GUSN-171264
This collection contains 544 glass plates and film negatives taken by Frank William Bayley. They are mostly glass plate negatives but there are also three film negatives. These negatives capture mostly paintings and miniatures, but also some drawings, photography, prints/mezzotints, and silhouettes. Painting subjects include but are not limited to prominent figures in New England such as members of the upper-class, politicians, religious figures, legal professionals, members of the military, merchants, etc. but also landscapes. Photographs include portraits and the Copley exhibit. The artists of the paintings photographed are primarily American, with some English born immigrants, and other European artists. The bulk of the collection consists of early American portraiture as well as some landscapes. The photographs of the paintings range from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. Some of the paintings were photographed with and without their frames, before and after restoration, as well as some with inscriptions on the back.
gelatin dry plate negatives
photographic film (photographic materials)
negatives (photographic)
544 glass plate and film negatives.
An electronic finding aid is available through Historic New Englands Collections Access Portal. A paper finding aid is available in the Library and Archives.
PC012
Frank William Bayley Photographic Collection, circa 1895-1929
1932 and 1933
PC012
Frank William Bayley (1863-1932) was an art dealer as well as the proprietor and operator at the Copley Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts. He published several books and essays on the life and works of colonial American artists. The negatives in this collection capture mostly paintings, but also some drawings, photography, prints/mezzotints, silhouettes, and exhibit documentation. Paintings are primarily portraits, which include prominent figures in New England such as members of the upper class, politicians, religious figures, legal professionals, members of the military, merchants, etc. but also landscape paintings and photographs of people and exhibits.
circa 1895-1929
Boston (Suffolk county, Massachusetts)
Bayley, Frank W.
gelatin dry plate negatives
photographic film (photographic materials)
negatives (photographic)
Portrait
Art
Photograph
Landscape
This collection is available for research.
Collection
Item identification. Box #, folder Frank William Bayley Photographic Collection (PC012). Historic New England, Library and Archives.
Frank William Bayley (1863-1932) was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts on July 1st, 1863. He was an art dealer as well as the proprietor and operator at the Copley Gallery in Boston Massachusetts. He published several books and essays on the life and works of colonial American artists. He married Mina Belle French (1863-1955) on September 26, 1886. They had three children: Lucy (1887-1970), Clara (1889), and Robert (1893-1926). He died on July 24th, 1932, in Newburyport Massachusetts, and was buried at the Oat Hill Cemetery in Newburyport Massachusetts.
Items were arranged based on century and then in alphabetical order based on artists last name, followed by unidentified artists.
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