The Anneberg Gallery records measure 4.4 linear feet and date from 1945 to 1992, with the bulk of the records dating from 1966 to 1981. The collection sheds light on the San Francisco gallery's operations, specializing in local crafts and international folk art, through administrative records, artist files, exhibition files, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The Anneberg Gallery records measure 4.4 linear feet and date from 1945 to 1992, with the bulk of the records dating from 1966 to 1981. The collection sheds light on the gallery's operations through administrative records, artist files, exhibition files, and photographic material.
Administrative records include financial papers such as sales invoices, expenses, consignment records; notes, writings, and reference cards pertaining to international and Native folk art, particularly ceremonial and non-ceremonial masks; and scant printed material. Administrative records also include a ledger that belonged to the painter James Edgar Forkner. Artist files consist of correspondence, biographical material, printed material, price lists, sales invoices, and some photographic material. Exhibition files consist of correspondence with importers of the exhibited material, price lists, announcements, some shipping and delivery documents, newspaper clippings, and notes. This series also includes a scrapbook consisting of the gallery's exhibition announcements and posters. Photographic material includes negatives, slides, snapshots, and contact sheets of textiles, fabrics, sculptures and figurines, international artists and artisans, as well as some personal images taken in San Francisco, California and Seattle, Washington.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as four series.
Series 1: Administrative Records, 1945-1990 (Box 1; 0.9 linear feet)
Series 2: Artist Files, 1967-1981 (Box 1-2; 1 linear foot)
Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1966-1992 (Box 2-4; 2.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Photographic Material, circa 1966-1981 (Box 5; 0.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
The Anneberg Gallery was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1966 by Margery Anneberg. The gallery's original name was The Jewelry Shop and Gallery, but it changed to Anneberg Gallery in 1967. The gallery exhibited local artists and crafts; however, it specialized in the exhibition and sale of international folk art. Anneberg gathered textiles, masks, fabrics, baskets, sculptures, and much more from collectors and importers around the world. The gallery showcased items from the Middle East, China, Japan, Africa, South America, Mexico, and others. Although mostly involved in displaying contemporary crafts, the gallery did exhibit some historical artifacts as well.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2004 by Craig T. Anneberg, brother of gallery owner Margery Anneberg, as part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center
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.
Anneberg Gallery records, 1945-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
1 Microfilm reel (147 items on 1 partial microfilm reel)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Date:
1979-1988
Scope and Contents:
The microfilmed Beth and James Arient papers contain 23 letters from self-taught painter Howard Finster and Pauline Finster to the Arients (1979-1987); and photographs of folk artists, some with the Arients, and their work (1980-1988). Among the artists photographed are Elijah Pierce, Mary Borkowski, Jesse Howard, Joe "The Welder" Janosik, Eunice McCloskey, Dow Pugh, Howard Finster, Minnie Black, Nellie Mae Rowe, Lanier Meaders, B.C. Craig, William Dawson, Carl McKenzie, Denzil Goodpaster, S.L. Jones, Carlton Garrett, Frank Pickle, Sam Doyle, David Butler, Luster Willis, "Daddy Boy" Williams, Kid Mertz, Dilmus Hall, James "Son" Thomas, Derek Webster, Raymond Coins, James Harold Jennings, Sarah Mary Taylor, Mary T. Smith, and Clyde "Jungle Boy" Jones.
Biographical / Historical:
Beth Arient (1946- ) and James "Jim" Arient (1946- ) are folk art collectors in Naperville, Illinois.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the oral history interview with James and Beth Arient, 1988 April 27-29.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1988 by the Arients.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Correspondence of Florence Laffal regarding the quarterly newsletter the "Folk Art Finder" (1980-2000); photographs (photocopies); correspondence with John Turner concerning his book manuscript on Finster; photographs of self-taught artists; and printed material concerning exhibitions of the Flo and Jules Laffal collection; and miscellany. Correspondents include Barbara Archer, Julie Ardery, Didi Barrett, Robert Bishop, Russell Bowman, Barbara Brackman, Roger Cardinal, Robert Cargo, Richard Edson, Richard Gasperi, Anton Haardt, John Maizels, Roger McKay, Randall Morris, Marcia Muth Ann F. Oppenhimer, Tom Patterson, Chuck Rosenak, Allie Light and Irving Saraf, John Turner (regarding his manuscript on Howerd Finster), Willem Volkersz, Maude Wahlman, and others. Also included are letters from Howard and Pauline Finster, writings, and color copies of photographs concerning a surprise party honoring Howard Finster on his 67th birthday, November 12, 1983, in Trion, Georgia, organized by Florence and Jules Laffal; a typescript of a talk delivered by Florence Laffal at the symposium "The Cutting Edge, 20th Century American Fok Art Panel: Age of Discovery, 1960-1990"; photographs (mounted on foamcore) are of John Vivolo, Minnie Black, Jack Savitsky, Edgar Tolson, Jimmie Lee Sudduth, Carl McKenzie, William Dawson, and Felicien Levesque that were included in the exhibition 20th Century Folk Art from the Collection of Flo and Jules Laffal at the Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, Conn, 1997.
Biographical / Historical:
Editor, publisher; Essex, Conn.; b. 1921. Florence Laffal was editor and publisher of the quarterly newsletter "Folk Art Finder." Her husband, Julius, was contribution editor and co-publisher. The couple owns and maintains works of art in the Collection of Flo and Jules Laffal.
Provenance:
Donated 2004 by Florence Laffal.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The papers of folk art collector and museum curator Herbert Waide Hemphill date from 1776-1998, bulk 1876-1998, and measure 26.7 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical materials, personal business records, files documenting his collecting, writings, art work, minutes of meetings, a scrapbook, printed material including exhibition and auction announcements and catalogs, and miscellaneous artifacts. The collection also contains numerous photographs of Hemphill, family members, his residences, friends and colleagues, exhibitions, travel, and art work. Sound and video recordings include interviews of Hemphill.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of folk art collector and museum curator Herbert Waide Hemphill date from 1776-1998, bulk 1876-1998, and measure 26.7 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical materials, personal business records, files documenting his collecting, writings, art work, minutes of meetings, a scrapbook, printed material including exhibition and auction announcements and catalogs, and miscellaneous artifacts. The collection also contains numerous photographs of Hemphill, family members, his residences, friends and colleagues, exhibitions, travel, and art work. Sound and video recordings include interviews of Hemphill.
Biographical material includes photocopies of Hemphill's birth certificate and passport, social security cards, and international health card, genealogical notes, an evaluation of his school work, membership cards, award certificates, address books, and an engagement calendar containing very brief annotations of his activities.
Correspondence documents Hemphill's affairs with miscellaneous museums and art institutions, discussing his presentation of lectures, exhibitions, and loans from his collection to organizations including the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, the Folk Art Society of America, the Museum of International Folk Art, and the Smithsonian Institution's American Art Museum.
Hemphill's correspondence with friends and colleagues discuss collecting activities and pursuit of newly discovered folk art and artists. Many of the letters are from artists. Correspondents include Varick A. Crittenden, Michael D. Hall, A. Everette James, Daniel C. Prince, Neal A. Prince, and artists Rev. Maceptaw Bogun, Mary Borkowski, Tim Fowler, Joseph Victor Gatto, S. L. Jones, Gustav Klumpp, Roy Little, George Lopez, Kevin Orth, and Malcah Zeldis. There are also scattered letters from artists Miles Burkholder Carpenter, John W. Fancher, Rev. Howard Finster, William Hawkins, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Mr. Imagination, Mattie Lou O'Kelley, Clayton Patterson, St. EOM, and Mose Tolliver. One letter from Stephanie and John Smither is etched on a bone.
Personal business records include both legal and financial documents. There are wills for Hemphill, his mother, and for his friend Neal A. Prince. The records also include leases, insurance records, contracts, grant proposals, loan agreements, deeds of gift, price lists, consignment records, tax records, and miscellaneous receipts. Cancelled checks relate to Hemphill's collecting interests and activities, and include payments to artists for their work. There are court papers documenting a lawsuit by Hemphill's landlord who was attempting to evict him.
Art work consists of a sketchbook by Roy Little, a set of hand-cut Japanese mask designs, a collage of Polaroid photographs taped to glass created by Rev. Howard Finster, a hand-made book by Nancy Josephson, and miscellaneous drawings, watercolors, and prints by various artists including Justin McCarthy, Inez Nathaniel, and Nellie Mae Rowe.
Notes and writings include card files of artists, extensive bibliographic card files, and scattered notes on artists including Miles Carpenter, Raymond Coins, Rev. Howard Finster, Mattie Lou O'Kelley, Royal Robertson, Veronica Terrillion, Mose Tolliver, and Bill Traylor. Also found are lists of artists, patrons, and art work, miscellaneous notes, and minutes of meetings. Writings by Hemphill and others including Michael D. Hall, Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, A. Everett James, and Julia Weissman, consist of reports, typescripts, and poems concerning a wide range of art-related topics and travel.
A scrapbook consists of unbound pages of clippings and newsletters about Hemphill, his collection, and exhibitions of folk art.
There is extensive additional printed material illustrating Hemphill's many interests. This series primarily consists of clippings and exhibition announcements and catalogs for mainstream artists as well as folk artists. Also included are auction announcements and catalogs, announcements for festivals, press releases, and calendars of events. Numerous booklets, brochures, programs, menus, business cards, and novelty postcards concern a variety of topics including worldwide travel, the sale of art work, miscellaneous galleries, museums, organizations, conferences, schools, lectures, antiques and craft shops, films, publications, restaurants, household items, historical topics, and miscellaneous artists including Miles Carpenter, S. P. Dinsmoor, Lonnie Holley, Clementine Hunter, and Veronica Terrillion. There are also autographed copies of booklets The Black Swan and Other Poems by James Merrill, and The Blood of Jesus by Thomas Jefferson Flanagan. Novelty postcards range from photographs of Elvis Presley to cards with amusing captions or cartoon jokes. There is also sheet music by Charles Trenet. Miscellaneous printed material includes several eighteenth-century newspapers and a 1776 thirty shilling note from New Jersey.
Photographs are of Hemphill, family members, his residences, friends and colleagues including style editor Carrie Donovan, artist Rev. Howard Finster dancing at an exhibition opening, actress Alice Ghostley, Michael D. Hall, circus performers Vernon Goins and Tiny Hicks, Smithsonian curator Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, Neal A. Prince, and Jim Spies. Photographs of exhibitions include stereographic views of the International Exhibition in Philadelphia and the Exposition Universelle in Paris, and photographs of Hemphill's donation of his collection and its subsequent exhibition at the Smithsonian's American Art Museum. Travel photographs include views of South Dakota, Texas, the American West, Japan, Mexico, and The Netherlands.
Numerous photographs of art work sometimes include images of the artists with their work including Bruce Brice, Raymond Coins, John W. Fancher, Rev. Howard Finster, Theora Hamblett, Bessie Harvey, William Hawkins, James Harold Jennings, John Jordan, Charles Lisk, Alexander Maldonado, St. EOM, Fred Smith, Edgar Tolson, Hubert Walters, and Purvis Young. Some photographs of unattributed art work has been arranged by the state in which it is located and includes a Mardi Gras parade in Louisiana, a Mummer's parade in Pennsylvania, Lucy the Elephant-shaped building in New Jersey, and Holy Ghost Park in Wisconsin. Other photographs of unattributed art work include works on paper, paintings, sculpture, signs, collages, needlework, glass, ceramics, and architecture.
Sound and video recordings include a cassette from Hemphill's phone answering machine that contains only Hemphill's message to callers, cassette recordings of interviews with and concerning Hemphill, artist St. EOM, painter Robert E. Smith discussing his work, and the tour narration for a Smithsonian exhibition Made With Passion. There are videotapes about Hemphill and about artists Gayleen Aiken, Miller and Bryant, and Malcah Zeldis, and miscellaneous African American artists. There is also a videotape of an American Museum of Natural History tour group arriving in a succession of villages in Melanesia and Papua New Guinea where they are greeted by the native people and given the opportunity to purchase their art work.
Artifacts consist of a scattered assemblage of three-dimensional objects including three wooden "fringe" pieces from cigar store figures, ceramic fragments from a sword handle, a lock of horse hair, and a hand-painted View Master viewer souvenir from the opening of the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. The View Master contains a disc of photographs of artists with their work including Vollis Simpson and Mary Frances Whitfield. Also included is a teacher's kit Little Adventures in Art containing four phonograph albums and four short film strips of slides showing art work in animal and bird forms.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series; all series are arranged chronologically:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1916-1997 (Box 1, 28; 12 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1901-1998 (Boxes 1-5, 27- 28, OV 31; 4.0 linear feet)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1817-1997 (Box 5-7, 28; 2.0 linear feet)
Series 4: Art Work, 1911-1997 (Box 7, 32; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 5: Notes and Writings, 1938-1996 (Box 7-10, 28; 2.5 linear feet)
Series 6: Scrapbook, 1965-1976 (Box 10; 1 folder)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1776-1998 (Box 10-19, 28-29, OV 31; 9.5 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographs, 1876-1997 (Box 19-24, 29; 5.5 linear feet)
Series 9: Sound and Video Recordings, 1986-1991 (Box 25-26; 13 folders)
Series 10: Artifacts, 1968-1995 (Box 26, 30; 0.7 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., (1929-1998) lived in New York city and was a prominent curator, historian, and collector of American folk art. Hemphill was one of the founding members of the Museum of American Folk Art, organized several large exhibitions of folk art, and co-authored Twentieth Century American Folk Art and Artist.
Hemphill was born on January 21, 1929 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the son of businessman Herbert Waide Hemphill, Sr., and Emma Bryan Bradley Hemphill whose uncle, William Clark Bradley, was one of the owners of the Coca-Cola Company.
Hemphill was reared in his mother's home town of Columbus, Georgia, and attended Wynnton School. At the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey and the Solebury School in New Hope, Pennsylvania, Hemphill's principle interests were in art and theater. In 1948, he spent a year studying fine arts at Bard College under Stefan Hirsch, a painter and folk art collector.
Hemphill developed his interest in collecting while accompanying his mother on her shopping forays searching for Dresden china. His first acquisition was a wooden duck decoy purchased when he was seven years old. His early collections were of glass bottles, marbles, stamps, and puzzle jugs. In 1949, Hemphill moved to Manhattan and began to focus on modern European and American art and African sculpture, but after 1956 he concentrated exclusively on 19th and early 20th century American folk art. He often discovered artists during his extensive travels, especially in the American South.
In 1961, Hemphill became one of the six founding trustees of the Museum of Early American Folk Art, later named the Museum of American Folk Art, in New York City. Between 1964 and 1973, he was the museum's first curator and curated many exhibitions, helping to promote awareness of work created by self-taught or visionary artists. He later served as Trustee Emeritus for many years.
Between 1974 and 1988, Hemphill loaned portions of his extensive personal collection to 24 museums nationwide and in 1976, the American Bicentennial Commission selected works from his collection for a goodwill tour of Japan. He was named guest curator at the Brooklyn Museum in 1976 and at the Abby Aldrich Folk Art Collection in 1980, and often appeared as guest lecturer at various universities, the Smithsonian Institution, and at the Library of Congress. In 1986, Hemphill donated more than 400 folk art works to the Smithsonian Institution's American Art Museum, resulting in a landmark exhibition Made with Passion: The Hemphill Folk Art Collection of the National Museum of American Art.
Hemphill's publications include books Twentieth Century American Folk Art and Artists, co-authored with Julia Weissman in 1974, Folk Sculpture USA for the Brooklyn Museum in 1976, and Found in New York's North Country: The Folk Art of a Region, co-authored with Varick A. Chittenden in 1982 for the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute.
Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. died on May 8, 1998 in New York City.
Provenance:
Herbert Waide Hemphill donated his papers in 5 installments between 1988 and 1996.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual materials 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.
8 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 5 reels))
5.4 Linear feet (Addition)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1969-[ca. 1990]
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, photographs, slides, files, consigment of works of art to Cavin-Morris, Inc., and an account book for works of art by Howard Finster and Miles B. Carpenter, printed material concerning the Camp's interest and business in American folk art.
REELS 4067-4070: Correspondence with dealers, artists, and others, including Miles B. Carpenter, S.L. Jones, Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., Randall and Shari (Cavin) Morris, Phyllis Kind, Carl Hammer, Robert Bishop, Susan Hankla, Victor Musgrave, Roger Cardinal, Gregg Blasdel, Edwin Shelton, Elsa Weiner, and John Beardsley; files on artists Howard Finster, S.L. Jones, Carpenter, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Nellie Mae Rowe, Uncle Jack Dey, Lanier Meaders, Leslie J. Payne, Patsy Billups, and others; photographs of Miles Carpenter, his wood sculpture, and his family, and autobiographical writings by Carpenter; printed material on the American Folk Art Company; clippings, articles, exhibition catalogs, and other printed material about American folk art; and ca. 2,000 photographs of folk art.
REEL 4080: Ca. 50 letters from Howard Finster to Jeffrey Camp; writings by Finster; Camp's notes on Finster; price lists of works by Finster; receipts; and a letter from Camp's lawyer concerning Finster.
UNMICROFILMED: Slides, 1973-1983, of works of art and artists including Patsy Billups, Miles B. Carpenter, Howard Finster, Russell Gillespie, Charles T. Gleason, S.L. Jones, Sister Gertrude Morgan and Leslie J. Payne taken by Camp.
ADDITION: Papers, received in 1999, are primarily a donation of the material previously lent and microfilmed on reels 4067-4070, although some additional material was also donated. The addition most likely does not include material on reel 4080 relating to Howard Finster.
Biographical / Historical:
Folk art dealers, collectors; Richmond, Va. Owned and managed the American Folk Art Company, 1972-1976, Richmond and Tappahannock, Virginia, whose stock included paintings and sculpture by self-taught artists Howard Finster, Miles B. Carpenter, S.L. Jones, Leslie J. Payne, Russell Gillespie and others. The Camps are recognized as key figures in the folk art market of the 1970s.
Provenance:
Papers on reels 4067-4070, and 4080 were lent for microfilming 1987 by Jeffrey and C. Jane Camp. The collection of slides was copied by the Archives. In 1999, the Camps donated much of the material previously lent on reels 4067-4070, as well as some additional papers.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
