Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America
Archives related to: Epstein, Jacob, 1864-1945
| title | Lansburgh Family Papers, 1891-1973 | repository | Jewish Museum of Maryland |
| description | The Lansburgh family papers describe the lives of Jacob Epstein, Sldney Lansburgh, Sr., Marian Lansburgh, Sidney Lansburgh, Jr., Robert Lansburgh, and Richard Lansburgh. The collection includes catalogues, stock certificates, booklets, manuscripts, blueprints, bonds, correspondence, brochures, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, speeches, testimonials, programs, phonograph records, books, invitations, forms, lists, minutes, advertisements, obituaries, drawings, reports, itineraries, menus, and photographs. Notes: Clothier and community activist, of Baltimore, Md. |
| extent | 21.375 linear ft. |
| formats | Ephemera Clippings Financial Records Scrapbooks Writings |
| access | Finding aid in the repository. |
| record link | http://jmm.pastperfect-online.com/00005cgi/mweb.exe?request=NSKS |
| record source | http://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/ |
| finding aid | Unrestricted. |
| updated | 03/16/2023 10:29:58 |
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| title | The Jacob Epstein Papers, 1912-1940 (MS.5) | repository | Baltimore Museum of Art |
| description | The Jacob Epstein Papers contain the correspondence, invoices, photographs, clippings, exhibition catalogs, reprints, scrapbooks and sales materials of Jacob Epstein, Baltimore businessman and philanthropist. They document portions of Epstein’s art collection donated to the Baltimore Museum of Art on his death and span the years 1912–1940. Most material dates from the 1920’s. The Papers consist of two Series, Epstein Collection and Scrapbooks. Within the first series there are materials encompassing twenty nine paintings and sculptures in the Epstein Collection as well as some material created by BMA staff but related to the Epstein Collection. Note that not all works in the Epstein Collection are represented in the Jacob Epstein Papers. The files on each work of art are further arranged by item type into: Correspondence, Clippings, Exhibition Catalogs, Invoices, Photographs, and Sales Materials. Materials are arranged chronologically within each group. The Series arrangement of the Papers reflects their original order, as the materials were housed in accordion files, each containing material about a single work of art. In the absence of any discernable order to the materials within each file, the arrangement scheme described above was imposed during processing. Biographical Note Jacob Epstein was born in Tauroggen, Lithuania in 1864. He immigrated to the United States in 1879, first arriving in New York, then making his way to Baltimore where he opened his first store in 1881. Epstein’s store sold wholesale goods to merchants all around the southern U.S. and eventually became known as the Baltimore Bargain House and later the American Wholesale Corporation. It was sold in 1929. Epstein married Lena Weinberg in 1888. They had two daughters, Ethel in 1889 and Marian in 1890. Ethel married A. Ray Katz in 1909 and Marian married Sidney Lansburgh in 1910. Both men became partners in Epstein’s business, giving him the time to focus on philanthropy and community affairs. Epstein’s served as director for many Baltimore institutions including National Howard Bank, Continental Trust Company, Federated Jewish Charities, Merchants and Manufacturers Association, and the Baltimore Steam Packet Company. He was also vice-president of the Clothiers’ Board of Trade. Epstein was well known for his philanthropy and served on the Board of Supervisors of City Charities and on the board of Eudowood Sanitarium as well as founding the Jewish House for Consumptives (Mount Pleasant). In 1906, Epstein purchased his first work of art, a painting by Tryon. Other works by well-known European artists such as Jozef Israels and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot soon followed. After the display of his collection at the Inaugural Exhibition of the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1923, Epstein was asked to join the first board of trustees at the new museum, a position he held until his death. Two of the most important pieces in his collection were acquired in 1927: Van Dyck’s Rinaldo and Armida and Raphael’s Portrait of Emilia Pia de Montefeltro. These purchases caused a sensation in the newspapers, as Epstein spent $250,000 on each painting, thus securing his place as a true art collector. The bulk of Epstein’s collection was purchased in the 1920’s and 1930’s and eventually held works by Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Titian, Tiepolo, Barye, Goya, and Rodin. In 1939, Epstein published a catalog of his art collection, The Jacob Epstein Collection in the Baltimore Museum of Art. On his death, his collection was willed to the Baltimore Museum of Art. Epstein died in Palm Beach, Florida in 1945. General Note Registrar's numbers noted on scrapbooks and some photographs and reproductions, R.13184.2-.24. Related Archival Materials Richard Lansburgh Family Papers, 1891-1973, Jewish Museum of Maryland; Baltimore Bargain House Records, 1897-1980, Maryland Historical Society. |
| extent | 3.5 Linear feet ; 4 boxes |
| formats | Correspondence Financial Records Scrapbooks |
| access | The collection is open for research. |
| bibliography | Levy, Lester S. Jacob Epstein. Baltimore: Maran Press, 1978. |
| record source | https://artbma.org/documents/findingAids/EpsteinPapers.html |
| finding aid | In the repository and on the repository's website. |
| acquisition information | The majority of the Papers were found in the Library collection in 2004. A smaller group of material was filed in the Registration Department object files. These were separated and transferred to the Archives in 2008. Processed by Emily Rafferty in 2004. Additions were processed in 2008. |
| updated | 04/11/2016 11:48:22 |
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| title | Emilia Pia di Montefeltre, An Archival Portrait Exhibition | repository | Baltimore Museum of Art |
| description | Part of the Jacob Epstein Papers: The Emilia Pia di Montefeltre Archival Portrait Exhibition contains letters, receipts, and photographs mostly concerning Jacob Epstein, as well as pages from his personal scrapbook. Epstein started purchasing art in 1906, and later was asked to join the first board of trustees of the New Museum in 1923. In 1927, Epstein received much publicity in the newspapers after purchasing two paintings for $250,000 a piece; Rinaldo and Armidaby Van Dyck, and a Portrait of Emilia Pia di Montefeltre by Raphael. He was considered a true art collector, and he willed his collection to the Baltimore Museum of Art at the time of his death in 1945. This collection contains papers concerning Epstein, as well as documents about the conservation of the painting including, for example, an excerpt of a letter to the assistant curator of the museum from a conservator about the findings from x-ray examinations of the portrait. Another document is a letter to Epstein from 1940 about the possible chain of ownership of the painting. An exhibition of the Jacob Epstein Gallery in 1929 which included the Emilia Pia di Montefeltre Portrait as well as the Rinaldo and Armida is shown in a photograph that is also contained in this collection. |
| extent | See repository for details |
| formats | Correspondence Financial Records Photographs Scrapbooks |
| record source | http://cdm16075.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15264coll2 |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:16 |
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