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George Grey Barnard papers

Archives of American Art

Object Details

Creator
Barnard, George Grey, 1863-1938
Topic
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State)
Art, Medieval
Sculptors -- New York (State)
Sculpture, American
Art dealers -- New York (State)
Provenance
The bulk of the George Grey Barnard papers were transferred from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (formerly the National Collection of Fine Arts) in 1975 and 2003, where the artist's son, Monroe Barnard, had given it in 1970. In 1971, Monroe donated the Archives of American Art additional papers, the Pennsylvania State University Archives gave more material in 1976, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art loaned 4.0 linear feet of material for microfilming in 1985.
Creator
Barnard, George Grey, 1863-1938
See more items in
George Grey Barnard papers
Sponsor
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Summary
The papers of New York sculptor, collector, and dealer George Grey Barnard measure 13.8 linear feet and date from 1860 to 1969, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1880-1938. These papers document his life and work as an artist, as well as his activities as a collector and dealer of medieval art, through correspondence, collecting notebooks, diaries and daily journals, ephemera, inventories, business and financial records, exhibition catalogs, newspaper clippings, reference materials, publications, photographs, and a small number of sketches.
Biographical/Historical note
George Grey Barnard (1863-1938) was an American sculptor, collector, and dealer, whose collection of medieval art formed the nucleus of the Cloisters, the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the art of the middle ages. Barnard was born to a Presbyterian minister and his wife in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania in 1863. While he was still a young boy, the family left Pennsylvania for the Midwest, eventually settling in Muscatine, Iowa. He married Edna Monroe in 1895 and had three children: Monroe, Vivia, and Barbara. Barnard began studying sculpture in his late teens, first with Leonard Volk, then at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he studied from 1882 until he left for Paris the following year. In Paris he received training from Pierre-Jules Cavelier at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1900 he earned a gold medal at the Salon of the Champs de Mars in Paris. While in France, Bernard began scavenging the countryside for discarded medieval antiques. He was in debt most of his life, and sold these pieces to support his family and fund his work. He retained the best finds which eventually formed his two medieval collections. The first was the Cloisters, which he sold to John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1925. The second was the Abbaye, which he completed in 1937. This collection was sold by his estate to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1945. Returning to America, he completed both public and private commissions. In 1902, he was commissioned to create sculptures for the new state capitol building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 1915, he was commissioned by Charles P. Taft to create an Abraham Lincoln statue for Cincinnati. The statue was erected in 1917 and portrayed Lincoln as gangly, frail, and emotional. A second casting was to be given to Westminster Abbey, but controversy over this representation eventually led to its transfer to Manchester. George Grey Barnard was deeply affected by the devastation of World War I. He devoted the rest of his life to building a memorial to peace, called the Rainbow Arch. It would have been dedicated to the Mothers of America and paid for solely from his own funds and coins contributed by children. Although he spent all his resources on the arch, he only completed a plaster model before his death. George Grey Barnard died of a heart attack in 1938.
Extent
13.8 Linear feet
Date
circa 1860-1969
bulk 1880-1938
Archival Repository
Archives of American Art
Identifier
AAA.barngeor
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Notebooks
Diaries
Photographs
Sketches
Citation
George Grey Barnard papers, circa 1860-1969, bulk 1880-1938. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Arrangement note
The collection is arranged as 10 series: Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1888-1955 (Boxes 1 and 15; 0.25 linear feet) Series 2: Correspondence, 1896-1965 (Box 1; 0.7 linear feet) Series 3: Diaries and Daily Journals, 1900-1938 (Boxes 1-2; 1.0 linear feet) Series 4: Writings and Notes, circa 1881-1963 (Boxes 2-4; 1.6 linear feet) Series 5: Medieval Art and Collections, circa 1905-1958 (Boxes 4, 15 and OV 17; 0.9 linear feet) Series 6: Business Records, circa 1900-1938 (Boxes 4-5; 0.9 linear feet) Series 7: Financial Records, circa 1920-1941 (Boxes 5-7; 1.3 linear feet) Series 8: Printed Materials, circa 1890-1969 (Boxes 7-8, 15-16 and BVs 25-26; 1.5 linear feet) Series 9: Photographs, circa 1860-1963 (Boxes 8-13, 15, and OV 17-24; 4.5 linear feet) Series 10: Artwork, circa 1880-1938 (Boxes 11, 14, 16 and OV 17; 0.5 linear feet)
Processing Information note
Select records, primarily correspondence and photographs of Barnard's sculptures were microfilmed on reels 118 and 1116; these reels are no longer in circulation. The entire collection was fully processed, arranged, and described by Kathleen Brown in 2009 and scanned in 2012 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Processing of glass plate negatives and lantern slides was completed in 2014 by Anna Rimel with funding provided by the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
Rights
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Existence and Location of Copies note
The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2012 and is available via the Archives of American Art's website. Selected financial records, photographs of works of art, some business records, and printed materials have not been scanned. Material lent for microfilming is available on 35mm microfilm reel 3658-3664 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Genre/Form
Notebooks
Diaries
Photographs
Sketches
Scope and Contents note
The papers of New York sculptor, collector, and dealer George Grey Barnard measure 13.8 linear feet and date from 1860 to 1969, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1880-1938. These papers document his life and work as an artist, as well as his activities as a collector and dealer of medieval art, through correspondence, collecting notebooks, diaries and daily journals, ephemera, inventories, business and financial records, exhibition catalogs, newspaper clippings, reference materials, publications, photographs, and a small number of sketches.
Restrictions
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Related Archival Materials note
Additional George Grey Barnard papers are available at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Separated Materials
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels 3658-3664) including correspondence, exhibition files, and sketches. Originals of microfilmed items can be found at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This material has not been described in the collection container inventory.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1503510132231-1503510132253-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw911db8bc8-4f4e-4595-b8bd-f902524ff000

In the Collection

Pages

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  • Diploma

  • Loose Sketches

  • List of Telegrams and Telephone Calls

  • Medieval Artifacts, France, Collection Files

  • Invoices and Receipts - Barnard Residence

  • Inventory of Antiques and Statues at the North Studio

  • Invoices and Receipts - Barnard Residence

  • Correspondence

  • Studio Work Records

  • Invoices and Receipts for Medieval Art

  • Sketchbook/Notebook

  • Portraits of George Grey Barnard by Other Artists

  • George Grey Barnard in Paris and New York Studios

  • Invoices and Receipts - Barnard Residence

  • Biographical Notes

  • Works of art and the Abbaye collection

  • Correspondence

  • Invoices and Receipts - Barnard Residence

  • Model Records

  • Correspondence

  • Catalog Cards

  • Prints by Unidentified Artists

  • Expense Book

  • Invoices and Receipts - Barnard Residence

  • Model Studies

  • Correspondence

  • Clippings Scrapbook

  • Copper Plate

  • Clippings Scrapbook

  • Correspondence

  • Daily Journal

  • George Grey Barnard and Others

  • Modern Copy Prints (duplicates of vintage prints)

  • Etching Plates

  • Address Books

  • Pamplets and Reports

  • Correspondence

  • Expense Book, Estate of George Grey Barnard

  • Robert C. Ogden

  • Notebooks (Shipping Inventories and Notes)

  • Etching Plates

  • Oversized Ephemera (Rainbow Arch Memorial Sign)

  • Oversized Photographs of Works of Art by Other Artists and Unidentified Works of Art

  • Ancient to Modern Works of Art

  • Black and White Transparencies

  • Oversized Photographs of Medieval Artifacts, France, Collection Files

  • Oversized Photographs of Lincoln (1915-1917)

  • Ancient to Modern Works of Art

  • Oversized Printed Material - Cloisters and Abbaye

  • Lincoln (1915-1917)

  • Niagra, at the Electric Tower Building, Pan American Exhibition (1900)

  • Clippings - Miscellaneous

  • Daily Journal

  • Employee Time Books

  • Daily Journal

  • Clippings - Pennsylvania State House

  • Oversized Volume, Photos/Book Plates of Architectural Compositions for Various Buildings

  • Invoices and Receipts

  • Clippings - George Grey Barnard

  • Sermons of J.H. Barnard

  • Invoices and Receipts

  • The Builder

  • Sermons of J.H. Barnard

  • Employee Time Books

  • Sermons of J.H. Barnard

  • Two Natures (1892-1894)

  • The God Pan (1895)

  • Study Photographs

  • Oversized Photographs of Two Natures (1892-1894)

  • Ancient to Modern Works of Art

  • Receipts and Disbursements

  • Medieval Objects in Bishops Garden (duplicates), National Catherdral, Washington, D.C.

  • Clippings - Paris Salon

  • Emerging Woman, or Primative Woman (1916)

  • Ancient to Modern Works of Art

  • Sermons of J.H. Barnard

  • Brotherly Love (1886-1887)

  • The Word in Stone

  • Ancient to Modern Works of Art

  • Unidentified Author, Untitled Typescript about Barnard (incomplete)

  • Sermons of J.H. Barnard

  • Lincoln (1915-1917)

  • Oversized Photographs of Lincoln (1915-1917)

  • Crucifixion (circa 1907-1908)

  • Clippings - George Grey Barnard

  • Lincoln (1915-1917)

  • Invoices and Receipts

  • Magazines and Articles

  • Sermons of J.H. Barnard

  • Employee Time Books: Studio, Moret, France

  • Sermons of J.H. Barnard

  • Oversized Floor and Ceiling Plans

  • L'Architecture et la Decoration aux Palais du Louvre et des Tuileries

  • Sermons of J.H. Barnard

  • Exposicion del Miferere

  • Invoices and Receipts

  • Invoices and Receipts

  • Ancient to Modern Works of Art

  • Sermons of J.H. Barnard

  • Oversize Diploma

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Address Books
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