Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Thomas B. Brumbaugh research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and other artists, 1876-1994 (bulk 1960s-1994), in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.brumthom
Creators:
Brumbaugh, Thomas B. (Thomas Brendle), 1921-
Dates:
1876-1994
bulk 1960-1994
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
1.4 Linear feet
Repository:
Thomas B. Brumbaugh's research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and other artists dates from 1876 to 1994 (bulk 1960s-1994) and measures 1.4 linear feet. Brumbaugh, an art historian and educator, wrote several articles on Thayer, and these papers contain related correspondence, photocopies and transcripts of Abbott Handerson Thayer's correspondence, research files, and photographs. Also found are Brumbaugh's research files on various artists compiled during his career.

Scope and Content Note

Scope and Content Note
Thomas B. Brumbaugh's research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and other artists dates from 1876 to 1994 (bulk 1960s-1994) and measures 1.4 linear feet. Brumbaugh, an art historian and educator, wrote several articles on Thayer, and these papers contain related correspondence, photocopies and transcripts of Abbott Handerson Thayer's correspondence, research files, and copyprint photographs. Also found are Brumbaugh's research files on various other artists compiled during his career.
Brumbaugh's research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer includes his correspondence with people who knew the Thayer family, other researchers, and museums, organizations, and individuals who owned works by Thayer. Also found are photocopies and transcripts of Abbott Thayer's personal correspondence with family, friends, and patrons. Brumbaugh also maintained research files on people who were friends or worked with Thayer that include correspondence, printed material, and notes. Photographs (all copyprints) that Brumbaugh gathered are of Thayer, his family and friends, models, his home and studio, and his artwork. Brumbaugh conducted most of his research beginning in 1966 in order to write a biography of Thayer, and though the book was never realized, much of this material was used for several scholarly articles about Thayer.
Brumbaugh's documentation on various additional artists, mostly contemporary, were compiled during his career as an art historian and professor at Vanderbilt University. The files include his correspondence, news clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, reproductions of artwork, and notes.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged into 2 series:
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer, 1876-1994 (bulk 1960s-1994)(Box 1; 0.9 linear feet)
  • Series 2: Artists' Files, 1923-1994 (Box 1-2; 0.5 linear feet)

Biographical Note

Biographical Note
Art historian and educator Thomas Brendle Brumbaugh was born in 1921. He spent most of his career as a professor of fine arts at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and has published many articles on American painting, sculpture, and architecture. He was co-editor of Architecture of Middle Tennessee: The Historic American Buildings Survey and co-author of The Art of Gerald Brockhurst. Brumbaugh spent several years doing research for a book on Abbott Handerson Thayer that was never realized, and published several articles on Thayer, including "An Artist and His Model: Abbott H. Thayer and Clara May," The American Art Journal, vol. 10 (May 1978).

Administration

Author
Erin Corley
Sponsor
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Provenance
The collection was donated in by Thomas B. Brumbaugh in 1995 and 2004.
Processing Information
A portion of the Thomas B. Brumbaugh research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and other artists received a preliminary level of processing after donation. The collection was fully processed by Erin Corley in 2007 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Thomas B. Brumbaugh research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and other artists, 1876-1994 (bulk 1960s-1994). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Restrictions on Access
The collection is open for research. Use 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.

Related Material
The Archives of American Art also houses several collections related to Abbott Handerson Thayer. These include the Abbott Handerson Thayer and Thayer Family papers, 1851-1999; the Abbott Handerson Thayer letter and drawings to Caroline Peddle Ball, circa 1890-1893; "The Drawings of Abbott Thayer," by Elizabeth Robins Pennell, circa 1921; and the Nelson and Henry C. White research material, 1898-1978, which includes many original letters, photographs, and other material originally belonging to the Thayer family.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art historians -- Tennessee -- Nashville Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Thayer, Abbott Handerson, 1849-1921 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vanderbilt University -- Faculty Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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