Your TR Source
Henry Smith informs Theodore Roosevelt that he has succeeded in obtaining fifteen contributors to purchase the painting A cavalry troop on the southern plains by Frederick Remington, which will be presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Smith thanks Roosevelt for the kind words about Remington Roosevelt said the last time they met.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-14
Maurice Francis Egan introduces the painter Johann Waldemar de Rehling Quistgaard to Theodore Roosevelt and hopes he will view Quistgaard’s paintings. Quistgaard has painted Princess Marie and Roosevelt’s friend, Prince Hans.
Maurice Francis Egan is most likely referring to Princess Marie of Orléans, a French princess by birth and a Danish princess through marriage.
This excerpt from The Century Magazine includes articles on reading, on the permanent establishment of an American art school in Rome, and on the addition of Yosemite Valley to Yosemite National Park. Richard Watson Gilder enclosed the excerpt in a letter to President Roosevelt, noting his authorship of the articles.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-05
One photograph shows the sculpture, “The crowded hour at San Juan,” which depicts Theodore Roosevelt on horseback as a rough rider. Another photograph shows the sculptor, James Edward Kelly. Included is an envelope addressed to “Mr. J. E. Kelly” from “The Vice President’s Chamber, Washington, D.C.”
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1901-06-08
James Rudolph Garfield, Commissioner of Corporations, is an artist finishing a large mural of a bull, “Saint Bovine,” sitting on a cornucopia overflowing with cuts of meat. Caption: Suggested decoration for the Senate Chamber at Washington.
James Rudolph Garfield was Commissioner of Corporations in the new cabinet agency, the Department of Commerce and Labor, and as such was the administration’s real driving force to reform the activities of trusts and corporations in the United States. His tools were persuasion, diplomacy, political pressure, consultation, and proposals for legislation and regulations.
An artist offers a painting for purchase to a wealthy woman who has no real appreciation for “Art.” Caption: The Artist — It would be such an honor to have you buy my picture! / Mrs. Gotrox — Well, I’ll have my connaisseur look at it, but I don’t know when he can come. I’m buying so much Art just now that my connaisseur is frightfully busy!
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1903-02-25
President Roosevelt agrees with Julia Tappan Finch Gilbert’s opinion of Howard Pyle. Roosevelt cannot afford many pictures, but one that he does own is Pyle’s painting of George Rogers Clark. Regarding Pyle’s books, Roosevelt says that “the children do not care for them any more than Mrs. Roosevelt and I do.” Roosevelt believes that it is good for authors to keep varied company, and not only associate with other authors.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-17
President Roosevelt introduces Ben Daniels to the artist Charles Dana Gibson.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-11
President Roosevelt introduces Seth Bullock to the artist Charles Dana Gibson.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-11
President Roosevelt introduces New Mexico Territory Governor Curry to the artist Charles Dana Gibson.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-11
President Roosevelt thanks artist Max Weyl for the sketch, which he and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt so enjoyed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-24
President Roosevelt highly compliments Oscar Roty for the commemorative medal he had designed in honor of the death of French President Sadi Carnot and is grateful to have received a replica.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-27
President Roosevelt agrees with John La Farge on creating a commission, although he admits he is still uncertain as to what La Farge is referring. Roosevelt agrees to appoint the commission if it is within his power but cannot act where the law “distinctly puts the authority somewhere else.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-09
Although President Roosevelt likes the work of the artist in question, he informs Jacob A. Riis that he cannot grant him the permission he asks for. If he gave it to one man, he would have to give it to “literally scores.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-12
President Roosevelt is pleased that Augustus Saint-Gaudens is not opposing Edward Kemeys, as Roosevelt is a fan of Kemeys’s “wild beast figures.” Roosevelt was pleased with the Ulysses Grant statue selection but believes that Saint-Gaudens’s statue of General Sherman is the “greatest statue of a commander in existence.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-08-03
President Roosevelt asks Lyman J. Gage to give his personal attention to a letter from a prominent Russian artist who would like to have an exhibition in the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-01-02
Henry Smith asks Theodore Roosevelt for an interview to discuss the desire of the late Frederic Remington to have one of his paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Smith believes Roosevelt admired Remington and hopes Roosevelt will cooperate in the effort to fulfill Remington’s desire.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-23
Robert C. Wright writes to Theodore Roosevelt’s and states he was pleased to read his recent remarks about imported art. Wright suggests that Roosevelt continue this line of thought in his remarks he is scheduled to give in Portland, Oregon. He believes the average consumer of art “is utterly deficient in conception of true art,” and buys art on the recommendation of store owners, who “Palm off spurious paintings or any painting with a foreign name at high prices.” Wright holds that there are many high-quality artists living in the United States, and asks that Roosevelt encourage his audience to seek out these native-born painters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-26
Annie Nathan Meyer wishes she had known about President Roosevelt’s recent trip to Henderson House, as it is near the preserve that she has tried to persuade Roosevelt to visit. She describes a recent “glorious experience” in the preserve. She and her husband, Alfred Meyer, will be in Washington, D.C., for the upcoming Tuberculosis Congress and hopes to visit and discuss women’s rights. The prestigious magazine, The Studio, published Meyer’s article on American artist Homer Dodge Martin.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-29
Augusta Saint-Gaudens thanks President Roosevelt for his condolences over the passing of her husband Augustus Saint-Gaudens and apologizes for the lateness of her reply.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-27