Jerome Myers papers

Jerome Myers papers, 1904-1967

A Finding Aid to the Jerome Myers papers
Helen Farr Sloan Library, Delaware Art Museum

Wilmington, Delaware
2002

Accessioned: Gift of Barry Downes
Extent: 10 linear feet
Access: Unrestricted
Contact Information:

Helen Farr Sloan Library
Delaware Art Museum
2301 Kentmere Parkway
Wilmington, DE 19806

1879 – Left school to work in a cork factory to help the family. Myers was one of five children. Their father was one of the “Forty-niners”, away from home for long periods.

1880 – Went to work as office boy in a law office where, in the library, he read the Greeks in translation.

1881 – Moved with the family to Baltimore, Maryland. Worked at various jobs, sign painting, etc. and posed as a model at the Baltimore Academy.

1886 – Moved to New York City, and began to work full time as a scene painter under the influence of his brother Harry, who was interested in show business. Painted the interiors of several New York theaters.

1887 – Began art studies at Cooper Union at night after work. Painted his first New York picture.

1888 – Began serious art study at the Art Students League. Began his direct contact with city life by going around sketching life as he saw it.

1889 – Gave up scene painting and started to free lance with the Moss Engraving Company. Spent more time studying at Cooper Union and at the Art Students League under George DeForest Brush.

1891 – Moved to a studio on 32nd near Broadway. Painted a portrait of his mother.

1893 – Sold a painting for the first time. While making an oil sketch of the Essex Canal near Jersey City, a woman from a nearby houseboat watched him work. When the picture was completed, she asked him if he would see it to her for two dollars – a memorable day for the young artist.

1896 – With funds saved from the Tribune job, Myers went to France for a few months. Opened his first studio on his return at 232 West 14th Street, where he lived for about five years. At this time he was doing mainly East Side scenes and continued to use the medium of pencil or pastel.

1900 – William Macbeth encouraged Myers to paint in oil, and began to show a few of his paintings at the Macbeth Gallery.

1902 – Moved from 14th to West 50th Street and began a prolific period of painting, working from the many drawings he had sketched from life over the past ten years.

1904 – Exhibited at the Society of American Artists, the Municipal Art Society, at the National Arts Club, the Lotus Club and the Colonial Club. Won the bronze medal at the
Universal Exposition in St. Louis for “Night Concert.” Met Ethel Klinck, Assistant Director of the Chase School (William Merritt Chase) who was later to become his wife.

1905 – Myers and Ethel Klinck were married in a small church ceremony in October, and began their married life in a studio on 59th Street.

1906 – A daughter, Virginia, was born and the family moved to a studio on West 23rd Street across from John Sloan.

1908 – The first one-man show was held at the Macbeth Gallery from January 2 through January 18. He also exhibited in group shows at the Art Institute of Chicago, National Academy and the Print Gallery in New York.

1909 – A bad financial year caused Myers to move to a one-room studio on the lower west side. Myers refused to paint “pretty ladies” as he had been counseled to do.

1910 – Exhibited in the Exhibition of Independent Artists. A sale of a painting permitted a move to a new studio at 7 West 42nd Street.

1911 – Exhibited with Walt Kuhn and Elmer MacRae at the Madison Gallery in an exhibition called “The Pastellists.” Several others were invited to exhibit and on December 14, in a postmortem of the exhibit, the embryo idea of the Armory Show was born. Henry Fitch Taylor, Elmer MacRae, Walt Kuhn and Myers later, on December 19, met with the others in a more formal meeting where minutes were taken and the plans for what resulted in the Armory Show were begun.

1912 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art bought Myers painting, “The Mission Tent.” This sale made it possible for the Myers family to more into the studio in the “new” Carnegie Hall building.

1913 – Myers worked actively in the formation of the Armory Show and both he and Mrs. Myers exhibited work in that show. At the same time he was holding art classes at the Finch School.

1914 – Myers took his family to Europe and stayed in both London and Paris. Left Paris the night before war was declared and the story of their adventures in documented in drawings and an article, “The Innocent Bystander,” published in the Edison Monthly.

1915 – Several articles were written for the Edison Monthly on European and war experiences illustrated by his own drawings. Began to etch and produced about twenty plates this year. Continued to exhibit actively. Rented a house in Carmel, New York.

1916 – Began life long friendship with Arthur F. Egner, Newark, New Jersey attorney, a collector of American Contemporary Art. Also began to build a cottage at Carmel. Ethel Myers began to design dresses and continued in this manner to supplement the family income for many years.

1917 – Wrote a magazine series, “Confidences of an Errant Artist” for Arts and Decoration. Both Miss Julia Peck and Duncan Phillips purchased several pictures.

1919 – Exhibited “Summer Night” in the Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture by American Artists at Luxembourg Museum in Paris. Won the Clarke Prize at the National Academy. Elected as associate member of the National Academy.

1920 – Exhibited at the National Academy, Kraushaar Galleries and at the Society of American Painters, Sculptors and Gravers of which he was a member.

1926 – Exhibited at the New Society of Artists, Chicago Art Institute. Received the Clarke Prize for “Evening.”

1927 – Three pictures by Myers were sold from the John Quinn Collection at the sale of that collection at the American Art Galleries.

1928 – Exhibited at Babcock Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, Grand Central Art Gallery and the National Academy.

1931 – Won the second Altman Prize, Carnegie Institute, for “Street Shrine.”

1940 –Wrote autobiography, “Artist in Manhattan,” published by the American Artists Group. Died in his Carnegie studio, after an injury sustained from a fall, on June 29.

Taken from Jerome Myers, An Artist in Manhattan: 1867-1967 (Wilmington, DE: Delaware Art Center, 1967)

The papers of painter Jerome Myers were donated by his grandson Barry Downes. They include correspondence, clippings, financial records, and exhibition material. Grant Holcomb used the Myers Papers as the basis of his masters thesis, Delaware Art Museum exhibition and catalog Jerome Myers.

Series I: Biographical and Personal
Series II: Correspondence
Series III: Exhibitions
Series IV: Clippings
Series V: Audio-visual and Slides
Series VI: Estate Records
Series VII. Jerome Myers Collection Guide

Folder 1: Biographical
Folder 2: Writings, 1917
Folder 3: Writings, 1937
Folder 4: Miscellaneous

Folder 1: Correspondence, 1904
Folder 2: Correspondence, 1905
Folder 3: Correspondence, 1906
Folder 4: Correspondence, 1908
Folder 5: Correspondence, 1909
Folder 6: Correspondence, 1910
Folder 7: Correspondence, 1911
Folder 8: Correspondence, 1912
Folder 9: Correspondence, 1913
Folder 10: Correspondence, 1914
Folder 11: Correspondence, 1915
Folder 12: Correspondence, 1916
Folder 13: Correspondence, 1917
Folder 14: Correspondence, 1918
Folder 15: Correspondence, 1919
Folder 16: Correspondence, 1922
Folder 17: Correspondence, 1923
Folder 18: Correspondence, 1925
Folder 19: Correspondence, 1926
Folder 20: Correspondence, 1928
Folder 21: Correspondence, 1931
Folder 22: Correspondence, 1936
Folder 23: Correspondence, 1939
Folder 24: Correspondence, 1940
Folder 25: Correspondence, 1941
Folder 26: Correspondence, 1942
Folder 27: Correspondence, 1943-1945
Folder 28: Correspondence, 1950-1951
Folder 29: Correspondence, 1952
Folder 30: Correspondence, 1957-1958
Folder 31: Correspondence, 1960-1964
Folder 32: Correspondence, 1966-1967
Folder 33: Correspondence, Undated

Folder 1: Correspondence, 1912-1916
Folder 2: Correspondence, 1917-1918
Folder 3: Correspondence, 1919
Folder 4: Correspondence, 1934-1940
Folder 5: Correspondence from Myers to miscellaneous, undated
Folder 6: Correspondence from Myers to Ethel Myers, undated
Folder 7: Correspondence from Myers to Virginia Myers Downes, undated

Exhibition of Paintings by Jerome Myers, Milch Galleries, New York, February 18-March 1, 1919 - 3 copies

Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Jerome Myers, C.W. Kraushaar Art Galleries, New York, April 12-May 1, 1920 - 2 copies

An Important Collection of Paintings and Bronzes by Modern Masters of American and European Art, C.W. Kraushaar Art Galleries, New York, December 3-31, 1921

Locataires Et Propriétaires by Honoré Daumier, C.W. Kraushaar Galleries, New York, November 6-22, 1922

An Important Collection of Paintings and Bronzes by Modern Masters of American and European Art, C.W. Kraushaar Art Galleries, New York, December 4-30, 1922

17th Annual Loan Collection of American Paintings, State Fair of Texas, Dallas, October 6-15, 1922

catalog of an Exhibition of Paintings by Contemporary Artists, at the Art Gallery, Toronto, January 27-March 4, 1923

Exhibition of Recent Painting By Jerome Myers, Galleries of Frank K. M. Rehn, New York, October 22-November 10, 1923

Exhibitions of Painting and Sculpture Contributed by The Founders of the Galleries, Grand Central Art Galleries, New York, June 27, 1923- ? - 2 copies

An Illustrated catalog of An Important Collection of Paintings, Marbles, Bronzes, C.W. Kraushaar Art Galleries, New York, January 15-February 16, 1924 - 2 copies

The Winter Exhibition of the National Academy of Design, Vanderbilt Gallery Paintings Nos. 295-393 Inclusive, New York, Winter 1926

Recent American Paintings Shown at the Opening of the Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey, 1926

National Academy of Design Winter Exhibition, New York, November 29-December 18, 1927

A Bulletin of the Phillips Collection: Tri-Unit Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, Washington D.C., February and March 1927

The John Quinn Collection, Sale at the American Art Galleries, February 9-12, 1927

Exhibition of Portrait Drawings by Jerome Myers, Babcock Galleries, New York, April 9-21, 1928

Exhibition of Drawings by Jerome Myers, The Macbeth Galleries, New York, November 28-December 11, 1928

Twenty-Seventh International Exhibition of Paintings, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 18-December 9, 1928

One Hundred and Third Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, March 21-April 8, 1928

American Paintings and Sculpture, Forty-Second Annual Exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, October 24-December 28, 1929 - 2 Copies

Twenty-Second Annual Exhibition of Paintings and a Collection of Prints by American Artists, Fort Worth Museum of Art, Carnegie Public Library Building, Fort Worth, Texas, January 13-February 15, 1931

One Hundred and Sixth Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, March 15-April 5, 1931

catalog of the One-Hundred-and-Twenty-Sixth Annual Exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 25-March 15, 1931

Exhibition of the American Society of Painters, Sculptors and Gravers, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 6-28, 1932

catalog of the One-Hundred-and-Twenty-Eighth Annual Exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 29-March 19, 1933

First Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors, And Prints, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 5, 1933-January 11, 1934

The Thirteenth Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., December 4, 1932-January 15, 1933

catalog of American and European Paintings in the Gellatly Collection, National gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 1933

American and European Paintings from the Estate of the Late L.H. Wustemann, The New England Galleries, New York, December 6, 1933

American Paintings and Sculpture, Forty-Fifth Annual Exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, October 27, 1932-January 2, 1933

First Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 22, 1932- January 5, 1933

Exhibition of Water Colors, Drawings & Prints by Jerome Myers, N.A., Grand Central Art Galleries, New York, November 21-December 1, 1934

Exhibition of Recent Painting By Jerome Myers, The Galleries of Frank K. M. Rehn, New York, October 22-November 10, 1934

First Municipal Art Exhibition: Paintings, Sculpture, Drawings, and Prints by Living American Artists Identified with the New York Art World, The Forum: RCA Building: Rockefeller Center, New York, February 28 –March 31, 1934

Etchings, Engravings, Prints, Watercolors, and Drawings, the Property of George I. Lehman, Union Art Galleries, New York, March 10, 1934

Exhibition of Portraits by Members, National Academy of Design, New York, January 4-26, 1934

One Hundred and Ninth Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, March 14-April 15, 1934

The 1934 International Exhibition of Paintings, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 18-December 9, 1934

One Hundred and Tenth Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, 1935

American Genre: The Social Scene in Paintings & Prints, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 26-April 29, 1935

Official Art Exhibition, California Pacific International Exposition, The Palace of Fine Arts, Balboa Park, San Diego, California, February 12-September 9, 1936

The 1936 International Exhibition of Paintings, The Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 15-December 6, 1936

The Fifteenth Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., March 28-May 9, 1937

American Paintings and Sculpture, Forty-Ninth Annual Exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, October 20-December 4, 1938

Exhibit of Original Work by Contemporary Artists, Dr Harry H. Shapiro, New York, 1938

The Sixteenth Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., March 26-May 7, 1939

The Mr. and Mrs. Preston Harrison Galleries of American Art, Los Angeles Museum, Los Angeles, California, After 1923

College Art Artists’ Cooperative Presents Seven Men in Seven Shows, The New School for Social Research, New York, September 6-30

The Print Room’s Year, Advance Copy, New York Public Library Bulletin, May 15, 1940

Catalog of American and European Paintings in the Gellatly Collection, Washington D.C., 1940

1940-41 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, November 27, 1940-January 8, 1941

Exhibition: Water Colors, Pastels, Drawings, Jerome Myers: 1867- 1940, Macbeth Gallery, New York, January 19-31, 1940

catalog of the One Hundred and Thirty-Sixth Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 26-March 2, 1941

Jerome Myers; Painter of the East Side, Illustrated Lecture by Mrs. Jerome Myers, Carnegie Chamber Music Hall, New York, April 28, 1941

Jerome Myers Memorial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 22-May 29, 1941 – 2 copies

Special Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Etchings by Jerome Myers, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., December 4-28, 1941 – 2 copies

A Memorial Exhibition of the Work of Jerome Myers: Virginia-Born Master, The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, January 26-February 27, 1942 – 2 copies

Jerome Myers Memorial Exhibition; Paintings, Drawings and Prints, The J.B. Speed Memorial Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, April 12-26, 1942

Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition 1892-1492, Macbeth Gallery, New York, Through April 30, 1942 – 2 copies

French XVIII Century Art Including Important paintings & Tapestries: Collection of the Late James Speyer, Parke-Bernet Galleried Inc., New York, April 10, 11, 1942

Memorial Exhibition of Etchings and Lithographs by Jerome Myers, Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Building, Washington D.C., August 30-September 26, 1943 – 2 copies

Exhibition of sculpture, paintings, drawings, and prints by artists associated with the University Settlement and the life of the lower East Side, Children’s Art Center of University Settlement, New York, April-May 1943 – 2 copies

Traveling Exhibitions, Handbook No. 7: Thirty-Third Season, National Exhibition Service, American Federation of Arts, 1942-1943

A Group of Oil Paintings from the Jerome Myers Memorial Exhibition, May The Arnot Art Gallery, Elmira, New York, May 1943 – 2 copies

University Settlement, The First American Settlement, Founded 1886, New York, 1943

Jerome Myers Memorial Exhibition, The Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, March 4-20, 1943

Report of the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., for Year ending June 1944

Modern Art: Paintings-Bronzes, Collection of Mr. & Mrs. William F. LaPorte, Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, March 30, 1944

Prints and Drawings by Old & Modern Masters From the Collections of The Late Arthur F. Egner and of Charles R. Miller, Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, March 27, 1945

Modern Paintings Mainly By American Artists Also Sculptures, Furniture, Decorations from the Collection of the Late Arthur F. Egner, Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, May 4, 1945

Modern American Paintings & Drawings Collected by Charles L. Daniel, Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, March 14, 1946 – 2 copies

Modern Paintings Property of John F. Kraushaar, Mrs. Isaac La Boiteaux, Mrs. Millicent H. Rogers, and other owners, Parke- Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, April 9-10, 1947

Exhibition of Paintings Depicting the East Side, Arranged by the Educational Alliance Art School, The Neighborhood Art Gallery, New York, March 17-April 24, 1947

Recent Past: Demuth, Dickinson, Dove, Flannigan, Hartley, LaChaise, Maurer, Myers, Pascin, Prendergast, Fort Worth Art Association, Fort Worth, Texas, January 24-February 22, 1951

The American Art Tradition 1800-1900, National Academy of Design, New York, December 3-16, 1951

Modern French and American Paintings and Drawings, Also Modern and Primitive Sculptures IIII Prints, Property of Gomez De Vaez, James Sauter, and others, Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, February 21, 1952

An Exhibition of American Drawings Assembled for the United States Information Agency by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, The Cooper Union Museum, January 29-March 6, 1954 – 2 copies

Paintings by 11 American Pioneers, The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, October 13- November 8, 1955

The 1913 Armory Show in Retrospect, Sponsored by the Departments of Fine Arts and American Studies, Mead Arts Building, Amherst College, February 17-March 17, 1958

The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Exhibition of Independent Artists in 1910, Delaware Art Center, Wilmington, Delaware, January 9-February 21, 1960

Paintings, Pastels, Water Colors, Drawings, And Prints by the American Artist Jerome Myers, 1867-1940, Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, New York, May 5-June , unknown year – 2 copies

Jerome Myers: An Artist in Manhattan, 1867 – 1967, Delaware Art Center, Wilmington, Delaware, January 13-February 19, 1967, Montclair Art Museum, March 19-April 30, 1967 – 2 copies

Jerome Myers 1867-1940, Kraushaar Galleries, New York, April 13-May 2, 1970 – 9 copies

Folder 1: Clippings, 1914
Folder 2: Clippings, 1915
Folder 3: Clippings, 1916
Folder 4: Clippings, 1917
Folder 5: Clippings, 1919
Folder 6: Clippings, 1920
Folder 7: Clippings, 1921
Folder 8: Clippings, 1922
Folder 9: Clippings, 1923
Folder 10: Clippings, 1924
Folder 11: Clippings, 1925
Folder 12: Clippings, 1926-1928
Folder 13: Clippings, 1929-1939
Folder 14: Clippings, 1940
Folder 15: Clippings, 1941
Folder 16: Clippings, 1942
Folder 17: Clippings, 1943-1944
Folder 18: Clippings, 1948
Folder 19: Clippings, undated

Folder 1: Clippings, 1905-1913
Folder 2: Clippings, 1914-1925
Folder 3: Clippings, 1926-1940
Folder 4: Clippings, 1941-1942
Folder 5: Clippings, 1943-1944

Scotch recording tape: Jerome Myers recorded by Ethel Myers
Videocassette: “Artist in Manhattan: The Art of Jerome Myers”, 1987 - 2 copies

Jerome Myers Estate Records, 1965: Volume No. I - Selected Group of Pictures That Have Been Photographed: 1. Including records of each picture, and where possible, latest known ownership; 2. Photocopy of Mrs. Myers’ statement of signature; 3. Photocopies of pictures 1-65

Jerome Myers Estate Records, 1965: Volume No. II - Selected Group of Pictures That Have Been Photographed: Photocopies of pictures 66-114 (descriptive index in Volume I)

Jerome Myers Estate Records, 1965: Volume No. III - 1. Museum representation; 2. Official list (3 pages) of the Jerome Myers Memorial Exhibition, 1941; 3. Incomplete list of pictures without photographs; 4. Artist’s widow’s handwritten complete records of Jerome Myers’ color drawings, self portraits, and black and white drawings