Finding Aid for the Walter and Matilda Gay Collection, 1877-2012 (bulk 1888-1938) MS.059

Summary Information

Repository
The Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Archives10 East 71st Street
New York, NY, 10021
archives@frick.org
 © 2015. The Frick Collection. All rights reserved.
Creator
Gay, Matilda, 1855-.
Creator
Gay, Walter, 1856-1937.
Title
Walter and Matilda Gay Collection
ID
MS.059
Date [bulk]
Bulk, 1880-1938
Date [inclusive]
1877-2012
Extent
6.0 Linear feet  (13 volumes, 4 boxes, oversize material)
Abstract
Walter Gay (1856-1937) was an American painter known for his paintings of interiors. For the better part of his life, Gay lived in France, where he met and married heiress and fellow expatriate Matilda E. Travers (1855-1943). The bulk of this collection is formed by the diaries of Matilda Gay which provide detailed insight into the Gays' daily life as well as American expatriate life in France before, during, and after World War I. The collection also contains correspondence, photographs (including an album of photographs of Walter Gay's early paintings), material relating to the death of Walter Gay, and various artifacts and printed material.

Preferred Citation

Walter and Matilda Gay Collection. The Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Archives.

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Biographical Note

Walter Gay (January 22, 1856 - July 15, 1937) was an American painter known for his paintings of interiors. Gay was born in Massachusetts and moved to Paris in 1876 to study with painter Leon Bonnat. He met heiress and fellow expatriate Matilda E. Travers (1855-1943) there and they were married in 1889. Matilda was the daughter of William R. Travers, a successful Wall Street investor and co-founder of the Saratoga Race Course.

Gay debuted at the Paris Salon in 1879, later winning honorable mention at the 1885 Salon and a gold medal in 1888. He was awarded medals in Antwerp, Budapest, Vienna, Munich, and Berlin, and was invited to exhibit at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle, the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. Gay was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur in 1894 and was later named an officer and then a commander of the order.

Gay's early work consisted of genre paintings typical of his training; however, beginning in the mid 1890s, Gay turned his focus to paintings of interiors and still lifes, largely eliminating figures. An exhibition of paintings made at Fortoiseau, the chateau outside of Paris the Gays rented in 1897, was his first public showing of interiors. By 1905 he had transformed his career and made his reputation as a painter of interiors, selling 17 paintings at a solo exhibition and receiving commissions to portray both public and private rooms. Shortly afterwards, Walter and Matilda purchased their own chateau, Le Bréau, near the Forest of Fontainebleau.

When Walter Gay died in 1937, he was described in his New York Times obituary as the "dean of American artists in Paris," and the Metropolitan Museum of Art held a memorial exhibition of 34 of his paintings and watercolors borrowed from various American collectors. Matilda remained at their chateau in France, later taken over by German officers during the French occupation of World War II. She died there in 1943.

Sources consulted:

Taube, Isabel L., et al. Impressions of Interiors: Gilded Age Paintings by Walter Gay. London: Giles, 2012.

"Walter Gay, 81, American Painter: Dean of Group in Paris Passed Entire Career in France Dies at Chateau du Breau." New York Times 15 July 1937: 19.

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Scope and Content Note

The bulk of the Walter and Matilda Gay Collection is formed by the diaries of Matilda Gay found in Series I: Diaries. Her diaries provide insight into American expatriate life in France before, during, and after World War I. Many notable friends and acquaintances are portrayed in the pages, including: John Singer Sargent, Edith Wharton, Henry James, Bernard Berenson, Elsie de Wolfe, Henry Clay Frick, and Helen Clay Frick.

Matilda's diaries are prominently featured in William Rieder's A Charmed Couple: The Art and Life of Walter and Matilda Gay. Rieder writes, "Matilda had an extraordinary eye and memory for detail. For most of the dinners the Gays attended, and the Gays attended a great many dinners during this period, she included the names of every person present, who sat on her right and left, what was said, what she thought of what was said, and what she thought of who said it. And the dinners occupy only a part of each day's entry, often a small part...The factual aspect of the record, important though it is, is often of less interest than her opinions of the events and people that made up her world. And there was very little about which Matilda did not have a colorful and perceptive opinion."

Matilda Gay's handwritten diaries are contained within 32 notebooks. The diaries dates from February 27, 1904 through April 30, 1920 with two gaps: August 13, 1904 through February 1909 and July 1, 1911 through October 16, 1912. Following at the end are three notebooks covering her travels to London in 1880, Italy in 1891, and Spain in 1893. The transcript of Matilda Gay's diaries and travel accounts date from 1904-1934. The carbon typescript transcript is over 3,000 pages long and contained within 13 bound volumes. The first 11 volumes contain her diaries from 1904-1920 (including sections missing from the manuscript version), and the final two, "Journeys," cover her travels from 1921-1934.

Series II: Correspondence consists of 12 letters, a telegram, several postcards, and a Christmas card. Correspondents include Walter and Matilda Gay, Ebenezer and Ellen Gay (Walter's parents), and Sophie Gay Griscom (Walter's niece).

Series III: Photographs contains nine photographs of Walter Gay, two images of Matilda Gay, and an album of approximately 45 mounted photographs of Gay's early paintings. The photographs and album have been digitized and are available here: Link to digital images

Series IV: Death of Walter Gay includes transcriptions of letters of condolence written to Matilda Gay, obituaries and tributes, accounts of the funeral services, and material regarding the bequest of his art collection to the Louvre.

Series V: Notebooks consists of five notebooks Matilda Gay used to record notes on literature, an Italian translation of an Edith Wharton story, and quotations.

The final two series contain Walter Gay's wooden palette and Legion d'Honneur decorations, and Gay-related exhibition catalogs, books, and other printed material.

Sources:

Rieder, William. A Charmed Couple: The Art and Life of Walter and Matilda Gay. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2000.

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Arrangement

The collection consists of seven series:

Series I: Diaries

Series II: Correspondence

Series III: Photographs

Series IV: Death of Walter Gay

Series V: Notebooks

Series VI: Artifacts

Series VII: Printed Material

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Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

These records are open for research by appointment under the conditions of The Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Archives Access Policy. For all inquiries or to schedule an appointment, please contact the Archives Department at archives@frick.org.

Provenance

Acquired 2014.

Processing Information

Arranged and described by Shannon Yule Morelli, 2015.

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Related Materials

Related Materials

Walter Gay papers, 1870-1937, 1980. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

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Controlled Access Headings

Genre(s)

  • Correspondence.
  • Diaries.
  • Photograph albums.
  • Photographs.

Personal Name(s)

  • Gay, Matilda, 1855-.
  • Gay, Walter, 1856-1937.

Subject(s)

  • Artists' spouses--Diaries.
  • Expatriate painters--France--Paris.

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Collection Inventory

Series I: Diaries, 1880-1893, 1904-1934
 

The bulk of the Walter and Matilda Gay Collection is formed by the diaries of Matilda Gay. Her diaries provide insight into American expatriate life in France before, during, and after World War I. Many notable friends and acquaintances are portrayed in the pages, including: John Singer Sargent, Edith Wharton, Henry James, Bernard Berenson, Elsie de Wolfe, Henry Clay Frick, and Helen Clay Frick.

Matilda's handwritten diaries are contained within 32 notebooks. The diaries date from February 27, 1904 through April 30, 1920 with two gaps: August 13, 1904 through February 1909 and July 1, 1911 through October 16, 1912. Following at the end are three notebooks covering her travels to London in 1880, Italy in 1891, and Spain in 1893.

The transcript of Matilda Gay's diaries and travel accounts dates from 1904-1934. The carbon typescript transcript is over 3,000 pages long and contained within 13 bound volumes. The first 11 volumes contain her diaries from 1904-1920 (including sections missing from the manuscript version), and the final two, "Journeys," cover her travels in France, England, and the United States (including New York, Boston, Newport, Philadelphia, and surrounding areas) from 1921-1934.

Manuscript Diaries
 
Box Folder Date
1 1

February – May, 1904
 
1 2

May – August, 1904
 
1 3

February – May, 1909
 
1 4

May – August, 1909
 
1 5

August – November, 1909
 
1 6

November, 1909 – March, 1910
 
1 7

March – June, 1910
 
1 8

June - September, 1910
 
1 9

September, 1910 – January, 1911
 
1 10

January – April, 1911
 
1 11

April – June, 1911
 
1 12

October, 1912 – August, 1913
 
1 13

August, 1913 – April, 1914
 
1 14

April – September, 1914
 
2 1

September, 1914 – January, 1915
 
2 2

January – July, 1915
 
2 3

July, 1915 – April, 1916
 
2 4

April – July, 1916
 
2 5

July – October, 1916
 
2 6

October, 1916 – January, 1917
 
2 7

January – March 1917
 
2 8

September – December, 1917
 
2 9

December, 1917 – April, 1918
 
2 10

April, 1918 – August, 1918
 
2 11

September, 1918 – January, 1919
 
3 1

January – May, 1919
 
3 2

May – August, 1919
 
3 3

August, 1919 – January, 1920
 
3 4

January – April, 1920
 
3 5

London, 1880
 

Includes calling card for "The Misses Travers."
3 6

Italy, 1891
 
3 7

Spain, 1893
 

Diary Transcriptions
 
Volume Date
1

1904-1905
 
2

1906-1907
 
3

1908-1909
 
4

1910-1911
 
5

1912-1913
 
6

1914-1915
 
7

1916
 
8

1917
 
9

1918
 
10

1919
 
11

1920
 
12

Journeys, May 1921 – April 1928
 
13

Journeys, May 1928 – June 1934
 

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Series II: Correspondence, 1886-1938
 

Series consists of 12 letters, a telegram, several postcards, and a Christmas card. Correspondents include Walter and Matilda Gay, Ebenezer and Ellen Gay (Walter's parents), and Sophie Gay Griscom (Walter's niece).
Box Folder Date
3 8

Walter and Matilda Gay
 

Walter Gay to Matilda Gay, August 14, 1927

 1927
3 9

Ellen Blake Blood and Ebenezer Gay (parents)
 

Ebenezer Gay to Walter Gay, March 18, 1899

Walter and Matilda Gay to Ebenezer Gay congratulating him on his 81st birthday, March 27, 1899 (telegram)

Ellen Blake Blood Gay to Walter Gay regarding his father's death, May 19, 1899

Includes envelope, "Walter - Eben's hair before cutting. Monday a.m. April 12th, 1886"

 1886-1899
3 10

Sophie Gay Griscom (niece)
 

Sophie Gay Griscom to Walter and Matilda Gay, August 25, 1936

Sophie Gay Griscom to Matilda Gay, September 13, 1937

Sophie Gay Griscom to Matilda Gay, September 19, 1937

Sophie Gay Griscom to Matilda Gay, October 27, 1937

Sophie Gay Griscom to Matilda Gay, May 23, 1938

Sophie Gay Griscom to Matilda Gay, June 3, 1938

Sophie Gay Griscom to [Mrs. Piper], undated (circa September 1940), regarding news of Matilda in German occupied France.

 1936-1940
3 11

Unidentified correspondents
 

[?] to [?], 1886

[?] to James [?], February 8, 1905

 1886, 1905
3 12

Postcards and Christmas card
 

4 postcards

Christmas card from Matilda Gay to Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss, circa 1935

 undated, circa 1935

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Series III: Photographs, undated
 

Series contains nine photographs of Walter Gay (three of which with their original frames), two images of Matilda Gay, and an album of approximately 45 mounted photographs of Walter Gay's earlier paintings.
Box Folder Date
3 13

Photographs of Walter Gay
 

Quarter-length cabinet card portrait of Gay as a young man by Notman Photo Co., Boston.

Studio portrait by Notman Photo Co., Boston. [glossy reproduction mounted on foamcore]

Gay as a young man, seated in front of fireplace in a large room. [stored in oversize]

Half-length studio portrait of Walter Gay as a young man, seated, holding a bowler hat and walking stick. Framed photograph appears in Gay's 1909 painting, La Cheminée. [facsimile in the original filigree metal frame stored in oversize]

Half-length portrait, seated in an armchair, reading a book.

Gay standing in profile in his studio, holding a palette, signed "W.H. Stewart" in ink at lower left. Framed photograph appears in Gay's 1909 painting, La Cheminée. [facsimile in the original wood frame stored in oversize]

Full-length portrait, sitting in armchair, holding a palette, later in life by Bonney, Paris.

Gay seated with Lord Joseph Duveen and Clarence Mackay, and Gay's dog, Jet, outside Gay's Château Le Bréau, after the hunt, circa 1910. [facsimile in the original wood frame stored in oversize]

Studio portrait of Walter Gay, his three brothers (Eben Howard, William Otis, Harry Howard), and their mother (Ellen Blake Blood). Biographical notes included. [glossy reproduction]

Link to digital images

undated
3 14

Photographs of Matilda Gay
 

Studio portrait of Matilda Gay by N.E. Lusher, Hamilton, Bermuda, circa 1880. [glossy reproduction mounted on foamcore]

Negative of a studio portrait with envelope inscribed by Sophia Gay Griscom. [negative removed to cold storage for conservation]

Link to digital images

undated
3 15

Album of photographs of Walter Gay paintings
 

Mounted photographs of early paintings by Walter Gay.

[stored separately, original closed to researchers due to conservation concerns]

Link to digital images

undated

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Series IV: Death of Walter Gay, circa 1937-1938
 

Series consists of material related to the death of Walter Gay including transcripts of letters of condolence, accounts of the funeral services, obituaries and tributes, and material regarding the donation of Gay's art collection to the Louvre.
Box Folder Date
3 16

Typescript transcriptions
 

Transcripts of letters of condolence sent to Matilda Gay on the death of Walter Gay, accounts of the funeral services, obituaries and tributes, and articles on the donation of Gay's art collection to the Louvre.

 circa 1937-1938
3 17

"Quelques mots prononcés par le Président de la Sauvegarde à la salle de l’Orangerie le 3 Février 1938."
 

Re: the Louvre's acceptance of Walter Gay's collection of Old Master drawings, paintings, and bronzes. Typescript with manuscript signatures and statements by members of the committee.

[stored in oversize]

 1938

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Series V: Notebooks, 1922 and undated
 

Series consists of five notebooks Matilda Gay used to record notes on literature, an Italian translation of an Edith Wharton story, and quotations.
Box Folder Date
4 1

[Notes re: Dante's The Divine Comedy]
 

In Italian.

 undated
4 2

Dante-Commentaries
 

One notebook and additional loose pages in Italian. Includes "List of visitors to be named in memoirs compiled by Gallatin."

 undated
4 3

Macbeth, Notes on "Prometheus Bound" of Eschylus, Coriolanus
 

 undated
4 4

La Duchessa in Preghiera
 

Italian translation of Edith Wharton's story, "The Duchess at Prayer."

 undated
4 5

Commonplace Book of Quotations
 

 1922

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Series VI: Artifacts, 1927 and undated
 

Series consists of a paint palette used by Walter Gay and items related to the award naming Walter Gay Commandeur of the Légion d'Honneur.
Box Folder Date
4 6

Burled wood palette
 

A palette belonging to Walter Gay, clean of pigments.

[stored in oversize]

 undated
4 7

Légion d'Honneur decorations
 

Framed official certificate of the award naming Walter Gay Commandeur of the Légion d'Honneur, August 27, 1927.

Two framed gold and enamel medals on silk ribbons in two styles: one for the chest and one for the neck.

Original leather box for one of the medals, gold initials R.F. [République Française]

[stored in oversize]

 1927

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Series VII: Printed Material, 1877-2012
 

Series consists of catalogs for exhibitions of Walter Gay's paintings, books related to Walter and Matilda Gay, and clippings of articles related to Walter Gay.
Box Folder Date
4 8

Exhibition Catalogs
 

W. Allan Gay, Catalogue, March 27-28, 1877. Boston: Doll & Richards. [landscape painter Winckworth Allan Gay (1821-1910), Walter Gay's uncle]

Exhibition of Paintings by Walter Gay, May 4-23, 1892. Boston: St. Botolph Club. [2 photocopies]

Catalogue of an Exhibition of Works by the late Robert Lee MacCameron and a Collection of Oil Paintings and Water Colors by Walter Gay of Paris, November 7 – December 3, 1913. Rochester: The Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester.

An Exhibition of Paintings and Water Colors by Walter Gay, February 17 – March 6, 1920; April 1926; March 1928; 1930. New York: Wildenstein & Co. [photocopies]

A Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by Walter Gay, November 28 – December 22, 1945. New York: Wildenstein & Co.

Walter Gay, January 5 – February 2, 1974. New York: Graham Gallery. [2 copies]

 1877-1974
4 9

Books
 

Kurtz, Charles M. (editor). The Art Gallery Illustrated, World's Columbian Exposition. Philadelphia: George Barrie, 1893.

Gallatin, A.E. Walter Gay: Paintings of French Interiors. New York: Dutton, 1920. [3 copies]

Gallatin, A.E. American Water-Colourists. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1922.

Gay, Walter. Memoirs of Walter Gay. New York: Privately printed, 1930.

Walter Gay, a Retrospective, Grey Art Gallery and Study Center, New York University, September 16-November 1, 1980. New York: The Center, 1980.

Rieder, William. A Charmed Couple: The Art and Life of Walter and Matilda Gay. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2000.

Taube, Isabel L. Impressions of Interiors: Gilded Age Paintings by Walter Gay. London: Giles, 2012.

[books stored separately]

 1893-2012
4 10

Clippings and Invitation
 

Gallatin, A.E. "Mr. Walter Gay's Interiors." Art and Progress 4.9 (July 1913): 1023-1027.

Allen, Josephin L. "A Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by Walter Gay." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 33.4 (April 1938): 100-102.

Richardson, Nancy. "All About Style." House and Garden December 1986.

Invitation to a reception opening the exhibition, Walter Gay: A Retrospective, at the Grey Art Gallery and Study Center, New York University, New York, NY, September 15, 1980.

 1913-1986

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