Chester Beach papers
name: label: Creator
content: Beach, Chester, 1881-1956
label: Names
content: American Academy in Rome
label: Names
content: Architectural League of New York
label: Names
content: Cleveland Museum of Art
label: Names
content: Ecole nationale supérieure des beaux-arts (France)
label: Names
content: Frontier Art Colony
label: Names
content: Mark Hopkins Institute of Art
label: Names
content: National Academy of Design (U.S.)
label: Names
content: National Sculpture Society (U.S.)
label: Names
content: Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915 : San Francisco, Calif.)
label: Names
content: Salmagundi Club
label: Names
content: Salon d'automne
label: Names
content: Allen, Mary Jester
label: Names
content: Beach, Eleanor Murdock
label: Names
content: Blumenschein, Ernest Leonard, 1874-1960
label: Names
content: Carrington, Fitz Roy, 1869-1954
label: Names
content: Couper, William, 1853-1942
label: Names
content: Fitchen, Eleanor Beach
label: Names
content: French, Daniel Chester, 1850-1931
label: Names
content: Greacen, Edmund W., 1876-1949
label: Names
content: Hancock, Walker Kirtland, 1901-1998
label: Names
content: Jackson, Hazel Brill
label: Names
content: Jennewein, Carl Paul, 1890-
label: Names
content: Kuhn, Brenda, 1911-
label: Names
content: Kuhn, Walt, 1877-1949
label: Names
content: Käsebier, Gertrude, 1852-1934
label: Names
content: Leibig, Bonnie
label: Names
content: MacMonnies, Frederick William, 1863-1937
label: Names
content: Mora, F. Luis (Francis Luis), 1874-1940
label: Names
content: Nelson, Laurence, 1887-1978
label: Names
content: Nisbet, Robert H., 1879-1961
label: Names
content: Olmsted, Frederick Law, 1822-1903
label: Names
content: Piexotto, Jessica B.
label: Names
content: Winter, Ezra, 1886-1949
topic: label: Topic
content: Sculptors, American -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Eclecticism in architecture
label: Topic
content: Sculpture -- Technique
label: Topic
content: Sculpture -- Equipment and supplies
label: Topic
content: Artists' studios
label: Topic
content: Sculpture -- Economic aspects
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Chester Beach's daughter, Eleanor Beach Fitchen, lent materials for microfilming in 1967 and 1967. Subsequent papers were donated in 2009 by the estate of Eleanor Beach Fitchen, through her grandson and executor, John Fitchen.
creator: label: Creator
content: Beach, Chester, 1881-1956
setName: label: See more items in
content: Chester Beach papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Chester Beach papers measure 7.32 linear feet and date from 1846 to 1999, with the bulk ot the material dating from circa 1900 to 1999. The work and professional activities of Beaux Arts sculptor Chester Beach (1881-1956) and his family's efforts to exhibit and sell work from the estate are documented by project files, business records, correspondence, scrapbooks, printed material, and photographs. The papers also include many artist-designed Christmas cards sent and received by the Beach family, and artwork by Chester Beach and others.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Sculptor Chester Beach (1881-1956) was known for portrait busts, allegorical and mythological figures, coins and medallic art in the Beaux-Arts tradition. He lived and worked in New York City and Brewster, New York.

Chester Beach, son of Chilion Beach and Elizabeth Ferris Beach, was born in San Francisco on May 23, 1881. Beach initially studied at the California School of Mechanical Arts in 1899. He remained in San Francisco and between 1900 and 1902 continued his art training at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art while working as a jewelry designer. To further his career and exposure to artistic trends, Beach moved to New York City in 1903. The following year, he went to Paris, enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and also studied with Raoul Verlet at the Académie Julian.

Upon his return to New York in 1907, Beach established a studio on Tenth Street. He won the National Academy of Design's Barnett Prize for sculpture in 1907 and the Academy elected him an Associate Artist the following year. His increased stature resulted in numerous portrait commissions and eventually led to commissions for monuments and architectural sculpture. In 1910, Chester Beach married Eleanor Hollis Murdock, a painter he met when both were art students in Paris. The couple spent the next two years in Rome; for several years after returning, Beach continued to spend time in Italy and maintained a studio in Rome.

Solo exhibitions of Beach's work were presented at Macbeth Gallery (1912), Pratt Institute (1913), Cincinnati Art Museum (1916), John Herron Art Institute (1916), and Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester (1917). In addition to frequent participation in annual exhibitions at the National Academy of Design and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Beach was represented in the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915), and in group shows at venues including: Art Institute of Chicago, Boston Art Club, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, and National Arts Club.

The gold medal presented by Académie Julian (1905), Beach's first award, was followed by many other prizes, among them: American Numismatic Society prize for a medal commemorating the Peace of Versailles (1919) and its Saltus Medal for distinguished medallic art (1946); Architectural League of New York gold medal (1924); National Academy of Design Barnett Prize (1907) and Watrous gold medal (1926); National Arts Club medal and prizes (1923, 1926, 1932); and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition silver medal (1915).

Beach was an Academician of the National Academy of Design, a member of the American Numismatic Society, Architectural League of New York, National Arts Club, National Institute of Arts and Letters, and the National Sculpture Society (President, 1927-1928).

For more than 40 years, Beach lived and worked at 207 East 17th Street. The brownstone, purchased in 1913, was large enough for the family's home, his studio, and additional studios that were rented to other artists. Through barter, Beach acquired land in Brewster, New York, and in 1917 hired Italian stonemasons to build a studio. Later, they erected a summer house for the family. Many old stone walls on the site provided material for both buildings and Beach named the property Oldwalls.

After a long illness, Chester Beach died at Oldwalls on August 6, 1956. The funeral service was held at his Brewster, New York, studio and he is buried in Cold Spring Cemetery, Cold Spring, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 7.32 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1846-1999
label: Date
content: bulk 1895-1999
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.beacches
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Christmas cards
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Prints
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 10 series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1910-1947 (4 folders; Box 1)

Series 2: Project Files, 1846-1999 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 11, OV 12-13)

Series 3: Business Records, circa 1900-1958 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)

Series 4: Writings, 1913-1935 (2 folders; Box 3)

Series 5: Correspondence, 1875, 1933-1996 (0.5 linear feet; Box 3)

Series 6: Christmas Cards, 1909-1961 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)

Series 7: Artwork, circa 1900-1955 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 4, 11)

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1903-1972 (0.3 linear feet; Box 10)

Series 9: Printed Material, 1910-1997 (0.4 linear feet; Box 4)

Series 10: Photographs, circa 1885-circa 1960s (3.1 linear feet; Boxes 4-9, 11, 14)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed in 2011 by Catherine Gaines. One item was previously microfilmed on reel 1817 and has been integrated with the bulk of the papers; the reel is no longer in circulation. Earlier loaned material is available only on microfilm. The glass plate negatives were re-processed and the finding aid updated by Anna Rimel in 2014 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund. 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: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2017 and is available on the Archives of American Art's website.  Materials which have not been scanned include blank pages, blank versos of photographs, and duplicates.  In some cases, exhibition catalogs and other publications have had their covers, title pages, and relevant pages scanned.

Materials lent for microfilming are available on 35mm microfilm reels N727-N729 and N68-11 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Christmas cards
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Prints
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Chester Beach papers measure 7.32 linear feet and date from 1846 to 1999, with the bulk ot the material dating from circa 1900 to 1999. The work and professional activities of Beaux Arts sculptor Chester Beach (1881-1956) and his family's efforts to exhibit and sell work from the estate are documented by project files, business records, correspondence, scrapbooks, printed material, and photographs. The papers also include many artist-designed Christmas cards sent and received by the Beach family, and artwork by Chester Beach and others.

Biographical material consists of biographical notes, identification cards, and a membership certificate.

Project files contain correspondence, financial records, notes, drawings and plans, research materials, printed matter, and photographs that document commissions for sculpture, medals and coins, monuments, and Beach's own projects. Among the most thoroughly documented projects are a fountain sculpture for the grounds of the Cleveland Museum of Art (Sun, Earth, Fountain of the Waters, and Zodiac) and the Edward W. Bok Memorial in Mountain Lake, Florida; both commissions were executed in conjunction with the firm of Frederick Law Olmsted.

Business records include Chester Beach's general business correspondence and correspondence concerning consignments. An address book records names, addresses, and occasionally indicates prices of services and supplies used by the sculptor. Other record books detail expenses and income of the studio building Beach owned, with a list of the effects of the former owner, sculptor William Couper; bronzes cast; sales, with titles, prices, and buyers; names and addresses of clients, dealers, and suppliers; and instructions for cleaning and bronzing plaster.

Family correspondence consists mainly of letters, many mentioning Chester Beach, and addressed to Mrs. Chester Beach and daughter Eleanor Beach Fitchen. Estate correspondence and related documents concern efforts to exhibit, sell, and research Beach's remaining work. These records, for the most part, were created by Mrs. Fitchen who acted as sales agent, ran the Chester Beach Memorial Studio, and maintained the Beach archive. Of particular interest is a series of letters from Brenda Kuhn that relate what she learned from handling the estate of her father, Walt Kuhn; in addition, she offered ideas and advice about exhibitions, the Memorial Studio, and the Beach Centennial.

Beach designed his family's annual Christmas cards, most of which incorporate images of their three daughters. A complete set, preserved in an album, includes a few later cards that reproduce artwork by his widow. Many of the cards received - some with original artwork - are from artist friends, among them: Ernest Blumenschein, Edward W. Greacen, Hazel Brill Jackson, Paul Jennewein, Bonnie Leibig, F. Luis Mora, Robert Nisbet, and Ezra Winter. Also of note are a card from Walker Hancock bearing a photograph of his studio; a painting of Beach's Sylvan at Brookgreen Gardens, reproduced on Anna Hyatt Huntington's card; and a card from Beach patron Mary Jester Allen containing a brief note about the Frontier Art Colony she had established near Cody, Wyoming.

Among the drawings and sketches by Chester Beach are student work, designs for some of his Christmas cards, and a sketchbook containing drawings of sculpture. Work by other artists consists of prints, including one by Ezra Winter.

Three scrapbooks, largely comprised of newspaper clippings and other printed material, contain a variety of other items, including: letters from the American Academy in Rome, Architectural League of New York, Ecole des Beaux Arts, Daniel Chester French, Hazel Brill Jackson, Frederick MacMonnies, National Academy of Design, National Sculpture Society, Jessica B. Piexotto, and Salon d'Autome. There are also awards and certificates from the National Academy of Design, Panama-Pacific International Exposition; bookplates and a place card Beach etched for Mr. and Mrs. George Davison; and an unfinished poem by FitzRoy Carrington. Photographs within the scrapbooks are of a night school class Beach attended at the Mark Hopkins Art Institute in San Francisco, Beach at work in his studio, and a portrait of him painted by G. Laurance Nelson.

Printed material includes Panama-Pacific International Exposition guide books, brochures about the Chester Beach Memorial Studio in Brewster, New York, and catalogs for solo and group exhibitions.

Photographs and glass plate negatives of artwork are mainly of Chester Beach's sculpture and include views of work in progress. Also found are photographs of drawings and sculpture from his student years in California and Paris. Pictures of work by other artists are portraits of Chester Beach painted by G. Laurance Nelson and by his daughter, Natalie Beach McLaury. Among the photographs of Chester Beach are several by Gertrude Kasebier, circa 1910. Other pictures show Beach in his studio, Beach with family and friends, and a "Dinner tendered to Edmund W. Greacen by Samuel T. Shaw, Salmagundi Club, March 2, 1922." Places documented are Beach's boyhood home in San Francisco, the interiors of his studios, and Brookgreen Gardens. Miscellaneous subjects are nude models.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: Also in the Archives of American Art is microfilm of papers lent for microfilming (reels N727-N729 and N68-11) including passports, genealogical materials, photograph albums, travel sketches, travel diaries of Mrs. Beach, and business and family correspondence. While the obituary letters on reel N68-11 are referenced in a scrapbook in Series 8, all other loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.