Archives of American Art

Emerson Crosby Kelly research material relating to J. Francis Murphy

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.kellemer
Creators:
Kelly, Emerson Crosby, 1899-
Hollinger & Co. photography firm.
Moffett (Firm)
Dates:
1761-1973
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
16.7 Linear feet
(on 21 microfilm reels)
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Biography and catalogue raisonné of J. Francis Murphy by Emerson Crosby Kelly, M.D., and correspondence relating to Dr. Kelly's interest in Murphy. Personal papers of J. Francis Murphy and Adah Clifford Smith Murphy include diaries and notebooks, correspondence, Smith and Murphy family documents, financial records, printed matter, artifacts, photographs, and works of art.
Scope and Contents
Research notes, drafts, and manuscript of an unpublished biography, "J. Francis Murphy, N.A., (1853-1921): Tints of a Vanished Past," and illustrated catalogue raisonne of the works of J. Francis Murphy by Emerson Crosby Kelly (1953). Kelly corresponded with friends and relatives of the Murphys, with owners of Murphy paintings, publishers, printers, and possible financial backers for his book. Also documented is Dr. and Mrs. Kelly's involvement in the sale of "Weedwild," the Murphy's Arkville, N.Y. home, to the Pestalozzi Foundation of America.
Scope and Contents
Diaries of J. Francis Murphy (25 vols.) contain very brief entries that faithfully record weather conditions, garden progress, and other nature notes, with occasional mention of social engagements or service on art juries; entries recorded during trips to Europe mainly list places visited with little elaboration. Notebooks (16 vols.) include painting registers, daily listings of mail sent and received, address books, and jottings relating to Indian relics, his farmland, and paintings sent to dealers. Mrs. Murphy's diaries (46 vols.) also contain very brief entries mentioning friends, social engagements, travels, and an "Account of the pictures I painted and gave away. Portraits of them. + landscapes + old houses." Her notebooks (4 vols.) contain "Notes for a book. J.F.'s".
Scope and Contents
Correspondence concerns family matters, exhibitions, sales, professional memberships, involvement with the Salmagundi Club and National Academy of Design, and the couple's finances. Whenever separated, the Murphys exchanged lengthy letters with one another; the majority of these are from husband to wife.
Scope and Contents
Receipts and invoices are mainly for art supplies, framing, and shipping costs; expense records for personal purchases and farm upkeep and improvements; taxes; and legal papers concerning a property boundary dispute and lawsuit against the Murphys.
Scope and Contents
Photographs are of Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, their families and ancestors, friends, studios, "Weedwild" (country home) and surrounding Arkville, N.Y. area, landscape subjects, works of art by the Murphys, medals and certificates of award. Six tintypes are included. Photographers include: Hollinger, Moffett, Napoleon Sarony, and C. Vandyk. Commercially produced stereographs mainly depict U.S. scenes.
Scope and Contents
Art works consist of sketchbooks, oil sketches, and works of art on paper by both Murphys, Emil Carlsen, and other artists (ca. 500 items).
Scope and Contents
Other materials include exhibition catalogs and announcements, clippings, scrapbooks (probably compiled by Mrs. Murphy ca. 1885), medals awarded to J. Francis Murphy, copper plate etched by Adah C. Murphy, and artifacts.

Arrangement

Arrangement
I. Writings and Research Notes. II. Kelly Correspondence and Miscellaneous Files. III. J. Francis and Adah Clifford Smith Murphy Papers.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Emerson Crosby Kelly, M.D., art collector, surgeon, and medical bibliographer; d. 1977. J. Francis Murphy, landscape painter and one of the leading tonalists of the American Barbizon school, lived and worked in New York City and Arkville, N.Y. Studied very briefly at the Chicago Academy of Design, 1875. Member of the National Academy of Design and active in the Salmagundi Club. His wife, Adah Clifford Smith Murphy, a painter and illustrator, studied at the Female Art School of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.

Administration

Existence and Location of Copies
35mm microfilm reels 4341-4361 available at all Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The donor, Sydney Kelly, is the widow of Dr. Emerson Crosby Kelly. Dr. Kelly acquired the Murphy papers in 1949 from Hulda Gregerson, Mrs. Murphy's long-time companion, for the purpose of writing a biography and catalogue raisonne of J. Francis Murphy.

More Information

Other Finding Aids

Other Finding Aids
Finding aid available at all Archives of American Art offices.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Artists' studios -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Landscape painting, American -- New York (State) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- Biography Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arkville (N.Y.) -- Pictorial works Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketchbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Biographers Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Illustrators -- New York (State) Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Landscape painters -- New York (State) Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women painters Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Carlsen, Emil, 1853-1932 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Murphy, John Francis, 1853-1921 -- Catalogues raisonnés Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Murphy, Adah Clifford, 1860-1949 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Murphy, John Francis, 1853-1921 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sarony, Napoleon, 1821-1896 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vandyk, C. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Academy of Design (U.S.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pestalozzi Foundation of America Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Salmagundi Club Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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