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Catalog Data

Creator:
Ross, Gloria F.  Search this
Names:
Atelier Raymond Picaud  Search this
Denver Art Museum  Search this
Dovecot Studios  Search this
Pace Editions (Firm)  Search this
Pinton Atelier  Search this
Temple Emanu-El (Bayonne, N.J.)  Search this
Avery, Milton, 1885-1965  Search this
Bearden, Romare, 1911-1988  Search this
Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964  Search this
Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011  Search this
Motherwell, Robert  Search this
Nevelson, Louise, 1899-1988  Search this
Noland, Kenneth, 1924-  Search this
Extent:
14.5 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Paintings
Video recordings
Photographs
Date:
circa 1924-1998
Summary:
The papers of New York tapestry éditeur Gloria Ross measure 14.5 linear feet and date from circa 1924-1998. The bulk of the papers consist of project files that document her collaborations with artists to make tapestries of their paintings and collages. Also found are scattered biographical material, professional correspondence, exhibition files, professional activity files, personal business records, printed material, photographs, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York tapestry éditeur Gloria Ross measure 14.5 linear feet and date from circa 1924-1998. The bulk of the papers consist of project files that document her collaborations with artists to make tapestries of their paintings and collages. Also found are scattered biographical material, professional correspondence, exhibition files, professional activity files, personal business records, printed material, photographs, and artwork. Biographical material includes resumes and career summaries, as well as an interview of Ross on one videocassette, and a few Frankenthaler family documents. Correspondence is with artists, weavers, workshops, publications, and galleries and is of a professional nature. Project files document Ross's collaborations with prominent artists such as Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, Romare Bearden, Louise Nevelson, Milton Avery, Stuart Davis, and others. Project files may include correspondence, contracts, invoices, notes, photographs, yarn samples, and a few maquettes and cartoons. Also of note are extensive files regarding her collaborations with Navajo weavers to create tapestries based on geometric paintings by Kenneth Noland. Other project files include a commissioned tapestry for Temple Emanu-El in New York. Exhibition files document various solo and group exhibitions of Gloria Ross tapestries and includes one videocassette from a 1978 exhibition. Records of her professional activities include her participation in symposia, lectures, and public events. Files may include correspondence, draft lectures, programs, and event publicity. Two short documentaries found on two videocassettes were produced for the Denver Art Museum. Personal business records document Ross's business relationships with weaving workshops and art galleries, most notably Atelier Raymond Picaud, Pinton atelier, Edinburgh Tapestry Company (Dovecot Studios), and Pace Editions, the major sales agent of Gloria Ross tapestries. Printed material consists of catalogs, announcements, press releases, and other publications regarding exhibitions of Gloria Ross tapestries and Navajo tapestries. Photographs depict Ross, the Frankenthaler family, Ross's tapestries, weaving studios, and Navajo weavers. Artwork includes one painting by Paul Jenkins and unidentified textile and yarn samples.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 9 series. Missing Title Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1926-1998 (5 folders; Box 1) Series 2: Correspondence, 1965-1998 (0.7 linear feet; Box 1) Series 3: Project Files, 1960-1998 (7.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-7, 14-15, 17-19, OVs 20, 22-24, Artifact) Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1967-1994 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 7-8, 17) Series 5: Professional Activities, 1955-1997 (0.7 linear feet; Box 8) Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1964-1998 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 8-10, OV 21) Series 7: Printed Material, 1970s-1990s (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 10-11, 14) Series 8: Photographs, circa 1924-1990s (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 11, 16) Series 9: Artwork, circa 1970s-1990s (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 11-14, 17, 19)
Biographical / Historical:
Gloria F. Ross (1923-1998) was a tapestry éditeur in New York, New York. Ross was born Gloria Frankenthaler in New York in 1923. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1943 and married Alfred Ross. They had three children: Alfred, Beverly, and Clifford. In 1954, Gloria Ross made her first needlepoint work from a design by her sister, abstract painter Helen Frankenthaler, and by the mid-1960s, she was exhibiting her tapestries and hooked rugs in New York. She established Gloria F. Ross Studio in 1966 and began regularly collaborating with artists such as Robert Motherwell, Louise Nevelson, Jack Youngerman, and Jean Dubuffet to make their works into tapestries. She created business partnerships with weaving workshops in Scotland and France to produce the works. In 1973 she had her first exhibition at Pace Editions, Inc., beginning a long relationship with the gallery as her main sales agent. In 1979, Ross first traveled to the Navajo Nation to find weavers for a collaborative project with artist Kenneth Noland. She continued to visit the Southwest at least once a year until 1994, and she donated her collection of Navajo rugs and other textiles to the Denver Art Museum. Throughout the 1980s Ross traveled extensively for projects, exhibitions, and symposia. Her final commissioned project, completed in 1997, was a tapestry designed by artist Mark Podwol for Temple Emanu-El in New York. That same year she established the Gloria F. Ross Center for Tapestry Studies in Tucson, Arizona.
Provenance:
Donated in 2013 by the Gloria Ross estate via Michael I. Katz, executor, with assistance from the Gloria F. Ross Tapestry Program, University of Arizona, via Ann Lane Hedlund, director.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Topic:
Tapestry -- Design  Search this
Tapestry -- Production control  Search this
Tapestry -- Technique  Search this
Designers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Navajo weavers  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Paintings
Video recordings
Photographs
Citation:
Gloria Ross papers, circa 1924-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.rossglor
See more items in:
Gloria Ross papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw98a5d5eb6-9a0b-441f-82c9-8f6b53b795ee
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-rossglor