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Jerry Farnsworth Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: --
Date: Jun 1967

Biographical History

Jerry Farnsworth (1895-1983) was an American painter. Born in Dalton, Georgia, he studied at the Corcoran School of Art and with Charles W. Hawthorne. He was a member of the National Arts Club, an Academican of the National Academy of Design, and the Salmagundi Club, all of which are located in New York City. He also belonged to the Washington Society of Art and the Provincetown Art Association. He received six art awards from the National Academy of Design and one from the National Arts Club in 1941, one from the Los Angeles Museum of Art in 1945 and one from the Grand Central Galleries in 1928. In 1942-1943 he was the Artist-in-Residence at the University of Illinois.

Mr. Farnsworth did not always make art his profession. He worked in cotton and steel mills, dispensed soda at a drug store, and was a Fuller Brush man and a Western Union messenger boy.

Jerry Farnsworth's work may be seen at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Mr. Farnsworth also wrote several books, including Painting with Jerry Farnsworth, Learning to Paint in Oil and Portrait and Figure Painting.

Mr. Farnsworth and his wife, painter Helen Sawyer, together ran a summer art school in North Truro, Massachusetts for many years. Their time was divided between there and Sarasota, Florida, where Mr. Farnsworth was the director of the Farnsworth School of Art.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Jerry Farnsworth Papers consist of a subject file, manuscripts and published material.

Subject files includes a slip granting permission to reproduce a Cezanne painting which is located in the National Gallery in Washington, and quotes from the book, Painting with Jerry Farnsworth. Manuscripts contains various manuscripts in original and typescript form for the book, Painting with Jerry Farnsworth. Published material consists of a Time editorial about Gilbert Stuart.

Arrangement of the Collection

All series are arranged alphabetically.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

See also the papers of Farnsworth's wife, Helen Sawyer Farnsworth.

Subject Headings

Persons

Farnsworth, Jerry, 1895-

Subjects

Art, American -- 20th century.
Art, American.
Painters -- United States.
Painting -- Study and teaching.
Painting, American -- 20th century.

Genres and Forms

Clippings (information artifacts)
Manuscripts for publication.

Occupations

Artists.
Painters.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Jerry Farnsworth Papers
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Table of Contents

Subject files

Manuscripts

Articles about others

Inventory