Object Details
Creator
Smillie family
Subject
Hart, Charles Henry
Smillie, Catherine Van Valkenburg
Colman, Samuel
Johnson, Eastman
Church, Frederick S. (Frederick Stuart)
Bierstadt, Albert
Tait, A.T.
Smillie, Nellie Sheldon Jacobs
Smillie, James
Smillie, James David
Smillie, George H. (George Henry)
Place of publication, production, or execution
United States
Physical Description
5.6 Linear feet
Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 5 series: Series 1: James D. Smillie papers, 1853-1917 (4.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-7) Series 2: James Smillie papers, 1882 (0.2 linear feet; Box 5) Series 3: George Henry Smillie papers, 1867-1920 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 5-6) Series 4: Helen Jacobs Smillie papers, 1860-1910 (0.1 linear feet; Box 5) Series 5: Other Smillie Family Members papers, circa 1880s-1957 (0.2 linear feet; Box 5)
Access Note / Rights
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Summary
The James D. Smillie and Smillie family papers measure 5.6 linear feet and date from 1853 to 1957. The collection consists of the papers of four members of the Smillie family including James Smillie, his sons James David and George Henry Smillie, and George's wife, Helen 'Nellie' Jacobs Smillie. The majority of the papers are those of James D. Smillie, comprised of correspondence, forty-five daily diaries, a scrapbook, printed materials, and one etching. The papers of James Smillie consist of biographical materials and writings. The George Smillie papers include biographical materials, scattered correspondence, a scrapbook, printed materials, and photographs. The Helen Jacobs Smillie papers include corrrespondence and photographs. Also found are scattered materials relating to other family members, mostly the children of Helen Jacobs and George Smillie.
Citation
James D. Smillie and Smillie family papers, 1853-1957. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms
The collection was digitized in its entirety in 2012 and is available via the Archives of American Art's website.
Materials lent for microfilming are available on 35mm microfilm reels 3766 and 3829 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Funding
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
Use Note
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Related Materials
Also found in the Archives of American Art is the Brucia Witthoft research material on James Smillie and the Smillie family, 1830- 1999. The National Gallery of Canada holds the James D. Smillie Papers. The Archives of American Art also holds materials lent for microfilming (reels 3766 and 3829) including personal photographs, photos of Smille's house in Montrose, Pennsylvania, and a photocopy of a journal. Lent material was returned to the lenders and is not described in the collection container inventory.
Biography Note
James D. Smillie and the Smillie family members were active in New York City and the New England area as engravers and landscape painters during the nineteenth century. Members of the Smillie Family of artists include James Smillie (1807-1885), his sons James D. (1833-1909) and George Smillie (1854-1924), and George's wife Helen 'Nellie' Jacobs Smillie (1855-1926).
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland to David and Elizabeth Smillie, James Smillie immigrated to Quebec, Canada. James must have learned engraving from his father who worked with jewelry and silver. Upon his father's death in 1827, Smillie travelled to London and eventually to New York City, where he embarked on a career of creating engravings of paintings by other artists. By 1831, he had established his reputation primarily as an engraver of American landscape paintings. The portability of James Smillie's engravings helped to bring to the American public the grand landscapes by Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Cole, and Asher Durand. Smillie also worked for the American Banknote Company.
James Smillie married Catherine Van Valkenburg in 1832, and two of their sons, James David and George Henry also became artists. Elder son James D. assisted his father with engraving and later explored his own artistic talents in prints of the American landscape. Among his many subjects were the Sierra Nevada, Adirondack, Rocky, White, and Catskill Mountains. James D. Smillie was a founding member of the American Watercolor Society and served as its president from 1873 to 1879. Additionally, he was an early member of the New York Etching Club and the first meeting was held in his studio in 1877. James D. also wrote about art for various periodicals.
Like his older brother, George Henry Smillie learned engraving from his father, but turned to painting early in his career. By 1862, he had his own studio in New York City and exhibited with the National Academy of Design in 1864. George travelled throughout the United States sketching and painting landscapes inspired by Long Island, the Adirondack Mountains, the Rocky Mountains, and New England. Many of George's paintings of the American West were influenced by the Hudson River School. George married one of his brother's pupils, Helen Sheldon Jacobs.
Helen Jacobs Smillie, known as Nellie, was born in New York City to Samuel and Helen Jacobs. She received art instruction at Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design and was a pupil of James D. Smillie and J. O. Eaton. She married George Smillie in 1881, with whom she had three sons, Sheldon, Charles, and Gordon. Nellie was a member of the American Watercolor Society along with her husband and brother-in-law, and painted in the Hudson River School style.
Language Note
English .
Provenance
James Smillie, David Smillie, and Barbara Smillie Curtis donated the Smillie Family papers to the Archives of American Art in several installments between 1978 and 1990. James Smille lent photographs for microfilming in 1986.
Digitization Note
This site provides access to the James D. Smillie and Smillie family papers in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2016. The papers have been scanned in their entirety, and total 9,432 images.
Location Note
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Record number
(DSI-AAA_CollID)13469
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209525
AAA_collcode_smilsmil
Type
Diaries
Etchings
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Theme
Diaries
Lives of artists
Data Source
Archives of American Art
Topic
Artists' studios -- Photographs
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- New York (State) -- New York
Artists -- New York (State) -- New York
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
Engraving -- 19th century -- United States
Engravers -- New York (State) -- New York
Theme
Diaries
Lives of artists
Record ID
AAADCD_coll_209525