Archives of American Art

Katharine Lane Weems papers

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.weemkath
Creators:
Weems, Katharine Lane, 1899-1989
Dates:
1865-1989
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
14.8 Linear feet
3 Items
rolled docs
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Biographical material, extensive diaries, correspondence, notes, writings, business records, sketchbooks and drawings, project files, scrapbooks, printed materials, photographs and slides, motion picture film, and videotape relating to Weem's education and career as a sculptor. Also included are ca. 1 foot of papers of Weems' aunt, watercolorist Katharine Ward Lane (1862-1893), including letters, diaries, sketchbooks and photographs.
Scope and Contents
REEL 724: Biographical sketch, 1974; letters from Frederic Bartlett, George Demetrios, Walker Hancock, Leon Kroll, Lee Lawrie, Moissaye Marans, Adolph Alexander Weinman, and others; four sketchbooks, 1954-1965, containing pencil drawings of animals; a scrapbook of clippings, 1924-1941; and printed material.
Scope and Contents
UNMICROFILMED: Biographical material includes sketches and documents, and biographical information on Weems grandfather, Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, and father, Gardiner Lane. Diaries (74 v.), 1906-1983, contain entries relating to art studies and her development as a sculptor; some include clippings and photographs. Correspondence, 1898-1989, includes letters from Gifford Beal, Margaret French Cresson, Charles Grafly, John Gregory, Walker Hancock, Malvina Hoffman, Anna Hyatt-Huntington, Paul Manship, Brenda Putnam, Gurdon Tarbox, and Adolph Weinman, discussing Weems' work and participation in various sculpture organizations. There are four notebooks on art history; recipes for clay and plaster; notes on patinas for bronze; lecture notes; lists of Weems' works and exhibitions; an exhibition guest book, 1931-1957; poems, 1933-1981; invoices and receipts, 1919-1981; copyright records, 1928-1978; and art work, including 15 v. of sketchbooks, 1913-1964, drawings and tracings of animal figures. and a copper printing plate mounted on a wood block.
Scope and Contents
Fourteen project files contain letters, drawings, photographs, and printed material on: an enlarging machine, the Saltus Medal for Merit, the frieze and Rhinoceros sculpture for the Biological Laboratories at Harvard, 1930-1942, including 7 reels of 16mm motion picture film (with script transferred to VHS), the Lotta Fountain, 1939-1974, Legion of Merit Medal, 1949-1952, War Department project, 1946, Goodwin Medal, 1949-1952, Wallace Goodrich Plaque, 1954, Hospital Teaching Clinic, 1955, Boston Museum of Science, 1964-1965, "Dolphins by the Sea" for the New England Aquarium, 1969-1979, Heredities Limited, 1971-1974, and the Museum School, 1977.
Scope and Contents
Included are two scrapbooks, one of clippings about the work of other artists and one containing poems, clippings of landscapes, animals, works by others, and autographed photographs of actresses Katharine Cornell and Anna May Wong and sculptor Brenda Putnam. Printed material includes clippings, 1911-1989; exhibition announcements and catalogs, 1922-1981; bulletins, programs, brochures on artists, organizations, Brookgreen Gardens, and supplies; reproductions of art works, and the books, Odds Were Against Me (1985, Weems autobiography, and Enrique Monjo (1955), inscribed by Mongo.
Scope and Contents
Photographs and slides, 1902-1988, are of Weems, family members, artists Charles Grafly, Walker Hancock, and Anna Hyatt-Huntington, Weems' house "The Chimneys," her studio, gardens, animals, works of art by Weems and others, exhibit installations, and views of New York City, Washington, D.C., Monticello, the University of Virginia, and Brookgreen Gardens. Nine albums, 1920-1980, contain photographs of an art class, Weems in her studio, her home, her friends, scenic views, and works of art. Videos and film include a videotape (5 min., U-matic) of an interview of Weems; a film, "From Clay to Bronze," showing the creation of Weems' sculpture "Dark Warrier" (transferred to VHS); motion picture film of the making of the sculpture "Rhinoceros" (transferred to digital betacam, VHS and DVD), and a home movie of a day at the beach, circa 1935.
Scope and Contents
The papers' of Weems' aunt, Katharine "Kitty" Ward Lane (d. 1893), include Lane's letters, 1898-1893, to her brother (Weems' father) and to other family members; a travel diary from Germany, 1886; notes; financial records, 1891-1892; 10 sketchbooks; printed material; and photographs, 1865-1893, of Lane, early views of Saranac Lake, and 9 views of the Columbia Exposition, 1893.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Sculptor; Boston, Mass. Died 1989. Specialized in animal sculpture. Studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston under Charles Grafly, Anna Hyatt-Huntington, George Demetrios, and Brenda Putnam. She married F. Carrington Weems in 1947. Named after her aunt, watercolor painter Katharine Ward Lane, who died in 1893.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for the preservation and transfer of motion picture film provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Existence and Location of Copies
35mm microfilm reel 724 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Material on reel 724 lent for microfilming by Weems, 1974. The four sketchbooks on reel 724 were subsequently donated in 1989. Unmicrofilmed papers were donated 1975 and 1982 by Weems, and in 1989 by her estate. Eighteen diaries (1961-1965, 1967-1976 [1969 not included], 1978, and 1981-1983) and an apppointment book for 1966 donated by the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College, 1991.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art -- Study and teaching -- Massachusetts -- Boston Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Artists' studios -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Saranac Lake N.Y. -- Photographs Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketchbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Video recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Animal sculptors -- Massachusetts -- Boston Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculptors -- Massachusetts -- Boston Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Watercolorists -- Massachusetts -- Boston Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women painters Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women sculptors Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Animal sculpture Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cornell, Katharine, 1893-1974 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cresson, Margaret French, 1889-1973 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Grafly, Charles, 1862-1929 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Huntington, Anna Hyatt, 1876-1973 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manship, Paul, 1885-1966 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Monjo, Enric, 1895-1976 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Putnam, Brenda, 1890-1975 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wong, Anna May, 1905-1961 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gildersleeve, Basil L. (Basil Lanneau), 1831-1924 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lane, Gardiner M., 1859-1914 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hancock, Walker Kirtland, 1901-1998 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kroll, Leon, 1884-1974 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Marans, Moissaye, 1902-1977 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Weinman, Adolph A. (Adolph Alexander), 1870-1952 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lane, Katharine Ward, 1862-1893 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brookgreen Gardens Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
World's Columbian Exposition (1893 : Chicago, Ill.) -- Photographs Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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