Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Henry Bacon Papers, 1849-1931, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.bacohenr
Creators:
Bacon, Henry, 1839-1912
Dates:
1849-1931
Languages:
The collection is in
English
and
French
.
Physical Description:
1.9 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of painter and writer Henry Bacon date from 1849-1931 and measure 1.9 linear feet. The collection documents Bacon's career and travels through France and Egypt. Included are biographical materials, correspondence, writings by Bacon and others, scattered business records, printed material, scrapbooks, photographs, eight sketchbooks and additional sketches.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of painter and writer Henry Bacon date from 1849-1931 and measure 1.9 linear feet. The collection documents Bacon's career and travels through France and Egypt. Included are biographical materials, correspondence, writings by Bacon and others, scattered business records, printed material, scrapbooks, photographs, eight sketchbooks and additional sketches.
Scattered biographical materials include an address book, a photo identification card, genealogical material, and autobiographical notes and resumes. The bulk of correspondence is in French written by French artists included in Bacon's book Parisian Art and Artists, including Beaumont, E. Berne-Bellecourt, Vincent Chevillard, Luigi Chialiva, Georges Clairin, Edmond Dupain, Carolus Duran, Antonio Gonzalez, Ferdinand Heilbuth, Madeleine Lemaire, Luc Oliver Merson, and Leon Olivie. Also found is correspondence between Louisa Lee Bacon with museums and institutions concerning her husband's art.
Writings and notes contain short stories, personal accounts, and poems by Henry Bacon, as well as a biographical work on Bacon by Louisa Bacon, and unsigned poems in French. Manuscripts of Bacon's books are not found.
Scattered personal business records include a sales record notebook, an expense journal, and a lease. Printed materials consist primarily of clippings, a few exhibition catalogs, a copy of Bacon's book Étretat: Hamlet of the Setting Sun, and printed images of works of art. Two scrapbooks document Bacon's career as an artist through clippings, photos, exhibition catalogs, and announcements.
Photographs include portraits and snapshots of Bacon and his wife, travel photos used as reference, and photos of works of art. Artwork by Bacon includes eight sketchbooks, watercolor sketches, and pen and ink sketches.

Arrangement

Arrangement
This collection is arranged as 8 series.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, 1864-circa 1930 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, 1849-1931 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
  • Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1875-circa 1912 (Box 1-2, 5; 0.3 linear feet)
  • Series 4: Personal Business and Financial records, 1864-1871 (Box 2; 2 folders)
  • Series 5: Printed Material, 1882-1931 (Box 2; 0.3 linear feet)
  • Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1866-1923 (Box 3; 0.2 linear feet)
  • Series 7: Photographs, circa 1862-circa 1930 (Box 3-5; 0.4 linear feet)
  • Series 8: Artwork and Sketchbooks, 1864-1912 (Box 4-5; 0.4 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Painter and writer, Henry Bacon (1839-1912) spent much of his career and life in France and Egypt. He is best known for his watercolor depictions of Egyptian desert scenes.
Henry Bacon was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1839. During the Civil War, ee enlisted in the Union Army and served as corporal in Company D, 4th Battalion of Rifles of the 13th Massachusetts Regiment. Also during the war, he worked as a field artist for Leslie's Weekly. He suffered an injury at the Second Battle of Bull Run and was discharged in 1864. That same year, he married Lizzie Lord and moved to France. The couple settled in Paris where Bacon studied at the École des Beaux-Arts under Alexandre Cabanel. He spent many summers in Étretat, France--a subject he painted and wrote about in his bookÉtretat: Hamlet of the Setting Sun.
After the death of Lizzie Lord, Bacon married Louisa Lee Andrews. In the 1890s, Henry and Louisa spent their time split between London and Egypt. It was during this time that Bacon produced his many watercolor scenes of the desert, the Nile River, and of the Egyptian people. Henry Bacon died in Cairo in 1912.

Administration

Author
Jayna M. Josefson
Sponsor
Processing and digitization of this collection was funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art
Existence and Location of Copies
The bulk of this collection was digitized in 2013 and is available via the Archives of American Art's website.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated in 1987 by Nancy N. Brecht, the grandniece of Henry Bacon and granddaughter of Bacon's brother, Earle.
Processing Information
The Henry Bacon papers were arranged and microfilmed upon receipt on reels 4040 and 4041. In 2013, the collection was fully processed, arranged and described by Jayna Josefson and digitized with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Separated Materials
Also found in the Archives are three sketchbooks lent by Nancy C. Brecht for microfilming on reels 4040-4041. The scrapbooks are not described in the container listing of this finding aid but are available for viewing in Archives of American Art offices and via interlibrary loan.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Terms of Use
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.
Preferred Citation
Henry Bacon papers, 1849-1931. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketches Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Artists -- France -- Paris Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Authors -- France -- Paris Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Landscape painters Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scrapbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Egypt -- description and travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketchbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- United States Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Olivie, Leon Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lemaire, Madeleine-Jeanne Coll, 1845-1928 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Merson, Luc Olivier, 1846-1920 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gonzales, Antonio Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Heilbuth, Ferdinand Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chialiva, Luigi, 1841-1914 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chevillard, Vincent Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dupain, Edmond-Louis, 1847-1933 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clairin, Georges, 1843-1919 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Beaumont Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bacon, Lee Andrews, 1861- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Carolus-Duran, 1837 or 8-1917 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Berne-Bellecourt, E. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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