The letters here, from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art, show that an artist might put pen to paper just as he or she would apply a line to a drawing. For each artist, a leading authority ...

The letters have been selected by Liza Kirwin, and are drawn entirely from the collections of the Archives of American Art, encompassing exuberant thank you notes, winsome love letters, lively reports ...

"[Letter writing] is a dying art," Mrs Russell said. "It appeals to me because once you put it down on paper, how you're feeling and what you're doing, it's between you and that person — no one ...