National Collection of Fine Arts (U.S.) Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Lois A. Bingham, 1981 April 16. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Lois A. Bingham conducted 1981 April 16, by Estill Curtis "Buck" Pennington, for the Archives of American Art. Topics discussed include her time with the National Collection of Fine Arts; the USIA (United States Information Agency) politics in art; McCarthyism and censorship in art in the 1950s; traveling exhibitions; art transportation and crating; and working with Ansel Adams on a photography exhibition, among other topics.
Biographical / Historical:
Lois A. Bingham (1913-1996) was an art historian from Washington, D.C.
General:
Originally recorded 2 sound tape cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 46 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service. This interview received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative Pool.
George Caleb Bingham, 1811-1879. [Exhibition shown at the] National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution October 19, 1967 through January 1, 1968; the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, January 24 through March 10, 1968; the Art Galleries, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, April 7 through May 19, 1968
The papers of Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington D.C. art historian and museum curator Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, measure 2.5 linear feet and date from circa 1934-1986. The papers provide scattered documentation of Breeskin's career, focusing on writings and lectures delivered in the United States and abroad, and briefly documenting her work as an art exhibition juror, as a consultant, and as a teacher of a community art course. The collection also includes papers documenting some of Breeskin's research on Loren MacIver, Mary Cassatt, and others, and is comprised of biographical material, personal and professional correspondence with artists, friends, and colleagues, manuscript and lecture notes and drafts, professional files, sound recordings, and a few photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington D.C. art historian and museum curator Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, measure 2.5 linear feet and date from circa 1934-1986. The papers provide scattered documentation of Breeskin's career, focusing on writings and lectures delivered in the United States and abroad, and briefly documenting her work as an art exhibition juror, as a consultant, and as a teacher of a community art course. The collection also includes papers documenting some of Breeskin's research on Loren MacIver, Mary Cassatt, and others, and is comprised of biographical material, personal and professional correspondence with artists, friends, and colleagues, manuscript and lecture notes and drafts, professional files, sound recordings, and a few photographs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as four series:
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1938-1986 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1, OVs 4-6)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1940-1970 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings and Lectures, circa 1934-1981 (1 linear foot; Boxes 1-2)
Series 4: Professional Files, 1945-1984 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
Biographical / Historical:
Adelyn Dohme Breeskin (1896-1986) was an art historian and museum curator in Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. She was the first woman to be named director of a major American museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Adelyn Dohme took her first museum job in the print department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she worked with Kathryn B. Child under the supervision of William Mills Ivins. She left the museum in 1920 to marry violinist Elias Breeskin, and the couple had three children before divorcing in 1930.
Following her divorce, Breeskin returned to her native Baltimore and took a position as a curator with the Baltimore Museum of Art. In 1942 she was appointed director of the museum and remained in that position until 1962. As director she gave Milton Avery and Mary Cassatt's graphics their first museum shows.
Breeskin served as commissioner for the American contingent of the Venice Biennale in 1960 and was director of the Washington Gallery of Modern Art from 1962-1964. She then became a special consultant in twentieth-century art for the Smithsonian's National Collection of Fine Art and served as the museum's curator of contemporary painting and sculpture from 1968 to 1974.
Breeskin authored two catalogue raisonnés of Mary Cassatt's work, and conducted extensive research for a monograph on Loren MacIver, although the monograph was ultimately not published. In 1985 Breeskin received the Smithsonian Institutions highest award, the Gold Medal for Exceptional Service, and at the time of her death in 1986, was senior curatorial adviser.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds oral history interviews with Adelyn Breeskin conducted by Paul Cummings in 1974, and Julie Haifley in 1979.
Provenance:
Portions of the collection were donated to the Archives of American Art in a series of gifts from Adelyn Breeskin, 1979-1985. Material relating to Loren MacIver was donated 1979-1987 by Breeskin and Robert Frash, who had possession of Breeskin's research materials on MacIver for an exhibition on MacIver he curated in California. Letters from Georgia O'Keeffe, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, and Lawrence Calcagno, an exhibition catalog for Calcagno, and the file on Milton Avery, were donated by the National Museum of American Art on January 28, 1981. The birthday book was a gift from Breeskin's daughter, Gloria Breeskin Peck, in 2015. The sound recordings were transferred from the National Museum of American Art, circa 1984.
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.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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.
Occupation:
Art museum curators -- Maryland -- Baltimore Search this
Art historians -- Maryland -- Baltimore Search this
Art museum directors -- Maryland -- Baltimore Search this
Taylor, Joshua C. (Joshua Charles), 1917-1981 Search this
Names:
National Collection of Fine Arts (U.S.) Search this
National Museum of American Art (U.S.) Search this
Extent:
20.3 Items (linear ft. (partially microfilmed))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1931-1982
Scope and Contents:
The papers of museum director and art historian Joshua Charles Taylor, measure 20.3 linear feet and date from 1931-1982 and include biographical information, correspondence, writings, works of art, a scrpabook, photographs, teaching material and printed material. Biographical information consists of curriculum vitae, bibliographies, and a military honorable discharge certificate. Correspondence is with students and others. Writings include journals 1967, 1969, 1978-1981. Works of art consist of 12 sketchbooks and sketches by Taylor and others. A scrapbook contains programs, photographs, and clippings concerning puppet shows, musical reviews, symphony concerts, and plays, 1933, 1935-1941. Writings include notes, manuscripts, and typescripts for forewords, publications and lectures. photographs and slides are of Taylor, others and artwork. Taylor;s teaching material regards the University of Chicago and includes minutes of meetings, class lists and course outlines, and students' papers.
Biographical / Historical:
Museum director, art historian; Washington, D.C. Taylor was born in Oregon and received his B.A. from Reed College in 1939. He taught theater and served in World War II before completing his M.F.A. and Ph.D. in Art History at Princeton. For more than twenty years he was professor of art history and humanities at the University of Chicago. In 1970 he became the director of the National Museum of American Art (then the National Collection of Fine Arts) a position he held until his death in 1981.
Provenance:
Material on reels 2228-2232 and 14 feet of unmicrofilmed material donated 1981 by Mrs. Stanley Johnson and Mrs. William Wuorinen, sisters of Joshua C. Taylor. Additional 2 feet of additional material was transferred from the National Museum of American Art, 1982-1984.
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.