Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America
Archives related to: Putnam, Anne Eisner
| title | Anne Eisner papers, 1936-1968. | repository | Archives of American Art |
| description | Correspondence, clippings, photographs and sketchbooks primarily relating to her life in the Belgian Congo among Pygmies with her husband, anthropologist Patrick Tracy Lowell Putnam. Photographs depict Eisners' paintings and her and her husband at their home "Camp Putnam" in the Ituri Forest in the Belgian Congo. Printed material includes clippings (1936-1965) about exhibitions of her artwork in New York, her experiences in Africa, press releases, and her obituary. Bio / His Notes: Abstract painter, landscape painter, watercolorist, printer, writer and collector of African art. From 1945-1953 she lived in a Pygmy village in the Belgian Congo, where she devoted her painting and writing talents to portraying the life of Pygmies and African flora and fauna. Her collection of African art was exhibited 1967 at the Museum of Natural History, New York. Born 1911. Died 1967. |
| extent | 0.2 linear ft. (on partial microfilm reel) reel N70-10 (frames 175-578) |
| formats | Microfilm Correspondence Computer print out Photographs Sketchbooks |
| access | Patrons must use microfilm copy. |
| record source | http://www.siris.si.edu/ |
| acquisition information | Donated and lent 1970 by William J. Eisner, the father of Anne Eisner. Location of Original: Sketchbooks, some letters and printed material: Originals returned to the lender after microfilming. |
| updated | 03/16/2023 10:29:57 |
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| title | Anne Eisner Putnam Papers, 1913-1995 (MS Am 2369). | repository | Houghton Library |
| description | The papers include all variety of materials surrounding the life of Anne Eisner Putnam (AEP), some materials concerning the business of Camp Putnam, and notes and data on the Mbuti Pygmies. The materials concerning AEP’s artistic career include: original drawings; lithographs of drawings; watercolors; sketchbooks; loose sketches; slides, photographs and negatives of paintings and watercolors; juvenilia; portrait sketches; and costume studies. Subjects of original drawings are primarily Africa, life of the Pygmies, abstracts, nudes, figures, still life, portraits of Patrick Putnam, among others. There is a fairly complete set of photographs and slides of AEP’s paintings and watercolors. Also includes art exhibition photos of her works taken by photographers Peter A. Juley, Aaron Siskind, and others. The writings series includes AEP’s autograph manuscripts, typescripts and carbons, notebooks, notes, journals, stories, transcriptions of Pygmie legends, drafts and notes for Madami, lecture notes, and drafts for lectures. Topics concern the Mbuti Pygmies and all aspects of life at Camp Putnam such as gardening, African languages, movie ideas, Ituri forest animals and people, weddings, ceremonies, and many others. Other series include: materials concerning the Putnam collection now housed at the American Museum of Natural History; anthropologist Colin Turnbull; Camp Putnam miscellany (including guest registers); financial and banking records of both AEP and Camp Putnam, and biographical miscellany concerning AEP such as clippings, passports, resumes, and other material. Correspondence includes: friends and family (both Eisners and Putnams), banking and financial correspondence, condolence letters to the family on AEP’s death, and some third-party correspondence. The visual materials series, is a combination of all the visual materials from the Anne Eisner Putnam papers and the Patrick Putnam papers (unprocessed as of January 2006). This includes photographs, slides, negatives, prints, printed graphics, picture postcards, and a few manuscript lists concerning groups of images. Subjects of images concern the Putnam family, Eisner family, early lives of both AEP and Patrick Putnam, Patrick Putnam’s early trips to Europe (1924), the Far East (1925-1927), New Mexico (1938), and his African years before he met AEP (beginning 1927). There are extensive photographs of Camp Putnam, the Belgium Congo and other areas of Africa (especially Nigeria), Mbuti Pygmies and other African natives, African collection items, portraits of individuals and groups, African animals, and other topics. Includes photographs by the photographers: Colin M. Turnbull, Herbert Lang, Francis S. Chapman, Aaron Siskind, and others. History notes : Anne Eisner Putnam (1911-1967) was a New York abstract and landscape painter, watercolorist, and collector of African art. She was also one of the founders of the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, and later a writer, her best known book being her account of her experiences in the former Belgian Congo, Madami: My Eight Years of Adventure with the Congo Pygmies . Together with her husband, Patrick Tracy Lowell Putnam (1904-1953), she ran a compound known as Camp Putnam in the Congo (now Congo Democratic Republic). |
| extent | 48 boxes, 4 v. (16.5 linear ft.) |
| formats | Business Papers Drawings Correspondence Prints Photographs |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record link | http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:hou01746 |
| record source | http://hollis.harvard.edu/ |
| finding aid | Electronic finding aid available http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:hou01746 |
| acquisition information | *85M-66 (part). Gift of John McDonald; received: 1985-1986. Some material from this gift (of the Patrick Putnam papers) was moved to the Anne Eisner Putnam papers. *94M-11 Gift of Professor Christie McDonald, Department of Romance Languages and Literature, 201 Boylston Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138; received: 1994 Oct. 17. *2002M-55 *2003M-57 *2006M-6 Gift of Professor Christie McDonald; Department of Romance Languages and Literature, 201 Boylston Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138; received: 2002 Mar. 7 and 17, 2004 Mar. 24, and 2006 July 21. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:01 |
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| title | Patrick Tracy Lowell Putnam Papers | repository | Houghton Library |
| description | (unprocessed as of January 2006) SEE Anne Eisner papers, 1913-1995. |
| extent | Unprocessed |
| formats | |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://hollis.harvard.edu/ |
| finding aid | unprocessed as of January 2006 |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:01 |
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