MS 1999-13 Frank W. Stokes paintings and drawings
odd: label: Local Numbers
content: NAA MS 1999-13
label: Variant Title
content: Previously titled: "Frank W. Stokes artwork collection."
name: label: Creator
content: Stokes, Frank Wilbert, 1858-1955
label: Names
content: Peary Relief Expedition of 1892
place: label: Place
content: Arctic regions
label: Place
content: Antarctica
label: Place
content: Greenland
creator: label: Creator
content: Stokes, Frank Wilbert, 1858-1955
culture: label: Culture
content: Inuit
label: Culture
content: Inughuit [Cape York]
setName: label: See more items in
content: MS 1999-13 Frank W. Stokes paintings and drawings
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Frank Wilbert Stokes (1858-1955) was an American artist best known for his paintings of the polar regions. Stokes began his studies under Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, followed by five years in France as a student at the Ecole des Beaux-Art, the Academie Colarossi and Academie Julian. He accompanied the Peary Relief Expedition to Greenland in 1892 and returned a year later as part of the North Greenland Expedition of 1893-1894. In 1902 he joined the Swedish Antarctic Expedition under Otto Nordenskjöld.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 12 Drawings (visual works) (portraits , charcoal, pencil, crayon and chalk on paper)
label: Extent
content: 11 Paintings (visual works) (oil on canvas)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1893-1905
label: Date
content: undated
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Frank W. Stokes bequethed over 200 works of art to the National Collection of Fine Arts (also known as the National Museum of American Art (NMAA) and now known as the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM)) prior to his death in 1955.  The 23 drawings and paintings in this collection were transferred from SAAM to the National Anthropological Archives in 1998.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.MS1999-13
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Drawings (visual works)
label: Type
content: Paintings (visual works)
label: Type
content: Works of art
label: Type
content: Paintings
label: Type
content: Drawings
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Six (6) picture frames dating from the 1960s which held small oil paintings were discarded in 2023.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Works of art
label: Genre/Form
content: Paintings
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of a total of twenty-three (23) paintings and drawings by Frank W. Stokes dating from 1893-1905.  There are four (4) oil paintings of Inuit subjects, seven (7) small studies in oil of Arctic and Antarctic scenery, and twelve (12) portraits in charcoal, pencil, crayon, and chalk of Inughuit men and women in Northern Greenland.


Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Smithsonian American Art Museum holds additional paintings by Frank W. Stokes.

The Department of Anthropology holds objects collected on the Peary expedition, including clothing, sleds, and tools.