Davis, Chelsea: Research Outline for, Baby Worship and Thesmophoria, including other sources….

ARTH 2800 Research Update 2/23/21

The title of the painting Baby Worship
Databases you have been searching and search terms you have been using
Onesearch:
- Francis Davis Millet and “Baby Worship”
  - No results
- Millet and “Baby Worship”
  - No results
- “Baby Worship”
  - No results
- Francis Davis Millet
  - The Career of Francis Davis Millet by Barbara Weinberg
  - Weinberg, Barbara. “The Career of Francis Davis Millet.” Archives of American Art Journal 17, no. 1 (1977): 2-18. Accessed February 24, 2021. http://www.js tor.org/stable/1556881.
  - Includes information on Baby Worship :
  - Was submitted to the National Academy of Design exhibition in spring
  - “Reflects his concern with ‘archaeological “‘
  - 40×60 inch canvas begun in spring 1880
  - Depicts 4 women in Millet’s restored East Bridgewater kitchen, admiring a baby seated in a small
  - “Critics praised the painting as a persuasive evocation of colonial life and admired its excellent drawing, certain handling, and harmonious tone” (pg 6)
  - Reflects his interest in American colonial genre and his interest in costumes from English history.
  - Footnote 50: see American Academy Notes, 1881, Charles M. Kurtz, New York

– London, 1881, pp. 53-54; New York Times, April 3, 1881 (Millet Scrapbook II). An ink-and-wash study for the painting is owned by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. (Things to look up later)

D’Angelo Dissertation
- I didn ‘t read this whole dissertation but I did read the sections about my paintings
- Was sent to the Fifty-Sixth Annual Exhibition of the National Academy of Design.
- Was a composition of American Colonial life.
- Painted in the spring and summer of 1880 according to
- Provides a brief description of the
- An ink and wash drawing in the collection of the American Academy of Arts and Letters was a preliminary study
- “Vigorous paint handling, firm figural construction, solid placement in space and careful observation of light”

Gives a brief formal analysis of the painting page 252
Critics praised his technique, harmonious color and genteel eviction of Colonial
Includes a quote from two reviewers praising the Footnote 59 and 60
had a personal susceptibility to Colonial
Celebrates motherhood and
A result of his early fascination with Dutch 17th century domestic genre: Gerard’s Dou’s Young Mother and Her Child Also inspired by Hungarian artist Mihaly Von Munkacsy’s 1879 Visit to the Baby.
Interior resembles Dou’s
Suggests the contentment of the artist’s personal life after Kate, his first child was born in Jan. 1880.
Sent the painting to the Chicago Inter-State Industrial Exposition in Oct 1883
Endnotes to try and look up:
- 42: Catalogue of the Fifty-Sixty Annual Exhibition of the National Academy of Design (New York, 1881), 21, 23, 25, 27)
- 57: The Fourth Triennial Report, 32
- 58: Francis Davis Millet Papers, AAA&L, No. PP124 Baby Worship, ink wash on pa
- 59: Unidentified newspaper clipping, AAA&L, Francis Davis Millet Scrapbook I
- 60: M.O.T., “Millet’s Studio,” unidentified newspaper clipping, AAA&L, Francis Davis Millet Scrapbook
- 63: Catalogue of the Fifty-Sixth Annual Exhibition, No. 462, p. 27, lists painting for sale at $1800 and identifies Millet as the owner. M.O.T., “Millet’s Studio,” had previ ously noticed the painting in Millet’s East Bridgewater studio, and reported that it had been purchased by the Boston art dealer E. Adams Doll (d. Oct 29, 1880), of the well known Doll and Richards Gallery: “Mr. Doll admired it particularly, and bought it the Monday previous to his death.” Presumably, Millet took the painting back after Doll’s untimely death. For E. Adams Doll see “Obituary,” Boston Daily Advertiser, 30 Oct 1880, p.
- 65: “The Chicago Exposition,” Studio 2, 41 (13 oct 1883) 161-162
Smithsonian Archives of American Art
- I spent some time trying to search some of this AAA&L endnote entries from D’Ange lo’s dissertation because I think those are from the archives of American Art (AAA?) but I think I might need some help navigating this site because I don’t quite understand how to find anything based on the endnotes entries.
- The first one I tried to search was Francis Davis Millet Papers, AAA&L, PP124 Baby Worship, ink ash on paper.
  - I went to the Francis Davis Millet and Millet family papers, 1858-1984, bulk

1858-1955 . It says pp 124. So I first went to Art Work, 1872-1908 on the left side but the only thing with frame 124 says it’s by other artists. It’s the John Singer Sargent, circa 1885-1886, Reel 5907, frames 119-134 but that’s the only thing that has “124”

Unidentified newspaper clipping, AAA&L, Francis Davis Millet Scrapbook I
- I searched “Francis Davis Millet Scrapbook”
- The only thing that pulled up were 3 I chose the FDM and Millet Family papers collection. I searched for a bit but can’t find anything that says Scrapbook I
M.T., “Millet’s Studio,” unidentified newspaper clipping, AAA&L, Francis Davis Millet Scrapbook I.
Same results as previous
Google
- Trying to find this D’Angelo endnote entry: Catalogue of the Fifty-Sixty Annual Exhibi tion of the National Academy of Design (New York, 1881), 21, 23, 25, 27)
- Searched “National Academy of Design 1881 archives)
  - results: “National Academy of Design (U.S.) I The Online Books Page” then I searched for “1881” and found a link to “National Academy of Design (U.S.): National Academy notes and complete catalogue. (New York: Cassell & Co, 1881-1889). (page images at HathiTrust)
  - The pages listed don’t have much on FDM but the table of contents show Millet, Francis , pg 43 and 53.
    - Pg 43 has the portrait of Miss Kate Field
    - Pg 53 and 54 has Baby Worship: Gives a brief description of the painting: “The young women have all left their work to worship ‘Baby’ … ” Then it explains the room is from an old house in East Bridgewater, Plymouth County, , built in 1682 and the costumes he painted for the women were worn there 90 years be fore.
  - Searched the Fourth Triennial Report, 32
    - No results
    - I found a different footnote in D’Angelo’s dissertation that included more informa tion so I searched “The Fourth Triennial Report 1881” and the first result was the correct source.
    - Google Books: The Fourth Triennial Report of the Secretary Class of 1869
    - Provides updates of the lives of the members of the class of 1869, including an update provided by Millet Includes some paintings he worked on during the years before the report was written, including Baby Worship.
    - I noticed that google books had free ebooks for other publications of the Triennial Report of the class of 1869. I looked at two different reports, one from 1894- 1901 and one from 1887-1894 hoping that he might include some information on his Thesmophoria, which was painted around 1894. He did not say anything about that commission
  - The Chicago Exposition 1883
    - No results. Couldn’t find any Chicago Exposition. Just World’s Columbian Exposi tion. Update: I think these are the same
  - Doll & Richards, Boston 1920
    - Searched this because Barbara Weinberg mentioned “Cat. 462; Doll & Richards, Boston, c.1920
    - Found some images on the Smithsonian archives but nothing related to 1920 or catalog 462
  - American Academy Notes, 1881 Charles Kurtz
    - This search led me to JSTOR’s American Academy Notes No. 1 (1881), pp. 37-57 (21 pages) but this looks like it’s the same source as the National Acad emy of Design 1881 archives (See first search term in red under Google). This

search was based off Weinberg’s footnote 50: “American Academy Notes, 1881, ed. Charles M. Kurtz, New York-London, 1881, pp. 53-54, New York Times, April 3, 1881 (Millet Scrapbook II).

JSTOR
- “Francis Davis Millet” OR “Frank Davis Millet” OR “Francis Millet” OR “Frank Millet”

AND “Baby Worship”

Only two search One was just an Index and the other was Barbara Weinberg’s “The Career of Francis Davis Millet”

“Francis Davis Millet” AND Colonial*
- “Of Kettles and Cranes: Colonial Revival Kitchens and the Performance of Na tional Identity” by Abigail Carrol – provides information on a colonial revival movement in the late 19th century and colonial themes in American art and litera ture. Discusses Millet’s A Cozy Corner briefly but does not have any information on Baby
Millet AND “Baby Worship”
- 4 results:
- The Career of Francis Davis Millet by Weinberg, American Academy Notes (al ready found this source at HathiTrust, and Exhibition of the Academy of Design from the Art Amateur .
  - The Art Amateur had a review of the exhibition and listed the portrait of Kate Field and Baby Worship and a brief review of
I emailed American Academy of Arts and Letters and they emailed me an image from Scrapbook II with an unidentified newspaper clipping. (Different from the ones D’Angelo sent to Sullivan, which was forwarded to me)

The title of the painting Thesmophoria
Databases you have been searching and search terms you have been using
Onesearch
- Francis Davis Millet and Thesmophoria
  - No results
- Millet and “Thesmophoria”
  - No results
- “Thesmophoria”
  - No results relating to Search term too vague. Francis Davis Millet
  - The Career of Francis Davis Millet by Barbara Weinberg
  - Weinberg, H. “The Career of Francis Davis Millet.” Archives of American Art Journal 17, no. 1 (1977): 2-18. Accessed February 24, 2021. http://www.js tor.org/stable/1556881.
  - Was made for the main hall of the bank of Pittsburgh.
  - Commissioned to embody the spirit of agriculture in order to balance the mural on the opposite wall of the allegory of
  - The subject is “a procession of women celebrating the Athenian festival of Thes- mophoria, held each year in honor of the goddess Demeter” (pg 13).
  - Was exhibited in New York 1897 before it was installed.
  - Was praised for its “distinctively mural”
  - Included portraits of Millet’s family members and of notable women in Broadway and London
  - 13 x 26 Photo: art and progress, Ill, July 1912, p. 652. (look up later)
  - Footnote 102: Charles Caffin, “Frank D. Millet’s Mural Painting for Pittsburgh,” Harper’s Weekly, XU, December 25, 1897, pp. 1294-1295
Google:
- Harper’s Weekly, XU, December 1897
  - Harper’s Weekly Archives – The Online Books Page-> 1859-1904: HathiTrust volumes -> 41 1897 -> pp. 1294-95
  - Frank Millet’s Mural Painting for Pittsburgh article
    - commissioned to execute a mural for the Bank of Agriculture
    - Thesmophoria embodies agriculture and has been on exhibition at the Ameri can Art Galleries in New York.
    - explains the Athenian Festival of Demeter

During the festival, women offered sacrifice for three days in the temple of Demeter before returning to Athens to complete the festival. A noble lady was chosen each year to be the priestess. In Millet’s painting, this lady is the one walking alone, carrying a thurible with incense smoking out of
This figure based on the likeness of Madame Navarro who was admired by all the English speaking world. She is distinguished from the other women by a yellow mantle edged with gold. Her tunic is draped in a fashion that Millet de signed for Miss Anderson’s predestination of
The other figures are based off of Millet’s friends and family: Millet, Mrs Alma-Tadema, Mrs Phil May, and two daughters of Mr. Fred Barnard.
Geometrical plan.
Caffin provides a bit of a formal analysis of the painting in this little article as

Thesmophoria BYU
- Thesmophoria, 1894-1897, oil on canvas, 25 x 50 1/4 BYU museum of art
- A study for the Bank of Pittsburgh
- Has information on this painting but no sources I could refer
- Talks about the festival of Thesmophoria and how the painting embraces the classical ideals of the
Sadakichi Hartmann Matters Mural (D’Angelo Dissertation Endnote 21)
- Sadakichi Hartmann papers – Online Archive of California
  - I got help from the Art Librarian with trying to find this source and she men tioned we might be able to ask the Online Archive of California if they have this source and if they can send us a I haven’t done this yet.
  - The University of Oregon Libraries also has a collection of Sadakichi Hartmann papers so I could reach out to them too.
- The Bookman, volume 28 1908 archive
  - result: The Bookman Archives-The Online Books Page-> 1895-1925: Hathi Trust has volumes 1-61. Clicked the link and scrolled through until I found Charles Caffin’s “The Beginning and Growth of Mural Painting in America” on page127.
  - Search based on an endnote entry in Bailey Van hook’s “From the Lyrical to the Epic”
  - Only briefly mentions Also briefly mentions The treaty of the Traverse des Sioux.

D’Angelo Dissertation
- 1894-1897. Oil on Canvas, 25 x 50 1/4 inches, Private collection. Oil study for large lunette-shaped mural in main hall Bank of Pittsburgh (destroyed c. 1944).
- Painted for the main banking room for the Bank of
- Turned to subjects from classical antiquity
- A lunette mural
- Endnote 21: Sadakichi Hartmann, “Matters Mural,” Criterion 16 (1 January 1898), 16-17
JSTOR
- “Francis Davis Millet” OR “Frank Davis Millet” OR “Francis Millet” OR “Frank Millet” AND “Thesmophoria”
  - 3 search One was the Barbara Weinberg “Career of Francis Davis Millet.”
  - Pageantry and Mural Painting: Community Rituals in Allegorical Form by Trudy Baltz
    - Includes information on Discusses why allegorical mural paint ing was popular during this time and uses this painting as one of her examples.
  - From the Lyrical to the Epic: Images of Women in American Murals at the Turn of the Century; Author(s): Bailey van Hook
- “Francis Davis Millet” OR “Frank Davis Millet” OR “Francis Millet” OR “Frank Millet” AND “Mural”
  - Results:
  - Francis Davis Millet: An Appreciation of the Man
    - Just a short biography of Millet after his death. Does discuss his impact on mural painting But does not mention any works specifically or Thes mophoria.
  - Francis Davis Millet’s Easel Pictures by William Coffin
    - Does not have info on either Thesmophoria or Baby Worship but does discuss other easel
  - Frank Millet as Mural Painter by Edwin holland Blashfield
    - Contains information on his work as a mural painter but does not specifically mention Thesmophoria. It does have a picture of it
  - Franc is Davis Millet in Art and Progress
    - Memorial message after his death on the titanic. Very brief, one page. Does discuss his work as director of decoration at the World’s Fair at Chicago and his work with mural and genre paintings, but does not list any specific paint
WorldCat
- American Mural Painting Pauline King 1902
  - Found an online copy at BYU Harold Lee Library.
  - Searched because it was in a footnote for the Trudy Baltz source Looked for pages 203, 206, 233, and 255.
  - Page 252-255 has information on Thesmophoria