Skip to main content
COLLECTION Identifier: VSCO 151

Clarence Kennedy papers and photographs

Overview

Photograph files contain over 6,000 photographic and photomechanical prints related to Italian quattrocento sculpture, with accompanying documentation, including note cards, clippings, correspondence, and several manuscripts. More than 150 sculptors are represented with Desiderio, Donatello, Rossellino, and Verrocchio having the most extensive coverage. Subject files include articles and offprints on printing, typography, and art history; also, some sales and exhibition catalogs, books, and pamphlets. Book, article, and lecture files contain Clarence Kennedy's lecture notes, some correspondence, and 2 unpublished manuscripts (The Social background of Donatello's family; The Silver altar of San Jacopo at Pistoia), along with some manuscripts by other authors. Oversized materials files contain another unpublished manuscript by Clarence Kennedy (Desiderio). The collection also includes two sets of bibliographical note cards compiled by Kennedy on Italian quattrocento sculpture, oversized photographs, and other items.

Dates

  • Creation: 1921-1958

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use. Please contact Special Collections, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University.

Conditions Governing Use

Reproduction and/or publication of materials subject to copyright requires written permission from a) the copyright owner, his/her heirs or assigns and from b) the Fine Arts Library, owner of the original material.

Extent

78 boxes

Various photographers represented, chiefly Fratelli Alinari, Giacomo Brogi, Domenico Anderson, and Clarence Kennedy. Photographic media include mostly gelatin silver prints, albumen prints, and various photomechanical prints, including photogravures, collotypes, and halftones.

Biographical / Historical

Art historian and photographer Clarence Kennedy (1892-1972) received his PhD from Harvard in 1924. He was professor of art at Smith College from 1930-1960. He specialized in Italian Renaissance sculpture and published a series of portfolios, Studies in the history and criticism of sculpture, among other works.

  • 1892. Born, Philadelphia. Pa., September 4, 1892.
  • 1914. B.S., University of Pennsylvania.
  • 1915. M.A., University of Pennsylvania.
  • 1915-1916. Student at Harvard University.
  • 1920-1921. Studied at American School of Classical Studies, Athens, Greece, as Charles Eliot Norton Fellow of Harvard University.
  • 1921. Married Ruth Wedgwood Doggett, May 5, 1921.
  • 1924. Ph.D., Harvard University.
  • 1925-1932. Director of division of graduate studies in Europe for Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
  • 1930-1960. Professor of art, Smith College.
  • 1932. Visiting professor of fine arts, New York University.
  • 1938-1939. Annual professor, Toledo Museum of Art.
  • 1940. Exhibition of his photographic work at the Golden Gate Expositon, San Francisco.
  • 1943. With Mrs. Kennedy listed monuments, art treasures and architecture in central Italy for American Council of Learned Societies to protect cultural treasures in war areas, as requested by Allied Bomber Command.
  • 1952-1954. Chairman, Smith Art Department. Member, Committee on Stereo-photography of Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.
  • 1960. Retired after 44 years of teaching at Smith. Resident Art Historian at American Academy in Rome, first term, 1960-1961.

1892.
Born, Philadelphia. Pa., September 4, 1892.
1914.
B.S., University of Pennsylvania.
1915.
M.A., University of Pennsylvania.
1915-1916.
Student at Harvard University.
1920-1921.
Studied at American School of Classical Studies, Athens, Greece, as Charles Eliot Norton Fellow of Harvard University.
1921.
Married Ruth Wedgwood Doggett, May 5, 1921.
1924.
Ph.D., Harvard University.
1925-1932.
Director of division of graduate studies in Europe for Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
1930-1960.
Professor of art, Smith College.
1932.
Visiting professor of fine arts, New York University.
1938-1939.
Annual professor, Toledo Museum of Art.
1940.
Exhibition of his photographic work at the Golden Gate Expositon, San Francisco.
1943.
With Mrs. Kennedy listed monuments, art treasures and architecture in central Italy for American Council of Learned Societies to protect cultural treasures in war areas, as requested by Allied Bomber Command.
1952-1954.
Chairman, Smith Art Department. Member, Committee on Stereo-photography of Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.
1960.
Retired after 44 years of teaching at Smith. Resident Art Historian at American Academy in Rome, first term, 1960-1961.

Arrangement

Organized in five series: photograph files (boxes 1-54); subject files (boxes 55-61); book, article, and lecture files (boxes 62-64); bibliographic note card files (boxes 65-[74]); and oversized materials (boxes [75-78]). Photograph files arranged alphabetically by sculptor; subject files arranged by topic; book, article, and lecture files arranged by author; one set of bibliographic note cards arranged alphabetically by sculptor and the other set arranged chronologically from 1458-1494.

Physical Location

Harvard Depository

Related Materials

Related materials: Edwin Land collection of Clarence Kennedy photographs; located in Fine Arts Library, Harvard University. Call number: VSCO 151.1. Access by special arrangement; for information contact Fine Arts Library Photograph Collections.

Title
Kennedy, Clarence. Papers and photographs, 1921-1958.
Author
Fine Arts Library, Harvard Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
fal00006

Repository Details

Part of the Fine Arts Library Repository

The Fine Arts Library is among the leading libraries in the world for the study of art, architecture, and visual culture from antiquity to the present. Since 1895, FAL has served the needs of the visual arts community at Harvard, providing research and curricular support for all areas in the history of art, architecture, photography, and the decorative arts. FAL's archival collections may be consulted in the Special Collections Study Room by appointment only.

Contact:
Littauer Center
1805 Cambridge Street
Harvard University North Yard
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-4656