American Art Association Records

The American Art Association records document a selection of auction sales run by the gallery, as well as Thomas Kirby's relationship with those who sold their works through the American Art Association. Records date from 1877-1924, with the bulk dating from 1910-1924. The collection includes correspondence, approximately 1,000 photographs, handwritten and typed notes, fragments of a typed manuscript on the American Art Association, pages from auction sales catalogues, newspaper and periodical clippings, and several sales catalogues.

The bulk of the collection concerns specific auction sales conducted by the American Art Association. Files contain inventories of the works, often with prices and names of buyers; black and white photographs of the works and several of the exhibition installations; correspondence; sections of a typed manuscript on the American Art Association; handwritten notes regarding the sales; pages from sales catalogues; and clippings. Documentation of 70 sales ranges from a single typescript sentence to multiple folders of correspondence, inventories and hundreds of photographs of the items for sale. An additional 150 auction sales are represented in the files only by cursory handwritten notes. Some of the most heavily documented sales include 57 Paintings Belonging to Ichabod T. Williams of February 3-4, 1915; Charles of London, Italian, French & English Furniture, Tapestries, Rugs, Paintings, Porcelains, etc. of November 15-20, 1920; and Palatial Mansion & Contents Collected by William J. Saloman, April 4-7, 1923. Titles of sales were derived from the auction sales catalogue.

Also of note in the records is correspondence between Thomas Kirby and Arthur B. Emmons regarding several auctions in which works he owned were sold; 16 letters to Charles De Kay from correspondents other than Thomas Kirby; handwritten notes on George Inness; biographical comments on Thomas Kirby; a privately printed catalogue, Pictures in the Collection of F.A.G. Hood, Esq.; and several letters concerning the controversy over the authenticity of the painting Blue Boy at the William H. Fuller Sale of February 25, 1898, including a letter from Francis Davis Millet. A few clippings and letters document Kirby's career prior to his affiliation with the American Art Association.