An Inventory of His Collection at the Harry Ransom Center
Creator:
Tonks, Henry, 1862-1937
Title:
Henry Tonks Collection
Dates:
1877-1947
Extent:
3 boxes (1.26 linear feet)
Abstract:
The Henry Tonks Collection consists
primarily of Tonks' correspondence, manuscripts, and notes plus correspondence
regarding Tonks, all used by Joseph Maunsell Hone in his biography of the artist.
Henry Tonks, born on April 9, 1862, in Solihull, Warwickshire, was an English painter
and art teacher. Tonks attended Clifton College, then studied medicine at London
Hospital, Whitechapel. In 1887, Tonks began a successful surgical career at the
Royal Free Hospital where he worked until 1892, when he became an anatomy
demonstrator at the London Hospital medical school in order to have more free
time
for painting. His knowledge of human anatomy would later be an integral part of
both
his own art and his teaching.
Starting in 1887 Tonks attended the Westminster School of Art in his free time, where
he studied under Frederick Brown. In 1891, he exhibited his first paintings at
the
New English Art Club. By 1893, Tonks had completely abandoned his medical career
to
pursue a career in painting and teaching, when he attained a position at the Slade
School of Art in London as assistant professor to his former teacher, Frederick
Brown.
At the onset of World War I, Tonks went back into medicine, working with prisoners
at
a camp hospital in Dorchester, then at Hill Hall, Essex. He also worked as an
orderly with a British ambulance unit. During this time he began making drawings
of
facial wounds from the war which were later published in a book titled Plastic Surgery of the Face. In 1918, he was
appointed official war artist.
In 1919, Tonks succeeded Frederick Brown as professor at the Slade School of Art in
London, where he would teach until his retirement in 1930. After his retirement,
Tonks continued to paint until his death on January 8, 1937.
Sources:
Hopkins, Justine. "Tonks, Henry."Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press,
http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/ (accessed 4 October
2010).
Morris, Lynda. "Tonks, Henry (1862-1937)."Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford
University Press, 2004, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36535 (accessed
4
October 2010).
Scope and Contents
The Henry Tonks Collection consists primarily of Tonks' correspondence, manuscripts,
and notes plus correspondence regarding Tonks, all used by Joseph Maunsell Hone
in
his biography of the artist. The collection is arranged in three Series: I. Works
(1915, undated), Series II. Correspondence (1877-1939), and Series III. Joseph
Maunsell Hone Papers Regarding Henry Tonks (1879-1947). Part of this collection
was
previously accessible through a card catalog but has been recataloged as part
of a
retrospective conversion project.
The Works Series consists primarily of short, unpublished works by Tonks, many of
which are untitled. Among these are nine handwritten works on the nature of art,
including such subjects as the principles of drawing, the artist and society,
the
practical difficulties of painting, as well as one manuscript that reveals why
Tonks
became an artist. In addition to Tonks' writing on art, the Works Series contains
Tonks' translation of a German article on drawing ("The
Golden Compasses"), a description of Tonks' war service in Italy, and two
typed manuscripts describing Tonks' close friend George Moore, which were used
by
Hone in his biography, The Life of George Moore
(1936).
The Correspondence Series is divided into outgoing and incoming letters and is
arranged alphabetically by recipient or sender. Outgoing correspondence is made
up
of letters from Tonks to close friends and students, including twelve letters
to
Joseph Maunsell Hone regarding George Moore, six letters to his student Aubrey
Waterfield regarding the conditions under which artists must be expected to live,
and 58 letters to Nelson Ward, four of which are illustrated and addressed to
"Felix
Baumgartner." Incoming correspondence makes up the bulk of this series and includes
significant amounts of letters from Tonks' professor Frederick Brown, Sir Augustus
Daniel, and John Fothergill, a life-long friend of Tonks. All correspondent names
are included in the Index of Correspondence in this finding aid.
Series III., Joseph Maunsell Hone Papers Regarding Henry Tonks, consists of notes
and
correspondence used by Hone in his biography of the artist, The Life of Henry Tonks, (1939) and is arranged alphabetically by author
or sender. These include descriptions of Tonks made by close friends and students
of
Tonks as well as correspondence between friends of the artist regarding his life
and
character.
Related Material
Additional manuscript material by Tonks may be found in several other manuscript
collections at the Ransom Center: Laurence Binyon, Edward Gordon Craig, Thomas
Stearns Eliot, Francis John Clarence Westenra Plantaganet Hastings, 15th Earl
of
Hastings, Joseph Maunsell Hone, Alfred Edward Houseman, Mary Hutchinson, Julian
Sorrell Huxley, Wyndham Lewis, Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes, Dugald Sutherland
MacColl, George Moore, Sir William Orpen, Sir William Rothenstein, and R. J.
Whistler. Tonks is included in three drawings by Max Beerbohm in the Art Collection.
An image of a bust of Tonks, a portrait of Tonks with Walter John Low Northbourne,
an image of Tonks' friend P. Wilson Steer with a woman, a portrait of Eric Gill
looking at a mosaic, and a view of the beach with nude figures drawn in by Tonks
are
included in Photography in the Literary File Collection. Clippings and other
ephemera can be found in the Vertical File Collection.
