1890-1895
Guide to the Collection
Restrictions on Access
Use of the originals is restricted. This collection is available as color digital facsimiles (see links below).
Abstract
This collection consists of watercolors and sketches made by Henry Adams during his travels to the South Seas (1890-1891); South Carolina, Cuba, and the Rocky Mountains (1894); and the West Indies (1895).
Biographical Sketch
Henry Adams was the son of Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886) and Abigail Brooks Adams (1808-1889) and the grandson and great-grandson of presidents John Quincy Adams and John Adams. Henry worked as a journalist, professor, historian, and political observer and traveled extensively throughout his life, spending time in Europe, Egypt, Japan, Cuba, and the South Seas. He had a strong interest in art and artists and created his own photographs and watercolors. Adams married Marian "Clover" Hooper in 1872, and she died in 1885. Henry continued his travels until his own death in Washington, D.C. in 1918.
Sources
Adams, Henry. The Letters of Henry Adams, vol. 3-4. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1982-1988.
Chalfant, Edward. Improvement of the World: A Biography of Henry Adams. His Last Life 1891-1918. North Haven, Conn.: Archon Books, 2001.
Georgini, Sara. "A Midwinter's Tale." http://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2018/01/a-midwinters-tale/
Scheyer, Ernst. The Circle of Henry Adams: Art & Artists. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1970.
Collection Description
This collection consists of watercolors painted by Henry Adams during his travels to the South Seas (1890-1891); South Carolina, Cuba, and the Rocky Mountains (1894); and the West Indies (1895). The collection also includes a watercolor by Dora Norton Williams; a lithograph depicting the mansion house at Acton Park, Wrexham, England; and a photomechanical reproduction of Henry Adams's sketch of his dogs. Most of the images were originally in a scrapbook which was disbound in 1989.
Acquisition Information
The majority of the watercolors were removed from the Henry Adams papers, which were a bequest of Henry Adams, 1919. The Acton Park lithograph (item #45) was a gift of Mrs. Ward Thoron, 1957. "Looking through Tati's house" (item #46) was received Aug. 2013.
Restrictions on Access
Use of the originals is restricted. This collection is available as color digital facsimiles (see links below).
Other Formats
This collection is available as color digital facsimiles.
Detailed Description of the Collection
"Tautira in Tahiti," 1890 or 1891
"Papeete Harbor," May 1891
"Coffin's Point. St. Helena Island," Jan. 1894
"From cottage window. Coffin's Point," 1894
"Afternoon in January. Coffin's Point," 1894
"From Dos Bocas looking up the valley," 1894
"Palm and Wind. Dos Bocas," 1894
"Travelers Palm. Dos Bocas," 1894
"Poinsettia against mountain top. Dos Bocas," 1894
"Colors of sea at Nassau," 1894
"Colors of sea. Nassau," 1894
"Star-apple. Nassau," [1894]
"Grand Teton. From Pacific Creek Camp," 8 Aug. 1894
"Memoranda for color. Grand Tetons. From Snake River Camp," 10 Aug. 1894
"Mount Moran. Full morning light. From Snake River Camp," 11 Aug. 1894
"Unfinished drawing of mountains at head of Soda Creek," 14 Aug. 1894
"Glade with flowers. Above Soda Creek Camp," 14 Aug. 1894
"Source of the Yellowstone. Sunday," 19 Aug. 1894
"Memoranda of Waterfall Camp. Upper Yellowstone Cañon," 21 Aug. 1894
"Coulters Mountain," 23 Aug. 1894
"Showery evening at Cache Creek," 29 Aug. 1894
Unidentified harbor view, [1895?]
Unidentified shore with beacon on hill, [1895?]
Unidentified beach, [1895?]
Unfinished landscape with donkeys, undated
Study of donkeys, [1894?]
"Saint Vincent," 9 Mar. 1895
"After sunset on the savannah at Trinidad," Mar. 1895
"Entrance to harbor of Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. Morning light," 29 Mar. 1895
Peak of Maua Roa, Island of Moorea, Society Islands, Tahiti, 1891
Eight studies of bathers and one of palm trees on beach, [1891?]
Studies of tropical jungle and unfinished figure, [1891?]
Attempt at green on green, from porch at Tautira [unfinished], [1891]
From Tati's back porch, looking under the [buraw?] tree seaward, [1891]
Island of Moorea from Papeete, [1891]
Memorandum from memory of afterglow in the Tautira Valley, from canoe on the reef, [1891]
"Contra Costa," 1891
Painted by Dora Norton Williams.Signed at lower right: "D. N. Williams 1891." Signed on verso: "[Bel] from D. N. W."Watercolor of a lean-to set under a tree. Titled in graphite above signature. Note on verso in Henry Adams's hand: "Found in the wreck of R. L. Stevenson's house at Apia and brought away by Speck von Sternburg [Bel] was Mrs. Strong."
Palm trees on beach with mountains in distance, probably Tahiti, [1891]
Showery evening at Cache Creek, Wyoming, [29 Aug. 1894]
Mt. Sheridan from hotel, Yellowstone Lake, [27?] July 1894
"Grand Teton. From Pacific Creek Camp," [9?] Aug. [1894]
[A beach in the Caribbean], [1894 or 1895]
Beach in the Caribbean, [1894 or 1895]
"Gossips," undated
Photomechanical reproduction of Henry Adams's sketch of his dogs.Acton Park, [18--]
Lithograph by Standidge & Co., London.Lithograph of the mansion house at Acton Park. Note in Henry Adams's hand on mat: "Acton Park near Wrexham. Sir Robt. A. Cunliffe."
Looking through Tati's house, [1891]
Preferred Citation
Henry Adams watercolors and sketches, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.