We’re thrilled to announce the recent acquisition and digitization of a remarkable collection of works by American artist Blanche Dillaye, dating from circa 1928. This newly available archive features 38 exquisite pencil sketches and one reflective poem, offering a rare glimpse into Dillaye’s travels and artistic vision during the late 1920s.
From the cobbled streets of Looe and Dinan to the architectural charm of Moret and the serene landscapes of Lelant, Dillaye’s drawings capture the textures, moods, and quiet beauty of European towns and countryside with masterful detail. Her accompanying poem, Trees, adds a lyrical layer to the collection, echoing themes of nature, presence, and timelessness.
Cobbled Street in Dinan, France (MS.2025.02-44)
Now fully digitized, this collection is open to researchers, educators, and art enthusiasts. Whether you’re studying early 20th-century travel sketching, American women artists abroad, or simply drawn to the elegance of pencil work, Dillaye’s collection offers rich material for exploration.
Digging into the life and work of watercolorist Susan H. Bradley, Andrea Sluder West brings fresh attention to a largely forgotten talent. Using the archives at PAFA, she pieces together Bradley’s journey—from her training and exhibitions to her role as a mentor. The blog Meet Susan H. Bradley, Trailblazing Watercolor Artist doesn’t just celebrate Bradley’s art; it shows how institutional archives like PAFA’s can help recover the stories of women artists who shaped American art but were left out of its mainstream narrative.
In May 2025, PAFA’s Archives received an inquiry from a researcher regarding materials in the MS.049 Thomas P. Anshutz Papers. After consulting the collection’s finding aid, the researcher requested a digital copy of a photograph of Marthe Kientz for study purposes.
By June, new findings emerged that connected this archival photograph to a previously unidentified portrait of Marthe Kientz (1878–1961), linking her directly to Thomas Pollock Anshutz (1851–1912). The discovery not only demonstrates the vital role PAFA’s archival collections play in advancing scholarship, but also sheds light on an important aspect of Anshutz’s career: his participation in a transatlantic commission.
Thomas Anshutz at PAFA
Thomas Pollock Anshutz was born in Newport, Kentucky, in 1851. His family relocated to Philadelphia in 1870, and by 1876 he had enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (Academy). Studying under Thomas Eakins and Christian Schussele, Anshutz quickly established himself as both a student and educator. By 1881 he was serving as Assistant to Eakins in anatomy, drawing, and painting, later succeeding him as instructor after Eakins’s resignation in 1886. Anshutz remained a central figure in the Academy’s instructional and exhibition life until his death in 1912. Among his most prominent students were Robert Henri, William Glackens, George Luks, John Sloan, and Charles Demuth.
[Explore the finding aid for Anshutz’s papers here.]
[View Anshutz’s works in PAFA’s Permanent Collection here.]
The Portrait of Marthe Kientz
Thomas Pollock Anshutz (attributed), Portrait of Marthe Kientz, 1906. Oil on canvas, 119 x 75 cm. Private Collection.
The researcher investigated a large-scale (119 x 75 cm), unsigned portrait of a seated woman that had appeared at auction in France. Stylistically, the work bore striking similarities to Anshutz’s female portraits—paintings of women from the educated bourgeoisie, examples of which are held at the Academy, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The back of the canvas bore a handwritten French inscription:
“Portrait de Marthe Kientz peint par Mr Anschutz à Philadelphie (Amérique) en 1906.” Translation: Portrait of Marthe Kientz, painted by Mr. Anschutz in Philadelphia (America) in 1906.
Though the painter’s surname was spelled “Anschutz,” the stylistic coherence reinforced the attribution to Anshutz.
The Archival Photograph
From PAFA’s MS.049 Thomas P. Anshutz papers, the researcher obtained a photograph of Marthe Kientz dated 1912, taken in Biarritz by I. Mendiboure. The photograph, inscribed and signed by Kientz, closely resembles the sitter in the painting.
Placed side by side, the resonances are clear: the same composed gaze, refined posture, and attention to costume. Even the carved seat links the two works across time and medium. In the 1912 dedication, Kientz writes to Mrs. Anshutz:
The inscription suggests an intimate connection between the sitter, the artist, and his family—underscored by the fact that the photograph was sent the same year as Anshutz’s death.
Figure 1 Photograph of Marthe Kientz, inscribed and signed, 1912. Taken in Biarritz by I. Mendiboure. PAFA Archives, MS.049, Box 1, Folder 16
Crossing the Atlantic
Passenger records provide further context. On May 13, 1906, Marthe Kientz arrived in New York aboard the La Touraine from Le Havre, France. Her ship’s manifest notes that she intended to join her cousin at “Blanc Fine Art Academy, Philadelphia”—placing her in the city at the precise time and place Anshutz was active at the Academy.
Together, the inscription, the archival photograph, and the passenger list confirm that this portrait represents a rare example of a French commission of an American painter—evidence of Anshutz’s reach beyond the United States. This context explains why the portrait resurfaced and was auctioned in France, and it is likely the only major female portrait by Anshutz currently located in Europe.
Marthe Kientz’s World
Born in Biarritz in 1878, Marthe Kientz lived there her entire life until her death in 1961. Belonging to a wealthy bourgeois family with Alsatian roots, she had both the means and the social standing to commission a painted portrait. Newspaper records and family notices further confirm her prominent place in Biarritz society.
Her death certificate lists her as unmarried and without profession, leaving her portrait as perhaps her most enduring legacy. Yet for decades, transcription errors obscured the work’s identity—her surname misread as “Hientz” or “Keintz,” and the artist’s name spelled inconsistently. These small mistakes nearly severed the link between sitter, painter, and painting. A search in the local press led to a death notice in which she and her sister Irène announced the passing of their “devoted servant,” Miss Marie Molia (La Gazette de Bayonne de Biarritz et du Pays basque, October 30, 1931).
Reclaiming Identity
The convergence of archival evidence and material analysis restored the portrait’s rightful attribution to Anshutz and reestablished Marthe Kientz’s identity. This reconstruction underscores the importance of archival research: photographs, inscriptions, and passenger lists together help reveal the full story of an artwork that might otherwise have remained misattributed.
What emerges is more than just the rediscovery of a painting. It is also a testimony to the relationship between artist, sitter, and the Academy—one that crossed the Atlantic and has now been reconnected through scholarship.
Marthe’s father and mother were respectively named Kientz and Lang, typically Alsatian surnames. After France’s defeat in 1870, Alsace and a large part of Lorraine were annexed by Germany, prompting many Alsatians to leave their native region. Among the more affluent, including private income earners, some settled in Biarritz. At the time, it was a rapidly developing seaside resort, frequented by European aristocracy—launched in 1850 by Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie. It offered a favorable setting, with a mild and stable climate and an active social life.
It is therefore reasonable to assume that because she came from this affluent background, Marthe spent her whole life in Biarritz (born in 1878 and died there in 1961).
The Marthe Kientz official death certificate clearly states that she was unmarried and without profession. No trace of a previous marriage has been found. She therefore remained probably known as “Miss Marthe Kientz,” as recorded in the register listing the arrivals in New York on May 13, 1906.
Thus, her only surviving legacy is this very portrait, painted by Anshutz in 1906—a portrait that itself narrowly escaped misidentification and oblivion.
It was sold in December 2024 under the mistaken name of “Portrait of Marthe Hientz,” due to a misreading of the inscription on the back of the portrait. The capital “K” was read as an “H.”
Then sold again in May 2025 as a “Portrait of Marthe Keintz,” due to a misplacement of the “i” and the “e.”
These successive transcription errors, including “Anschutz” instead of “Anshutz” at the back of the canvas, nearly erased the connection between the painting, its subject, and its painter.
Thanks to the photograph preserved in the PAFA archives, Marthe and the painting were able to recover their identity, their provenance, and their legacy—each one relying on the evidence provided by the other.
The photograph (1912), combined with the painting (1906) and the evidence of Marthe’s stay in Philadelphia (May 13, 1906), is also a testimony to the relationship that existed, at least during the period between 1906 and 1912, between the model Marthe Kientz, the artist, and his wife.
Through this convergence, the rediscovery enriches and better documents the work of Thomas Pollock Anshutz. Marthe Kientz’s portrait stands as a singular testament to transatlantic exchange, archival preservation, and the resilience of identity across time.
This research was conducted by a private art researcher based in France, drawing upon archival resources. It illustrates how archival collections continue to illuminate hidden histories and expand our understanding of American art
Ever wonder how old papers and photos from the past end up online for everyone to see? That’s where Sharon and Zoe come in! They work behind the scenes in the archives, carefully handling historical records—some are so old they’re falling apart. First, they gently clean and flatten each item, then use a special camera to take clear pictures. It’s slow work, but it helps protect these pieces of history and makes them easier to share with students, teachers, researchers, and general public.
Once the pictures are taken, Sharon and Zoe organize everything so people can find what they’re looking for. They add helpful notes like names, dates, and places, and double-check that everything is easy to read. Thanks to their hard work, patrons from all over the world can explore history without ever visiting the archives in person. The photos below show Sharon and Zoe in action—digitizing, organizing, and preserving history one page at a time!
Sharon carefully preparing a fragile volume for photography. Before anything gets digitized, Sharon makes sure the page is properly angled to be photographed, ensuring the book is not being damaged. Some materialsare so old they need extra care!
Zoe using a camera setup to digitize historical records. Zoe takes high-quality images of each page so they can be shared online. It’s a slow process, but it helps preserve history for everyone.
We are thrilled to announce the completion of a major digitization project within the PAFA Archives: The Chester Springs Student Registration Cards. (https://pafaarchives.org/s/digital/page/chester-springs) For decades, these cards have been the primary—and often the only—proof of a student’s time spent at PAFA’s historic summer campus. Now, for the first time, this entire collection is available online, offering a searchable window into the lives of over 2,300 artists who studied in the rolling hills of Chester County.
A Legacy of “Open-Air” Art
In 1917, PAFA embraced the Impressionist-led “plein air” movement by opening the Academy Country School (popularly known as Chester Springs). Located about six miles from Phoenixville on a site steeped in history—from a pre-Revolutionary medicinal spa to a Revolutionary War hospital—the campus offered 100 acres of creative freedom.
Until its closure in 1952, the school was a vibrant village of art. A former hotel served as a dormitory, while barns and sheds were transformed into sun-drenched studios. Students spent six-week sessions painting landscapes, open-air figures, and still lifes, balanced by games of tennis, croquet, and swims in the local pools.
What the Collection Reveals
The archives has digitized every single student registration card from the Chester Springs records. This extensive list of 2,315 individual names provides vital documentation that can confirm:
Personal Details: Registered names and home addresses.
Academic History: Specific dates of attendance and courses taken.
Financial Records: Tuition and fee payments.
Special Distinctions: Notes on veteran status (GI Bill), scholarship awards, and even dormitory assignments.
Each entry allows you to click the student’s name to view the scan of their original index card. Because many artists returned year after year, these cards are displayed sequentially to show their growth and history with the school.
Start Your Research: Specialized Browse Lists
To help you navigate this vast collection, we have curated several specialized categories. Whether you are a genealogist, an art historian, or just curious about the Academy’s history, these links provide a great starting point:
Browse Women Artists – Discover the significant number of female painters who shaped the Chester Springs legacy.
This project was made possible by the dedicated work of our staff and PAFA students. We would like to extend our deepest thanks to the project contributors:
Sharon Yoon, Museum Collections Assistant (Project Lead)
Hoang Tran, Director of Library, Archives, & Collections
A Note on Accuracy: While we have made every effort to transcribe these names accurately, historical handwriting can be a challenge! If you believe a name has been transcribed incorrectly, please contact the Archives.
Contributed by Sharon Yoon, Museum Collections Assistant
The PAFA School Catalogs are valuable archival records that help provide insight into over 130 years of school operations. Historically known as “Circulars”, the school catalogs provided students and prospective students with information such as school policies, programs, scholarships, schedules, fees, prizes, and instructors. After 1908, the catalogs included illustrations of classes, work by students, and exhibitions of student work. Catalogs from the 1920s show many views of classes and grounds at the Chester Springs campus. From 1940, photographs of faculty and their work were prominently featured.
The catalogs provide important details on the curriculum, the instructors, and the overall artistic training environment at the Academy, making the collection particularly useful to those interested in 19th and 20th century American Art education.
As there were over 100 catalogs (and nearly 4,000 pages!) to digitize, using a flatbed scanner for this project would have been time-consuming and inefficient for staff. Moreover, since the text was the most important aspect of the records, we were less concerned about the overall “image quality”. However, as mentioned in the previous blog post, a large obstacle that presented itself during this project was post-processing. Each image needed to be individually rotated, cropped, and color corrected. Afterwards, all the pages had to be converted and combined into a PDF file. These files were then organized by year and run through OCR software, which recognizes and converts text within images to be machine readable. Finishing this step resulted in 118 digital reproductions of the Academy’s school catalogs that are now freely available online: https://pafaarchives.org/s/digital/item-set/29807
In 1978, PAFA established the Morris Gallery on the ground level of the Furness-Hewitt building with the specific intent of exhibiting contemporary work by living artists with Philadelphia ties. The Gallery has housed numerous exhibitions by influential artists such as Robert Ryman, Vik Muniz, Nan Goldin, Laylah Ali, Virgil Marti, Alyson Shotz, and Emil Lukas, among many others.
In addition, more conventional exhibitions focusing on art associated with the Academy or its traditions helped spread knowledge of the institution’s heritage and collections. As the program continually developed through the decades, it served as a showcase for a diverse array of artists from the Philadelphia region and beyond.
In Our Academy, PAFA Newsletter 1978 (RG.05.04)
Named after Harrison S. Morris (1856-1948), the turn-of-the-century secretary and managing director of the Academy from 1892 to 1905, the Gallery was located on the ground floor of the Furness-Hewitt building; the space was restored by Catharine Morris Wright, in memory of her father.
The Morris Gallery assumed the function of the Peale House galleries, which had originally featured works by both European and American artists. The broad focus of the Peale House galleries shifted in the early 1970s to highlight the work of younger, talented but unrecognized artists with special consideration given to those living or working in Philadelphia. The transfer of these exhibitions to the newly renovated and larger space of the Morris Gallery consolidated the Academy’s exhibition programs to one building and reaffirmed the institution’s continuing interest in contemporary art. From its inaugural exhibition in March 1978 (John Dowell: Recent Paintings), the Gallery has been a space for art of a range of mediums: drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, performance, and site-specific installations.
John Dowell: Recent Paintings (1978)
Steve Powers: The Magic Word (2007-08)
Woofy Bubbles performance (1984)
Lynn Denton: Sophia’s House— An Installation (1983)
After a series of part-time curators, the Academy hired a full-time head for the Morris Gallery program and for other contemporary exhibitions. Judith E. Stein held this position from 1983 until 1994. She was advised by the Morris Gallery Committee, consisting of board members, local artists, and Academy staff. In 1994, the gallery space was converted to a video and orientation theater. As a result, exhibitions were held in the main galleries for two years. The program resumed exhibitions in the original ground floor location in 1998. Subsequent Morris Gallery and Contemporary Art curators have widened the scope of this program, and the Morris Gallery Committee has been discontinued.
Odd Fellows: Marcel Dzama, Michael Dumontier, and Andrew Jeffrey Wright (2003),
Nannette Clark and Scott Rothstein: Recent Work (1994)
Charles Burns (1999)
Toshiko Takaezu: Recent Work (1992)
Various Morris Gallery exhibition programs (RG.02.06.05)
Contribute by Zoe Smith, IMLS Collections Photographer
Photographing sculptures—especially those with ornate details or unconventional shapes—often presents logistical challenges. Each piece requires a tailored approach to ensure it’s captured safely and effectively. Depending on the artwork, we might mount it on a wall or easel, use foam blocks to protect delicate corners, or simply place it on a table. Every setup is different.
One particularly tricky piece was Thomas P. Anshutz by Adam Pietz (accession #1938.6). This relief sculpture has small legs underneath its rectangular base, which made it impossible to position upright on our easel. To work around this, we photographed it on its side.
Maintaining consistent lighting across all our relief sculpture images is important to me, so I had to get creative. I positioned a large softbox above the sculpture, aimed toward the hair of Thomas P. Anshutz, and placed a smaller softbox below the camera, directed at the face. To enhance the highlights on the top and bottom edges, I added a reflector and a low-powered umbrella light.
The final result captured the shape and dimensionality of the relief beautifully—and matched the lighting style used for the rest of our collection.
Another setup included hanging a fragile plaster piece by Beatrice Fenton, Life Cast of Emily Clayton Bishop’s Left Hand (accession #1984.43). We screwed into a piece of wood and used white gaff tape to cover the hardware to minimize any unwanted color cast onto the sculpture. Every piece requires a new and challenging setup to get the best results.
Contributed by Zoe Smith, IMLS Museum Collections Assistantand Photographer
A challenge when photographing glazed works of art is the reflective nature of the plexiglass. To minimize reflections, we need to make everything around the camera black. In a previous post, we mentioned the process of using a large black velvet cloth set up on a backdrop. While that setup worked for many of our glazed works, the cloth was too small for our very large works.
Since PAFA does not have a dedicated photography studio, we also wanted to create a more portable solution that would also help us address the reflection issues of oversized works. I did some research and found some DIY ways to make a V Flat. A V Flat is a black piece of foam core that folds in half creating a V shape. Sharon Yoon (Museum Collections Assistant) and I made some mini prototypes to test out a couple ways to make this with materials we had in the museum before we scaled up to create the larger v flats.
Sharon and Zoe
V Flat prototypes
Instead of the foam folding only one way, we wanted to have it be in quarters to make it even more portable and easy to store. To do this we had to find a non-reflective and strong way to fasten two sides together that was removable. We tried Velcro strips, but they weren’t as strong as we wanted. The next method used framing materials we had, this allowed us to pull the pieces together tightly and the entire structure was much more solid. We used black gaff tape to combine all 4 panels and seal off any potential light leaks at the seam. We made three different V Flats that we can now line up and photograph large reflective pieces like this one by Barbara Krueger (accession 1984.19). Here are before and after images to see the differences when using the V flats.
Photograph without V Flats
Photograph with V Flats
Making these DIY V Flats is a versatile solution to many issues we encounter while photographing and allows us to capture each artwork without distractions.
Contributed by Sharon Yoon, Museum Collections Assistant
One of the things I’ve come to enjoy the most while working at PAFA is assisting researchers with research requests. The archives contain a trove of information that is vital for not only documenting institutional history, but also the artists that have trained or exhibited here at the Academy.
Because of our long history, we receive a wide range of research requests. The most common questions are regarding an artwork’s provenance, exhibition history, or whether an artist studied at PAFA.
With access being a core component of the archives’ mission, we welcome all researchers to visit and consult sources in-person. Understanding that not everyone is able to physically come to PAFA, staff work to provide assistance through email—if you have a question about PAFA history, we will (most likely) have answers (collections@pafa.org)!
For the past few months, I was able to gain insights on historical research methods, as well as learn a lot about PAFA’s archival collection and which collections would lead to the best records.
For this blog post, I’d like to share the thought process of how I handled a recent research request. A scholar sent an email requesting more information on May Howard Jackson (1877-1931), a Black artist and sculptor who attended classes at the Academy beginning in 1895. The researcher was specifically interested in Jackson’s student records, particularly the details of the scholarship that afforded her the opportunity to attend PAFA as well as her activities during her time at PAFA.
Unfortunately, the student records collected from this time period were not as comprehensive as our 20th century student records. Since there was no designated academic student file for Jackson, some digging into other sources was required. Many secondary sources online suggested Jackson attended PAFA in 1895 so that was my starting date. With this date, this led me to look into our student registers—large ledger books that listed students by year. Sifting through the student register, I found her entry! Note that these specific student registers were signed by the student/artist themselves.
See line 92; Student Register 1894-1904 (RG.03.03.04)
Given that the student register only provided a name, an address, a class she took, and the scholarship, it could be implied that this was the same May Howard Jackson that the researcher requested information on. However, to be a bit more thorough, I used the address listed for Howard in the student register and cross-referenced it with Philadelphia census records. The 1890 Philadelphia census records were largely destroyed by fire but looking into the 1900 records confirmed that May Howard (Jackson) did live at the address written in the student register. This was further confirmed by looking up maps of Philadelphia wards and checking that her address in the student register fell in the geographic area of the 2nd ward. The provided house number, names of known family members, and occupations listed in the census also lined up with known information on May Howard Jackson.
See line 66, 67. “United States Census, 1900”, , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M374-G43 : Tue Mar 05 19:56:11 UTC 2024), Entry for Floarda Howard and May Howard, 1900.
The next step was to find more information on the scholarship she received to attend the Academy. Listed as “Scholarship Bd Ed.”, I looked into the minutes of the Committee on Instruction and Board of Directors from the 1890s in hopes of finding details or conditions of the scholarship. In a February 1895 meeting of the Board of Directors, it was recorded that
“The President referred to the efforts made by the Academy to secure an appropriation from the city, and said that a bill appropriating $5000 had passed through Councils and had been signed by the Mayor; and in accordance with the request of the Board of Public Education, the President was authorized to form a committee of three to confer with a similar committee from that body on the subject of the scholarships to be given.”
The minutes confirmed that a scholarship was established in 1895 by the Academy in conjunction with the Board of Public Education. Other notes (not pictured) stated that the scholarship would enact in the fall of 1895.
Reading into the Committee on Instruction minutes was next, as I hoped there would be more illuminating information regarding the conditions of the scholarship and how May Howard Jackson would have been a recipient. Notes taken a few years after 1895 clearly outlined the scholarship’s requirements— namely that students of the Public Industrial Art School could register for an examination to be awarded one. This was a great find, as secondary sources and articles published about May Howard Jackson state that she attended J. Liberty Tadd’s Philadelphia Art School— more well known as the Public Industrial Art School of Philadelphia. She was among the first students to attend classes at the Academy with this scholarship, and the first Black female student to attend on scholarship.
Committee on Instruction records, Minutes 1895-1903
With this information at hand, I was able to provide the researcher with detailed answers about May Howard Jackson and personally learn more about this artist and the Academy’s history.
