Samuel Putnam Avery

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Samuel Putnam Avery painted by Charles Loring Elliott , 1863

Samuel Putnam Avery also Samuel P. Avery (born March 17, 1822 in New York ; † August 11, 1904 there ) was an American artist, art dealer and patron.

Life

He first learned the technique of copperplate engraving and woodcut and worked for the American Bank Note Company and for leading publishers , among others . Around 1864/65 he worked as an art dealer. In 1867 he was appointed representative of the American Art Department at the Paris World's Fair in 1867 . On this occasion, and with the help of collector George A. Lucas , he acquired paintings by the hottest Parisian artists, including William-Adolphe Bouguereau , Jules Breton , Jean-Léon Gérôme , and Ernest Meissonier . He went on annual collecting trips. He auctioned the acquired pictures in New York or sold them directly to collectors such as William Henry Vanderbilt and Alexander Turney Stewart . He was one of the founders of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a member of the most important scientific, artistic and educational associations.

He founded the Avery Architectural Library at Columbia University in memory of his son Henry Ogden Avery , an architect who had died in 1890. Samuel P. Avery mainly collected French prints. In 1900 he donated his collection of 17,775 etchings and lithographs to the New York Public Library . In 1912, Avery Hall was built in memory of father and son on the Columbia campus. It also houses the Avery Library, one of the country's largest collections of works on architecture and applied arts . Samuel Putnam Avery was President of the Grolier Club from 1896 to 1900. The medalist Anton Scharff made a portrait medal of him in 1897.

Literature (english)

  • Madeleine Fidell Beaufort, Herbert L. Kleinfeld, Jeanne K. Welcher, (Eds.), The Diaries 1871-1882 of Samuel P. Avery, Art Dealer , New York: Arno Press, 1979
  • Arthur Bonn (Comp.) A Handbook of the SP Avery Collection of Prints and Art Books in The New York Public Library. Additions, by Donation, from the Misses Welcher (Emma Avery, Alice Lee, and Amy Ogden) . New York: NYPL, ca.1926.
  • A Handbook of the SP Avery Collection of Prints and Art Books in The New York Public Library , New York: De Vinne Press, 1901.
  • Louisa Wood Ruby, Samuel Putnam Avery as a Collector of Drawings: A Complete Checklist from The New York Public Library's Print Collection. Biblion: The Bulletin of The New York Public Library .
  • Frank Weitenkampf (Comp.), Supplement to the Handbook of the SP Avery Collection in The New York Public Library. Additions of Prints, 1901-1920. New York: NYPL, 1921.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Samuel Putnam Avery letter collection on the Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries website
  2. ^ Website of the Smithsonian Museum of American History with a short biography
  3. ^ Website of the New York Public Library with the collection history
personal data
SURNAME Avery, Samuel Putnam
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Avery, Samuel P.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American artist, art dealer, and patron
DATE OF BIRTH March 17, 1822
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH August 11, 1904
Place of death New York City