Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth Hurd Papers, 1917-1993, in the Archives of American Art

Summary
Collection ID:
AAA.hurdpete
Creators:
Hurd, Peter, 1904-1984
Dates:
1917-1993
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
5.2 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of painters Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth Hurd measure 5.2 linear feet, date from 1917 to 1993, and present an overview of their careers and their lives together through correspondence, notes, writings, artwork, printed material, and photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Scope and Content Note
The papers of painters Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth Hurd measure 5.2 linear feet, date from 1917 to 1993, and present an overview of their careers and their lives together through correspondence, notes, writings, artwork, printed material, and photographs.
Writer and longtime family friend Paul Horgan, author of Peter Hurd: A Portrait Sketch from Life (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1965), also figures prominently in the collection. Correspondence forms the bulk of the collection and includes letters to family members, letters to and from Paul Horgan, and Peter Hurd's business correspondence. The collection also includes biographical material such as sketches of family members and genealogy information; miscellaneous notes; scattered writings by Paul Horgan; three drawings by Peter Hurd and a drawing by Paul Horgan; printed material including exhibition catalogs, press releases, and brochures; and two photographs of Paul Horgan.
In 1999 the Archives of American Art received an addition to the Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth Hurd papers consisting of material concerning Henriette Wyeth Hurd, including an address book; letters regarding portrait commissions, exhibitions, the film The Wyeths: A Father and His Family (Smithsonian World, 1986), and honors and awards; correspondence with Portraits, Inc., 1946-1949, regarding sales and inquiries; letters from Paul Horgan (signed "Plito"); letters from Henriette's father, N.C. Wyeth, and sister, Carolyn Wyeth; more than thirty letters to Andrew Wyeth and his sister Betsy; and several letters from Andrew Wyeth.
Arrangement
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into eight series. Material in each series is arranged chronologically, unless otherwise noted.
    Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, 1980-1984, undated (box 1, 1 folder)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, 1917-1989 (boxes 1-4, 3.5 linear ft.)
  • Series 3: Notes, undated (box 4, 1 folder)
  • Series 4: Writings, 1980-1985 (box 4, 12 folders)
  • Series 5: Artwork, 1940, undated (box 4, 2 folders)
  • Series 6: Printed Material, 1928-1929 (box 4, 14 folders)
  • Series 7: Photographs, 1977, undated (box 4, 1 folder)
  • Series 8: Unprocessed Addition to the Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth Hurd Papers, 1939-1993 (boxes 5-6, 1.2 linear ft.)
Biographical Note
Biographical Note
Peter Hurd was born in 1904 in Roswell, New Mexico, after his parents' move there from the East Coast. He was appointed to the U. S. Military Academy at West Point in 1921, but left two years later to begin an artistic career. After attending Haverford College, he studied under N. C. Wyeth and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1924 to 1926. In 1929, he married Wyeth's eldest child, Henriette, who was also a painter.
Henriette Wyeth was born in 1907 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and studied at the Normal Art School in Boston in 1920, and later at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
During the mid-1930s they settled permanently in San Patricio, New Mexico. Hurd printed lithographs and painted portraits and landscapes in addition to federally-sponsored murals in post offices. Henriette was primarily known as a portrait painter.
Peter Hurd died in 1984.
Administration
Author
Jean Fitzgerald
Provenance
The Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth Hurd papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1991 and 1994 by Michael Hurd and Henriette Wyeth Hurd, the son and widow of Peter Hurd. In 1999, an addition of 1.2 linear feet was donated by the Henriette Wyeth Hurd estate.
Alternative Forms Available
Portions of the collection are available on 35 mm microfilm reels 5125-5129 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by Jean Fitzgerald in 1996. An addition of 1.2 linear feet was received in 1999 from the Henriette Wyeth Hurd estate and remains unprocessed.
Using the Collection
Restrictions on Access
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
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
Peter Hurd and Henrietta Wyeth Hurd papers, 1917-1993. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Related Material
Related material in the Archives of American Art includes Peter Hurd papers relating to the Section of Fine Arts, 1936-1951. These papers contain correspondence concerning Treasury Department art programs, including miscellaneous papers and printed material concerning Hurd's murals for the Section of Fine Arts in Texas and New Mexico.
Also found in the Archives of American Art is 1 sound tape reel of a transcribed interview with Peter Hurd conducted by Sylvia Loomis, March 28, 1964.
Keywords
Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- New Mexico Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Portrait painters -- New Mexico Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women painters Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nixon, Pat, 1912-1993 -- Photographs Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Eisenhower, Julie Nixon Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Horgan, Paul, 1903- -- Photographs Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Annenberg, Walter H., 1908- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Eisenstaedt, Alfred Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wyeth, Henriette, 1907- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wyeth, N. C. (Newell Convers), 1882-1945 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nixon, Pat, 1912-1993 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Horgan, Paul, 1903- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Repository Contact
Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions