Alson Clark Collection of Photographs: Finding
Aid
Finding aid prepared by Sue Tyson.
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
© 2016
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Overview of the Collection
Title: Alson Clark Collection of Photographs
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1889-1939, 1962
Bulk dates: 1889-1939
Collection Number: photCL 361
Creator:
Clark, Alson Skinner, 1876-1949
Extent:
1289 photographs in 8 boxes and 1 flat file: chiefly gelatin silver prints; prints various sizes 35 x 27 cm and 28 x 36 and
smaller, chiefly 18 x 28 and smaller, and one ticket book.
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 contains 1289 photographs, chiefly gelatin silver prints, reflecting the professional life and travels of
American impressionist painter Alson Skinner Clark, some taken by Alson Clark and some by commercial and unidentified photographers,
from approximately 1889-1939. The collection chiefly comprises portraits of Alson and his wife, Atta Medora Clark; photographs
depicting their studio home in the Arroyo Seco area of Pasadena, California; examples of Clark's work; and scenes reflecting
Alson Clark's travels, both with and without Medora Clark, throughout the Southwestern United States and to Mexico, Europe,
and Canada. The collection also includes photographs depicting India, China, and Korea in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
and photograph albums depicting the aftermath of World War I in Europe and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of
1915 in San Diego.
Language: English.
Access
The collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information,
please visit the Huntington's website:
www.huntington.org.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Alson Clark Collection of Photographs, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
Gift of Alson Clark, Jr., April 19, 1992.
Biographical Note
Alson Skinner Clark (1876-1949) was an American Impressionist painter known for his landscape paintings; his murals, including
at the Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles and the First Trust and Savings Bank in Pasadena; and the fire curtain of the
Pasadena Playhouse, which featured a Spanish galleon in full sail.
Clark was born in Chicago, Illinois, and studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago in the 1880s and in New York in the 1890s;
there, as a student of William Merritt Chase (1849-1916), he began painting
en plein air. Clark's studies were enhanced by his family's travels around the world from 1889-1891, and in 1898, he moved to Paris, where
he studied with James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903); in 1901, Clark's painting, The Violinist, was accepted by the Salon
des Beaux Arts. That year, Clark returned to the United States for surgery and lived with his parents, Alson Ellis Clark and
Sarah Clark, on Comfort Island, one of the Thousand Islands in Alexandria Bay, New York; he then settled in Watertown, New
York, married one of his former models, Atta Medora McMullin (1887-1973), and began exhibiting his work, with her assistance.
After marrying in 1902, Alson and Medora Clark moved to Paris and traveled to destinations including Normandy and Giverny
in France; parts of Italy and Spain; the Netherlands; Dalmatia; Canada; and Comfort Island, New York City, and Chicago, exhibiting
and selling paintings. In 1913, the Clarks visited the Panama Canal Zone, where Clark produced a series of paintings depicting
the construction of the Panama Canal, works that were subsequently honored with their own room in the 1915 Panama-Pacific
International Exposition in San Diego, California. When World War I broke out in 1914, the Clarks returned to the United States,
living in New England, South Carolina, and Chicago before Clark, at age 41, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1917, serving as
a translator and military photographer.
In 1919, the Clarks moved to Southern California, where they lived in a home studio on the east bank of the Arroyo Seco in
Pasadena designed by Reginald Johnson; they also had a son, Alson Clark, Junior (1921-1993). Clark taught at Occidental College
in Los Angeles and at the Stickney School of the Fine Arts in Pasadena, where he became director. The Clarks also continued
their travels, including to various locations in the American Southwest and to Mexico, especially Cuernavaca and Taxco, with
Clark painting
plein air and exploring his interests in architecture; landscape; color; ruins, including Mission San Juan Capistrano; and indigenous
populations. Clark's work was popular, and he gained a variety of commissions, including for the murals at the Carthay Theater
and at the Pasadena First Trust and Savings Bank (now Bank of the West) chronicling California history, the latter featuring
panels depicting the Southern California industries of oil drilling, citrus farming, movies, and shipping. With Dwight Gibbs,
Clark helped to design the skyline and the interior of the Pasadena Playhouse, and in the 1930s, he also worked on decorative
commissions for private homes. Following a stroke in 1945, Clark devoted himself to figure painting in his studio, an activity
he continued until his death in 1949 in Pasadena.
Scope and Content
This collection contains 1289 photographs, chiefly gelatin silver prints, reflecting the professional life and travels of
American impressionist painter Alson Skinner Clark, some taken by Alson Clark and some by commercial and unidentified photographers,
from approximately 1889-1939. The collection chiefly comprises portraits of Alson and his wife Atta Medora Clark, many showing
Clark painting
en plein air; photographs depicting their studio home in the Arroyo Seco area of Pasadena, California; views of Clark's work, including
murals at the Pasadena Playhouse, the Polytechnic Elementary School, and the First Trust and Savings Bank in Pasadena; and
images of Alson Clark's travels, both with and without Medora Clark, to Thousand Islands, New York; throughout the Southwestern
United States; Mexico; and, to a lesser extent, in Europe and Canada. The collection also includes photograph albums depicting
the aftermath of World War I in Europe and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 in San Diego, and photographs
depicting various locations in India, China, and Korea in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; many of these appear to
be reproductions and are curling.
The photographs of the Southwestern United States comprise chiefly landscape views of California locations including La Jolla
and the desert environs of Palm Springs, Panamint City, and the Owens Valley, and also depict Western scenes and locations
including Mother Lode towns in California and Nevada; other Southwest states; men on horses; rodeos; and Indians, including
several in various poses. Depictions of Mexico comprise chiefly street and market scenes in Taxco, Mexico City, Mazatlán,
Punta Banda, and other locations, many showing indigenous people; churches and other buildings, including ruins; dwellings;
and landscape views. Several of the photographs show people in camping parties, some depicting painters, including Clark,
at work. Photographs of Canada depict chiefly street scenes and dwellings in the city and province of Québec and activities
of the timber industry, including ships and timber hauling operations. Photographs of Europe depict chiefly village street
and market scenes in Brittany, France and, to a lesser extent, in Dalmatia, Croatia; the collection also includes a photograph
album depicting chiefly France and also Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in the aftermath of World War I.
This collection is directly related to the Alson Skinner Clark papers, 1870-1971, bulk 1890-1940, held by the Archives of
American Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., a portion of which was also donated by Alson Clark, Jr.
Arrangement
Photographs are grouped according to general topic and within topics in chronological order. The collection is arranged in
the following 4 series:
- Series I. Alson Clark and Family, Studio, and Projects
- Subseries A. Portraits and family travels
- Subseries B. Studio home
- Subseries C. Various projects
- Series II. California and Southwest. Views
- Subseries A. California
- Subseries B. Southwest
- Series III. Mexico. Views
- Series IV. Asia, Europe, and Canada. Views
Indexing Terms
Subjects
Clark, Alson Skinner, 1876-1949.
Clark, Alson Skinner, 1876-1949 -- Homes and haunts -- Photographs.
Clark, Atta Medora McMullin, 1887-1973 -- Photographs.
Pasadena Playhouse -- Photographs.
Panama-California Exposition -- (1915 : San Diego, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Artists' models -- Photographs.
Artists' studios -- California -- Pasadena -- Photographs.
Automobile travel -- Southwest, New -- Photographs.
Bathing beaches -- California -- Photographs.
Children -- Mexico -- Photographs.
Deserts -- California -- Photographs.
Deserts -- Southwest, New -- Photographs.
Dwellings -- California -- Pasadena -- Photographs.
Horsemanship -- Southwest, New -- Photographs.
Indians of Mexico -- Photographs.
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New -- Photographs.
Landscapes -- California -- Photographs.
Landscapes -- Southwest, New -- Photographs.
Markets -- Mexico -- Photographs.
Mountains -- California -- Photographs.
Mountains -- Southwest, New -- Photographs.
Mural painting and decoration -- California -- Photographs.
Plein air painting -- Photographs.
Schools -- California -- Pasadena -- Photographs.
Street vendors -- Mexico -- Photographs.
Ships in art -- Photographs.
Villages -- Mexico -- Photographs.
World War, 1914-1918 -- Europe -- Photographs.
Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Baja California (Mexico: State) -- Photographs.
Beijing (China) -- Photographs.
Brittany (France) -- Photographs.
Canada -- Photographs.
Carson City (Nev.) -- Photographs.
China -- Photographs.
Dalmatia (Croatia) -- Photographs.
France -- Photographs.
India -- Photographs.
La Jolla (San Diego, Calif.)-- Photographs.
Mazatlán (Sinaloa, Mexico) -- Photographs.
Mexico -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs.
Mexico -- Photographs.
Mexico City (Mexico) -- Photographs.
Mother Lode (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Palm Springs (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Panamint (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Québec (Québec) -- Photographs.
Ruins -- Europe -- Photographs.
Saint Lawrence River -- Photographs.
Seoul (Korea) -- Photographs.
Southwest, New -- Photographs.
Taxco (Mexico) -- Photographs.
Thousand Islands (N.Y. and Ont.) -- Photographs.
Watertown (N.Y.) -- Photographs.
Forms/Genres
Aerial views.
Cabinet photographs.
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.).
Cyanotypes.
Negatives.
Photograph albums.
Photographs.
Portraits.
Postcards.
Contributors
Champion, Clyde W., photographer.
Clark, Alson Skinner, 1876-1949, compiler.
Clark, Alson Skinner, 1876-1949, photographer.
Fung Tai, photographer.
Kourken, photographer.
Paar, Th., photographer.
Soreboe, photographer.
Spalding, Eudora, photographer.
Tyler, Harold, photographer.
Yamamoto, S. (Beijing), photographer.
A.M. Photo Mexico, photographer.
Dickson & Thurber (Firm), photographer.
Hiller, photographer.
Hiller Studio, photographer.
Keystone Photo Service, photographer.
Pow Kee (Nanking), photographer.
Series I. Alson Clark and Family, Studio, and Projects.
1889-1939, 1962
Physical Description:
238 items in 2 boxes and 1 flatfile
Scope and Content
This series contains portraits of Alson Clark, Medora Clark, and others; scenes from family travels chiefly in Europe, California
and the Southwestern United States, and New York; depictions of Clark's home studio in Pasadena, California; and various projects,
chiefly murals.
Subseries A. Portraits and family travels
Physical Description: 159 photographs
Scope and Content Note
Photographs include studio portraits of Alson Clark from 1893-1894 and from 1939 (plus a reprint of one portrait, dated 1962);
images of Clark in Algiers and Paris; photographs of Clark with Keith Spalding on the yacht
Goodwill in 1920, taken by Eudora Spalding; depictions of Clark with Medora Clark and son Alson Clark, Jr., in Pasadena; Clark painting
en plein air and in military uniform in 1918 (Folders 1-2); photographs of Medora Clark (Folder 5); and images depicting people and residences
in Thousand Islands, Comfort Island, Watertown, and Saint Lawrence, New York (Folders 7-9). Also included are four photographs
and a ticket book from travel to Spain in 1909 and 1910, one of these a portrait of Clark holding a palette (Folders 3-4),
and one photograph depicting artists and others seated around a table at a formal dinner in Pasadena, with people identified
on verso (Folder 6).
Box 1, Folders 1-2
Alson Clark, Medora Clark, Alson Clark, Jr., and friends.
1889-1939, 1962
Box 1, Folder 5
Atta Medora Clark.
1911, approximately 1920-1935
Box 1, Folder 6
Various people.
approximately 1889-1925
Box 1, Folders 7-9
New York.
approximately 1915-1919, 1926
Subseries B. Studio home
Physical Description: 24 photographs
Box 1, Folder 10
Interior and exterior views.
1920-1930
Box 4, Folder 1
Views of Arroyo Seco.
approximately 1920
Subseries C. Various projects
Physical Description: 55 photographs
Scope and Content Note
Includes one photograph album containing 16 photographs taken by Harold Tyler from the Panama-Pacific International Exposition
of 1915 in San Diego, chiefly of buildings and also one photograph of a curtain painted by Clark; exterior and interior views
of the Pasadena Playhouse, including depictions of portions of Clark's mural; images of Clark's models, including an album
with five photographs of Medora Clark; and depictions of murals in the Polytechnic Elementary School and the First Trust and
Savings Bank in Pasadena, with panels showing scenes from the cinema and shipping industries.
Box 4
Photograph album, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Diego.
1915
Box 1, Folder 11
Pasadena Playhouse.
approximately 1925
Box 1, Folder 12
Artists' models.
approximately 1925-1928
Box 1, Folder 13
Murals.
approximately 1925-1930
Series II. California and Southwest. Views.
1920-1939
Physical Description:
277 items in 3 boxes
Subseries A. California
Physical Description: 167 photographs
Scope and Content Note
Photographs include landscape views of the Colorado Desert, Palm Springs, Owens Valley, Sespe, La Jolla, Beaumont, and other
locations, as well as wildflowers, people on horses, and onion harvesters parked with vehicles (Folders 1-3); and depictions
of journeys to Palm Springs, some showing Medora Clark and others at a dwelling in the desert (Folder 4); Panamint City (Folder
5); and La Jolla (Folder 6), including beach scenes.
Box 2, Folders 1-3
California. Landscape views.
approximately 1920-1930
Box 2, Folder 4
Palm Springs.
approximately 1938
Box 2, Folder 5
Panamint City.
approximately 1920-1938
Box 2, Folder 6
La Jolla.
approximately 1920-1938
Subseries B. Southwest
Physical Description: 110 photographs
Scope and Content Note
Photographs include depictions of Indians, including in poses; Western models including cowboys in rodeos; and various buildings
(Folder 1); Mother Lode towns, Carson City, Nevada, and Tyler, Texas (Folder 2); various landscape views depicting deserts
and mountains (Folders 3-4); and oversize photographs depicting bison on a range and locations in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona,
Utah, and unidentified sites.
Box 3, Folder 1
Indians and Western models.
approximately 1920-1938
Box 3, Folder 2
Mother Lode towns, Carson City, Nevada, and Tyler, Texas.
approximately 1938
Box 3, Folders 3-4
United States Southwest. Landscape views.
approximately 1920-1938
Box 4, Folder 2
Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Views.
approximately 1920-1938
Series III. Mexico.
approximately 1920-1937
Physical Description:
507 photographs and 2 clippings in 2 boxes
Scope and Content Note
Includes photographs depicting markets, street scenes, street vendors, churches, indigenous people, and villages, as well
as images depicting Mazatlán; Mexico City and environs; Taxco and Cuernavaca, including views of the Santa Prisca church and
of cockfights; and Punta Banda, in which several photographs show people camping and painting. Many of the photographs are
very small snapshots, 7 x 9 cm (2 x 3.5 in.) or smaller, taken by unidentified photographers; examples are in Box 6, Sleeves
1-3 and 6.
Box 5, Folders 1-4
Various views.
approximately 1920-1937
Scope and Content Note
Includes a newspaper article describing the expansion of train service from Los Angeles to Tepic, Nayarit and a photograph
of one of Clark's paintings depicting a church, along with two photographs of the church (Folder 3).
Box 6, Sleeves 1-2
Various views.
approximately 1931
Box 6, Sleeve 4
Mexico City and environs.
1931
Box 6, Sleeve 7
Punta Banda.
approximately 1937
Series IV. Views of Asia, Europe, and Canada.
approximately 1905-1919
Physical Description:
267 photographs in 4 boxes
Box 8, Folders 1-3
Asia
approximately 1890-1910
Scope and Content Note
Contains 24 photographs depicting China including the Forbidden City; palaces, temples, and street scenes in Beijing; statues
of animals in Nanking and at the Western Qing Tombs; birds-eye views of Macao; Wuchang; and scenes from the aftermath of the
Boxer Rebellion, including an image of Westerners standing over corpses and heads of beheaded rebels (Folder 1); 3 photographs
of India including Benares, Darjeeling, and the Agra fort (Folder 2); and 4 photographs depicting Seoul, Korea, including
people at a festival and a birds-eye view of the city (Folder 3).
Box 5, Folder 5
Europe.
approximately 1912-1914
Scope and Content Note
Includes one photograph of Granada, Spain; 9 photographs depicting street scenes, markets, and street vendors in Dalmatia;
and unidentified cityscapes.
Box 6, Sleeves 8-10
France.
approximately 1905-1919
Scope and Content Note
Includes views of Rochefort-en-Terre and other locations in Brittany, chiefly depictions of markets and street scenes as well
as views of military parades and warplanes; the photographs are 9 x 9 cm (3.5 x 3.5 in.) and smaller, chiefly 5 x 8 cm (2
x 3 in.).
Box 7
Photograph album and photograph.
approximately 1917-1918
Scope and Content Note
Includes 1 photograph album containing 39 photographs depicting post-World War I scenes including buildings in ruins; a British
dugout; coal mining machinery in Lens; a British Officers' rest house in Germany; soldiers and men, women, and children on
streets in France and Brussels, Belgium; a post office in the Netherlands; and several images of Bailleul, including the destroyed
Hotel de Ville. The loose photograph is an aerial image of an unidentified location by the United States Navy (1917).
Box 6, Sleeves 11-13
Canada.
approximately 1906
Scope and Content Note
Includes views of the city and province of Québec, chiefly depicting city streets, villages, and residences, and also showing
ships at a harbor, timber, and a few images of a flood.
