Description
From the original Osler portrait he had painted and
exhibited in 1909, the prominent American portraitist S. Seymour Thomas also
painted a replica. Elmer Belt, M.D., instrumental in the founding of the UCLA
School of Medicine and its staunch supporter, provided the initiative to raise
funds for purchase of this replica and arranged its presentation to the UCLA
School of Medicine by Thomas at the August 1951 opening ceremony of the new
school. This collection consists of documents about the original portrait, and
the acquisition and presentation of the replica hung at UCLA. There is also one
folder of Osleriana assembled by Elmer Belt and letters to and from him and
Willard Goodwin, M.D., Belt's nephew, who inherited the papers and gave them to
the UCLA Biomedical Library.
Background
S. Seymour Thomas was born on Aug. 20, 1868 in San Augustine, Texas and died
in Mar. 1956. He studied at the Art Students League (1885-88) and at the
Academie Julien, Paris (1888-91); was a pupil of Jules Lefebre and Benjamin
Constant; and settled in La Crescenta, CA, near Los Angeles. He won honorary
mention (1895) and gold medals (1901 and 1904) at the Paris Salon, and was made
a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, 1905. His memberships included the Paris
Society of American Painters, the Los Angeles Art Association, Pasadena Art
Society, and the Academy of Western Painters.
Extent
0.5 linear feet
(1 document box)
Restrictions
Publication Rights
Availability
The collection is open for research. Contact the History and Special
Collections Division, Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, UCLA, for
information.