(ART) Douglas Volk Letters to his wife spanning four decades

Sale 2646 - Lot 51

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Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

(ART.) Douglas Volk. Letters to his wife, spanning four decades as a well-known artist. 14 Autograph Letters Signed to wife Marion Larrabee Volk; generally minor wear, most with original stamped envelopes. Various places, 1880-1922

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Stephen Arnold Douglas Volk (1856-1935), who went by his third name, was the son of the famed Lincoln sculptor Leonard Volk. Douglas became a successful artist in his own right, specializing in portraiture and historical paintings. His work won numerous prizes, and he also had a long career as an art educator and administrator. This lot consists of 14 letters addressed from Douglas Volk to his wife Marion Larrabee Volk (1859-1925). The correspondence begins in 1880, a year before the Volks were married, while Douglas was teaching at Cooper Union in New York and Marion was in Chicago. On 5 January 1880, he discusses the older artist Roswell Shurtleff, and how little money he had before marriage: "My prospects are a thousand times brighter than his were at that day." He hopes that the following summer "we can spend the season in one or two places, quiet picturesque spots in Vermont and the Adirondacks where I can, if I feel like it, paint something for the following year." He also adds a small sketch of a textile given to him by his landlady's daughter.

Several letters were written as the founding director of the Minneapolis School of Fine Arts (now Minneapolis College of Art and Design) from 1886 to 1893; Marion was an instructor there. On 6 January 1887 he noted "Made color sketch of pioneer family this morning." On 10 January 1889 he fretted about what to submit for the coming Paris Exposition: "What would you think of sending 'The Captives' and 'The Bride'?" The next week he reported "I have two sittings a week at the Hinkles. Will probably make something on the order of Bradstreet for Mrs. H., Mrs. Trots will be a plain head." His 20 December 1892 letter describes a difficult commission: "The Club does not want that picture because it is too dull. They want me to paint something brighter. . . . Just at this point, when I want to put all my time into the big picture, it is a cruel turn of affairs. I never was in such a corner in my life." He plans to send the children small Christmas gifts on credit. Volk's 29 April 1903 letter describes the funeral of wealthy New York silk merchant Adolphe Openhym, who had recently killed himself.

With--17 letters from Marion to Douglas Volk, all but one of them from early in their relationship, 1880-1886; a single letter to Marion from her mother in Denver, CO, 1890; and 19 canceled Fifth Avenue Bank checks signed by Douglas Volk, 1906-1930.