Jones, T. Catesby (SC-06) Finding Aids to Special Collections in the VMFA Archives | T. Catesby Jones Personal Papers SC-06 Special Collection 06 (SC-06)

Finding Aids to Special Collections in the VMFA Archives | T. Catesby Jones Personal Papers SC-06

Special Collection 06 (SC-06)


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Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Archives

Margaret R. and Robert M. Freeman Library
200 N. Arthur Ashe Boulevard
Richmond, VA 23220-4007
Business Number: 804-340-1495
library@vmfa.museum
URL: https://vmfa.museum/library/special-collections-archives/

Courtney Yevich Tkacz, VMFA Archivist

Repository
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Archives
Identification
SC-06
Title
T. Catesby Jones Personal Papers (SC-06) 1946-1949
URL:
https://archives.vmfa.museum/repositories/2/resources/11
Quantity
0.1 Linear Feet, 1 box; 6 items
Creator
Jones, Louisa Brooke
Creator
Agelasto, Michael Alexander, 1869-1949
Language
English .
Abstract
The collection documents the relationship between T. Catesby Jones, prominent lawyer and art collector, and Michael Agelasto, cotton broker and later Greek consul to the Port of Norfolk. While they met professionally as younger men in Norfolk, their lifelong friendship was sustained by a common appreciation for modern art, as evidenced by the content of the collections' correspondence between Jones' widow, Louisa Brooke Jones, and Agelasto, after Catesby's death in 1946.

Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Use

The collection is subject to all copyright laws. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright, beyond that allowed by fair use, requires the researcher to obtain permission of copyright holders.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Custodial History

This collection was donated to the VMFA Archives' in June 2006 by Parker Agelasto, great grand-nephew of Michael Agelasto.

Preferred Citation

T. Catesby Jones Personal Papers (SC-06). Gift of the Agelasto Family. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.


Biographical Note

Thomas "T." Catesby Jones was born in Petersburg, Virginia in 1880, the third son of Walter Nelson Jones, owner of one of the city's most prominent mills. After studying at Hampden-Sydney College, Princeton University, and the University of Virginia, Jones graduated with his law degree in 1902 and shortly moved to Norfolk to set up a law practice. In 1911, he moved to New York City to take a job at the firm of Harrington, Bigham, and Englar, where he worked for the rest of his life and established an international reputation in maritime law. In addition, Jones spent twenty years amassing a renowned collection of modern French art and prints, later donated to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the University of Virginia.

Michael "Mickey" Alexander Agelasto was born in Syros, Greece in 1869 and died in Norfolk, Virginia in 1949. He attended Johns Hopkins University and graduated from Columbia University in 1891, where he played varsity tennis and then semi-professional for several years afterwards. He eventually settled in Norfolk, and worked in the family business as a cotton broker. Agelasto's extended family lived throughout the world and he travelled frequently to England, France, Greece, Italy, and Egypt. In 1916, Agelasto was appointed Greek Consul to the Port of Norfolk and had diplomatic responsibility for receiving all Greek vessels.

It is believed that Jones and Agelasto met professionally in Norfolk and subsequently became lifelong friends. Both men had an interest in modern art, and were members of the Museum of Modern Art from its earliest days. Agelasto continued his friendship with Jones' widow, Louisa Brooke Jones, after Catesby's death in 1946.

Source: Matisse, Picasso, and Modern Art in Paris

Source: Email exchange between Courtney Yevich Tkacz and Parker Agelasto, March 2011

Scope and Contents

The collection's inclusive dates are 1946-1949. The collection is comprised of correspondence, postcards, newspaper clippings, and one photograph.

Arrangement

The collection is organized into two series, and items are arranged chronologically within each series. Items with no date are placed at the end at each series.

Series 1
Correspondence, 1949, undated
Series 2
Clippings, 1946-1949

Subjects and Indexing Terms

  • Art, French -- 20th century
  • Art, Modern -- Private collections
  • Jones, T. Catesby (Thomas Catesby), 1880-1946

Related Materials - VMFA Library: Catalogs

Modern French Prints: An Address by T. Catesby Jones, Delivered on October 19, 1944 at The Grolier Club of New York, 1944
The T. Catesby Jones Collection: A Catalogue, With Which is Incorporated the Collector's Observations, 1948
Jean Lurçat: An Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Textiles from the T. Catesby Jones Collection of the Virginia Museum, November 16 through December 27, 1970
Contemporary French Tapestries, 1970
Early 20th Century French Graphics: The T. Catesby Jones Collection, 1989
Matisse, Picasso, and Modern Art in Paris: The T. Catesby Jones Collections at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the University of Virginia Art Museum, 2009

Related Materials - VMFA Library: Exhibition Files

T. Catesby Jones Collection, 1948
Prints from the Alderman Library, 1966
Contemporary French Tapestries / Jean Lurçat, 1970
Selections From the T. Catesby Jones Collections, 1974
Matisse, Picasso, and Modern Art in Paris: The T. Catesby Jones Collections at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the University of Virginia Art Museum, 2010

Related Materials - VMFA Library: Subject File

VMFA Donors: Jones, T. Catesby

Related Materials - Library of Virginia

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Director's Correspondence, 1936-1976 (Coll. No. 33863 and 44067)
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Exhibition Files, 1936-1992 (Coll No. 31633, 32958, 33041, 33160, 34679, 36342, 36957 and 37636)

Significant Persons Associated With the Collection

  • Agelasto, Michael Alexander, 1869-1949
  • Jones, Louisa Brooke
  • Jones, T. Catesby (Thomas Catesby), 1880-1946

Container List

SC-06-01
Series 1: Correspondence
4 items Box 1 (1 Folder)
1949, undated
Series Description

This series is comprised of correspondence between Louisa and Agelasto. The January 1949 letter includes a photograph of the monument designed by Jacques Lipchitz for Catesby's grave in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia. The April 1949 letter details Louisa's recent visit to Charlottesville, Virginia for the opening of the exhibition of Catesby's collection there.

  • Text SC-06 Box 1 Folder 1
    Jones to Agelasto, with envelope and photograph
    Jan. 23, 1949
  • Text SC-06 Box 1 Folder 1
    Jones to Agelasto, with envelope and self-addressed postcard
    Apr. 23, 1949
  • Text SC-06 Box 1 Folder 1
    Jones to Agelasto, postcard
    undated
  • Text SC-06 Box 1 Folder 1
    Jones to Agelasto, colored postcard of Mt. Wachusett, Princeton, Mass.
    undated
SC-06-02
Series 2: Clippings
2 items Box 1 (1 Folder)
1946-1949English.
Series Description

This series is comprised of newspaper clippings about Jones and his collection.

  • Text SC-06 Box 1 Folder 2
    "T. Catesby Jones, Lawyer, 64, Dead"
    [1946]
  • Text SC-06 Box 1 Folder 2
    "Jones Collection: Art Exhibit Opening at Va. 'U'"
    April 9, [1949]