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James Vinton Stowell sketch of Harry Baker

 Collection
Identifier: KA-0100

Summary

James Vinton Stowell graduated from the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later, Parsons The New School for Design) in 1917 with an Advertising Design degree, and was employed by the school as a trade representive through the 1918-1919 academic year. The subject of the pencil sketch, titled "Portrait of 'Our Mr. Baker'," is Harry B. Baker, who taught life drawing at the school from 1915 until his death in 1941.

Dates

  • circa 1916

Creator

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (1 illustration)

Language of Materials

English

Scope and Content of Collection

James Vinton Stowell graduated from the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later, Parsons The New School for Design) in 1917 with an Advertising Design degree, and was employed by the school as a trade representive through the 1918-1919 academic year. The subject of the pencil sketch, titled "Portrait of 'Our Mr. Baker,'" is Harry B. Baker, who taught life drawing at the school from 1915 until his death in 1941. The sketch is accompanied by an envelope, written by an unidentified person identifying the artist, erroneously, as C. Vinton Stowell, with the title. The envelope also identifies the sketch as having been done in "1913(?)," which is probably incorrect.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research use. Please contact archivist@newschool.edu for appointment.

Use Restrictions

To publish images of material from this collection, permission must be obtained in writing from the New School Archives. Please contact: archivist@newschool.edu.

Biographical Note

James Vinton Stowell, Sr. (1897?-1970) was an artist, archaeologist and explorer. Stowell graduated from the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later, Parsons The New School for Design) in 1917 with an Advertising Design degree, and was employed by the school as a trade representive through the 1918-1919 academic year. A native of Elmira, New York, Stowell served in the U.S. Navy in 1917-1918. While he worked as an art director in advertising, Stowell devoted his life to amateur archaeology of Native American sites. Some of the artifacts he collected were acquired on arctic expeditions, including a 1946 trip to Nova Scotia and Labrador on the ship Bowdoin, and a 1952 trip on the Regina Polaris to Hudson Bay. Stowell lectured and wrote extensively, primarily on his espeditions to the North and on archaeology. He died in 1970.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The sketch was found out of context in the Kellen Design Archives in 2009.

Related Materials

Harry B. Baker's papers (KA.0090) are part of the New School Archives' holdings. James Vincent Stowell's papers will be found in the National Archives of Canada.

Title
Guide to the James Vinton Stowell sketch of Harry Baker
Status
Completed
Author
New School Archives and Special Collections Staff
Date
November 9, 2010
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin