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Kahn, Adele N., 1931

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 87

Scope and Content of the Collection

From the Collection:

Correspondence, scrapbooks, clippings, exhibition programs, and prints relating to John Doctoroff’s career as a portrait artist.

Correspondence from Doctoroff to his wife, Rose, while he was away from the studio in 1927-1929 and 1941 discusses clients' reception of his portraits, painting Herbert Hoover, his health problems, and the activities of his daughters. Correspondence from Doctoroff to his clients discusses arrangements for portraits, reproductions, and framing; his schedule; his painting process; and his exhibitions. A 1950 letter to Albin Polášek discusses the Doctoroff family’s move into an apartment leased by Polášek and Doctoroff’s anxiety over the lease. An undated, outgoing letter from Rose describes Edwin Markham and her husband’s painting of Markham.

Correspondence regarding Doctoroff includes copies of 1929-1963 introduction letters, recommendations of his work, and exhibition announcements.

The bulk of the collection is correspondence addressed to Doctoroff. Incoming correspondence discusses his patrons’ opinions of Doctoroff’s portraits, their experiences sitting for the portraits, arrangements, and portrait unveiling events. Other correspondence includes invitations to events; death notices; receipt of donations by Doctoroff; and arrangements for exhibitions, including art exhibitions at the Illinois State Fair. Items of note include a typescript copy of the 1924 letter from R. A. Gunn to Doctoroff announcing that the Republican National Committee had accepted Doctoroff’s campaign portraits of Calvin Coolidge and Charles Dawes. Doctoroff wrote notes, doodled, and sketched on much of the incoming correspondence.

The collection also contains scrapbook pages with newspaper clippings and programs. The newspaper clippings document interviews of Doctoroff about his work and philosophy of art, reviews and announcements of his exhibitions, and his subjects. The bulk of the clippings cover his recently completed portraits and include short biographies on the sitter, descriptions of their mannerisms while Doctoroff painted them, and details on portrait unveiling events. Programs on the scrapbook pages document two Doctoroff exhibitions in 1935 and 1940, and a 1941 unveiling event for a portrait of Eugene Stuart Gilmore. Other noteworthy items in the scrapbook pages include a 1941 telegram to Doctoroff from his wife, Rose, about the reception of the portrait of Eugene Stuart Gilmore and a handwritten timeline of Doctoroff’s accomplishments created as notes for his 1940 submission to Who’s Who in Chicago. Separate items are two copies of publications with portraits by Doctoroff on the cover: Abraham Lincoln on the cover of the 1951 Official Program of the 55th Annual Lincoln Day Dinner, Chicago, Illinois, and Mrs. A. Rollin Staley on the July 1955 cover of Townsfolk magazine.

Seven prints of 1924-1927 portrait drawings are signed by the sitters and Doctoroff. Five of the portraits are addressed to the artist. The subjects include Clarence Darrow, Mary L. Dutton, Isaac Miller Hamilton, Jacob W. Loeb, and Julius Rosenwald.

Dates

  • Creation: 1931

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The John Doctoroff papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

Repository Details

Part of the The Newberry Library - Modern Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
60 West Walton Street
Chicago Illinois 60610 United States
312-255-3512