This collection consists of 53 handwritten letters and postcards from American artist Richard Tweedy (1876-1952) sent primarily during his first trip to Europe, from July 1903 to May 1904, and during a subsequent trip, from October 1913 to February 1914. The majority of the correspondence is addressed to Tweedy’s mother, Mary Alice Belcher Tweedy, with four letters addressed to his father, James Fisher Tweedy, and one addressed to Richard’s brother, Alfred, all in New York State. In the letters, Tweedy generally writes about his daily activities and observations, his painting work, the weather, and events he attends while abroad. The letters also mention Tweedy’s opinions of several French and American artist contemporaries, including Charles Cottet, Lucien Simon, and John Singer Sargent.

The first series of letters are initially written from the Hotel Minerva in Haarlem, the Netherlands, where Tweedy attended an art class for American students taught by William Merritt Chase (1849-1916), who founded the Chase School of Art in New York (later, Parsons School of Design). Tweedy describes the sights and customs of the Netherlands, his work copying masterpieces in Dutch galleries, including The Hague, his impressions of Chase, and his desire to extend his allowance in order to study independently in Paris. From September 1903 to May 1904, Tweedy writes from Paris, having secured additional funds from his father to study there after Chase’s class disbanded, and having rented a studio at 12 Rue de Seine. Tweedy describes his time copying artworks in the Louvre and Luxembourg galleries, his visits to important places in Paris such as the Church of Saint Sulpice, the Paris Opera, and the Palace of Versailles, student meetings, visits from acquaintances, his expenses, his opinions on the Protestant and Catholic Churches in France, and various art exhibitions, including one in which one of his original paintings is displayed.

The allowance money from Tweedy’s father ceased in March 1904; however, a check sent from his mother allowed him to stay in Paris until May, after the opening of the 1904 salon of the Société des Artistes Français, which featured Tweedy’s painting, occurred. One letter written by Tweedy to his mother from Washington, New Hampshire, in 1906, is included, and the second series is written from Tweedy’s subsequent stay in Paris, where he rented a studio at 83 Boulevard Montparnasse.

Also included in the collection are typed transcripts of the letters created by Bruce Wiegand, a relation of Tweedy’s granddaughter Meghan Tweedy, a registry form and a ticket for the 1904 salon exhibition of the Société des Artistes Français in which Tweedy participated, photographs that Tweedy occasionally sent with his letters, including one of William Merritt Chase and his students, and a playing card designed by Tweedy. Correspondence sent in answer to Tweedy’s letters is not included in the collection.