Paul Ashbrook Papers (CAA/21)

Biographical/Historical Information

Paul Ashbrook was born in lower Manhattan on January 3, 1867. Originally called Paul von Eschenbach, he would change the family name in 1918 - during the First World War.

The young artist was an early member of the Art Students League and later studied under William Meritt Chase at his famous Tenth Street studio. Here Ashbrook learned about Chase's great friend, Frank Duveneck, who was one of the main reasons he would ultimately choose to move to Cincinnati when offered the post of head of the design department of the Henderson Lithographing Company.

Ashbrook, his wife Clara, and daughter Emily (b.1893), moved to Cincinnati in 1900, where he worked for the Henderson Company until 1918. During this time he supplemented his income by teaching illustration at the Art Academy of Cincinnati (c.1914-1919) and lithography at the Ohio Mechanics Institute (1917-1920). Ashbrook also took time to study painting under Frank Duveneck at the Art Academy.

In Nov 1902, Paul and Clara had a son, Robert. However, in 1908 Clara died after a long illness. Three years later, Paul remarried; his second wife, Henriette "Hetty" Schmidt (b.1879), was Viennese-born, like Clara.

Ashbrook's hectic schedule of work and teaching left him little time for personal artistic expression. So, in 1920 he joined the Strobridge Lithographing Company as a freelance commercial designer, a position that gave him more free time for painting and trips abroad.

By the mid-1920s, he was taking annual trips abroad to Europe and Mexico, and his paintings serve as a record of the countries he visited. Several of Ashbrook's finest paintings were executed during a visit to Polperro in the county of Cornwall, England, in 1935.

Although he had great experience of design and production in lithography, Ashbrook did not produce much graphic art until the mid-1920s. However, around 1925 he was asked by Walter Closson, a prominent local art dealer, to make etchings for sale. Then, in 1929, he gained national acclaim following the publication of a series of etchings based on sketches and paintings he made whilst traveling in Mexico. After two of the prints were featured in national exhibitions, Ashbrook's fame as an etcher grew rapidly. The success of this endeavour led him to give up his freelance commercial work in order to devote his time and energy to his own etching and painting. He was also a keen caricaturist, although these were intended only for his family and friends.

Paul Ashbrook died on a trip to Mexico in August 1949. Henriette died in 1969, and Robert in 2000.

(For a detailed biography and appraisal of Ashbrook's work, see the catalog which accompanied the exhibition of his work held at the Taft Museum, Cincinnati, Sep 10-Oct 25, 1987, from which much of this information is taken)

Scope and Contents

The collection contains a mixture of Paul Ashbrook's papers, and those of his son, Robert Ashbrook. The papers from Robert principally relate to his father's work and legacy, but also contain his own personal correspondence and papers. To a lesser extent, there are also materials pertaining to Henriette Ashbrook.

Paul Ashbrook's papers include materials relating to his career in art, such as exhibitions of his work, the sale and gifting of art, supply catalogs, and an extensive collection of clippings. There are also many photographic reproductions of his artwork, and a selection of art reference books.

The collection also includes personal papers, such as correspondence exchanged between Paul and Robert, as well as materials relating to the Ashbrooks' travels. There is an extensive collection of paperwork, guidebooks and photographs illustrating the family's national and international travels. Some of these items relate directly to pieces of artwork Paul Ashbrook produced, such as the photographs taken during his trip to Polperro, England. There are also travel journals, written by Henriette, which provide a commentary of their day to day activities, as well as a collection of menus gathered from the liners on which the family travelled.

Whilst many of the photographs in this collection were taken on the Ashbrooks' foreign travels, there are also images taken in the United States, including Cincinnati, such as those showing the Ohio River flood of 1913, the river frozen over, a travelling circus/Wild West show (with elephants), and local street scenes.

Arrangement

Conditions Governing Access

Whilst the archives aims to provide access to the records in its care to the fullest extent possible, it reserves the right to restrict access for any reason. Please see the archives’ Access Policy for further information: www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/visit/library-archives/the-archives/

See also Paul Ashbrook's artist file (CAA/1/5 Box 2a & 2b)

Preferred Citation note

Mary R. Schiff Library & Archives, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH.

Processing Information

This collection has been processed to folder level only. An inventory of files in each box has been created, and some limited rearrangement and weeding of files may also have been undertaken to make them more usable. However, existing folders will have not been replaced with archival folders, paperclips and staples will not have been removed, and major rearrangement of files will not have taken place.

Appraisal note

Duplicate materials were removed; otherwise, the collection is as received.

Update: Two boxes of books were transferred to the Library collection (Jun 2016); a complete list is available in Box 1. At least one contained an illustration that was copied by Ashbrook ("Idyllen" (1921)) - a photocopy of the relevant page was retained (see Box 1). Several books also contained sketches by Ashbrook; these were transferred to the Print Department. The remainder of the books were accessioned into the Library collection or sold.

These books were in addition to the 600 books given to the Library by the Ashbrook Foundation in 2002. Some of these were accessioned into the Library collection, whilst the remainder were sold. A complete list is available in Box 1.

Detailed List of Collection