| Admin/Biog History | Kitson, Sydney Decimus (1871-1937) was an architect and collector of works by Cotman. In his retirement, he devoted his time to collecting and researching works by Cotman, and just before his death in 1937, he published a book on the artist: Kitson, S.D. (1937) The life of John Sell Cotman. London: Faber. [Oppé's annotated copy is available in the Paul Mellon Centre Library, see URL below]
Leeds Art Gallery have Kitson's archive, which is comprised of his research work on Cotman, and includes many letters from Oppé. |
| Description | This file contains one hundred and sixty-four letters and postcards to Oppé from Sydney Decimus Kitson, dated between 5 May 1928-12 Jun 1937, concerning the acquisition, attribution, provenance and exhibition of works by Cotman. The letters also include discussion of various biographical matters realting to the artist.
Also included are various associated materials relating to the discussion of Cotman, and a further set of materials relating to Kitson, including:
-exhibition catalogue, 'Drawings by John Sell Cotman (1782-1842): lent by Sydney Kitson, Esq.', dated 12 April-19 May 1928, held at the Oxford Arts Club
-exhibition catalogue, 'Catalogue of the forty-third annual exhibition of pictures in the Department of Fine Art, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford', dated 21 March-20 April 1933, hosted by the Oxford Art Society
-newspaper cuttings and various pages from the Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) from 1937 and 1939 relating to Kitson, including an obituary and an article about an exhibition of his drawings by Cotman held at the Henry Florence Hall at RIBA, London in June 1939
-two reviews of Kitson's 1937 Cotman monograph, one of which is by Oppé
The Paul Mellon Centre's Archives & Library collections contain additional material on this artist. Please see the Artist Guide on our website for further information (link below). |
| Image Caption | Letter from Sydney Kitson, dated 18 Dec 1928 |