Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the W. Langdon Kihn Papers, 1904-1990, bulk 1904-1957, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.kihnwlan
Creators:
Kihn, W. Langdon
Dates:
1904-1990
bulk 1904-1957
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
8.5 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of painter and illustrator W. Langdon Kihn measure approximately 8.5 linear feet and date from 1904-1990, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1904-1957. Papers document Kihn's career and travels associated with his interests in documenting the native American tribal nations of the United States and Canada in portraiture and writings. Found here are biographical materials, voluminous correspondence, memoirs and writings, one travel diary, printed material, financial records, three sketchbooks, sketches, and photographs.

Scope and Content Note

Scope and Content Note
The papers of painter and illustrator W. Langdon Kihn measure approximately 8.5 linear feet and date from 1904-1990, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1904-1957. Papers document Kihn's career and travels associated with his interests in documenting the native American tribal nations of the United States and Canada in portraiture and writings. Found here are biographical material, voluminous correspondence, memoirs and writings, one travel diary, printed material, financial records, three sketchbooks, sketches, and photographs.
Biographical materials include address books, membership cards, exhibition and price lists, legal and travel documents, as well as biographical notes. Additional biographical sketches are found in the Writings and Notes series.
Correspondence is the largest series in the collection, almost half of the papers. In addition to letters to W. Langdon Kihn, this series include both originals and drafts of his outgoing letters; letters to his wife Helen from friends; third party business correspondence between his father, Alfred Kihn, and various parties undertaken on his son's behalf; and third party correspondence addressed to his friend and colleague, the Canadian ethnographer, Marius Barbeau. In addition to Barbeau, significant correspondents include Constance Lindsay Skinner, Chester and Maud Dale, Sir Henry Wellcome, Pierre and Marie "May" Lecompte du Noüy, and Reginald and Gladys Laubin. Although there is little correspondence with other artists, those represented with cards and letters in this collection include Boris Artzybasheff, Maynard Dixon, Olin Dows, Thornton Oakley, and Kihn's summer art school partner, Gus Wiggins. Correspondence with Franklin L. Fisher, Chief of National Geographic Magazine's Illustrated Division and Matthew W. Striling, Chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution dominate the period spanning from 1935 - 1952, the years of Kihn's close association with the National Geographic Society.
Writings and notes includes manuscripts and typescripts of articles, poems, lectures, memoirs, and other writings by Kihn and others. There is one travel diary dated circa 1924-1925, and numerous writings about Kihn's travels and documentation of native American Indians.
Printed materials include exhibition catalogs, travel brochures, and magazine and newspaper clippings. Also found here are copies of Kihn's illustrations for books by other authors, including Beaver, Kings and Cabins, by Constance Lindsay Skinner, as well as proofs from the National Geographic series on American Indians arranged by geographic location. Financial records consist of invoices and receipts related to Kihn's artwork, traveling, and exhibitions.
Three sketchbooks and loose sketches include illustrated field notes and other drawings that document Kihn's travels and of native Americans. Photographs are of Kihn, and of Kihn at work. There are also photographs of Kihn's artwork.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged into 7 series:
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1916-1957 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1904-1959 (Boxes 1-5; 4.0 linear feet)
  • Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1920-1990 (Box 5-6; 1.0 linear feet)
  • Series 4: Printed Material, circa 1920-1957 (Boxes 6-8, OV 10; 2.2 linear feet)
  • Series 5: Financial Records, 1920-1955 (Box 8; 0.3 linear feet)
  • Series 6: Sketchbooks and Sketches, circa 1922-1955 (Boxes 8-9, OV 10; 0.5 linear feet)
  • Series 7: Photographs, circa 1920-1955 (Box 9; 5 folders)

Biographical Note

Biographical Note
Born in Brooklyn, New York, W. (Wilfred) Langdon Kihn (1898-1959) is best known for his portraits of American Indians and illustrations of their history, culture and rapidly disappearing way of life. In 1919, Kihn joined his art teacher Winold Reiss on a trip to the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana where he completed his first series of portraits. This marked the beginning of his lifelong career of documenting the tribal nations of the United States and Canada. Through commissions from Canadian and American Railroad companies, Kihn spent much of the 1920s traversing both the United States and Northwest Canada where he had the opportunity to record the members and lives of various tribes. During this period, his paintings also traveled the country in a one man exhibition of his American Indian portraits, which was arranged by the Brooklyn Museum, and traveled to about 40 institutions in the United States. However his largest and best known commission was a project to research and paint North American Indians for serial publication in National Geographic. Kihn received the commission in 1935 and his association with the organization spanned two decades, culminating in the 1955 exhibition of his work at the National Geographic Museum, Washington, D.C, and the publication Indians of the Americas, with copius illustrations derived from Kihn's paintings and drawings.
In addition to his travels and work in North America, Kihn enjoyed a brief stint between 1929-1932 painting in France and Spain. Upon his return he focused upon obtaining commercial work and enjoyed success as an illustrator, whose work was featured in Beaver, Kings and Cabins (1933) and Flat Tail (1935), among other books. Kihn also wrote articles about his travels; amateur painters, whom he specialized in teaching; and American Indian legends and tribal cultures. Between 1948-1951 he was a partner in the Guy Wiggins-W. Langdon Kihn Art School in Essex, Connecticut. He married Helen Butler in 1920 and in between their travels the couple eventually settled in East Haddam, Connecticut. W. Langdon Kihn died in 1957.

Administration

Author
Kathleen Brown
Sponsor
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
Provenance
Helen Kihn, W. Langdon Kihn's widow, donated the bulk of the collection in 1959. In 1994 Phyllis Kihn, the artist's daughter, donated pages 1-8 of Kihn's original manuscript of his memoirs and a transcript of the complete memoirs.
Alternative Forms Available
The bulk of the collection is available on 35 mm microfilm reels 3701-3713 at 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
Much of the collection was microfilmed upon receipt, and merged and re-processed, arranged and described by Kathleen Brown in 2008 as part of the Terra Foundation for American Art Digitization and Processing Project.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
W. Langdon Kihn papers, 1904-1990, bulk 1904-1957. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Restrictions on Access
Use of original papers 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.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Sketchbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Diaries Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Painters -- Connecticut Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketches Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Poetry Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Writings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Book illustrators -- Connecticut Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Pictorial works Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wiggins, Guy C. (Guy Carleton), 1883-1962 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Skinner, Constance Lindsay, 1882-1939 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oakley, Thorton, 1881-1953 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wellcome, Henry S., Sir (Henry Solomon), 1853-1936 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stirling, Matthew Williams, 1896-1975 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lecomte du Noüy, Marie Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Laubin, Reginald Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Geographic Society (U.S.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lecomte du Noüy, Pierre, 1883-1947 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kihn, Helen Butler Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kihn, Alfred Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Laubin, Gladys Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dale, Maud, 1875-1953 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dixon, Maynard, 1875-1946 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Downs, Olin Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fisher, Franklin L. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Artzybasheff, Boris, 1899-1965 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Barbeau, Marius, 1883-1969 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dale, Chester, b. 1883 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives of American Art
750 9th Street, NW
Victor Building, Suite 2200
Washington, D.C. 20001
https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions