Alson Clark collection of photographs

This collection contains 1289 photographs, chiefly gelatin silver prints, reflecting the professional life and travels of American impressionist painter Alson Skinner Clark, some taken by Alson Clark and some by commercial and unidentified photographers, from approximately 1889-1939. The collection chiefly comprises portraits of Alson and his wife Atta Medora Clark, many showing Clark painting en plein air; photographs depicting their studio home in the Arroyo Seco area of Pasadena, California; views of Clark's work, including murals at the Pasadena Playhouse, the Polytechnic Elementary School, and the First Trust and Savings Bank in Pasadena; and images of Alson Clark's travels, both with and without Medora Clark, to Thousand Islands, New York; throughout the Southwestern United States; Mexico; and, to a lesser extent, in Europe and Canada. The collection also includes photograph albums depicting the aftermath of World War I in Europe and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 in San Diego, and photographs depicting various locations in India, China, and Korea in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; many of these appear to be reproductions and are curling.

The photographs of the Southwestern United States comprise chiefly landscape views of California locations including La Jolla and the desert environs of Palm Springs, Panamint City, and the Owens Valley, and also depict Western scenes and locations including Mother Lode towns in California and Nevada; other Southwest states; men on horses; rodeos; and Indians, including several in various poses. Depictions of Mexico comprise chiefly street and market scenes in Taxco, Mexico City, Mazatlán, Punta Banda, and other locations, many showing indigenous people; churches and other buildings, including ruins; dwellings; and landscape views. Several of the photographs show people in camping parties, some depicting painters, including Clark, at work. Photographs of Canada depict chiefly street scenes and dwellings in the city and province of Québec and activities of the timber industry, including ships and timber hauling operations. Photographs of Europe depict chiefly village street and market scenes in Brittany, France and, to a lesser extent, in Dalmatia, Croatia; the collection also includes a photograph album depicting chiefly France and also Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in the aftermath of World War I.

This collection is directly related to the Alson Skinner Clark papers, 1870-1971, bulk 1890-1940, held by the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., a portion of which was also donated by Alson Clark, Jr.