Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Edward H. Dwight Papers, 1821-2001, bulk 1950-1979, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.dwigedwa
Creators:
Dwight, Edward H., 1919-1981
Dates:
1821-2001
bulk 1950-1979
Languages:
The collection is in English.
Physical Description:
20.4 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of Cincinnati art historian, museum director, and Audubon and Peale scholar, Edward H. Dwight (1919-1981), measure 20.4 linear feet and date from 1821-2001, with the bulk of the material dating from 1950-1979. Dwight's papers include biographical material, writings by Dwight, and research files on John James Audubon, Raphaelle Peale, and others, documenting Dwight's extensive contribution to the study of American painting, particularly naturalist, portrait, and still-life painting. There is a 1.8 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection that includes Peale research material consiting of a catalog; correspondence, including letters related to Raphael Peale an C.C. Seller's miniatures; photographs, negatives and transparencies; printed material; catalog and accessioning informatino reagaring works of art; and writings by Dwight. Materials date from circa 1930-2001.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of Cincinnati art historian, museum director, and Audubon and Peale scholar, Edward H. Dwight (1919-1981), measure 20.4 linear feet and date from 1821-2001, with the bulk of the material dating from 1950-1979. Dwight's papers include biographical material, writings by Dwight, and research files on John James Audubon, Raphaelle Peale, and others, documenting Dwight's extensive contribution to the study of American painting, particularly naturalist, portrait, and still life painting.
Dwight's biographical material includes two address books, a calendar, a small amount of personal correspondence including letters and postcards from Schomer and Ruth Lichtner, and printed material documenting his work as a museum curator and director.
Writings and notes include correspondence about Dwight's writings, drafts and typescripts of articles on Audubon and other artists, and lecture notes.
The bulk of the collection comprises Dwight's research material on Audubon and includes correspondence related to his research with scholars, collectors, publications, museums, and libraries, including: the American Museum of Natural History, the Audubon Society, the Cincinnati Historical Society, the Louisiana State Museum, Annie R. coffin, Waldemar H. Fries, John Francis McDermott, and the collections of G. Edmund Gifford, Jr., Paul F. Laning, and Morris Tyler.
Copies of Audubon's correspondence, including letters from Audubon's father-in-law, Benjamin Bakewell, son Victor G. Audubon, and grandchildren, form a substantial portion of Dwight's research files. Notes and card files reflecting Dwight's research by categories such as life event, activity, geographical area, and subject of study, further illuminate his research and provide cross references to the Audubon letters and other material.
Data compiled and supplemented with reproductions of Audubon's artwork forms another substantial portion of Dwight's research, and provides detailed information about individual Audubon works and works attributed to him.
Dwight's subject files on Audubon house collated research on individuals, subjects, and events that intersected with Audubon's life and work, as well as Audubon research from other sources and scholars. They include copies of documents, such as the journal of Audubon collaborator John G Bell, and a scrapbook of granddaughter, Maria Audubon; documents relating to Audubon collaborators such as John Bachman and Maria Martin; material related to collections of Audubon's work; and information concerning editions of his prints, such as the Havell Edition, engraved and hand-colored by the firm of Robert Havell Sr. and Jr. in the 1830s.
Printed material used by Dwight in his research includes original American newspapers, from states including New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, dating from 1821 to the 1870s, which include articles on Audubon, as well as later magazines, journals, catalogs, and news clippings on Audubon. A small number of photographs, slide transparencies, and negatives of Audubon's artwork can be found at the end of the series.
Dwight's research material on Raphaelle Peale, Charles Willson Peale, Rembrandt Peale, James Peale, and other Peale family members, includes correspondence requesting and responding to requests for information; material collated by subject on Peale collectors, family history, miniatures, portraits, silhouettes, still lifes, and other subjects; and photographs of artwork.
Other research files document Dwight's interest in other artists such as Aaron H. Corwine, Robert S. Duncanson, and artists from the Cincinnati area in general. They include catalogs of data compiled on individual works of art, subject files, notes and index card files, printed material, and photographs of artwork. Of special note are eleven issues of John Held, Jr.'s, mail art correspondence sent to Dwight by the Mohammed Center for Restricted Communications.
There is a 1.8 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection that includes Peale research material consiting of a catalog; correspondence, including letters related to Raphael Peale an C.C. Seller's miniatures; photographs, negatives and transparencies; printed material; catalog and accessioning informatino reagaring works of art; and writings by Dwight. Materials date from circa 1930-2001.

Arrangement

Arrangement
This collection is arranged as six series.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, 1944-1980 (8 folders; Box 1, OV 20)
  • Series 2: Writings and Notes, 1954-circa 1979 (0.9 linear feet; Box 1)
  • Series 3: Audubon Research Material, 1821-circa 1979 (13 linear feet; Boxes 1-14, OVs 20-23)
  • Series 4: Peale Research Material, circa 1930-2001 (1.9 linear feet; Boxes 14-16)
  • Series 5: Other Research, 1881-1980 (2.7 linear feet; Boxes 16-19)
  • Series 6: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1930-2001 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 24-26)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Cincinnati art historian and museum director, Edward H. Dwight (1919-1981), conducted extensive research on American painting, in particular the works of John James Audubon, Charles Willson Peale, and Raphaelle Peale. He was also credited with rediscovering the Cincinnati artist, Aaron H. Corwine.
Dwight attended Yale and Cornell Universities, and studied art at the Cincinnati Art Academy and the School of Fine Arts of Washington University, St. Louis. From 1946 he held posts, including curator of American Art, at the Cincinnati Art Museum, until becoming director of the Milwaukee Art Center in 1955. In 1962 he left Milwaukee to direct the Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute Museum of Art, where he remained until the end of his career. He was the author of numerous articles for publications including Antiques, Audubon, Art in America, The Art Gallery, The Art Quarterly, and Canadian Art, and lectured widely on contemporary art, Spanish painting, and American painting.
In 1955 Dwight published the article "Aaron Houghton Corwine: Cincinnati Artist" in Antiques magazine. With this, and the exhibition, Rediscoveries in American Painting (1955), which he launched at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Dwight revived interest in this all but forgotten painter.
Dwight wrote many scholarly articles on Audubon's life and work throughout his career, in addition to writing catalogs for, and curating, exhibitions of Audubon's work. In 1960 he was awarded a $7,500 fellowship from the Ford foundation to pursue a reevaluation of Audubon, and to reexamine some long-held assumptions and exagerrations about Audubon's life and personality. He focused primarily on the artist-naturalist's original drawings and paintings, especially portraits and pictures of birds, animal life, and insects. Dwight was awarded an additional fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1973, to continue his research on Audubon.
Dwight's scholarly interest also extended to Raphaelle Peale and the Peale family of artists. In the 1960s and 1970s he wrote and published several articles about Raphaelle Peale, his father, Charles Willson Peale, and his brothers, Rembrandt and James. Dwight was working on a book about the family, and a catalog raisonné of Raphaelle Peale, when he died.
Dwight was an accomplished photographer and his work was included in at least eight exhibitions from 1951 to 1972, including two one-man exhibitions at Louisiana State University (1952), and Weyhe Gallery (1972).

Administration

Author
Stephanie Ashley
Sponsor
This collection was processed with funding from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Audubon materials were donated to the Archives of American Art by Dwight's widow, Ruth R. White, in 1982-1983. The Peale material was donated in 2002 by the Barra Foundation, Inc., which had received them from Ruth R. Dwight as they relate to the Foundation's mission to support scholarship in cultural history in the Philadelphia area. In 1983, the Barra Foundation loaned the documents to Dr. William H. Gerdts, an art historian, who was to continue Dwight's work on a catalog raisonné of Raphaelle Peale. Dr. Gerdts made limited use of the materials and the Barra Foundation then transferred them to the Archives of American Art in 2002.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by Stephanie Ashley in 2017 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Edward H. Dwight papers, 1821-2001, bulk 1950-1979. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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.
Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Business records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Still-life painting Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Typescripts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Museum curators -- Ohio -- Cincinnati Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mail art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Artists -- Ohio -- Cincinnati Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scrapbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art historians -- Ohio -- Cincinnati Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art, American Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painting, American Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketches Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Portrait painting Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Museum directors -- Ohio -- Cincinnati Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
McDermott, John Francis, 1902- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Laning, Paul F. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Peale, Rembrandt, 1778-1860 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Peale, Charles Willson, 1741-1827 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tyler, Morris F. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Corwine, Aaron H. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Coffin, Annie R. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Peale, James, 1789-1876 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
American Museum of Natural History Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gifford, George Edmund Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Louisiana State Museum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Held, John, 1947- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fries, Waldemar H., 1889- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Duncanson, Robert S., 1821-1872 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Peale, Raphaelle, 1774-1825 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Martin, Maria Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Peale family Family Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cincinnati Historical Society Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lichtner, Schomer, 1905-2006 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bell, John G. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Audubon Society Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Peale, James, 1749-1831 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Audubon, John James, 1785-1851 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Audubon, Victor Gifford, 1809-1860 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mohammed Center for Restricted Communications Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Audubon, Maria R. (Maria Rebecca), 1843-1925 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bakewell, Benjamin Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bachman, John Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
R. Havell & Son Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lichtner, Ruth Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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