Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the William Mills Ivins Papers, 1878-1964, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.ivinwill
Creators:
Ivins, William Mills, 1881-1961
Dates:
1878-1964
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
20.5 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers, 1878-1964 (20.5 linear feet) of museum curator, director, and art scholar William Mills Ivins (1881-1961) consist of correspondence, writings, notes, photographs, and Ivins family papers. Ivins was Curator of Prints, 1916-1946, Assistant Director, 1933-1938, and Acting Director, 1938-1940 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The collection contains professional and personal correspondence with art historians, art dealers, museum curators, print and book collectors, and artists concerning the history of print making, book design and illustration, print collectors and collecting, exhibitions, and museum administration. Also found are Ivins' published and unpublished writings and lectures, and notes. The collection contains some Ivins' family papers including family correspondence, genealogies, and photographs.

Scope and Content Note

Scope and Content Note
The papers, 1878-1964 (20.5 linear feet) of museum curator, director, and art scholar William Mills Ivins (1881-1961) consist of personal and professional correspondence, writings, notes, photographs, and Ivins family papers. Ivins was Curator of Prints, 1916-1946, Assistant Director, 1933-1938, and Acting Director, 1938-1940 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The collection contains professional and personal correspondence with art historians, art dealers, museum curators, print and book collectors, and artists concerning the history of print making, book design and illustration, print collectors and collecting, exhibitions, and museum administration. Correspondence files appear to be complete, and correspondence is of substantive content. Also found are Ivins' published and unpublished writings and lectures, and notes. Of particular interest are the letters from Bernard Berenson, Paul J. Sachs, and Theodore Sizer, each of whom corresponded with Ivins freqently over extended periods about both personal and professional and matters.
Ivins' family papers include family correspondence, genealogies, and photographs. The papers of Ivin's wife, illustrator Florence Wyman Ivins (1881-1948), and the correspondence of several other relatives, can be found here augmented by family photographs.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection has been arranged into 7 series. The contents and organization are noted in the individual series descriptions.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Professional and Personal Papers, circa 1908-1961 (Boxes 1-8; 6.5 linear ft.)
  • Series 2: Writings, circa 1910-1960 (Boxes 8-12; 4.9 linear ft.)
  • Series 3: Publications, 1896-1958 (Boxes 13-14; 2.0 linear ft.)
  • Series 4: Miscellaneous, 1915, undated (Box 15; 1.0 linear ft.)
  • Series 5: Ivins Family Papers, 1878-1964, undated (Boxes 16-20; 4.5 linear ft.)
  • Series 6: Photographs, circa 1890-1940 (Boxes 20-21; 1.5 linear ft.)
  • Series 7: Oversized Material, 1897-1950 (1 OV folder)

Biographical Note

Biographical Note
William Mills Ivins, Jr. (1881-1961), a lawyer, first became interested in collecting prints and illustrated books while an undergraduate at Harvard. He studied the history of printmaking through self-directed reading, by looking at prints in the major European libraries and museums, and tried his hand at many of the printmaking processes. While practicing law, he wrote articles and organized some small exhibitions of prints as early as 1908. In 1916, the Metropolitan Museum of Art appointed its first Curator of Prints to organize a Department of Prints and Drawings and to develop its small existing collection. Upon the recommendation of Paul J. Sachs who was unable to accept the position, Ivins was selected. He held the post until his retirement some thirty years later.
During his tenure as Curator of Prints, Ivins became one of the most highly-respected individuals in the profession. Under Ivins the collection grew in scope, size, and quality; he acquired materials by cultivating potential donors, and through systematic purchase of pieces not likely to come into the collection by bequest. The department's active exhibition schedule included some especially noteworthy shows, such as The Arts of the Book in 1924.
Ivins was knowledgeable and shared information by writing several books on prints and the history of printmaking, and by writing large numbers of articles for the educated layman. His articles often highlighted items in the permanent collection, and frequently appeared in the museum's Bulletin. He was interested in perspective, psychology of perception, aesthetics, mathematics and modern philosophy, and wrote on these topics, as well.
He was an accomplished speaker and was in much demand as a lecturer. Of particular note were his series on Illustrated Books of the Renaissance at the Morgan Library in 1936, and the 1950 Lowell Lectures (subsequently published under the title Prints and Visual Communication).
In addition to his curatorial duties, Ivins served as Assistant Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art between 1933 and 1938, and was its Acting Director from 1938 until 1940. Francis Henry Taylor was appointed Director in 1940, and Ivins was named to the newly created post of Counselor; failure to attain the directorship was a bitter disappointment, which many attributed to his lack of tact and generally difficult disposition.
Ivins retired in 1946, and continued to write and publish until the mid-1950's. During this period he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Yale University (1946), made an honorary fellow of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1946), named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1950), and invited to deliver the annual lectures at the Lowell Institute (1950). He died at the age of eighty in 1961, after several years of declining health.
Ivins' private collection of prints and illustrated books, which he had continued to amass through the 1930's, was partially dispersed during his lifetime through gifts to the Metropolitan Museum and to a number of university and special libraries. The portion remaining in his estate was sold at auction by Parke Bernet between 1962 and 1964.
Missing Title
1881
born to William Mills Ivins and Emma Yard Ivins, Flatbush, N.Y.
1890-1893
attended King's School, Stamford, Conn.
1896
trip to South America with father
1897
graduation from St. Paul's School, Concord, N.H.
1901
graduation from Harvard (A.B.)
1901-1902
travelled in Europe with Paul Haviland, and studied economics at University of Munich
1902-1904
employed by The World's Work, writing articles on economic and artistic subjects
1907
graduation from Columbia School of Law
1907-1916
practiced law in New York City: Ivins, Wolff and Houget for New York Public Service Commission, 1907-1908; Strong and Cadwallader, 1908-1909; Cravath, Henderson, and der Gersdorff, 1909-1916
1908
arranged first exhibition of prints, Keppel & Co,
1910
marriage to Florence Wyman, an illustrator
1916
appointed first Curator of Prints, Metropolitan Museum of Art
c. 1927-1935
served on editorial board of Metropolitan Museum Studies
1933-1938
Assistant Director, Metropolitan Museum of Art
1937
Morgan Library Lectures
1938
Honorary Curator of Prints and Drawings, Morgan Library
1938-1940
Acting Director, Metropolitan Museum of Art (Note: Mr. Ivins continued to act as Curator of Prints during periods when he was assigned other major administrative responsibilities at the museum)
1940
Counselor, Metropolitan Museum of Art
1946
Honorary Fellow, Metropolitan Museum of Art; retirement from Metropolitan Museum of Art; Honorary Doctorate, Yale University
1950
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Lowell Lectures (published in 1953 under the title Prints and Visual Communication)
1961
death
1962-1964
Ivins Collection of Prints and Illustrated Books sold at auction by Parke Bernet
1977-1983
William M. Ivins, Jr. Papers donated to the Archives of American Art by his daughter, Barbara Ivins

Administration

Author
Cathy Stover
Provenance
The William Mills Ivins, Jr., papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by his daughter, Barbara Ivins, in several installments between 1977 and 1983.
Processing Information
The collection was processed and the finding aid written by Cathy Stover in 1988. The finding aid was modified during EAD conversion by Stephanie Ashley in 2002. Additional work on the collection was completed by intern Carrol Park in 2012.

Using the Collection

Restrictions on Access
Use of unmicrofilmed material in the holdings of the Archives of American Art requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C., facility.
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
William Mills Ivins papers, 1878-1964. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Illustrators Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aesthetics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art museums Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Book collectors and collecting Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Museum directors Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Perspective Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Designers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Museums -- Acquisitions Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art historians Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Prints -- History Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Etching -- History Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Engraving -- History Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Medicine and art -- History Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Illustrated books -- History Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Museum curators Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lay, Charles Downing, 1877-1956 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ivins, William Mills, 1851-1915 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sachs, Paul J. (Paul Joseph), 1878-1965 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ruzicka, Rudolph, 1883- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rogers, Bruce, 1870-1957 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pierpont Morgan Library Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Webster, Herman A. (Herman Armour), 1878-1970 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sizer, Theodore, 1892-1967 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Simonson, Lee, 1888- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sarton, George, 1884-1956 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Winter, Carl, 1906 Jan. 10- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wind, Edgar, 1900- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Käsebier, Gertrude, 1852-1934 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ames, Winslow Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arensberg, Walter, 1878-1954 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arms, John Taylor, 1887-1953 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Berenson, Bernard, 1865-1959 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Century Association (New York, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ivins, Emma Yard, 1857-1940 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ivins, Barbara Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ivins, Katherine Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ivins, Florence Wyman, 1881-1948 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Greene, Belle da Costa, 1883-1950 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Friedländer, Max J., 1867-1958 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Holmes, Margaret Ivins, 1882-1954 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Grolier Club Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Constable, W. G. (William George), 1887-1976 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cockerell, Sydney Carlyle, Sir, 1867-1962 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Frankfurter, Felix, 1882-1965 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dodgson, Campbell, 1867-1948 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Burroughs, Bryson, 1869-1934 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Boas, George, 1891- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Carrington, Fitz Roy, 1869-1954 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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