Finding Aid for the John Hill Morgan Research Files, 1922-1944 MS.08

Series I: The Life Portraits of George Washington and Their Replicas (1931), 1920-1944

 

Organized in two subseries: Correspondence and Research Files.

Subseries 1: Correspondence, 1928-1937, undated

 

The bulk of Morgan's correspondence is with his co-author, Mantle Fielding, documenting the research, writing, publication and distribution of The Life Portraits of George Washington and Their Replicas. Correspondence is with private owners, galleries and museums regarding the gathering of information on provenance, attribution, condition, and current ownership, as well as the acquisition of photographs. Many of the letters are outgoing only. Post-publication correspondence concerns sales and storage of the volumes, as well as new information on Washington portraits. Additional correspondence with Mantle Fielding can be found throughout the collection. Correspondents include Francis R. Appleton, Jr., Theodore Bolton, and Walter Jennings.

Arranged alphabetically, with Mantle Fielding's correspondence filed first.

Subseries 2: Research Files, 1922-1944

 

Documents the research gathered for the writing of The Life Portraits of George Washington and Their Replicas, as well as information Morgan added to the files after the book's publication. Contains individual files for the majority of portraits represented in the book. Files contain annotated pages from the book, drafts of the text, photographs, correspondence, tracings, postcards, cuts from auction sales catalogues, notes, narratives by Morgan, photostats and typed transcripts of reference materials, newspaper clippings, and periodical articles. Includes information on attribution, current ownership, provenance, and condition, as well as biographical data on the artists.

Each research file was originally stored in a folder with Morgan's handwritten and typed annotations. Folder covers have been retained in the new file. Some files contain only a photograph, while others only the original file folder cover. Reviews of the book are filed at the end of the subseries.

Arranged in the order in which the portraits appear in the book.

Series II: Additions to The Life Portraits of George Washington and Their Replicas, 1929-1944

 

Material from two binders maintained in their original order; other files arranged alphabetically by artist name.

Research materials on George Washington life portraits that were identified after the publication of The Life Portraits of George Washington and Their Replicas in 1931. Contains correspondence; photographs; clippings from auction sales catalogues, periodicals and newspapers; typed transcripts of reference materials; and Morgan's handwritten and typed notes. Correspondents include Mantle Fielding, Tolley Allender Biays, Harry MacNeill Bland, Theodore Sizer, de Lancey Kountze, P. Jackson Higgs, and the Marquis of Bute. Material was originally stored in a box labeled "Portraits which have come to light since the printing of  'The Life Portraits of Washington.'"

Series III: George Washington Portraits - Not from Life, 1922-1942

 

Arranged alphabetically by artist name.

John Hill Morgan's research on Washington portraits that were not painted from life, concerning primarily those works copied after portraits by Gilbert Stuart. Contains correspondence, photographs, Morgan's handwritten and typed notes, pages from auction sales catalogues, magazine articles, and newspaper clippings. Correspondents include Theodore Sizer, Stephen Decatur, William B. Goodwin, Walter Jennings, and P. Jackson Higgs. Materials are both loose and glued onto lined paper. Some miscellaneous materials are filed at the front of Folder 10 (originally the front of Binder 2).

Series IV: Gilbert Stuart, 1920-1944

 

Organized in four subseries: Gilbert Stuart: An Illustrated Descriptive List of His Works by Lawrence Park - Annotated Volumes; George Washington Portraits; Spurious Stuart Washington Portrait - Frank Bayley; and General Research.

Subseries 1: Gilbert Stuart: An Illustrated Descriptive List of His Works by Lawrence Park - Annotated Volumes, 1920-1944

 

Eight bound volumes of Gilbert Stuart: An Illustrated Descriptive List of His Works, with handwritten annotations by Morgan and inserts related to the biography of Stuart that John Hill Morgan contributed to the work, as well as his general research on the portraits in the book. Inserts include correspondence, photographs, notes and clippings from auction sales catalogues, newspapers and periodicals.

Of note is correspondence from Royal Cortissoz regarding Morgan's tone in his biography of Stuart in Volume I, Part I and a draft narrative at the front of Vol. II, Part IV regarding the sources for the book. Other correspondents include Helen Clay Frick, Theodore Bolton, Lawrence Park, William Sawitsky, William B. Goodwin, Gherardi Davis and Frank W. Bayley of the Copley Gallery. Contains reviews of the book. Loose items have been coded for location, removed and placed in file folders stored in Box 10.

Subseries 2: George Washington Portraits, 1926-1939

 

Contains photographs, clippings from auction sales catalogues and newspapers, correspondence, and Morgan's notes regarding Stuart's portraits of Washington. Includes list of 134 Stuart portraits with details and some handwritten notes, and a list of painters and sculptors who made original portraits of George Washington from life.

Subseries 3: Spurious Stuart Washington Portrait - Frank Bayley, 1928-1943

 

Correspondence, photographs, excerpts from Morgan's diary, newspaper clippings and a narrative entitled, "The Story of the Spurious Stuart-Washington and Frank W. Bayley's Connection Therewith" written by Morgan. Bayley, of the Copley Gallery, sold the portrait to Clarence Webster, but later bought it back from him when it was discovered to be a copy. Includes Morgan's correspondence with Bayley, and Bayley's correspondence with Senator J.S. Frelinghuysen, to whom he offered the alleged Stuart, disregarding Morgan's opinion that it was not genuine.

Subseries 4: General Research, 1938-1943

 

Series V: Shepard-Hughes-Danton Fakes, 1922-1938, undated

 

Original order from binders retained.

Research detailing a series of fake drawings circulating in the 1920s and 1930s. George J. Shepard, who also used the names John J. Hughes and Ferdinand Danton, was arrested in 1934 for attempting to sell a forgery of a Peale drawing to Richard Cleveland, son of Grover Cleveland. Includes Morgan's typescript draft narrative describing the events, photographs, correspondence with private collectors and galleries who were offered or purchased the drawings, newspaper clippings regarding Shepard's arrest, a letter from Richard Cleveland discussing the Grand Jury hearing, a list of Shepard's aliases, and his mug shots.

Correspondents include Harry MacNeill Bland, Richard F. Cleveland, the American Antiquarian Society, the Brooklyn Museum, Mantle Fielding, M. Knoedler & Co., Lamot Du P. Copeland, Harvard University, The Filson Club, R.P. Tolman, the U.S. Navy Department, and the Albany Institute of History and Art. Drawings were allegedly by Thomas Sully, Gilbert Stuart, John Trumbull, Charles Willson Peale, Rembrandt Peale, Benjamin West, as well as numerous others.

Series VI: George Washington Portraits - General Research, 1926-1944

 

Organized into three subseries: Correspondence, Exhibitions, and Miscellaneous Research.

Subseries 1: Correspondence, 1927-1941

 

Arranged alphabetically.

Correspondence includes photographs, clippings, Morgan's notes, and some copies of documents regarding provenance, primarily related to offers of works or requests for Morgan's opinion on the attribution of portraits of George Washington. Listed alphabetically by correspondent and/or owner.

Subseries 2: Exhibitions, 1926-1932

 

Arranged chronologically.

Subseries 3: Miscellaneous Research Materials, 1932-1944

 

Arranged chronologically

Notes, photographs, and clippings from newspapers, periodicals and auction sales catalogues.