Charles M. Kurtz papers
name: label: Creator
content: Kurtz, Charles M. (Charles McMeen), 1855-1909
label: Names
content: Albright Art Gallery (Buffalo, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904: Saint Louis, Mo.)
label: Names
content: National Academy of Design (U.S.)
label: Names
content: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
label: Names
content: Southern Exposition (Location of meeting: (Louisville, Ky.).)
label: Names
content: World's Columbian Exposition (1893 : Chicago, Ill.)
label: Names
content: Kurtz, Julia Stephenson
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art museum directors -- New York (State) -- Buffalo
label: Occupation
content: Art critics -- New York (State)
label: Occupation
content: Editors -- New York (State)
label: Occupation
content: Arts administrators -- New York (State)
label: Topic
content: Glasgow school of painting
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: For many years, the Kurtz Papers were thought to have been destroyed in a fire. Isabel Kurtz, a school teacher who lived with her older sister in Buffalo, New York, was vague when initially approached about her father's papers by Archives Regional Director, Robert Brown in the mid-1980s. However upon her death in 1991, her will revealed that the papers were indeed in her house in Buffalo and the bulk of them were bequeathed to the Archives of American Art. Paintings and a diary relating to the Glasgow School were given to the Yale Center for British Art. That diary has subsequently been duplicated on microfilm and is now also available in the Archives. Scorch marks on some of the papers and also on the paintings given to Yale suggest that there was indeed a fire. The material that was not bequeathed to the Archives included duplicates of printed documents along with books from the Kurtz library and a coin collection, all of which were dispersed in an estate auction that was held in Buffalo in 1991.
creator: label: Creator
content: Kurtz, Charles M. (Charles McMeen), 1855-1909
setName: label: See more items in
content: Charles M. Kurtz papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of arts administrator, museum director, collector, dealer, and editor Charles M. Kurtz (1855-1909), measure 27.74 linear feet and date from 1843-1990 (bulk dates 1884-1909). The bulk of the collection consists of detailed chronological correspondence between Kurtz and his wife and family, friends, colleagues, and business associates that documents many notable exhibitions, galleries, museums, private collections, as well as cities, people, and events of the period. Also found in the collection are Kurtz's diaries, scrapbooks, printed materials, and photographs.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Charles M. Kurtz's name is known to many scholars and students of American art history. To some he is important for his critical writings, others are interested in his management of exhibitions for the Art Union and the American Art Association. Many are aware of him because of his publication of National Academy Notes, which continued for nine years. Still others are familiar with Kurtz in his role as an art administrator for late 19th century art exhibitions like those at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and the St. Louis Fair, or for his accomplishments as the first director of the Albright Gallery in Buffalo, New York. Sometimes researchers have become familiar with his name through the sale catalogue for his considerable collection, which was sold at auction after his death in 1909. His career, which encompassed the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century, touched on virtually every aspect of art in America during that period.

Born in 1853 to Davis Brook Kurtz (1826-1906), an attorney, and Julia Wilder, Charles Kurtz enjoyed a genteel upbringing. The Kurtz family originated in Darmstadt, Germany, and migrated to America in the eighteenth century. D.B. Kurtz, a leading member of the Lawrence County bar, was also a vice-president of the National Bank of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. As a local representative of many important railroad and business interests, he accumulated assets estimated at one million dollars by the time of his death, just three years before that of his son, Charles, the eldest of his five children. Unlike his brothers Louis, who also became an attorney, and Edward, a professor at Columbia University, Charles eschewed a professional career to enter the art world, as did his sisters Emily, an artist, and Catherine, a musician.

After his graduation from Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, Kurtz visited the Centennial Exposition, held in 1876 in Philadelphia, before coming to New York to study art at the National Academy of Design. These two activities foreshadowed the direction that his career would eventually take. As the chronology indicates, his early efforts revolve around writing for a variety of publications, most notably, his own National Academy Notes. In 1881 he took what was to be the first of many trips abroad to survey the art scene in Europe. Later in his career, his fascination with foreign art and his own entrepeneurial interests led him to become an outspoken opponent of tariffs on imported art.

Kurtz's personal life changed significantly in 1884 when he met Julia Stephenson, a physician's daughter and fledging art student from Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Throughout their courtship and after their marriage the couple was frequently separated. Consequently, they wrote lengthy letters which document not only their personal relationship but also Kurtz's aspirations and activities in the art world.

With his appointment as one of Halsey C. Ives's (1847-1911) chief assistants of the Fine Arts Department of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1891, Charles Kurtz's career achieved international stature. Among the most notable European artists he introduced into this country through circulating exhibitions were the Glasgow School, the Danish School, the Hungarian artist, Mihaly Munkacsy, and the subject of his final exhibition, the Spanish artist, Sorolla.

Throughout his life, Kurtz was plagued by health problems and, in 1899, illness forced him to resign as Assistant Director of Fine Arts for the United States for the Paris Exposition of 1900. Throughout the following decade, his work was increasingly interrupted by ill health. His death in 1909 at the age of 54, while sudden, was not entirely unexpected. However it most certainly cut short a cosmopolitan career that encompassed virtually every aspect of the art world and the pertinent issues of the day.

Kurtz is remembered for his editorial work with the National Academy of Design; as Art Director for the Southern Exposition, 1883-1886, and the St. Louis Exposition, 1894-1899 (where he introduced the Glasgow School of Painting); and as Assistant Chief/Director for the World's Columbian Exposition, the 1900 Paris Exposition, and the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. He was also director of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. 

1855 -- Charles McMeen Kurtz born

1876 -- receives B.S. degree from Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania

1876-78 -- studies at the National Academy of Design, N.Y. with Lemuel Wilmarth and William Morgan; writes a column, "New York Letters," for The Courant published in New Castle, Pennsylvania

1878 -- edits a small daily paper published during a "National Camp Meeting for the promotion of Holiness" held that summer in New Castle, Pa.; its critical stance resulted in his public denouncement and earned him a reputation as a journalist in western Pennsylvania; receives M.A. from Washington and Jefferson College

1878-79 -- becomes the local editor of The Guardian of New Castle

1879 -- publishes The Daily Reporter, a financial success

1881 -- publishes the first issue of National Academy Notes; travels in Europe, spending time in England, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France (Paris)

1881-82 -- prepares Illustrated Notes for Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition

1882 -- writes "Art Notes" in The New York Tribune and resigns Dec. 23rd

1882-83 -- accepts position to write for Music and Drama, a new daily paper

1883 -- becomes the general manager of the American Art Union; exhibits a large collection of Art Union paintings in Buffalo, N.Y. and Louisville, Ky., where they became part of the Southern Exposition's first great art display

1883-86 -- accepts offer to become Director of the Art Department, Southern Exposition, Louisville, Kentucky

1884 -- edits Art Union magazine until December; applies for position to head the Art Department of the New Orleans World's Fair in September

1884-86 -- accepts a position offered by the American Art Association; terminates uncongenial relationship in March, 1886

1885 -- writes catalogues for the sale of the George Seney Collection and for the Watts exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; October 1, marries Julia Stephenson (1861-1931), daughter of Dr. A. T. Stephenson of Harrodsburg, Kentucky; they had two daughters who survived them: Julia Wilder Kurtz (1889-1977), and Isabella Starkweather Kurtz (1901-1991); another daughter, Elizabeth Stephenson Kurtz (1886-1897), predeceased them

1886 -- terminates employment with the Art Association; daughter, Elizabeth Stephenson Kurtz, born

1886-87 -- manages the circulation of Mihaly Munkacsy's Christ Before Pilot for Charles Sedelmeyer to American venues: New York, Boston, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Nashville, Phildelphia, Indianapolis; tour generates $90,000 in ticket receipts

1889-91 -- February 24, appointed art critic ("Art Notes") and book reviewer for New York Daily Star; later literary and art editor of the Sunday Star

1890 -- writes for the Sunday edition The Press, a New York paper

1891 -- writes for The World; art editor for The New York Recorder; contributes to the New York Truth

1891-93 -- contributes to Chicago Evening Post ; writes artist biographies for The Chicago Graphic, a regional magazine; appointed Assistant Chief of the Department of Fine Arts of the World's Columbian Exposition

1894 -- contributes column, "Art at the Exposition" to St. Louis Life

1895 -- tours Denmark, Scotland, and France during the summer on behalf of the St. Louis Exposition

1894-99 -- appointed Director of the Art Department of the St. Louis Annual Exposition

1896 -- elected member of The Japan Society, London

1897 -- daughter, Elizabeth (Daisy), dies

1898 -- receives a diploma and medal "in recognition of valuable services in connection with the Fine Arts Exhibit" from the directors of the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition, Omaha

1899 -- appointed Assistant Director of Fine Arts for the United States Commission to the Paris Exposition of 1900; resigned in July due to ill health

1901-04 -- appointed Assistant Chief of the Department of Art of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, August

1901 -- daughter, Isabella Starkweather Kurtz, born

1902 -- receives honorary Ph.D from Washington and Jefferson College "in recognition of distinguished ability and services as an art critic and writer"

1905 -- receives the cross of the Order of Merit from Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria; appointed Director, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy and Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, in January; exhibits Glasgow paintings at Albright Art Gallery from November until the following April

1906 -- writes Academy Notes, a bulletin pubished by the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy and the Albright Art Gallery; father, D.B. Kurtz, dies in Newcastle, Pennsylvania

1907 -- accused of importing German pictures free of duty for exhibition purposes and then selling some for profit

1908 -- Honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree conferred by Washington and Jefferson College

1909 -- Charles M. Kurtz dies in Buffalo, New York on March 21

1910 -- Sale of the private collection of Charles M. Kurtz at auction, Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, February 24-25

1931 -- Widow, Julia Stephenson Kurtz dies October 30

1977 -- Daughter, Julia Wilder Kurtz, dies

1991 -- Daughter, Isabel Starkweather Kurtz, dies in Buffalo, N.Y.; remaining Charles M. Kurtz Papers bequeathed to the Archives of American Art and the National Academy of Design, New York
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 27.74 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1843-1990
label: Date
content: bulk 1884-1909
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.kurtchar
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is organized into twelve series.

Series 1: Biographical Information, 1885-1931, undated

Series 2: Correspondence, 1843-1940, undated

Series 3: Circulars/Requests for Submissions of Works of Art, 1886-1905

Series 4: Legal Records, 1881-1928

Series 5: Financial Records, 1870-1989, undated

Series 6: Diaries, 1894-1901

Series 7: Notes and Writings, 1872-1980, undated

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1878-1909

Series 9: Printed Material, 1873-1990, undated

Series 10: Photographs, 1898-1990

Series 11: Photographs of Works of Art, undated

Series 12: Miscellany, undated
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and the finding aid written by Arleen Pancza-Graham in 1996. The finding aid was modified during EAD conversion by Stephanie Ashley in 2002. Glass plate negatives were re-housed in 2015 with a grant provided by the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
altformavail: label: Alternative Forms Available
content: Portions of the collection and material lent for microfilming are available on 35mm microfilm reels 4804-4826 and 4912 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The Charles M. Kurtz papers measure 27.74 linear feet and date from 1843 to 1990 with the bulk of the material dating from 1884 to 1909. The bulk of the collection consists of chronological correspondence between Kurtz and his family, most notably his wife, friends, colleagues, and business associates. Kurtz's letters are amazingly detailed and document many notable exhibitions, galleries, museums, private collections, as well as cities, people, and events of the period. The letters between Kurtz and his wife are most interesting for their descriptive commentary on late 19th century life and offer a complete picture of Kurtz's activities. Many of Kurtz's letters to Halsey C. Ives can be found in the Halsey C. Ives Papers. Some of the letters in the collection are illustrated. Also found in the collection are Kurtz's diaries, scrapbooks, printed materials, and photographs.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Material
content: The St. Louis Exposition/Halsey C. Ives papers in the Archives of American Art contain material relating to Charles M. Kurtz.

Additional Charles Kurtz papers, 1870-1910, including 340 letters which discuss exhibitions, sales of art, patronage, atelier visits, and submissions to publications, and letters to his parents in which he discsses the art market and art world new; as well as manuscripts, notebooks, a diary, and printed ephemera relating to exhibitions and publications, are available at the Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Los Angeles, California.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel 4912) including Charles Kurtz's Glasgow painting diary. The loaned diary was returned to the lender and can now be found at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut. This material is not described in the collection container inventory.