Some of the portraits were gifts, while a number were commissioned by the Society or purchased. Fifteen of the works were painted by Frank O. Salisbury (1874–1962), one of the most popular English portrait painters of the twentieth century. Photographs of a number of the paintings have been reproduced in "The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record", and citations are given in the catalog as appropriate. The Avery Art and Publication Fund enabled the Society to acquire portraits and publish high quality illustrations in the "Record" for over fifty years.