Sir William Osler Portrait by Seymour Thomas and Other Osler-Related Papers, 1946-1986

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Creators:
Belt, M.D., Elmer Goodwin, M.D., William E.
Abstract:
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.
Extent:
0.5 linear feet (1 document box)
Language:
Collection materials in English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Sir William Osler portrait by Seymour Thomas and other Osler-related papers (Manuscript collection 181). Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections Division, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

The papers are not numerous, filling less than half of a document box. One folder pertains to the original portrait in Oxford, England. Another pertains to the replica hung in the Medical School lobby at UCLA. In addition, there are letters from and to Drs. Belt and Goodwin, and a few Osler-related reprints.

Biographical / historical:

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.

Elmer Belt, M.D., renowned Los Angeles urologist and bibliophile, was highly instrumental in the founding of the UCLA School of Medicine and he proved a very good friend to that institution for the rest of his life. Through his initiative the opening ceremony for the new school included the presentation of a portrait of Sir William Osler by the artist, Seymour Thomas. Mr. Thomas had exhibited the widely-lauded original in Paris in 1909 and kept it in his home until shortly before his death in 1956; but he had also painted a replica, and Belt raised the money to have that replica presented and hung at UCLA.

William E. Goodwin, M.D., also a urologist and nephew of Dr. Belt, inherited his uncle's interest in Osler. He also inherited a folder of papers relating to both the original and the replica of the portrait. and some other Osler-related material, which he gave to the UCLA Biomedical Library probably in the mid-1980s.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Willard E. Goodwin, M.D., of Los Angeles, probably in the mid-1980s. The painting was transferred to the Biomedical Library History and Special Collections Division, where it is presently displayed, on October 20, 2005.
Physical location:
Department of History and Special Collections, Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, University of California, Los Angeles. The portrait is now displayed in the History Department's reading room.

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Physicians--Biography.

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Contact the History and Special Collections Division, Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, UCLA, for information.

Terms of access:

Publication Rights

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Sir William Osler portrait by Seymour Thomas and other Osler-related papers (Manuscript collection 181). Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections Division, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library
12-077 Center for Health Sciences, Box 951798
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1798, US
Contact:
(310) 825-6940
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
Website