Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Glass Plate Negatives of the Provincetown Art Colony, 1916, circa 2006, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.philanth
Creators:
Provincetown Art Association
Dates:
1916
circa 2006
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.44 Linear feet
0.116 Gigabytes
Repository:
The glass plate negatives of the Provincetown Art Colony measure 0.44 linear feet and 0.116 GB and date from 1916 and include images believed to have been taken for A. J. Philpott's August 1916 Boston Globe article entitled "Biggest Art Colony in the World at Provincetown." In addition to the twelve glass plate images of artists at work in Provincetown, including George Elmer Browne and E. Ambrose Webster, the collection includes the original negative box, a circa 2006 photocopy of Philpott's article, and digital copies of the glass plates.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The glass plate negatives of the Provincetown Art Colony measure 0.44 linear feet and 0.116 GB and date from 1916 and include images believed to have been taken for A. J. Philpott's August 1916 Boston Globe article entitled "Biggest Art Colony in the World at Provincetown. In addition to the twelve glass plate images of artists at work in Provincetown, including George Elmer and E. Ambrose Webster, the collection includes the original negative box, a circa 2006 photocopy of Philpott's article, and digital copies of the glass plates.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as one series.
  • Series 1: Glass Plate Negatives of the Provincetown Art Colony, 1916, circa 2006 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1, MGP 2, 0.116 GB; ER01)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
The Provincetown Art Association was established by artists Gerrit Beneker, Oscar Gieberich, William Halsall, Charles Hawthorne, and E. Ambrose Webster, along with local business men and women, in 1914. By 1916, the town had become a refuge for artists and expatriates from post-World War I Paris and artists from New York, and the association held juried exhibitions, beginning in the summer of 1915. Boston Globe editor A. J. Philpott's article "The Biggest Art Colony in the World," published in August of 1916, cemented Provincetown's reputation.
The Provincetown Art Association continued to expand throughout the twentieth century, and now operates a museum and a school. Provincetown celebrated it's 100th anniversary as an art colony in 1999.

Administration

Author
Stephanie Ashley
Sponsor
This collection were digitized with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Eight negatives were donated 2006 by Stephen Borkowski, chair of the Provincetown Art Commission. Borkowski purchased the negatives at a flea market in Boston in 1996 or 1997. He was told they were from the estate of a Boston Globe photographer. Borkowski made the donation in honor of Vivian Bullaudy, friend and colleague who curated an exhibition on Provincetown artists. The additional four negatives were donated in 2008 jointly by Stephen Borkowski, chairman of the Provincetown Art Commission, and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum.
Processing Information
The glass plate negatives were re-housed in 2015 with a grant from the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund. The collection was processed and a finding aid written by Stephanie Ashley in 2018 and digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.
Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Use of born-digital records with no duplicate copies requires advance notice.
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
Glass plate negatives of the Provincetown Art Colony, 1916, circa 2006. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Materials
The Archives of American Art also holds the microfilm for the Provincetown Art Association records and photographs, 1914-circa 1975.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Artist colonies -- Massachusetts Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Webster, E. Ambrose (Edwin Ambrose), 1869-1935 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Browne, George Elmer, 1871-1946 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Philpott, A. J. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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