Nelson and Henry C. White research material
name: label: Creator
content: White, Henry Cooke, 1861-1952
label: Creator
content: White, Nelson C.
label: Names
content: Tryon Art Gallery
label: Names
content: Barnard, George Grey, 1863-1938
label: Names
content: Benson, Frank Weston, 1862-1951
label: Names
content: Brush, George de Forest, 1855-1941
label: Names
content: Churchill, Alfred Vance, 1864-1949
label: Names
content: Cortissoz, Royal, 1869-1948
label: Names
content: Currier, Elizabeth
label: Names
content: Currier, J. Frank (Joseph Frank), 1843-1909
label: Names
content: Dewing, M. O. (Maria Oakey), 1855-1927
label: Names
content: Dewing, Thomas Wilmer, 1851-1938
label: Names
content: Fantin-Latour, Henri, 1836-1904
label: Names
content: Freer, Charles Lang, 1856-1919
label: Names
content: Fuertes, Louis Agassiz, 1874-1927
label: Names
content: Kaup, Elizabeth Dewing, b. 1885
label: Names
content: Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945
label: Names
content: Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
label: Names
content: Saint-Gaudens, Augustus, 1848-1907
label: Names
content: Sargent, John Singer, 1856-1925
label: Names
content: Taber, E. M.
label: Names
content: Thayer, Abbott Handerson, 1849-1921
label: Names
content: Thayer, Emma B., 1850-1924
label: Names
content: Thayer, Gladys, 1886 or 7-1945
label: Names
content: Thayer, Kate Bloede
label: Names
content: Thayer, Wm. Henry (William Henry), 1822-1897
label: Names
content: Tryon, Dwight William, 1849-1925
label: Names
content: Whistler, James McNeill, 1834-1903
label: Names
content: Williams, George Alfred, 1875-
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Connecticut
label: Occupation
content: Art historians -- Connecticut
label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Connecticut
label: Topic
content: Art -- Philosophy
label: Topic
content: Protective coloration (Biology)
label: Topic
content: Artists' studios -- Photographs
label: Topic
content: Wildlife conservation
label: Topic
content: Women artists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Archives of American Art purchased two linear feet of material from Nelson C. White in 1956. White also lent material and donated  papers in 1978 and 1983.
creator: label: Creator
content: White, Henry Cooke, 1861-1952
label: Creator
content: White, Nelson C.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Nelson and Henry C. White research material
abstract: label: Summary
content: The research material of Connecticut artists and authors Nelson and Henry C. White, measures 4.5 linear feet and dates from circa 1851-1961. The bulk of the collection consists of Nelson C. White's correspondence, writings, and research, primarily related to J. Frank Currier and Abbott Handerson Thayer, and referencing Thomas Wilmer Dewing. Also found are the correspondence, writings, and research files of Nelson's father, Henry C. White, primarily relating to Dwight W. Tryon. Research files include artist correspondence, writings and notes, printed material, photographs of the artists, and photographs of artwork and exhibition installations.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Connecticut painter, art historian, and collector, Nelson C. White  (1900-1989) was born in Waterford, Connecticut, to artist Henry C. White. He studied at the National Academy of Design and Yale University and established himself as a landscape painter whilst also pursuing a literary career. He was the author of two biographies: The Life and Art of J. Frank Currier (1936), and Abbott H. Thayer: Painter and Naturalist (1951). White also penned an article on his friend, Thomas Wilmer Dewing ("The Art of Thomas Wilmer Dewing"), which was published in 1929.

White's father, Henry C. White (1861-1952), was an artist known primarily for his landscapes and seascapes of his native Connecticut. Born in Hartford, White began his career in 1875, studying with Dwight W. Tryon. In the 1880s he enrolled in the Art Students League in New York, while continuing to study with Tryon and other artists, including Kenyon Cox and George de Forest Brush. In the 1890s he traveled in Europe and then returned to Hartford where he taught drawing at the Hartford Public School, and co-founded the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts in 1910. Like his son, White had literary aspirations, and in 1930 published a biography of his life-long friend and teacher entitled The Life and Art of Dwight W. Tryon. Two years after his death in 1952, the Lyman Allyn Museum held a memorial exhibition for White, curated primarily by Nelson C. White.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4.5 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1851-1961
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.whitnels
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Sketches
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 4 series.

Series 1: Nelson C. White Correspondence and Miscellaneous Material, 1921-1953 (Box 1; 0.25 linear feet)

Series 2: Nelson C. White's Writings and Notes, circa 1929-circa 1951 (Box 1, OV 6; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 3: Nelson C. White's Research Files, circa 1851-1961 (Boxes 1-4, OV 6; 2.65 linear feet)

Series 4: Henry C. White Papers, circa 1860-1954 (Boxes 4-5; 1.1 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Stephanie Ashley, and the bulk of the collection was digitized in 2015, with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2015 and is available on the Archives of American Art's website.

Materials which have not been scanned include copies of manuscripts with no significant annotations, the full text of some publications for which only covers, title pages, and relevant pages have been scanned, blank versos of photographs, negatives for which copy prints exist, and duplicates.

Materials lent for microfilming are available on 35mm microfilm reels 1330 and 2807 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The research material of Connecticut artists and authors Nelson and Henry C. White, measures 4.5 linear feet and dates from circa 1851-1961. The bulk of the collection consists of Nelson C. White's correspondence, writings, and research, primarily related to J. Frank Currier and Abbott Handerson Thayer, and referencing Thomas Wilmer Dewing. Also found are the correspondence, writings, and research files of Nelson's father, Henry C. White, primarily relating to Dwight W. Tryon. Research files include artist correspondence, writings and notes, printed material, photographs of the artists, and photographs of artwork and exhibition installations. 

Nelson C. White's correspondence is with Elizabeth Currier, gallery owners, and other individuals in possession of artwork by Currier, conducted during his research on J. Frank Currier, as well as with Elizabeth Dewing Kaup and others concerning his research on Thomas Wilmer Dewing. Miscellaneous material includes reviews of White's autobiography on Abbott Handerson Thayer, and White's ink sketches for a holiday card.

Nelson C. White's writings and notes consist of annotated drafts of Abbott H. Thayer: Painter and Naturalist, The Life and Art of J. Frank Currier, and articles including "Cremona," and "The Art of Thomas W. Dewing."

White's research files form the bulk of the collection. 9 folders of research material on J. Frank Currier consist primarily of photos of artwork and of an installation at Lyman Allyn Museum, but also include a transcript of Currier's 1870 diary, and 3 photographs (copy prints) of Currier. White's research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer is substantial and includes: biographical material on Thayer, such as family reminiscences by Thayer's daughter, Gladys Thayer, and his father, William Henry Thayer; copies and originals of Thayer's letters to his first wife, Kate Thayer, and his second wife, Emma Beach Thayer, and correspondence with William Henry Thayer; typescript copies and originals of Thayer's correspondence with artists, politicians, naturalists and others including George Grey Barnard, Frank Weston Benson, George de Forest Brush, Royal Cortissoz, Maria Oakey Dewing, Thomas Wilmer Dewing , Charles Lang Freer, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, John Singer Sargent, Edward Martin Taber, and George Alfred Williams; annotated drafts of Thayer's writings and notes on art, philosophy, and nature including his theories on concealing coloration and wildlife preservation; printed material including 2 Thayer exhibition catalogs and news clippings of Thayer's letters to editors; and photographs of Thayer, his family and friends, his home and studio, and his artwork. 

Henry C. White's papers include a folder of White's correspondence relating to the publication of his book, The Life and Art of Dwight William Tryon and including a letter from Elizabeth Currier; drafts of his biography of Tryon, including revisions by Mrs. Bender, Alfred Vance Churchill, and Mr. Rossiter; research material on Tryon including transcripts of letters from Tryon to George Alfred Williams, from Charles Lang Freer to Tryon, and from James McNeill Whistler to Henri Fantin-Latour; a typescript of autobiographical "notes and recollections" by Tryon; and photographs of Tryon, his home and studio, his artwork, and the Tryon Art Gallery at Smith College.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Archives of American Art holds several collections related to the Nelson and Henry C. White research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and Dwight William Tryon. These include research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and other artists, 1895-1990, donated by Thomas B.  Brumbaugh; the Abbott Handerson Thayer letter and drawings to Caroline Peddle Ball, circa 1890-1893; and the Dwight William Tryon papers, 1872-1930.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reels 1330 and 2807) including autobiographical notes by Tryon, letters to Nelson C. White and Henry C. white, photographs of artwork, and an article. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.