Smithsonian American Art Museum, Research and Scholars CenterPO Box 37012, MRC970Washington, D.C. 20013-7012sapa@si.eduhttp://www.americanart.si.edu/research/

Bernie Cleff photographs ofmonuments by Daniel Chester French

A Preliminary Finding AidChristine Hennessey

2008

Table of Contents

Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1Biographical / Historical.................................................................................................... 2Scope and Contents........................................................................................................ 2Arrangement..................................................................................................................... 3Bibliography...................................................................................................................... 3Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 3Container Listing ......................................................................................................

Bernie Cleff photographs of monuments by Daniel ChesterFrench

SAAM.Photo.CLE

Page 1 of 3

Collection Overview

Repository: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Research and Scholars Center

Title: Bernie Cleff photographs of monuments by Daniel Chester French

Identifier: SAAM.Photo.CLE

Date: 1975-1976

Extent: 0.5 linear feet ((ca. 1300 photonegatives))

Creator: Cleff, Bernie, b. 1927

Language: English

Summary: The collection is comprised of approximately 1,300 photonegativestaken by noted Philadelphia photographer Bernie Cleff (b. 1927)documenting the work of American sculptor Daniel Chester French.

Administrative Information

Acquisition InformationGift of H. Bernard (Bernie) Cleff, 2008.

Separated MaterialsPhotographs of Daniel Chester French's sculpture models housed at Chesterwood also takenby Bernie Cleff for the 1976 National Trust exhibition were separated from this collection at therequest of the photographer and given to The Athenaeum (Philadelphia, PA) in 2008.

Processing InformationReceived in 2008, the collection originally included 91 rolls of film, accompanied by somecontact sheets, black-and-white study prints (4x5 and 8x10) and a few 4x5 negatives. Some ofthe film strips arrived with images already cut-out (those previously selected for the exhibitionpublication).

At the request of the photographer, selected negatives showing models of Daniel ChesterFrench's works and other images shot at the French's studio in Chesterwood were separatedfrom the collection and given to The Athenaeum (Philadelphia, PA). The Smithsonian AmericanArt Museum retained all images of outdoor monuments and memorials.

A revised inventory was compiled after the separation of the collection and minimal levelprocessing completed.

Preferred CitationBernie Cleff Collection, Photograph Archives, Smithsonian American Art Museum

Bernie Cleff photographs of monuments by Daniel ChesterFrench

SAAM.Photo.CLE

Page 2 of 3

RestrictionsThe collection is open for research use in the Photograph Archives, Smithsonian American ArtMuseum. Advance appointments are required.

Publication RightsCopyright to photographs from the Bernie Cleff collection is held by the Smithsonian AmericanArt Museum. Requests for permission to reproduce photographs from the collection must besubmitted in writing to the Photograph Archives.

Biographical / Historical

H. Bernard (Bernie) Cleff, born 1927, is a native Philadelphian. After serving in the Navy, he graduatedin 1950 from the Philadelphia College of Art (now known as the University of the Arts) and taughtphotography there from 1961 to 1971. A life member of the American Society of Media Photographers(ASMP), Cleff specialized in aerial, editorial, corporate, advertising and architectural photograpy.

His work has appeared in such periodicals such as: AIA Journal, Business Week, Forbes, Fortune,National Sculpture Review, New York Times Sunday Magazine, Smithsonian andVenture. Hisphotographs of sculpture have also been published in numerous books, including Fairmount Park ArtAssociation's Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze and Stone, New York: WalkerPublishing Co., 1974.

Scope and Contents

The collection contains approximately 1,300 photonegatives and some selected prints taken by BernieCleff in 1975-1976, documenting the sculpture by Daniel Chester French. Cleff was commissioned to takethe photographs in conjunction with an exhibition of the sculptor's works organized by the National Trustfor Historic Preservation and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition to the photographic images, thecollection also includes the the photographer's handwritten log notes.

Sixteen of Daniel Chester French's outdoor monuments are captured in detail in the collection, including:

• Abraham Lincoln, (Lincoln, NE)• Alma Matter, (New York, NY)• Brooklyn and Manhattan, (Brooklyn, NY)• First Division Memorial, (Washington, DC)• Four Continents, (New York, NY)• Francis Parkman Memorial, (Jamaica Plain, MA)• John Harvard, (Cambridge, MA)• Lincoln Memorial, (Washington, D.C.)• Martin Millmore, (Boston, MA)• Melvin Memorial, (Concord, MA)• Minute Man, (Concord, MA)• Russell Alger Memorial, (Detroit, MI)• Richard Morris Hunt Memorial, (New York, NY)• Samuel F. Dupont Memorial, (Washington, D.C.)• Spencer Trask Memorial, (Saratoga Springs, NY)• Thomas Gallaudet Memorial, (Washington, D.C.)

Bernie Cleff photographs of monuments by Daniel ChesterFrench

SAAM.Photo.CLE

Page 3 of 3

Arrangement

Collection has largely been retained in original order - organized primarily by format - 8x10 negatives (withcontact prints); 4x5 negatives (with contact prints); 35 mm slides; and 91 rolls of 35 mm film strips (withcontact proof prints).

Bibliography

Photographs for:

Richman, Michael. Daniel Chester French: An American Sculptor, New York: Metropolitan Museumof Art (New York, NY) in association with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1976.

Names and Subject Terms

This collection is indexed in the online catalog of the Smithsonian Institution under the following terms:

Subjects:

Art, AmericanSculpture, American

Names:

French, Daniel Chester, 1850-1931