Object Details
- Creator
- Vose Galleries of Boston
- Names
- Arthur U. Newton Galleries
- Centennial Exhibition (1876 : Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Ehrich Galleries (New York, N.Y.)
- Howard Young Galleries (New York, N.Y.)
- Jill Newhouse (Gallery)
- M. Knoedler & Co.
- Macbeth Gallery
- Milch Galleries
- Norton Gallery and School of Art
- R.C. & N.M. Vose (Firm)
- Robert C. Vose Galleries
- Hassam, Childe, 1859-1935
- Hoffman, Malvina, 1887-1966
- Jonniaux, Alfred, b. 1882
- Ladd, Anna Coleman, 1878-1939 (sculptor)
- Norton, William E., 1843-1916
- Sargent, John Singer, 1856-1925
- Thayer, Abbott Handerson, 1849-1921
- Vose, Robert C. (Robert Churchill), 1911-1998
- Vose, Robert Churchill, 1873-
- Topic
- Artists -- United States -- Photographs
- Picture frame industry -- Massachusetts -- Boston
- Picture frames and framing
- Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Massachusetts -- Boston
- Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Massachusetts -- Boston
- Provenance
- From 1965-1994, Vose Galleries of Boston loaned materials to the Archives of American Art for microfilming. Robert C. Vose, Jr. also donated records in several installments from 1974 to 1997.
- Creator
- Vose Galleries of Boston
- See more items in
- Vose Galleries of Boston records
- Sponsor
- Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collection Care Preservation Fund
- Summary
- The records of Vose Galleries of Boston measure 26.6 linear feet and date from circa 1876-1996 with the bulk of materials dating from 1920s-1940. Nearly 90 percent of the collection documents the gallery's handling of American paintings and portraits through incoming and outgoing business correspondence with artists, clients, galleries, and museums, including considerable correspondence with portrait artist Alfred Jonniaux and clients regarding commissioned portraits. Other materials include client files; artists' biographies; records of sales, consignments, framing, restoration, and banking, mostly from the 1940s-1960s; and scattered exhibition catalogs, newspaper clippings, and postcards. Also found is a handwritten manuscript regarding the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, PA and a 1991 videotape about the Vose Galleries and its founding family.
- Biographical/Historical note
- Vose Galleries is a long time family run art gallery based in the Boston, Mass. area. In 1841, Joseph Vose purchased Westminster Art Gallery, a small Providence, Rhode Island art gallery founded by Ransom Hicks. At the age of 19 in 1850, Joseph's son Seth Morton Vose joined the gallery and five years later became director. The gallery's primary business until the late 1860s was frame making, gilding and art supplies. Seth Morton Vose had a passion for art, especially the French painters of the Barbizon School and he slowly began buying and exhibiting artwork. By 1882, the gallery regularly exhibited in Boston. Seth's son Robert C. Vose joined the business in 1896, and managed the gallery's Boston office from 1897. Robert broadened the gallery's horizons by showing his fine stock of Barbizon, Dutch, English and American artists throughout America, while his younger brother, Nathaniel, and his cousin, Charles Thompson, handled the Boston gallery. During the next sixty-seven years, Robert C. Vose moved the gallery into a position of national prominence. In 1924, Nathaniel left the gallery and established his own gallery in Providence. The Boston gallery's name changed to Robert C. Vose Galleries, and around the same time, took over the Carrig-Rohane framing company. In 1931-1932, Robert's three sons, Robert C. Vose, Jr., Seth Morton Vose II, and Herbert Vose, joined the firm. The gallery continued to show exhibitions in Boston, and the sons took turns joining their father on the road. The gallery's name was changed to Vose Galleries of Boston, Inc. in 1952. In 1963, Vose Galleries moved to their current location at 238 Newbury Street in Boston. Robert C. Vose passed away in 1964. Robert C. Vose, Jr.'s sons, Abbot W. Vose and Robert C. Vose III, joined the gallery in 1968 and 1970, respectively. Robert C. Vose, Jr. passed away in 1998. The Vose Galleries of Boston continues to operate at Newbury Street under the direction of the sixth generation of the Vose family.
- Function
- Art galleries, Commercial -- Massachusetts
- Art galleries, Commercial -- Rhode Island
- Extent
- 26.6 Linear feet
- Date
- circa 1876-1996
- bulk 1920-1940
- Archival Repository
- Archives of American Art
- Identifier
- AAA.vosegall
- Type
- Collection descriptions
- Archival materials
- Video recordings
- Manuscript
- Citation
- Vose Galleries of Boston records, circa 1876-1996, bulk 1920-1940. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
- Arrangement note
- The collection is arranged as 5 series: Series 1: Correspondence, 1895-1996 (Boxes 1-23, 28; 22.6 linear feet) Series 2: Customer Files, 1912-1946 (Boxes 23-24; 0.8 linear feet) Series 3: Art-Related Files, circa 1876, 1890s-1947 (Box 24, 28; 1 linear feet) Series 4: Financial Records, 1911-1962, 1991 (Boxes 24-25; 1.8 linear feet) Series 5: Printed Materials, circa 1904-1990 (Boxes 25-27; 0.4 linear feet)
- Processing Information note
- The collection was processed to a minimal level and a finding aid prepared by Sarah Haug in 2012. An addition to the collection was processed and added to the finding aid by Christopher DeMairo in 2022.
- Rights
- Reels 3936-3940: Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from an officer of the Vose Galleries. Contact Reference Services for more information.
- 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
- Portions of the collection and material lent for microfilming are available on 35mm microfilm reels B1, 2380, 3936-3940, 4593-4594, and 4909 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the collection as described in this finding aid does not reflect the order of the collection on microfilm.
- Genre/Form
- Video recordings
- Manuscript
- Scope and Contents note
- The records of Vose Galleries of Boston measure 26.6 linear feet and date from circa 1876-1996 with the bulk of materials dating from 1920s-1940. Nearly 90 percent of the collection documents the gallery's handling of American paintings and portraits through incoming and outgoing business correspondence with artists, clients, galleries, and museums, including considerable correspondence with portrait artist Alfred Jonniaux and clients regarding commissioned portraits. Other materials include client files; artists' biographies; records of sales, consignments, framing, restoration, and banking, mostly from the 1940s-1960s; and scattered exhibition catalogs, newspaper clippings, and postcards. Also found is a handwritten manuscript regarding the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, PA and a 1991 videotape about the Vose Galleries and its founding family. Correspondence of note is with artists Childe Hassam, Malvina Hoffman, Alfred Jonniaux, and John Singer Sargent; galleries Ehrich Galleries, Clapp & Graham Co., M. Knoedler & Co., Macbeth Galleries, Milch Galleries, Newhouse Galleries, Arthur U. Newton Galleries, Norton Galleries, and Howard Young Galleries; the estates of Anna Coleman Ladd and William E. Norton; and the family of Abbott H. Thayer. Researchers should note that the records do not comprehensively span the gallery's history or operations. The bulk of the collection is correspondence from Robert C. Vose's era running the Robert C. Vose Galleries in the 1920s-1930s and, lesser so, under Robert C. Vose, Jr.'s direction in the 1970s. There is little material in the collection which dates before the 1910s or the 1950s-1960s, other than correspondence regarding Alfred Jonniaux and some financial records. There is a handful of correspondence which covers the period of R.C. & N.M. Vose Gallery. Records loaned for microfilming should be consulted for materials outside of the bulk dates of this collection, especially for materials from the late 1800s-early 1900s.
- Restrictions
- Use of original papers requires an appointment.
- Separated Materials note
- The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming. Reel B1 contains a scrapbook compiled by Seth Vose and annotated by Robert Vose that contains clippings, 1886-1900, and an 1889 letter from author and critic Alfred Trumble; and a scrapbook compiled and annotated by Robert C. Vose spanning the years 1920-1940, 1897, and 1905, containing clippings and handwritten lists. Reel 2380 includes numerous photographs, circa 1890-1964, of Seth Morton Vose, Robert C. Vose, Sr., artists, collectors, and dealers associated with Vose Galleries; a Macbeth Gallery "smoker" in honor of Emil Carlsen; a drawing of Charles Emil Heil by George F. Wing, and a charcoal drawing after Monticelli by Albion Harris Bicknell. Many of the photographs are annotated by Robert C. Vose. Reels 3936-3940 are comprised of account books, 1871-1887; a journal, 1889-1903, a ledger, 1889-1901; invoice books, 1896-circa 1954, inventories of paintings and drawings in stock, 1884, 1892 and 1906; exhibition records, 1911-1982?; traveling exhibition records, 1915-1949; and a record of paintings sold, 1876-1894. Written permission is required to access these reels. Reels 4593-4594 contain clippings, undated and 1891-1989, chiefly about purchases, sales and exhibitions, but also pertaining to art dealers, museums, artists, and art events. Reel 4909 contains a scrapbook of clippings, announcements, programs, and other printed materials, 1882-1993. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
- Record ID
- ebl-1503512407325-1503512407356-0
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