William Peter Welsh papers
Abstract
The William Peter Welsh papers (1829-1982, undated; 35.1 cubic feet; 53 boxes) consists of artwork, newspaper clippings, cards, letters, financial documents, and subject files that document William Welsh's artistic and military careers as well as his personal life and relationships.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- William Peter Welsh papers
- Extent
- 35.1 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Artists -- Correspondence
- Artists -- Kentucky.
- Christmas cards.
- Illustrators.
- Magazines.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Germany.
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged into six series by subject and format: Artworks, Awards and artifacts, Correspondence, Newspaper and magazine clippings, Papers, and Photographs.
- Preferred Citation
- 1997ms231 : [identification of item], William Peter Welsh papers, 1813-1982, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- William Peter Welsh (1889-1984) was a renowned artist, who received notable commissions and accolades for his work, as well as a respected veteran, who achieved Lieutenant Colonol status and served in both World War I and II. Close friends and family would refer to him as Bill or Willie.
- Born to Bartholomew J. Welsh and Sara Ellen Cunningham King Welsh in Lexington, Kentucky, William Welch was the third of six children in total. His brother and sisters were King, Agatha, Barry, August, and Marguerite Welsh. His father, who owned the Florentine Hotel in Lexington, died of an aneurysm when Welsh was six, and his mother, Sara Welsh, began managing a boarding house to sustain the family. At age 11, Welsh temporarily dropped out of school and began working at the Lexington Leader. When his boss fired him so he could continue his education, Welsh instead started working at Kaufman's, where he gained recognition for drawing portraits of employees and customers during slow periods. When his boss caught wind of his talents, he started using his artistic abilities to create show cards for a higher salary.
- In 1904, he returned to school and began studying drawing and painting at the Ella Williams School in Lexington and studied with Mary Kinkead, who once studied with Frank Duveneck. It was at the Ella Williams School that Welsh met Henrietta Clay, his lifelong friend and his fiancé for a time, with whom he would correspond until her death. He later studied at the Academie Julien and Atelier Delecleuse in Paris, and then spent a summer in Holland to continue his work. Later he moved to New York to take a job under George Ford Morris, which would finance his studies at the Art Students League in New York under Vincent Dumond.
- He enlisted in the army in 1914 as a private with great difficulty due to the limited sight in his right eye and was commissioned as a First Lieutenant by 1917. He served at the Mexican Border in 1916 with General Pershing. He later served in France and was decorated for his service in the Battle of St. Mihiel. There he established the School of Fine and Applied Arts for the American Expeditionary Forces University in Beaune, and then moved back to the US, starting a twenty-year career as an illustrator in Chicago and New York.
- Later, after another tour of duty during the World War II, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel. He was then asked by the Army Historical Records Office to travel to Japan and the Philippines to convey the state of these countries post-war through his art. When he returned, he moved back to his birthplace of Lexington, Kentucky, working largely as a portrait artist until his death in 1984.
- Welsh won a plethora of awards for his art, including a 1921 first place prize for his international watercolor exhibition in Chicago; the 1949 Margaret Cooper Prize for Allied Artists of America; and the 1950 election to the Royal Society of Arts in London. Between 1919 and 1942, Welsh was an illustrator for multiple magazines including The Woman's Home Companion, Good Housekeeping, Hearst International, and Cosmopolitan. Welsh painted The Fat Lady in 1940, considered by some to be his best work. Among Welsh's most notable work was his Lexington Street Scene, a 24 foot-long, 6-foot high mural that was thought to have been destroyed during the demolition of the Kentuckian Hotel. He re-painted his famous mural in 1975. Members of The Welsh Society rediscovered the original mural in 1981. His friends founded the William P. Welsh Society in July of 1978 to honor him as both a painter and a patriot.
- Sources:
- Welsh, W. (1982). William P. Welsh, painter and patriot : An oral history. Lexington, Ky.: William P. Welsh Society. Welsh, W. (1900). Lexington street scene 1793. Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified]. Lexington mural on display at Hymson's, 1975. http://www.kyphotoarchive.com/2015/11/21/lexington-mural-on-display-at-hymsons-1975/
- Scope and Content
- The William Peter Welsh papers (1829-1982, undated; 35.1 cubic feet; 53 boxes) consists of artwork, newspaper clippings, cards, letters, financial documents, and subject files that document William Welsh's artistic and military careers as well as his personal life and relationships. Prints of his art, including several copies of his portraits of Henry Clay and Jefferson Davis and various cover illustrations for the Women's Home Companion are included. Christmas cards sent by, designed by, and received by Welsh, mostly during his time in Lexington, Kentucky are also included, as well as other holiday or sentimental cards. This collection also contains year-round correspondence with contemporaries of Welsh, including Henrietta Clay, Phil Kaufman, Hillary Boone, Vanilla Lindquist Corrin, and his sister, Agatha Welsh, among others.
- Various awards and certificates reflect his life devoted to the arts, specifically to the art scene in Lexington, and distinguish him as an exceptional artist of his time. Additional awards recognize his military service, most notably his period serving at the Mexican border during WWI. Newspaper and magazine clippings elaborate on Welsh's many art awards and notable projects and additionally provide context for the arts scene in Lexington and Chicago. Clippings regarding the life and history of Daniel Boone, having served as research for Welsh's Daniel Boone portrait and speech for Daniel Boone Day, are incorporated. Some additional topics and items included in these papers are various preserved book covers (not designed by Welsh), documentation of exhibitions Welsh visited, was invited to, or was showcased in, financial information (both business and income receipts), documentation from notable historical and artistic societies (including ones with which Welsh held a membership role, such as the Royal Society of Arts), military records, plans and proposals for his art projects or community projects with which he was involved, prints of other artists' work that he kept, speeches he's written/delivered, and documentation for the Tavern Club, a venue with which he was well-acquainted. Other important miscellaneous documents are included, such as obituaries and funeral papers for his close friends and family members, baptismal records, his sister Marguerite Welsh's wedding announcement, and documentation of Welsh's medical history and prescriptions. Additionally, an extensive photography collection documents his life both as a serviceman and as an artist.
Restrictions on Access and Use
- Conditions Governing Access
- Conditions Governing Access Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
- Use Restrictions
- The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.