Henry Kirke Brown Papers
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Brown, Henry Kirke, 1814-1886
setName: label: See more items in
content: Henry Kirke Brown papers
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.8 Linear Feet (Boxes 1-2)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1836-1893
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.browhenr, Series 1
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection includes Brown's correspondence with his wife, Lydia Louise Udall, his nephew, Henry Kirke Bush-Brown, and other family members. Also included are letters from artists George Catlin, George Fuller, Sanford R. Gifford, James Reid Lambdin, Louis Lang, Erastus Dow Palmer, Hiram Powers, Horatio Stone, and others; five news clippings; and miscellaneous notes.

Brown's lengthy letters to his wife reveal his devotion to her and the conflict he felt between his art and his personal life. He discusses his work, including progress on his statue of George Washington, located in Union Square, New York City. Letters to his family from Rome and Florence allude to his awe of Italy's monuments. Also included are letters from Washington, D.C. during Brown's tenure as a member of the U.S. Art Commission in the 1860s.