A Finding Aid to the Thomas B. Brumbaugh research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and other artists, 1876-1994 (bulk 1960s-1994), in the Archives of American Art

Scope and Content Note

Thomas B. Brumbaugh's research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and other artists dates from 1876 to 1994 (bulk 1960s-1994) and measures 1.4 linear feet. Brumbaugh, an art historian and educator, wrote several articles on Thayer, and these papers contain related correspondence, photocopies and transcripts of Abbott Handerson Thayer's correspondence, research files, and copyprint photographs. Also found are Brumbaugh's research files on various other artists compiled during his career.

Brumbaugh's research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer includes his correspondence with people who knew the Thayer family, other researchers, and museums, organizations, and individuals who owned works by Thayer. Also found are photocopies and transcripts of Abbott Thayer's personal correspondence with family, friends, and patrons. Brumbaugh also maintained research files on people who were friends or worked with Thayer that include correspondence, printed material, and notes. Photographs (all copyprints) that Brumbaugh gathered are of Thayer, his family and friends, models, his home and studio, and his artwork. Brumbaugh conducted most of his research beginning in 1966 in order to write a biography of Thayer, and though the book was never realized, much of this material was used for several scholarly articles about Thayer.

Brumbaugh's documentation on various additional artists, mostly contemporary, were compiled during his career as an art historian and professor at Vanderbilt University. The files include his correspondence, news clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, reproductions of artwork, and notes.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into 2 series:

Biographical Note

Art historian and educator Thomas Brendle Brumbaugh was born in 1921. He spent most of his career as a professor of fine arts at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and has published many articles on American painting, sculpture, and architecture. He was co-editor of Architecture of Middle Tennessee: The Historic American Buildings Survey and co-author of The Art of Gerald Brockhurst. Brumbaugh spent several years doing research for a book on Abbott Handerson Thayer that was never realized, and published several articles on Thayer, including "An Artist and His Model: Abbott H. Thayer and Clara May," The American Art Journal, vol. 10 (May 1978).

Related Material

The Archives of American Art also houses several collections related to Abbott Handerson Thayer. These include the Abbott Handerson Thayer and Thayer Family papers, 1851-1999; the Abbott Handerson Thayer letter and drawings to Caroline Peddle Ball, circa 1890-1893; "The Drawings of Abbott Thayer," by Elizabeth Robins Pennell, circa 1921; and the Nelson and Henry C. White research material, 1898-1978, which includes many original letters, photographs, and other material originally belonging to the Thayer family.