Walter and Matilda Gay Collection
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:
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.
Dates
- Majority of material found within Bulk, 1880-1938
- 1877-2012
Creator
- Gay, Matilda, 1855- (Person)
- Gay, Walter, 1856-1937 (Person)
Access Restrictions
These records are open for research by appointment under the conditions of
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.
Extent
6.0 Linear feet (13 volumes, 4 boxes, oversize material)
Language of Materials
English
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.
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
Provenance
Acquired 2014.
Processing Information
Arranged and described by Shannon Yule Morelli, 2015.
- Title
- Finding Aid for the Walter and Matilda Gay Collection, 1877-2012 (bulk 1888-1938)
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Shannon Yule Morelli
- Date
- © 2015. The Frick Collection. All rights reserved.
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Archives Repository
