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William M. Clarke Architectural Negative Collection: Finding
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photCL 415
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Title: William M. Clarke Architectural Negative Collection
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1920-1950
Collection Number: photCL 415
Creator:
Clarke, William M.
Extent:
4,482 photographs in 129 boxes: glass plate and film negatives + 11 boxes of copy prints
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection consists of glass and film negatives and copy prints chiefly of architectural scenes in Southern California
taken by
architectural photographer William M. Clarke (1872-1953).
The bulk of the collection focuses on residential and
business projects in Los Angeles for
Architectural Digest magazine from about 1920 through the 1930s. Among the architecture represented in the collection are buildings
and landscapes created by some of Los Angeles' most distinguished architects and designers, including Myron Hunt, Reginald
Johnson, Gordon Kaufmann, Roland Coate, Wallace Neff, John &
Donald Parkinson, George Washington Smith, and Paul Williams.
Language: English.
Note:
Finding aid last updated on December 15, 2015.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item], William M. Clarke Architectural Negative Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Glass and film negatives, gift of the Architects Library of Los Angeles, 1955-1956.
Biographical and Historical Note
William Mycajah Clarke was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on July 4, 1872, and died at his home on North Beachwood Drive
in Los Angeles on March 6, 1953.
He was married to Maude E. Clarke and resided at 1371 San Pasqual Avenue in Pasadena in a house built by George B. Brigham,
Jr. (
Architectural Digest, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 88-93)
from 1932-1943, and possibly beyond. He was granted a certificate to practice architecture by written exam on December 15-18,
1919, and
was also an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects. Clarke is given credit as the architect for the T.A.
Tooey house in a 1924
volume of
Architectural Digest, but not much else is known about his architecture practice.
In the early 1920s, Clarke toured Europe extensively as a representative for the Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company.
Pacific Coast Architect magazine published
his accounts along with the photographs he made documenting the architecture in the towns he visited. Clarke was also affiliated
with the Camera Pictorialists of Los Angeles
and exhibited his work in the "Fifth Annual Western Salon of Pictorial Photography," December 15-30, 1926, which was organized
by the Southern California Camera Club at the
Southwest Museum and the Los Angeles Public Library. A number of his works were included when the club was invited to exhibit
at the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain in 1933.
He stopped showing at the Camera Pictorialists' annual salon in 1930, but continued as a member through 1940. Clarke also
served as acting photographer on an archaeological
expedition to Arizona led by the Southwest Museum from February-June 1927. His photographs were printed in Southwest Museum
Papers No. 2: "Excavations at Casa Grandes, Arizona Feb. 12 to
May 1, 1927," by Harold S. Gladwin. He was also the Librarian for the Library of Architecture and Allied Arts at 453 S. Spring
Street in Los Angeles for 16 years.
Clarke photographed for
Architectural Digest magazine from the early 1920s through the 1930s, but not much is known about his tenure there. His photographs have
also appeared in other major architectural periodicals of the day, such as
Architectural Record and
Architect and Engineer.
The collection contains mostly architectural scenes in southern California taken by architectural photographer William M.
Clarke between circa 1920 and 1950. The bulk of the collection focuses on residential and
business projects in Los Angeles for
Architectural Digest magazine from about 1920 through the 1930s.
Among the architecture represented in the collection are buildings
and landscapes created by some of Los Angeles' most distinguished architects and designers, including Myron Hunt, Reginald
Johnson, Gordon Kaufmann, Roland Coate, Wallace Neff, John &
Donald Parkinson, George Washington Smith, and Paul Williams. The landscape designs of A. E. Hanson, Lucille Council & Florence
Yoch, Katherine Bashford and Paul
Thiene are well represented in the collection also. Some of the buildings represented are the Atheneaum at Caltech, USC Hall
of Philosophy, La Quinta Resort, Hope Ranch, W. K. Kellogg Ranch,
Scripps College, Royal Laundry, the Arthur Bourne house, the Harold Lloyd Estate and the Catalina Island Casino. Includes
many homes in the Pasadena area, as well as Beverly Hills, Bel-Air
and Montecito. Other points of interest are Bertram Goodhue's California Building for the 1915 Pan-California Exposition in
Balboa Park, and several I. Magnin department stores in California.
There are several unidentified residences and unidentified buildings scattered throughout the collection.
The original 4 x 5 inch glass plate and film negatives are housed in 129 boxes; corresponding copy prints have been made for
all images and are available for research.
Related materials in the Huntington Library
- Ernest Marquez Photograph Collection (photCL 555) Includes glass negatives by Clarke of the First National Bank in Artesia, California.
- Reginald D. Johnson Collection (archJohnson). Includes photographs by Clarke of Montecito residences designed by Johnson.
- William M. Clarke European Travel Collection (photCL 578)
This collection is arranged in two series according to format:
- Copy prints
- Negatives
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Johnson, Reginald D. -- Homes and haunts -- Photographs.
Kaufmann, Gordon B. -- Homes and haunts -- Photographs.
Coate, Roland E. -- Homes and haunts -- Photographs.
Neff, Wallace, 1895-1982 -- Homes and haunts -- Photographs.
Parkinson, John, 1861-1935.
Parkinson, Donald B. (Donald Berthold), 1895-1945.
California Institute of Technology -- Photographs.
Catalina Casino -- Photographs.
Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery -- Photographs.
I. Magnin & Co. -- Photographs.
Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company of California -- Photographs.
Scripps College -- Photographs.
University of Southern California -- Photographs.
Whittier College (Whittier, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Architecture -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Architecture, Domestic -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Architects -- California -- Los Angeles.
Dwellings -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Commercial buildings -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Church buildings -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Gardens -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Landscape architecture -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Mausoleums -- California -- San Marino -- Photographs.
Schools -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Bel Air (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
Beverly Hills (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
Lake Arrowhead (Calif.) Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
Montecito (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
Pasadena (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
San Marino (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
Santa Barbara (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
Cyanotypes.
Glass plate negatives.
Photographs.
Bashford, Katherine, landscape architect.
Brigham, George Bickford, 1889-, architect.
Byers, John, 1875-1966, architect.
Coate, Roland E., architect.
Cornell, Ralph D., landscape architect.
Council, Lucille, landscape architect.
Davis, Pierpont, architect.
Davis, Walter Swindell, 1887-, architect.
Farquhar, Robert D., architect.
Farrand, Beatrix, 1872-1959, landscape architect.
Fertig, J. H., architect.
Flewelling, Ralph Carlin, 1894-, architect.
Fuller, Leland F., architect.
Goodhue, Bertram Grosvenor, 1869-1924, architect.
Grey, Elmer, 1871-1962, architect.
Hansen, Albert E., architect.
Hanson, A. E., 1893-, landscape architect.
Hewitt, Harwood, architect.
Howard, Paul J., landscape architect.
Hunt, Myron, 1868-1952, architect.
Huntsman-Trout, Edward, 1889-1974, landscape architect.
Johnson, Reginald D., architect.
Kaufmann, Gordon B., architect.
Morin, Roy L., architect.
Neff, Wallace, 1895-1982, architect.
Oliver, Henry, architect.
Palmer, Vincent, architect.
Parkinson, Donald B. (Donald Berthold), 1895-1945, architect.
Parkinson, John, 1861-1935, architect.
Pope, John Russell, 1874-1937, architect.
Price, Roy Seldon, architect.
Purdy, Benjamin Morton, landscape architect.
Ray, Russell, architect.
Ring, Josiah, architect.
Sabin, Palmer, 1892-1956, architect.
Smith, George Washington, 1876-1930, architect.
Spielman, Harold, architect.
Swasey, McNeal, architect.
Thiene, Paul, 1880-1971, landscape architect.
Williams, Paul R., 1894-1980, architect.
Witmer, D. J. (David Julius), 1888-1973, architect.
Woollett, William, 1872-1953, architect.
Yoch, Florence, landscape architect.
Allison & Allison, architect.
Dodd & Richards, architect.
Hunt and Chambers, Architects, architect.
Hunt & Grey, architect.
Hunt & Burns, architect.
Johnson, Kaufmann & Coate, architect.
Morgan, Walls & Clements, architect.
Reay & Garstang, architect.
Webber & Spaulding, architect.