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Catalog Data

Creator:
DeWitt, John, 1910-1984  Search this
Subject:
Dodd, Lamar  Search this
Celmins, Vija  Search this
Raffael, Joseph  Search this
Magafan, Ethel  Search this
McCoy, Ann Wyeth  Search this
Hereward Lester Cooke Foundation  Search this
American artist and water reclamation (1973: Washington, D.C.)  Search this
America 1976 (1976-1978: Washington, D.C.)  Search this
United States. Bureau of Reclamation  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
1.4 Linear feet
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 3 series; each series is arranged chronologically. Series 1: Correspondence, 1965-1979 (Box 1; 10 folders) Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1962-1978 (Box 1, 2; 1.3 linear feet) Series 3: Photographs, 1970-1974 (Box 2; 1 folder)
Access Note / Rights:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Summary:
The scattered papers of federal arts administrator John DeWitt date from 1962-1979, and measure 1.4 linear feet. The collection primarily documents 1970s arts programs sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, an agency of the Department of the Interior. Found within the papers are correspondence concerning the department's art projects and exhibition files for The American Artist and Water Reclamation, 1972, and America 1976 .
Citation:
John DeWitt papers, 1962-1979. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Use Note:
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.
Biography Note:
John DeWitt was born in 1910 and was a wood sculptor and federal arts administrator in Washingon, D.C.
DeWitt began his career as a professional writer and was a wood sculptor connected with the Veerhoff Gallery in Washington, D.C. His wife, Miriam Hapgood DeWitt, was a painter. In the late 1960s, DeWitt was the Director of Art Programs for the Bureau of Reclamation, an agency of the Department of Interior responsible for water conservation in arid regions of the United States. At this time, the Bureau initiated a program to present its accomplishments to the public through arts commissions and exhibitions. Under the direction of DeWitt and Lloyd Goodrich of the Whitney Museum of American Art, some 40 artists including Ralston Crawford, Peter Hurd, and Norman Rockwell, were invited to depict the scope of reclamation projects in the American West. The artists were given a free hand to depict any scene in any medium as long as the subject matter pertained to the Bureau of Reclamation's program. The resulting artwork was displayed in an exhibition, The American Artist and Water Reclamation , that opened at the National Gallery of Art in April 1972, and then toured the country in a traveling exhibition sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution.
As the Director of the Visual Arts Program for the Department of the Interior, DeWitt celebrated the Bicentennial by organizing the exhibition America 1976 , for which he hired over forty realist painters including Vija Celmins, Ralston Crawford, Alex Katz, Philip Pearlstein, and Wayne Thiebaud, to depict a diverse range of Americana. DeWitt was employed by the Department of the Interior until 1977.
John DeWitt died in 1984.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
The John DeWitt papers were donated in 1987 by DeWitt's widow, Miriam Hapgood DeWitt.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Theme:
Patronage  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)10398
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213774
AAA_collcode_dewijohn
Theme:
Patronage
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213774