Samuel Putnam Avery papers
name: label: Creator
content: Avery, Samuel Putnam, 1822-1904
label: Names
content: Bellows, A. F. (Albert Fitch), 1829-1883
label: Names
content: Benson, Eugene, 1837-1908
label: Names
content: Blashfield, Edwin Howland, 1848-1936
label: Names
content: Bonheur, Rosa, 1822-1899
label: Names
content: Bouguereau, William Adolphe, 1825-1905
label: Names
content: Colman, Samuel, 1832-1920
label: Names
content: Cook, Clarence, 1828-1900
label: Names
content: Cropsey, Jasper Francis, 1823-1900
label: Names
content: Darley, Felix Octavius Carr, 1822-1888
label: Names
content: Daubigny, Charles François, 1817-1878
label: Names
content: Durand, John, 1822-1908
label: Names
content: Gifford, Sanford Robinson, 1823-1880
label: Names
content: Greene, Edward D. E., 1823-1879
label: Names
content: Hoppin, Augustus, 1828-1896
label: Names
content: Hugo, Victor, 1802-1885
label: Names
content: La Farge, John, 1835-1910
label: Names
content: Lefebvre, Jules, 1836-1911
label: Names
content: McEntee, Jervis, 1828-1891
label: Names
content: Moore, Charles Herbert, 1840-1930
label: Names
content: Mount, William Sidney, 1807-1868
label: Names
content: Richards, T. Addison (Thomas Addison), 1820-1900
label: Names
content: Thompson, Launt, 1833-1894
label: Names
content: Tuckerman, Henry T. (Henry Theodore), 1813-1871
label: Names
content: Whistler, James McNeill, 1834-1903
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Engravers -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Lent for microfilming 1964 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
creator: label: Creator
content: Avery, Samuel Putnam, 1822-1904
setName: label: See more items in
content: Samuel Putnam Avery papers
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) was a wood engraver, art dealer, and collector in New York, New York. He was a founder and trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Avery took annual trips to Europe in the 1870s during which he commissioned art for clients. Avery also founded the Avery Architectural Library at Columbia University and donated his collection of etchings and lithographs to the New York Public Library.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3 Microfilm reels (800 items on 3 microfilm reels)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1857-1902
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.aversamu
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Microfilm reels
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: 35mm microfilm reels NMM26, NMM26a, NMM27 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
originalsloc: label: Existence and Location of Originals
content: Originals in Metropolitan Museum of Art.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The microfilmed Samuel Putnam Avery papers contain correspondence, including letters, calling cards, and sketches from American and European artists, among them Albert F. Bellows, Eugene Benson, Edwin H. Blashfield, Rosa Bonheur, Adolph W. Bouguereau, Samuel Colman, Clarence Cook, Jasper F. Cropsey, F. O. C. Darley, Charles F. Daubigny, John Durand, Sanford R. Gifford, E. D. E. Greene, Augustus Hoppin, Victor Hugo, John La Farge, Jules Lefebvre, Jervis McEntee, Charles H. Moore, William S. Mount, Thomas A. Richards, Launt Thompson, Henry T. Tuckerman, and James McNeill Whistler; five diaries (1871-1882) detailing annual buying trips to Europe; catalogs; clippings; and miscellaneous publications pertaining to the Avery Art Gallery.  

The travel diaries were written exclusively during the summers of 1871-1882 while in Europe (circa780 pages). Avery visited England, France, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, and Italy, visiting galleries and studios, and attending sales in the major cities. In his entries, Avery lists the works that he sees and art he purchases, detailing prices, sizes, and frame requirements. Avery spent most of his time visiting dealers, making shipping arrangements, and commissioning work from a variety of artists. He visited auction houses such as Christie's in London, and "bric a brac shops" where he purchased paintings, as well as furniture, tapestries, and jewelry. He mentions several dealers throughout Europe, especially the P.L. Everard Company and Mr. Boughton in London, and Mr. Van Hinsberg in Belgium. His social engagements included gallery exhibitions, concerts, trips to the opera, and dinners. He describes the French city of Écouen and the Italian countryside vividly. Avery also records his meeting with the Spanish artist Cutazzi, and describes in detail the finery of the Makart studio in Vienna. Throughout the diaries, he corresponds and meets with Mr. Everard, Mr. Boughton, James McNeill Whistler, Vincent Van Gogh, and people he refers to only as Sam and Mary. Avery writes often of his occasional traveling companion, Mr. Lucas. Beginning in 1873, he mentions his wife, letters to her, and gifts that he buys her. At the end of the diary, he lists his accounts during these years.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The New York Public Library Manuscripts and Archives Division holds the Samuel Putnam Avery papers, 1822-1904. The New York Historical Society holds the Samuel Putnam Avery letters to William D. Murphy, 1902-1903. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Thomas J. Watson Library holds the Samuel Putnam Avery Papers, ca. 1850-1905.