Frank Harmon Myers papers
name: label: Creator
content: Myers, Frank Harmon, 1899-1956
label: Names
content: Bunker, John
label: Names
content: Myers, Ella Price
topic: label: Occupation
content: Educators -- Ohio -- Cincinnati
label: Occupation
content: Landscape painters -- Ohio -- Cincinnati
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Ohio -- Cincinnati
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- California -- Monterey
label: Topic
content: Painting, American
label: Topic
content: Impressionism (Art) -- United States
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated by Ella Price Myers, Myers' widow, from 1960 to 1974. An addition was donated in 1994 by Myers' daughter-in-law Patricia Clarke Myers, ex-wife of Myers' only son Frank P. Myers.
creator: label: Creator
content: Myers, Frank Harmon, 1899-1956
setName: label: See more items in
content: Frank Harmon Myers papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of painter Frank Harmon Myers measure 2.2 linear feet and date from 1891 to 1976, with the bulk of the records dating from 1908 to 1963. The records shed light on the artist's career in Ohio and California through biographical materials, personal and professional correspondence, artwork, printed materials, and photographic materials.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Frank Harmon Myers (1899-1956) was an impressionist painter and art educator who lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Pacific Grove, California. Myers was born in Cleves, Ohio, and moved to Cincinnati around 1907. His interest in art took off prior to his teenage years, illustrating a series of body-length portraits of Native Americans, several landscapes, and art with holiday themes. Myers studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati under Frank Duveneck, H. H. Wessel, and John Ellsworth Weiss; took a summer course at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts under Daniel Garber, Hugh Henry Breckenridge, and Joseph Thurman Pearson Jr.; and the School of Fine Arts at Fontainebleau, France, under Jean Despujols and Gourguet. Myers began showing his art at the Closson Galleries circa 1920 and taught at the Art Academy of Cincinnati from 1921 to circa 1941. In 1932, Myers spent a year on sabbatical in Sante Fe, New Mexico, painting animals, people, ranches and farms, villages, and landscapes. He and his wife, Ella Price Myers, moved to Pacific Grove, California, in 1940 so that Myers could pursue painting full-time. His work was frequently exhibited at the Carmel Art Association from this point onwards, with additional solo shows at Pebble Beach Galleries, San Jose State College, M. H. De Young Museum, Crocker Art Gallery, and others. Myers paintings were featured in group exhibitions at The Salon, Paris, Harlow Galleries, New York, St. Louis City Museum, Missouri, Alright Museum, New York, and more. Myers served as president of the Carmel Art Association in 1953.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2.2 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1891-1976
label: Date
content: bulk 1908-1960
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.myerfran
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as five series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1891-1976 (Box 1; .2 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1921-1973 (Box 1-2; 1 linear feet)

Series 3: Printed Materials, 1924-1963 (Box 2, OV 3; .5 linear feet)

Series 4: Artwork, circa 1908-1956 (Box 2, OV 4; .6 linear feet)

Series 5: Photographical Materials, 1910-1962 (Box 2; 4 folders)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Christopher DeMairo in 2023.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection are available on 35mm microfilm reels D26-27, 840-841, and 3161 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.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of painter Frank Harmon Myers measure 2.2 linear feet and date from 1891 to 1976, with the bulk of the records dating from 1908 to 1963. The records shed light on the artist's career in Ohio and California through biographical materials, personal and professional correspondence, artwork, printed materials, and photographic materials.

Biographical materials include Myers' resume, letters that confirm some of the courses he studied and taught, one membership list and meeting minutes of the Carmel Art Association, notes from a Myers art lecture on Sante Fe, one sales ledger, and drafts and notes of "And The Glory," a biography on Myers written by his wife, Ella Price Myers. Correspondence is a mixture of personal and professional letters, shedding light on Myers' freidnships, personal and professional relationship with his wife, and his travels. Correspondents include artists Sheldon Dixie and Albert Berne, poet and advertiser John Bunker, Myers' nephew Sheldon, and his son Frank. The series also includes a map that of the United States on which Myers traced his sketching trips, 1926 to 1950, a cartoon by Herman Wessel, and clippings related to John Weis. Printed materials include newspaper and magazine clippings concerning Myers' artwork, career, and exhibitions, a series of advertisements illustrated by Myers, two lithographs of his artwork, and some exhibition ephemera. Artwork consists of childhood drawings by Myers of Native Americans, holiday themes, and portraits; later sketches, mostly in charcoal and pencil, include figure and portrait studies, city scenes, and several still lifes; one 1916 landscape painting by Myers, cloth with a linoleum block design, paint samples from Myers' studio, and small sketches and doodles drawn on scraps of paper. Photographic materials depict Myers' artwork, portraits of the artist, his family and friends, and his home in Pacific Grove.

A fair amount of the collection's files include notes with contextual information written by Ella Price Myers.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds one scrapbook of Frank Myers publicity, circa 1925-1945, lent for microfilming on reel D42. Loaned materials were returned to Ella Price Myers and are not described in the collection container inventory.