William Anderson Coffin papers
name: label: Creator
content: Coffin, William A. (William Anderson), 1855-1925
label: Names
content: American Artists' Committee of One Hundred
label: Names
content: American Rights Committee
label: Names
content: Committee for the Exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture (Paris, France)
label: Names
content: Exposition d'artistes de l'école Américaine (1919 : Paris, France)
label: Names
content: Lotos Club (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Musée d'histoire et d'art (Luxembourg)
label: Names
content: Pan-American Exposition (1901: Buffalo, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Société des artistes français
label: Names
content: Benson, Frank Weston, 1862-1951
label: Names
content: Blashfield, Edwin Howland, 1848-1936
label: Names
content: Bouché, Louis, 1896-1969
label: Names
content: Cortissoz, Royal, 1869-1948
label: Names
content: Gay, Walter, 1856-1937
label: Names
content: Gussow, Bernard, 1881-1957
label: Names
content: Mauer, Alfred
label: Names
content: Stella, Joseph, 1877-1946
label: Names
content: Warren, Whitney, 1864-1943
label: Names
content: Zorach, William, 1887-1966
title: label: Topic
content: Harper's Weekly
label: Topic
content: New York Post
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Painters
label: Occupation
content: Art critics -- France -- Paris
label: Topic
content: Art Exhibitions France Paris
label: Topic
content: Landscape painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Art, American
label: Topic
content: World War, 1914-1918
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The William Anderson Coffin papers were donated in 1970 by Stewart Klonis to whom the papers were given by Mrs. DeWitt M. Lockman of Manorville, Long Island, New York.
creator: label: Creator
content: Coffin, William A. (William Anderson), 1855-1925
setName: label: See more items in
content: William Anderson Coffin papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of New York painter and art critic William Anderson Coffin date from 1886-1924 and measure 1.6 linear feet. Found within the papers are scattered biographical materials and correspondence, project files for the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, the American Artist's Committee of One Hundred, and the exhibition of works by American Artists at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris, three additional scrapbooks, printed material, and photographs.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: William Anderson Coffin (1855-1925) of New York City was a landscape and figure painter and art critic. He organized several notable exhibitions and art-related charitable events for relief work in post-World War I France.

William Anderson Coffin was born near Pittsburgh in Allegheny, Pennsylvania on January 31, 1855, the son of Isabella C. Anderson and James Gardiner Coffin. Coffin studied art and graduated from Yale University in 1874. Three years later, he left for Paris and studied with academic artist Léon Bonnat. Coffin exhibited in the Paris Salons of 1879, 1880, and 1882.

In 1882, Coffin moved to New York City, participating in many exhibitions, including at the National Academy of Design. He also wrote as an art critic for Scribner's and Harper's Weekly, among other publications. From 1886 to 1891, he was art critic for The New York Evening Post, and was art editor at the New York Sun from 1896 to 1901.

Coffin directed the Fine Arts Division of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo from 1900 to 1901, and participated as a member of the New York Advisory Board of the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915. Coffin was also president of the American Artists' Committee of One Hundred that established a relief fund for families of French soldier-artists. For this charitable work, Coffin received the medal of the Legion of Honor from the French government in 1917.

Coffin was a member of various arts organizations including the Lotos Club, the Architectural League of New York, and the National Academy of Design. His artwork is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Municipal Gallery of Venice, Italy, the Albright Art Gallery, and the Brooklyn Museum.

William Anderson Coffin died on October 26, 1925 in New York City.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1.6 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1886-1924
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.coffwill
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 8 series:

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1916-1922 (2 folders; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1915-1924 (8 folders; Box 1)

Series 3: Project File for the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, 1900-1901 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1-2)

Series 4: Project File for the American Artists' Committee of One Hundred, 1914-1923 (14 folders; Box 1)

Series 5: Project File for the Exhibition of Works by American Artists at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris, 1919-1920 (11 folders; Box 1)

Series 6: Scrapbooks of Clippings of Articles Written by Coffin, 1886-1913 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1912-1924 (6 folders; Box 1)

Series 8: Photographs, 1905-1923 (10 folders; Box 1)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The papers were minimally arranged prior to microfilming on reel 109 and further arranged and described in a finding aid by Jean Fitzgerald in 2010. The collection was prepared for digitization by Judy Ng and digitized in 2016, with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Alternative Forms Available
content: The collection was digitized in its entirety in 2016 and is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The papers of New York painter and art critic William Anderson Coffin date from 1886 to 1924 and measure 1.6 linear feet. Found within the papers are scattered biographical materials and correspondence; project files for the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, the American Artist's Committee of One Hundred, and the exhibition of works by American Artists at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris; three additional scrapbooks; printed material; and photographs.

Scattered biographical material includes membership cards and an autobiographical essay. Correspondence is with colleagues and related generally to receptions and events, including an invitation to the launch of the U. S. Battleship Arizona. There are one or two letters each from Frank W. Benson, Edwin Howland Blashfield, Royal Cortissoz, Walter Gay, and Whitney Warren.

Three series of project files document Coffin's work for the Fine Arts Division of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, the American Artists' Committee of One Hundred that established a relief fund for families of French soldier-artists, and an exhibition of artwork by American Artists at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris. Files contain a variety of materials, such as letters, drafts of reports, meeting minutes, photographs, catalogs and brochures, and other materials. There are two oversized scrapbooks for the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition. The files for the Luxembourg Museum exhibition include a letter signed by Louis Bouché, Bernard Gussow, Alfred H. Maurer, Joseph Stella, and William Zorach protesting the exclusion of their work. 

Three additional scrapbooks contain clippings of articles written by Coffin when he was employed as an art critic for The New York Evening Post, Harper's Weekly, and The New York Sun. 

Printed material consists of miscellaneous clippings primarily about Coffin, programs from American Rights Committee exercises, a Dixie Club of New York concert, a Lotos Club concert, the Lafayette-Marne Anniversary exercises, and souvenir tickets to various art-related events including several Paris Salon Vernissage events sponsored by the Société des Artistes Francais.

Photographs include an album of photographs of Coffin, various family members, and residences; a photograph of Coffin posing with an unidentified group of his colleagues; and photographs of family friends. Project files also contain photographs.