Samuel Putnam Avery (1822–1904) was an American

connoisseur A connoisseur (French traditional, pre-1835, spelling of , from Middle-French , then meaning 'to be acquainted with' or 'to know somebody/something') is a person who has a great deal of knowledge about the fine arts; who is a keen appreciator o ...

and dealer in art.

Biography

Samuel Putnam Avery was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on March 17, 1822. where he studied wood and copper

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

and was extensively employed by leading publishers. He married the artist-collector Mary Ann Ogden in 1844 and began business as a dealer in art in 1865. In 1867 Mr. Avery was appointed commissioner in charge of the American art department of the Exposition Universelle in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. He was a founding, and for a long time, trustee of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

and was a life member of important scientific, artistic and educational associations. He founded the Avery Architectural Library at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in memory of his son Henry Ogden Avery, an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

of note, who died in 1890. In 1900 he donated his collection of 17,775 etchings and lithographs to the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress) ...

. Avery died at his home in New York City on August 11, 1904. In 1912 Avery Hall, in memory of father and son, was erected on the Columbia campus. Its first floor houses the Avery Library, now rated the richest collection in the country of works on architecture and the allied arts.

References

External links

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Samuel Putnam Avery papers, 1857-1902
from the Smithsonian

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

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Samuel Putnam Avery papers
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries, including many letters to Putnam
A fully digitized scrapbook of Samuel Putnam Avery paintings
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
Samuel Putnam Avery Diaries, 1871-1882
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries. {{DEFAULTSORT:Avery, Samuel Putnam People associated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art American engravers Artists from New York City 1822 births 1904 deaths American art dealers 19th-century American businesspeople