams Ward to various people, and one from Ben Silliman to Asher B. Durand, and an engraved copy of a letter from Ben Franklin to Mr. Strahan, July 5, 1775.

Other material includes files on Rosenthal's portraits of French officers who served in the American Revolution; Gilbert Stuart's (George) Washington portraits, 1922-1923; the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia (includes correspondence with Jules Mastbaum, the founder of the museum, and others, 1925-1932); Jean Antoine Houdon's busts of Washington and Lafayette, 1925-1932; Harry T. Peters' book "America on Stone", 1931; and on "Rosen-Thal," Albert's home that was originally the Huffinagle mansion in Buck's County, Pa.

There is voluminous business and other correspondence, 1860-1940, relating to Max, Louis, and Albert Rosenthal's work and to Albert's portraits of Supreme Court Justices. Among the diverse group of correspondents are: Samuel Putnam Avery, William Hunt Diederich, Charles Henry Hart, Sakakichi Hartmann, Oliver Wendell Holmes, A. Mitchell Palmer, Alfred Stieglitz, William Howard Taft, and J. Alden Weir.

Photographs are of Rosenthal's work and of unidentified portraits possibly by Rosenthal; reproductions of European paintings, miniatures, sculptures; and miscellaneous portraits by various artists.

Unmicrofilmed material (0.4 feet) consists of miscellaneous photographs and reproductions.

Biographical/Historical Note

Albert Rosenthal (1863-1939) was a portrait painter, printmaker, writer, and collector in Philadelphia, Pa. Rosenthal was a student of his father, engraver Max Rosenthal, and later published a book about him. He is also known for his portraits of Supreme Court Justices, and his collection of American drawings, which he donated to the Free Library of Philadelphia in 1927.

Provenance

Donated by Albert Duveen, 1959. Duveen collected American artists' and art related papers with the intention of forming an American artists reference facility. He purchased at least some of Rosenthal's papers and much correspondence from the Albert Rosenthal Estate, and subsequently gave them to AAA upon its formation.

Language Note

English .