Search Results

Creator:

White, Charles (1918-1979)  Search this

Names:

Belafonte Enterprises  Search this

Heritage Gallery  Search this

Otis Art Institute  Search this

Barthé, Richmond, 1901-1989  Search this

Catlett, Elizabeth, 1915-2012  Search this

White, Frances Barrett  Search this

Extent:

12.9 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Interviews

Sound recordings

Scrapbooks

Date:

1933-1987

bulk 1960s-1970s

Summary:

The papers of Los Angeles painter, printmaker, and educator, Charles W. White, measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1933 to 1987, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1960s to the 1970s. The collection contains biographical material, including a sound recording of an interview with White; personal and professional correspondence; writings by White and others about his philosophy of art, his life, and career; professional files documenting White's participation in a variety of boards, committees, juries, symposiums, professional projects, and commissions; teaching files documenting White's tenure at Otis Art Institute; extensive printed material charting White's career from the 1930s until his death; scrapbooks primarily documenting his early career; and a small series of photographs.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of Los Angeles painter, printmaker, and educator, Charles W. White, measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1933 to 1987, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1960s to the 1970s. The collection contains biographical material including a sound recording of an interview with White; personal and professional correspondence; writings by White and others about his philosophy of art, his life, and career; professional files documenting White's participation in a variety of boards, committees, juries, symposiums, professional projects, and commissions; teaching files documenting White's tenure at Otis Art Institute; extensive printed material charting White's career from the 1930s until his death; scrapbooks primarily documenting his early career; and a small series of photographs.

Biographical material includes documentation of awards received by White, biographical notes, resumes, White's high school report cards, interview transcripts and a sound recording of an interview, and records related to Elizabeth Catlett from the 1940s.

Correspondence includes scattered letters from family and friends but is primarily professional. White's correspondence was often conducted by Benjamin Horowitz and, occasionally, by Frances White, although some scattered original drafts of letters by White can also be found in this series. The series documents many aspects of White's career including: his relationship with Horowitz and Heritage Gallery as his representative; sales, loans, and exhibitions of White's artwork at many museums, galleries, and art institutions; the publication of his work in journals, magazines, and books, and it's use in the film and music industries; and his relationships with others in the arts and the entertainment industry including Richmond Barthé, Margaret Burroughs, Bing Davis, David Driskell, Lorraine Hansberry, and Harry Belafonte's company, Belafonte Enterprises.

Writings by White include two addresses made to the Annual Conference of Negro Artists, statements on his philosophy of art, and an autobiographical essay. Writings by others include drafts of Benjamin Horowitz's book Images of Dignity:The Drawings of Charles White.

White's professional activities are further documented through records related to the many boards, committees, and exhibition and art contest juries he served on, as well as lectures he delivered, and panels and symposiums he participated in. White's professional files also contain records relating to fellowships he received and document projects such as designs for books, films, and magazines.

White's teaching files primarily relate to Otis Art Institute and contain some records related directly to his work there as well as general faculty and board material. The records document, to some extent, White's role as spokesperson for the faculty and students during the transfer of the Otis charter to Parsons School of Design in 1979. Documentation of White's association with Howard University is minimal and includes letters related to his appointment and resignation in 1978-1979.

Gallery and exhibition files document specific solo and group exhibitions and include records on two visits White made to Germany in 1974 and 1978.

Printed material includes announcements, exhibition catalogs, articles in journals, magazines, and news clippings, and publications with artwork by White that provide extensive coverage of White's career from the 1930s to his death. Also found is printed material collected by White on other artists, and on subjects of interest to him.

Three disbound scrapbooks provide compilations of printed material and occasional letters further documenting White's career. A small series of photographs includes holiday card photos of White, Frances White, and their two children, and photos of White and others taken at a workshop in 1969.

Throughout the collection there are folders containing notes written by Frances White, circa 1980-1981, which provide important contextual information about people, organizations and subjects in the collection, and sometimes highlight the racism White encountered, particularly during his early career. The dates of these notes are not included in folder dates.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as nine series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1934-1979 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1937-1984 (Boxes 1-4, 13; 3.64 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, 1936-circa 1981 (Boxes 4-5; 0.45 linear feet)

Series 4: Professional Activities, circa 1942-1982 (Boxes 5-6, 13, OV 15; 1.81 linear feet)

Series 5: Teaching Files, 1950-1979 (Boxes 6, 13; 0.72 linear feet)

Series 6: Gallery and Exhibition Files, 1946-1980 (Box 7, Box 14; 0.98 linear feet)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1933-1987 (Boxes 8-14, OVs 15-17; 4.8 linear feet)

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1936-1970s (Box 12; 0.15 linear feet)

Series 9: Photographic Material, 1940-1976 (Box 12; 0.15 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical:

Painter, printmaker, and educator, Charles W. White (1918-1979), was a prominent figure in the Chicago Black Renaissance and became one of the most celebrated and influential African American artists of the twentieth century. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, White lived and worked in California beginning in 1956, and taught at the Otis Art Institute from 1965 until his death.

White began painting at a young age, earning first prize in a nationwide high school art contest. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was awarded a full scholarship, from 1937-1938. After graduating from the school, White worked as a muralist for the Illinois Federal Arts Project sponsored by the Works Progress Administration from 1939 to 1940. He then received two fellowships from the Julius Rosenwald Foundation in 1942 and 1943 and created the mural The Contribution of the Negro to American Democracy at the Hampton Institute. From 1943-1945 he taught at the George Washington Carver School in New York City, and was artist-in-residence at Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1945.

White's first marriage to Elizabeth Catlett ended in divorce and he married Frances Barrett in 1950. The couple relocated to Los Angeles where White was represented by Benjamin Horowitz's Heritage Gallery. White was widely exhibited in Los Angeles, and at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Newark Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and elsewhere. Working primarily in black and white or sepia and white drawings, paintings, and lithographs, White's artwork was primarily figurative and depicted African American history, socio-economic struggles, and human relationships.

Charles White received a number of awards and honors and in 1972 he was the third African American artist to be elected a full member of the National Academy of Design.

Related Materials:

The Archives of American Art also holds the Charles W. and Frances White letters and photographs to Melvin and Lorraine Williamson, the Lucinda H. Gedeon research material on Charles W. White, and an oral history interview with Charles W. White conducted by Betty Hoag, March 9, 1965.

Separated Materials:

The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of loaned materials (reels LA7 and 3099). Reel LA7 includes photographs of White, his work, and a career resume. Reel 3099 contains 31 items consisting of three travel diaries kept by Frances White, photographs and a recording of their trip to Russia in 1950, and 11 record album covers designed by Charles White. Loaned materials were returned to the lenders after microfilming and are not described in the collection container inventory.

Charles White's "Black Experience Archive," originally received with the papers, was donated to Howard University's Moorland-Springarn Research Center in 1985 at the request of Frances White.

Provenance:

Photographs on reel LA7 and material on reel 3099 were lent to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1965 and 1982, by Benjamin Horowitz, White's dealer, and by Frances White. Material on reel 2041 was donated by the George Arents Research Library, Syracuse University, 1976, who had originally received it from Horowitz. The remainder of the papers were donated by Charles White, 1975-1978, and after his death by Frances White and Benjamin Horowitz, 1981-1989.

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:

Painters -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Printmakers -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Educators -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Topic:

African American artists  Search this

African American educators  Search this

African American painters  Search this

African American printmakers  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Sound recordings

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Charles W. White papers, 1933-1987. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. Funding for the digitization was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.whitchar

See more items in:

Charles W. White papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9280ca62a-d068-4695-872f-041df8333648

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-whitchar

Creator:

White, Charles, 1918-1979  Search this

Subject:

White, Frances Barrett  Search this

Catlett, Elizabeth  Search this

Barthé, Richmond  Search this

Heritage Gallery  Search this

Otis Art Institute  Search this

Belafonte Enterprises  Search this

Type:

Interviews

Sound recordings

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Charles W. White papers, 1933-1987, bulk 1960s-1970s. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

African American artists  Search this

African American educators  Search this

African American painters  Search this

African American printmakers  Search this

Theme:

Diaries  Search this

African American  Search this

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9350

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211546

AAA_collcode_whitchar

Theme:

Diaries

African American

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211546

Interviewee:

Lanyon, Ellen, 1926-2013  Search this

Interviewer:

Crawford, James, 1944-  Search this

Subject:

Berdich, Vera  Search this

Blackshear, Kathleen  Search this

Buehr, George Frederick  Search this

Carleback, Julius  Search this

Ginzel, Roland  Search this

Grooms, Red  Search this

Hirsch, Joseph  Search this

Hoff, Margo  Search this

Lasansky, Mauricio  Search this

Rupprecht, Edgar A.  Search this

Schniewind, Carl Oscar  Search this

Watson, Dudley Crafts  Search this

Abercrombie, Gertrude  Search this

Golub, Leon  Search this

Ox-Bow Summer School of Painting  Search this

Art Institute of Chicago. School  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Citation:

Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Ellen Lanyon, 1975 Dec. 5-1976 Jan. 18. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Mural painting and decoration  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Women printmakers  Search this

Women educators  Search this

Women muralists  Search this

Feminism and art  Search this

Theme:

Women  Search this

Chicago's Art-Related Archival Materials: A Terra Foundation Resource  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)11523

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)214174

AAA_collcode_lanyon75

Theme:

Women

Chicago's Art-Related Archival Materials: A Terra Foundation Resource

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_214174

Interviewee:

Lanyon, Ellen  Search this

Interviewer:

Crawford, James, 1944-  Search this

Names:

Art Institute of Chicago. School  Search this

Ox-Bow Summer School of Painting  Search this

Abercrombie, Gertrude, 1909-1977  Search this

Berdich, Vera, 1915-2003  Search this

Blackshear, Kathleen, 1897-1988  Search this

Buehr, George Frederick, 1905-1983  Search this

Carleback, Julius  Search this

Ginzel, Roland, 1921-  Search this

Golub, Leon, 1922-2004  Search this

Grooms, Red  Search this

Hirsch, Joseph, 1910-1981  Search this

Hoff, Margo  Search this

Lasansky, Mauricio, 1914-  Search this

Rupprecht, Edgar A.  Search this

Schniewind, Carl Oscar, 1900-1957  Search this

Watson, Dudley Crafts, 1885-  Search this

Extent:

5 Sound tapes (5 in.)

229 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sound tapes

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1975 Dec. 5-1976 Jan. 18

Scope and Contents:

Interview of Ellen Lanyon conducted 1975 December 5-1976 January 18 by James Crawford for the Archives of American Art.

Lanyon speaks of family background; interests in art and music and collecting objects and antiques; her early art education; remembrances of 1933 Chicago World's Fair; Art Institute of Chicago; Momentum group; Oxbow Summer School of Painting; her work and techniques; exhibitions; Institute of Design; marriage and move to University of Iowa; Iowa art department, Iowa print group; Fulbright to England; travel in France and Italy; return to Chicago; founding of graphic workshop; Hairy Who group; The Imagists; Seven and Up exhibitions; Red Grooms in Chicago; and commissions. She recalls George Buehr, Margo Hoff, Dudley Crafts Watson, Vera Berdich, Joseph Hirsch, Carl Schneiwind, Kathleen Blackshear, Mauricio Lasansky, Gertrude Abercrombie, Julius Carleback, Roland Ginzel, and Edgar Rupprecht. She also discusses her family; changes in medium and style of her artwork; symbolism, and feminism.

Biographical / Historical:

Ellen Lanyon (1926-2013) was a painter and printmaker from Chicago, Illinois.

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 administrators.

Restrictions:

This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Occupation:

Muralists -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Painters -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Printmakers -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Topic:

Mural painting and decoration  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Women printmakers  Search this

Women educators  Search this

Women muralists  Search this

Feminism and art  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for this interview was provided by Matilda Wilson. This interview received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative Pool.

Identifier:

AAA.lanyon75

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw97fd52325-f0b9-474d-b6fa-40cd5ed41bdd

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-lanyon75

Artist:

Traditionally attributed to Guanxiu (傳)貫休 (822-912)  Search this

Medium:

Ink, color, and traces of gold on silk

Dimensions:

H x W (image): 56 x 37.9 cm (22 1/16 x 14 15/16 in)

Type:

Painting

Origin:

China

Date:

16th-17th century

Period:

Ming dynasty

Topic:

elephant  Search this

Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)  Search this

China  Search this

Chinese Art  Search this

attendant  Search this

Charles Lang Freer collection  Search this

Credit Line:

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Accession Number:

F1915.19

Restrictions & Rights:

CC0

Related Online Resources:

Google Cultural Institute

See more items in:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection

Data Source:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3a33b946c-da2c-47e9-9039-d0d26447769f

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:fsg_F1915.19

Creator:

National Portrait Gallery  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2011-04-07T21:42:22.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Portraits  Search this

See more by:

NatlPortraitGallery

Data Source:

National Portrait Gallery

YouTube Channel:

NatlPortraitGallery

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_37bSb-aQ4BM

Creator:

National Portrait Gallery  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2011-04-08T15:50:26.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Portraits  Search this

See more by:

NatlPortraitGallery

Data Source:

National Portrait Gallery

YouTube Channel:

NatlPortraitGallery

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_4iiLMJru7SY

Creator:

National Portrait Gallery  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2011-04-07T23:28:01.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Portraits  Search this

See more by:

NatlPortraitGallery

Data Source:

National Portrait Gallery

YouTube Channel:

NatlPortraitGallery

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_YABR74utGps

Artist:

Richard Howard Hunt, American, b. Chicago, Illinois, 1935–2023  Search this

Medium:

Bronze

Dimensions:

100 1/2 x 42 x 25 1/4 in. (255.2 x 106.7 x 64.2 cm)

Type:

Sculpture

Date:

(1971)

Credit Line:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of Max Robinson, 1984

Accession Number:

84.15

See more items in:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection

School:

African-American Abstraction

Data Source:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/py26c7597e8-bdbc-426e-a338-83c7ea331abf

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:hmsg_84.15

Creator:

Freer, Charles Lang, 1856-1919  Search this

Extent:

131 Linear feet (29 architectural drawings)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Diaries

Financial records

Correspondence

Photographs

Place:

China

Syria

Egypt

India

London (England)

Japan

Boston (Mass.)

Detroit (Mich.)

Washington (D.C.)

Kandy (Sri Lanka)

Sri Lanka

Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka)

Date:

1876-1931

Summary:

The personal papers of Charles Lang Freer, the industrialist and art collector who founded the Freer Gallery of Art. The papers include correspondence, diaries, art inventories, scrapbooks of clippings on James McNeil Whistler and other press clippings, and photographs.

Scope Content:

The personal papers of Charles Lang Freer, the industrialist and art collector who founded the Freer Gallery of Art. The papers include correspondence, diaries, art inventories, scrapbooks of clippings on James McNeil Whistler and other press clippings, financial material, architectural drawings, and photographs.

Correspondence, circa 1860-1921, includes Freer's correspondence, 1876-1920, with artists, dealers, collectors, museums, and public figures; letterpress books contain copies of Freer's outgoing letters, 1892-1910; correspondence collected by Freer of James McNeill Whistler, and his wife Beatrix, 186?-1909, with Lady Colin Campbell, Thomas R. Way, Alexander Reid, Whistler's mother, Mrs. George W. Whistler, and others; correspondence of Whistler collector Richard A. Canfield, 1904-1913, regarding works in Canfield's collection; and correspondence of Freer's assistant, Katharine Nash Rhoades, 1920-1921, soliciting Freer's letters from his associates, and regarding the settlement of his estate.

Also included are twenty-nine pocket diaries, 1889-1890, 1892-1898, 1900-1919, recording daily activities, people and places visited, observations, and comments; a diary kept by Freer's caretaker, Joseph Stephens Warring, recording daily activities at Freer's Detroit home, 1907-1910. Inventories, n.d. and 1901-1921, of American, European, and Asian art in Freer's collection, often including provenance information; vouchers, 1884-1919, documenting his purchases; five volumes of scrapbooks of clippings on James McNeill Whistler, 1888-1931, labeled "Various," "Peacock Room," "Death, etc.," "Paris, etc.," and "Boston...London" ; three volumes of newsclippings, 1900-1930, concerning Freer and the opening of the Freer Gallery of Art.

Correspondence regarding Freer's gift and bequest to the Smithsonian Institution, 1902-1916; and photographs, ca. 1880-1930, of Freer, including portraits by Alvin Langdon Coburn and Edward Steichen, Freer with others, Freer in Cairo, China and Japan, Freer's death mask, and his memorial service, Kyoto, 1930; photographs of artists and others, including Thomas Dewing, Ernest Fenollosa, Katharine Rhoades taken by Alfred Stieglitz, Rosalind B. Philip, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Abbott H. Thayer, Dwight Tryon, and Whistler; and photographs relating to Whistler, including art works depicting him, grave and memorial monuments, works of art, the Peacock Room, and Whistler's memorial exhibition at the Copley Society.

Organization of the Papers:

This collection is organized into twelve series.

Series 1: Genealogical and Biographical Data

Series 2: Correspondence

Series 3: Diaries

Series 4: Freer Colleague Materials

Series 5: Art Inventories

Series 6: Financial Materials

Series 7: Exhibition Loan Files

Series 8: Biblical Manuscripts and Gold Treasure Files

Series 9: American School of Archaeology in China

Series 10: Printed Material

Series 11: Outsize Material

Series 12: Photographs

Biographical Note:

1854 February 25 -- Born in Kingston, New York

1873 -- Appointed accountant and paymaster of New York, Kingston and Syracuse Railroad by Frank J. Hecker (1846-1927)

1876 -- Moves to Indiana to work, with Hecker, for the Detroit and Eel River and Illinois Railroad

1880 -- Moves to Detroit, participates in organization of the Peninsular Car Works with Hecker

1883 -- Becomes vice president and secretary of Peninsular Car Company when it succeeds Peninsular Car Works

1883 -- Begins collecting European prints

1884 -- Peninsular Car Company constructs plant on Ferry Avenue

1887 -- Meets Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)

1887 -- Acquires proofs of 26 etchings, Venice, Second Series(1886), by James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

1887 -- Purchases a small Japanese fan attributed to Ogata Korin(1658-1715)

1887 -- Buys land on Ferry Avenue

1889 -- Meets Frederick Stuart Church (1826-1900) and Dwight William Tryon (1849-1925) in New York

1890 -- Commissions Wilson Eyre (1858-1944) to design house on Ferry Avenue, Detroit, Michigan

1890 -- On first trip to London, meets James McNeill Whistler(1834-1903)

1892 -- Moves to Ferry Avenue house

1892 -- Tryon and Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851-1938) undertake decoration of reception rooms

1893 -- Lends American paintings to World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago

1893 -- Purchases first piece of Chinese art, a small painting of white herons by an anonymous Ming dynasty (1368-1644) artist

1894 -- Begins yearlong trip around the world, which includes visit to the Whistlers in Paris and first trip to Asia, stopping in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), India, China, and Japan

1896 -- Meets Matsuki Bunkyo (1867-1940) in Boston

1899 -- Takes part in consolidation of railroad-car building companies then retires from active business

1900 -- Attends Exposition International Universelle in Paris

1900 -- Buys villa in Capri with Thomas S. Jerome

1901 -- Meets Siegfried Bing (1838-1905) in Paris and Ernest Fenollosa(1853-1908), who visits Freer in Detroit

1902 -- Meets Dikran Kelekian (1868-1951)

1902 -- Spends summer in Britain building Whistler collection

1902 -- Views Whistler's, Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room

1904 -- Purchases Whistler's Peacock Room

1904 -- Offers his art collections and funds to build a museum in which to house them to the Smithsonian Institution

1905 -- Smithsonian committee visits Freer in Detroit

1906 -- United States government formally accepts Freer's gift on January 24

1906 -- Freer signs Deed of Gift to Smithsonian Institution on May 5

1907 -- On second tour of Asia, meets Hara Tomitaro 1868-1939) in Yokohama, Japan

1908 -- Takes third trip to Asia, specifically to West Asia to study Rakka ware

1909 -- Tours Europe to study art museums

1909 -- On fourth trip to Asia, attends memorial ceremony for Fenollosa (d.1908 September) at Miidera, Japan, and meets Duanfang (1861-1911) in China

1910 -- On last trip to Asia, visits Longmen Buddhist caves in China

1911 -- Suffers stroke

1912 -- Lends selection of objects for exhibition at Smithsonian Institution

1913 -- Meets Eugene (1875-1957) and Agnes E. (1887-1970) Meyer

1913 -- Commissions Charles Adams Platt (1861-1933) to design museum building in Washington

1914 -- Meets Katharine Nash Rhoades (1885-1965) in Detroit

1915 -- Settles in New York City

1915 -- Site of future Freer Gallery of Art is determined

1916 -- Platt's plans for Freer Gallery are approved by Smithsonian Regents and Commission of Fine Arts and ground is broken in September

1918 -- After falling ill in Detroit, Freer travels to New York for treatment

1918 -- Work on the museum building is delayed by the war

1919 -- Freer appends codicil to will permitting acquisitions of Asian, Egyptian, and Near Eastern (West Asian) art

1919 -- Dies in New York City on 25 September and is buried in Kingston, New York

1919 -- Construction of Freer Gallery completed

1920 -- John Ellerton Lodge (1876-1942) is appointed director of the Freer Gallery

1923 -- Freer Gallery opens to the public on May 9

1930 -- Memorial ceremony for Freer is held at Koetsuji, Kyoto

Charles Lang Freer was an American industrialist who founded the Freer Gallery of Art. He was a well-known collector of Asian art, and strongly supported the synthesis of Eastern art and Western art. One of his most famous acquisitions was James McNeill Whistler's Peacock Room.

Index:

Index to cross-referenced correspondents in the series Charles Lang Freer correspondence

Beal, Junius E. -- See: -- Warring, Joseph Stephens

Black, George M. -- See: -- Saint-Gaudens, Augustus

Board of Education (Kingston, New York) See: Michael, M. J.

Bonner, Campbell See: University of Michigan

Boughton, George H. See: Yardley, F. C.

British Museum See: Binyon, Laurence; Hobson, R. L.

Brown, Harold H. See: Art Association of Indianapolis

Buchner, Evelyn B. See: Knoedler, M., and Company

Buckholder, C. H. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Butler, S. B. See: Unidentified correspondents

Carnegie Institute See: Balken, Edward Duff; Harshe, Robert B.

Carpenter, Newton H. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Caulkins, Horace James See: Pewabic Pottery

Chao, Shih-chin See: Gunn, Chu Su

Chicago & North Western Railway Co. See: Hughett, Marvin

Clark, Charles Upson See: Clark, Arthur B.

Cleveland Museum of Art See: Whiting, Frederic Allen

Columbia University See: Braun, W. A.; Gottheil, Richard; Hirth, Friederich

Commission of Fine Arts See: Moore, Charles

Corcoran Gallery of Art See: Minnigerode, C. Powell

Crocker, Anna B. See: Portland Art Association

Dannenberg, D. E. See: Karlbeck, Orvar

De Menoncal, Beatrice See: Lien, Hui Ch'ing Collection

De Ricci, Seymour See: Ricci, Seymour de

Defnet, William A., Mrs., See: Franke, Ida M.

DeMotte See: Vigouroux, J.

Detroit Institute of Arts See: Detroit Museum of Art

Detroit Publishing Company See: Livingstone, W. A.

Detroit School of Design See: George Hamilton; Stevens, Henry

DeVinne Press See: Peters, Samuel T.; Witherspoon, A. S.

Dyrenforth, P. C. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Eddy, Arthur J. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Eggers, George Williams See: Art Institute of Chicago

Farr, Daniel H. See: Robinson and Farr

Farrand School (Detroit) See: Yendall, Edith

Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago) See: Laufer, Berthold

Flagg, Frederick J. See: Allen, Horace N.

Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University See: Forbes, Edward; Pope, Arthur Upham; Sachs, Paul J.

French, M. R. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Fu, Lan-ya See: Pang, Lai-ch'en

Fujii, Yoshio See: Yoshio, Fujii

Gerrity, Thomas See: Knoedler, M., and Company

Goupil Gallery See: Marchant, William

Gray, William J. See: Barr, Eva

Great Lakes Engineering Works See: Hoyt, H. W.

Grolier Club See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Heinemann, W. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Holden, Edward S. See: West Point, U. S. Military Academy

Hudson, J. L. See: Weber, William C.

Hutchins, Harry B. See: University of Michigan

Hutchins, Charles L. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Kelekian, H. G. See: Kelekian, Dikran G.

Kent, H. W. See: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lee, Kee Son See: Li, Chi-ch'un

Levy, John See: Schneider, A. K.

Library of Congress See: Rice, Richard A.; Wright, Helen

Louvre (Paris, France) See: Midgeon, Gaston

Matsuki, Z. See: Matsuki, Kihachiro

McKim, Mead and White See: White, Stanford

Mills, A. L., Colonel See: Saint-Gaudens, Augustus

Miner, Luella See: Lien, Hui Ch'ing Collection

Minneapolis Institute of Arts See: Breck, Joseph; Van Derlip, John R.

Monif, R. Khan See: Rathbun, Richard

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston See: Lodge, John Ellerton

Naser, Katen & Nahass See: Katen, K.

Nordlinger, Marie, Miss See: Meyer-Riefstahl, Marie

Panama Pacific International Exposition See: Moore, Charles C.; Trask, John E. D.

Peabody Museum See: Morse, Edward Sylvester

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts See: Trask, John E. D.

Perry, Mary Chase, Miss., See: Pewabic Pottery

Philip, Ronald M. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Pope, G. D. See: Barr, Eva

Reinhart, A. G. See: Gottschalk, E.

Reitz, Sigisbert Chrétien Bosch See: Bosch-Reitz, Sigisbert Chrétien

Rutgers College See: Van Dyke, John C.

Saint-Gaudens, Augusta H. See: Saint-Gaudens, Augustus

Saint-Gaudens, Homer See: Saint-Gaudens, Augustus

Samurai Shokai See: Nomura, Yozo

San Francisco Art Association See: Laurvik, J. Nilsen

Scribner's, Charles, Sons See: Van Dyke, John C.

Shaw, Wilfred B. See: University of Michigan

Shirae, S. Z. See: Yamanaka and Company

Smith College See: Clark, Arthur B.

Smithsonian Institution See: Holmes, William Henry; Rathbun, Richard; Ravenel, Walcott, Charles D.

Society of Arts and Crafts (Detroit) See: Plumb, Helen

Societe des Beaux-Arts See: Reid, Alexander

Stevens, George W. See: Toledo Museum of Art

Stratton, Mary Chase Perry See: Pewabic Pottery

Tanaka, Kichijiro See: Yamanaka and Company

Tuttle, William F. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Union Trust Company (Detroit) See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

United States Military Academy See: West Point, U. S. Military Academy

University of Chicago See: Zug, George Breed

University of Pennsylvania, Univ. Mus. See: Gordon, George Bryon

Ushikubo, D. J. R. See: Yamanaka and Company

Wallis & Son See: Barr, Eva; Thompson, C. Croal Ward, Clarence See: Oberlin College

Warren, Edward K. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Warring, Stephen See: Warring, Joseph Stephens

Watkin, Williams R. T. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Watson, Margaret, Miss See: Parker, Margaret Watson

Whistler, Anna See: Stanton, Anna Whistler

Whiting, Almon C. See: Toledo Museum of Art

Williams College See: Rice, Richard A

Wright, F. G. See: Orbach and Company

Yatsuhashi, H. See: Yamanaka and Company

Index to cross-referenced correspondence in the series Whistler correspondence

Bell, William See: Unidentified correspondents

Brown, Ernest See: Painter Etchers' Society, Committee

Cowen, John T. See subseries: Charles Lang Freer Correspondence

Ford, Sheridan See: Reid, Alexander

Haden, Francis Seymour See: Painter Etchers' Society, Committee

Haden, Francis Seymour, Lady See: Haden, Deborah Whistler

Leighton, Frederick, Baron See: Campbell, Lady Colin

Moore, Albert See: Reid, Alexander

Morley, Charles See: Pall Mall Gazette

Morris, Harrison S. See: Reid, Alexander

Pennell, Joseph See: Miscellaneous typescripts

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts See: Reid, Alexander

Prange, F. G. See: Reid, Alexander

Societe des Beaux-Arts See: Reid, Alexander

Society of Portrait Painters See: Reid, Alexander

Stevens Fine Art See: Reid, Alexander

Studd, Arthur See: Miscellaneous typescripts

[Vanderbilt?], George, Mrs. See: George, Mrs.

Whistler, William McNeill, Mrs. See: Whistler, Nellie

Whistler Memorial Committee See: Miscellaneous typescripts

Related Material:

The Archives of American Art microfilmed portions of the Freer papers in 1992. The microfilm is available at the Archives of American Art's Washington D.C. office, the Freer Gallery of Art Library, and through interlibrary loan.

Provenance:

Gift of the Estate of Charles Lang Freer.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Topic:

Art, American -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Art, Asian -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Architecture -- Asia  Search this

Genre/Form:

Diaries

Financial records

Correspondence

Photographs

Citation:

Charles Lang Freer Papers. FSA A.01. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.

Identifier:

FSA.A.01

See more items in:

Charles Lang Freer Papers

Archival Repository:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dc3f1a0e3e0-630c-48d4-ba28-485946b1d615

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-fsa-a-01

Photographer:

Jones, Tom, 1964-  Search this

Extent:

8 Photographic prints (black and white, 18 x 22 inches; 16 x 20 inches)

Culture:

Ho-Chunk [Wisconsin]  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographic prints

Photographs

Place:

Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin

Date:

1998-2001

Summary:

This collection includes eight photographic prints made by Ho-Chunk artist Tom Jones between 1998 and 2001. The majority of the prints are from the "Ho-Chunk People" series which document the contemporary life of members of the Ho Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. The prints are large format, black and white, silver gelatin prints.

Scope and Contents:

This collection includes eight signed photographic prints made by Ho-Chunk artist Tom Jones between 1998 and 2001. The prints are large format, black and white, silver gelatin prints either 18 x 22 inches or 16 x 20 inches.

The photographs from the "Ho-Chunk People" series, which documents the contemporary life of members of the Ho Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, include portraits of Nina Cleveland, Dorothy Crowfreather, James Hill, Jim Funmaker (Choka), Herb Goodbear, and Bill O'Brian. There is also a photographic print from the Tree Marker series and one that shows a ceremonial meal set up in front of a longhouse.

Catalog numbers: P28507-P28511, P32369-P32371.

Artist Statement on the "Ho-Chunk People" series:

"Inside The Ho-Chunk People. For the past three years I have been working on a body of work photographing the contemporary life of my tribe, the Ho Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. By doing so, I hope to give both the tribe and the outside world the perspective from someone who comes from within the Ho Chunk community. Traditionally, photographs of the Native American Indian are taken by outsiders. We have generally been represented with beads and feathers, widely known through the extraordinary photographic portrayals of Edward Curtis. While this has been an aspect of our life, like many Native American Indians the Ho Chunk People still adhere to traditional ways inspite of adapting to the white culture that surrounds them. The emphasis of my current body of work is focused on the members of my tribe and the environments in which they live, giving a name and face to the individuals and their way of life in our own time. First and foremost, I am ever mindful of my responsibility to the tribe by doing this work to help carry on a sense of pride about who and what we are as a people."

Tom Jones, Artist's statement for the Exhibition "The Ho-Chunk People Photographs by Tom Jones" Nov, 2001, Rochester Art Center.

Arrangement:

Arranged numerically by catalog number.

Biographical / Historical:

Tom Jones (Professor of Photography, University of Wisconsin-Madison) is an artist, curator, writer, and educator. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master of Fine Arts in Photography and a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois.

Jones' artwork is a commentary on American Indian identity, experience and perception. He is examining how American Indian culture is represented through popular culture and raises questions about these depictions of identity by non-natives and Natives alike. He continues to work on an ongoing photographic essay on the contemporary life of his tribe, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin.

Jones co-authored the book "People of the Big Voice, Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879-1943." He is the co-curator for the exhibition and contributing author to the book, "For a Love of His People: The Photography of Horace Poolaw" for the National Museum of the American Indian. His artwork is in numerous private and public collections, most notably: The National Museum of the American Indian, Polaroid Corporation, Sprint Corporation, The Nerman Museum, The Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Museum of Contemporary of Native Arts, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, and Microsoft.

https://www.tomjonesho-chunk.com/blank-1

Provenance:

Purchased from the photographer Tom Jones, 2002 and 2004.

Restrictions:

Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).

Rights:

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Photographs -- Silver gelatin prints

Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Tom Jones II photographic prints from "Ho-Chunk People" series, NMAI.AC.056; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

NMAI.AC.056

See more items in:

Tom Jones II photographic prints from "Ho-Chunk People" series

Archival Repository:

National Museum of the American Indian

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv484aaece2-f49a-4cb6-afd5-c99f45a0398a

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmai-ac-056

Artist:

Robert Henri, American, b. Cincinnati, Ohio, 1865–1929  Search this

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

24 1/2 x 20 in. (62 x 50.8 cm)

Type:

Painting

Date:

(1908)

Credit Line:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966

Accession Number:

66.2427

See more items in:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection

School:

American Realism (Ashcan School)

On View:

Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden (Washington, DC), 2nd Floor

Data Source:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/py271e8deca-61e7-44ad-aa2d-84bb69f60ad9

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:hmsg_66.2427

Artist:

Edward Hopper, American, b. Nyack, New York, 1882–1967  Search this

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

28 1/8 x 36 1/8 in. (71.3 x 91.6 cm)

Type:

Painting

Date:

(1926)

Credit Line:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation, 1966

Accession Number:

66.2504

See more items in:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection

School:

Social Realism

On View:

Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden (Washington, DC), 2nd Floor

Data Source:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/py2dba4bfed-2378-4fbb-b94f-58192ae24c4f

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:hmsg_66.2504

Artist:

Joan Mitchell, American, b. Chicago, Illinois, 1925–1992  Search this

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

63 × 67 in. (160 × 170.2 cm)

Type:

Painting

Date:

1959

Credit Line:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966

Accession Number:

66.3577

See more items in:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection

School:

Abstract Expressionism (Second Generation)

On View:

Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden (Washington, DC), 2nd Floor

Data Source:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/py2a52058f4-4c5f-4040-82c0-dea940bbfa1f

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:hmsg_66.3577

Artist:

Horace Pippin, American, b. West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1888–1946  Search this

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

25 1/4 × 30 1/4 in. (64.6 × 76.8 cm)

Type:

Painting

Date:

1945

Credit Line:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966

Accession Number:

66.4069

See more items in:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection

School:

Outsider Art

On View:

Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden (Washington, DC), 2nd Floor

Data Source:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/py273cf3ed9-be85-4c98-871c-98c75fd64c85

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:hmsg_66.4069

Collection Creator:

McFarland, J. Horace (John Horace), 1859-1948  Search this

American Rose Society  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Abbreviations and Informational Sources:

Compiled September 2010 by AAG Volunteer, Marca Woodhams

Abbreviation Key for McFarland Color Cards

AAS: -- All-America Selections. Source: AAS.

Amling: -- A. F. Amling Co., Maywood, Illinois. Later Amlings Flowers, Chicago, Illinois. Source: FL '31

Armstrong: -- Armstrong Nurseries, Ontario, California, est. 1889. Roses and fruit trees. Source: FL '31, JSA, ARM

Arnold Arb: -- Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Source: FL '31, AA

B&A: -- Bobbink & Atkins, East Rutherford, New Jersey. Roses. Source: FL '31

Babcock: -- Babcock Peony Gardens, Jamestown, New York. George B. Babcock. Peonies. Source: FL '31, WEIN

Bailey: -- Mrs. Charles D. Bailey, Clerksville [Clarksville], Tennessee. Peonies. Source: FL '31

B.H.: -- Breeze Hill, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Home of J. Horace McFarland.

Bobbink & Atkins: -- Bobbink & Atkins, East Rutherford, New Jersey. Roses. Source: FL '31, TB p.219

Bodger Seeds: -- John Bodger and Sons, Inc., El Monte, California. Founded in 1890. Wholesale flower seed business. Heirloom standards-Gleam Nasturtium, Crackerjack Marigolds, Zinnia Envy, etc. Source: BOD, LOMPOC

Bosley: -- Bosley Nursery, Mentor, Ohio. Specialized in roses. Source: FL '31, MENT

Breck: -- Joseph Breck & Co., Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1818. Source: FL '32

Breeze Hill: -- Breeze Hill, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Home of J. Horace McFarland. Source: TB

Bristol: -- Bristol Nurseries, Bristol, Connecticut. Forest trees, fruit trees, evergreens. Source: BRIS

Burpee: -- W. Atlee Burpee & Co., Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876. Seed company. Source: BURP, VSC

Camp Hill: -- Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. 2 miles southwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Carroll Gardens: -- Carroll Gardens, Westminster, Maryland. Source: CARR

Clint McDade: -- Founder of Rivermont Orchids, Signal Mountain, Tennessee. Also Clint McDade & Sons and Semmes Nursery [specialized in camellias and azaleas]. Orchid hybridizer. Source: AOS, AZO, PF

Conard & Jones: -- Conard & Jones Co., West Grove, Pennsylvania. Established in 1897. Roses and flowering plants. Source: FL '31

Conard-Pyle: -- Conard-Pyle, West Grove, Pennsylvania. After 1907 when Pyle purchased Conard & Jones Co. Roses. Source: FL '31

CP: -- Conard-Pyle, West Grove, Pennsylvania. Source: FL '31

C.P.: -- Conard-Pyle, West Grove, Pennsylvania. Source: FL '31

CP Co.: -- Conard-Pyle, West Grove, Pennsylvania. Source: FL '31

Dreer: -- Henry A. Dreer, Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded 1838. Seed and florist. Source: FL '31, TB p. 219

Eichelberger

Farr: -- Bertrand H. Farr Wyomissing Nursery Co., Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. Founded 1908. Nursery. Later called Farr Nursery and Landscape Company. Source: FL '31, FARR

Gl. St. Mary: -- Glen St. Mary Nursery Company , Glen St. Mary, Florida. Founded in 1882. Citrus plants, the weaver dogwood, magnolia St. Mary, and the George L. Taber azalea. Source: FL '31, , TB, MYFL

Glen St. Mary Nursery: -- Glen St. Mary Nursery Company , Glen St. Mary, Florida. Founded in 1882. Citrus plants, the weaver dogwood, magnolia St. Mary, and the George L. Taber azalea. Source: FL '31, TB, MYFL

Greenbriar: -- Greenbrier Farms, Chesapeake, Viriginia. Started by Robert Earl Thrasher. Fruit trees.

G.S.M.: -- Glen St. Mary Nursery Company , Glen St. Mary, Florida. Founded in 1882. Citrus plants, the weaver dogwood, magnolia St. Mary, and the George L. Taber azalea. Source: FL '31, TB, MYFL

Gulf Stream Nursery: -- Gulf Stream Nursery, Wachapreague, Virginia. Source: GEL

Hastings: -- H. G. Hastings Seed Co., Atlanta, Georgia. Founded 1889. Source: ART, VSC

Herbst Brothers, 92 Warren Street, New York, NY: -- Herbst Brothers, Seedsmen, Inc., New York, New York. Seedsmen. Source: OSU

Hicks: -- Hicks Nurseries, Inc., Westbury, New York. Founded 1853. Trees. Source: FL '30, HICKS

Hume: -- H. Harold Hume [Hardrada Harold Hume], botanist and dean of the College of Agriculture, University of Florida. Azaleas of the Glenn Dale type named after him. Source: PA

IK

Indian Spring Farms: -- Indian Spring Farms, Inc., Baldwinsville, New York. Asters and peonies. Source: SHACK

J&P: -- Jackson & Perkins, Newark, New York. Founded in 1872. Roses. Source: FL '31

Jackson & Perkins: -- Jackson & Perkins, Newark, New York. Founded in 1872. Roses. Source: FL '31

J. H. Hill: -- Joseph H. Hill Co., Richmond, Indiana. Son of Edward Gurney Hill who started a business in 1881 called Hill & Co., later E. G. Hill Co., Richmond, Indiana. Later with his brothers-in-law, Fred Lemon and Earl Mann, he formed a distribution company called Hill Floral Products Co. The company closed in 2007. Roses. Source: FL '31, HR, AARS

Kelway: -- James Kelway. Kelways Plants, Ltd., Langport, Somerset Levels, England. Founded in 1851. Peonies. Source: CB

Lemoine: -- Victor Lemoine, Nancy, France. 1852 first mention of work in Revue Horticole. Hybridist of lilacs. Also Portulaca grandiflora, Begonias, Peony, Pelargoniums. Son Emile and Grandson Henri Lemoine carried on the business until 1960. Source: CB, TAY

Lindley Nurs.: -- J. Van Lindley Nursery Co., Pomona, North Carolina and Lindley Nursery, Greensboro, North Carolina. Formerly Pomona Nursery est. in 1877. Peach trees. Source: FL '30, '31, GHM

Livingston: -- Livingston Seed Co., Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1850. Tomatoes, etc. Source: VSC

Lohrman Seed Co.: -- Lohrman Seed Co., 404 Macomb, Detroit, Michigan. Est. 1893. Source: OSU

Market

Masonic Home "E" town: -- Masonic Home, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Est. 1910. Now called Masonic Village.

McGinness: -- C. R. McGinnis, Reading, Pennsylvania. Rose hips. Source: FL '32

Miche

Miss Trump: -- Bess E. Trump, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Source: TRUMP, ARA

Mrs. Bailey: -- Mrs. Charles D. Bailey, Clerksville [Clarksville], Tennessee. Peonies. Source: FL '31

Mrs. Deeter: -- Mrs. Sarah Deeter, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Pentstemon. Source: FL '31

Mrs. Gleim

Murrell: -- Edwin Murrell est. Portland Nurseries, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Rose nursery and seed shop. Sons Owen and Edwin Foley Murrell ran shop starting in 1928. Hilda Murrell, daughter of Owen ran Edwin Murrell Ltd. during its golden years, 1949-1970. Roses. Source: GAR

N.C.

Oberlin Peony Gardens: -- Oberlin Peony Gardens, Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania. Tritomas and tree peony propagation. Source: OSU

Overlook Nurseries (I.S. Imura, Prop., Crichton, Ala.): -- Overlook Nurseries, Mobile, Alabama. Est. 1918. Camellias. Source: ACY

Pitzonka: -- Pitzonka Pansy Farm, Bristol, Pennsylvania. Gustav Pitzonka, prop. Pansies. Source: OSU

Prof. Connor, N.J. Exp.

Reutin (Rentin?)

Roehrs: -- Julius Roehrs Co., East Rutherford, New Jersey. Est. 1869. Now in Farmingdale, New Jersey. Orchids. Source: ROE, HORT

S&W: -- Stumpp & Walter Co., New York. Seeds. Source: FL '31, TB p.150

Schling: -- Max Schling Seedsmen, Inc., New York, New York. Started as a florist, Max Schling Flowers. Source: NY1, NY2

Schradely

Stark, Calif.: -- Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co., Louisiana, Missouri. Est. 1816. Fruits. Source: FL '31, TB p.150, STAR

Sutton: -- Sutton's & Sons, Reading, England. Founded in 1806. Later Sutton's Seeds. Flower and vegetable seeds. Source: SUT

Vonnewitz: -- [This may be Lee R. Bonnewitz Peony and Iris Farm, Van Wert, Ohio.] Peonies. Source: DG, BONN, WEIN

Waller & Franklin: -- Waller-Franklin Seed Company, Guadalupe, California. Later, Waller Flower Seed Company. Source: OSU, WALL

Waller Seed Co.: -- Waller-Franklin Seed Company, Guadalupe, California. Later, Waller Flower Seed Company. Source: OSU, WALL

7Carter, Newport, RI (made for Wm. Hunt): -- William H. Hunt Co., New York, New York. Nerine. Source: FL ' 30, '31, '32, OSU

Informational Sources relating to Abbreviations Appearing on McFarland Color Cards

AA: -- "Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Our History." -- Arnold Arboretum -- . Web. 8 Apr. 2010. -- http://arboretum.harvard.edu/aboutus/history.html

AOSB: -- "In Memoriam." [Clint McDade]. -- American Orchid Society Bulletin -- , v.55, 1986 p.1245

ARA: -- Trump, Bess E. -- Using America as a rose-test garden -- . The American Rose Annual, v.15, 1921 p.118-124.

ARM: -- "Armstrong's History." -- Armstrong Garden Centers -- . 2007. Web. 10 Jun. 2010. [Armstrong Nurseries, Ontario, CA] -- http://www.armstronggarden.com

ART: -- "F. J. Cooledge and Sons Company - Hastings' Seed Company." -- Marietta Street ARTery Association -- . Web. 22 Apr. 2010. -- http://www.artery.org/Cooledge-HastingsSeedCo.htm

AZO: -- "Did you ever wonder how an orchid hybrid got its name and information about the hybridizer?" -- The Arizona Orchidist -- , v.43 n.6, June 2007 p.4 [Clint McDade and Rivermont Orchids, Signal Mountain, Tennessee; later Semmes Orchids, Alabama]

BOD: -- "About Bodger." -- Bodger Seeds Ltd -- . 2005. Web. 18 Jun. 2010. -- http://www.bodger.com/about.php

BONN: -- "Book of Bonawitz and Bonewitz, part 2, chapter 18, page 1, Feb. 1969." -- Lee R. Bonnewitz -- . 1969. Web. 10 Jun.2010. -- http://bonnewitz.org/Part2/18-01.htm

BRIS: -- A Catalogue of forest trees, evergreen and flowering shrubs, fruit trees, herbaceous, green-house, and hot-house plants, cultivated and sold by John Miller, nurseryman, seedsman, and florist -- . Bristol, CT: Bristol Nursery, 1826.

BURP: -- "The legacy of W. Atlee Burpee." -- W. Atlee Burpee & Co -- . 2010. Web. 17 Jun. 2010. -- http://www.burpee.com/contentarticle.do?itemID=574

CARR: -- "Carroll Gardens is suspending business." -- Carroll Gardens, Inc -- . 2009. Web. 18 Jun. 2010 -- http://www.carrollgardens.com

CB: -- Carsten Burkhardt's Web Project Paeonia List of breeders, growers, nurseries, etc -- . Web. 10 Jun. 2010 [James Kelway and Victor Lemoine] -- http://www.paeo.ed/h1/sau_sil/wister/buch/135_137.html

DAV: -- PlantFiles -- Detailed information on garden epony Paeonia lactiflora 'Walter Faxon.' Web. 2010 -- http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/190366

FARR: -- "History of Farr Nursery and Landscape Company." -- Farr Nursery and Landscape Company -- . 2002. Web. 15 Apr. 2010. -- http://farrnursery.com/history.php

FL: -- Breeze Hill Gardens (Harrisburg, Pa.) -- Finding-list of plants at Breeze Hill Gardens, Harrisburg, Penna., at the residence of J. Horace McFarland. . .: including trial gardens of the J. Horace McFarland Company -- . Harrisburg, PA: s.n., 1930-1932. [These volumes were annotated by Glendon A. Stevens, J. Horace McFarland's gardener.]

GAR1: -- "Non-competitive exhibits," -- The Garden an illustrated weekly journal of horticulture in all its branches -- , v.62 n.1606, August 30, 1902 p.156. [Edward Murrell]

GAR2: -- "Victor Lemoine, plant hybridist, an appreciation." -- The Garden Magazine -- , May 1917 p. 234. Web. 20 Apr. 2010 -- http://www.earthlypursuits.com/GardenMag/GardenMag0517-234.htm

GEL: -- Gelderen, D. M. van, Piet C. Jong, Herman John Oterdoom. -- Maples of the world -- . Portland, OR: Timber Press, 1994. p.309. [Gulf Stream Nursery, Virginia]

GHM: -- "Lindley Nurseries Collection, ca. 1839-1965, MSS. Collection #120." -- Greensboro Historical Museum Archives -- . 2001. Web. 17 Jun. 2010 -- http://www.greensborohistory.org/archives/familypapers/html/MssColl-120--LindleyNurseries.htm

HAR: -- Harper, Raymond L. -- A history of Chesapeake, Virginia -- . Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2008. p.62. [Greenbrier Farms Nursery, Chesapeake, Virginia; later Greenbrier Nursery Products]

HICKS: -- "History of Hicks Nurseries." -- Hicks Nurseries, Inc -- . 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2010. -- http://www.hicksnurseries.com/page.cfm?ID=102

HORT: -- "The Boston Exhibition." -- Horticulture -- , v.4 n.19, Nov. 10, 1906 p.501. [Julius Roehrs Co., East Rutherford, NJ]

HR: -- "Hill's roses." -- Hill's Floral Products -- . Web. 10 Jun. 2010. -- http://www.mrlinfo.org/history/business/hillfloral.htm

JSA: -- John S. Armstrong Nursery Collection 1889-1984 -- . Ontario, CA: Ontario City Library Model Colony, 2007. [Finding Aid]

LOMPOC: -- Wallace, Glenn, "Bodger Seeds closing Friday," -- Lompoc Record -- , April 8, 2010. Web. 18 Jun. 2010 -- http://www.lompocrecord.com/news/local/article_fcfe2d92-42d0-11df-8c03-001cc4c002e0.html

MENT: -- "History of Mentor Timeline." -- City of Mentor -- . Web. 2010. [Bosley Nursery, Mentor, OH] -- http://cityofmentor.com/wp-content/uploads/History-Timeline.doc

MOB: -- "Clint McDade dies." -- Mobile Register -- , Thursday, October 2, 1986.

MRM: -- McFarland, J. Horace. -- Memoirs of a Rose Man -- . Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1949.

MYFL: -- "The great Floridians 2000 program." -- My Florida.com, Division of Historical Resources -- . Web. 15 Apr. 2010. [official portal of the state of Florida] [Glen St. Mary Nursery Co., FL] -- http://www.flheritage.com/services/sites/floridians/?section=g

NY1: -- The Talk of the Town, "The Flower Man," -- The New Yorker -- , April 7, 1928, p. 17. [Max Schling]

NY2: -- Harriman, Margaret Case, Profiles, "For Any Occasion," -- The New Yorker -- , July 18, 1936, p. 18. [Max Schling]

OSU: -- "Nursery and seed trade catalogues, 1832-1966." -- Oregon State University Libraries, Special Collections -- . 2010.

PA: -- "J. Horace McFarland Papers Container Listings, MG-85 American Civic Association Correspondence, 1908-1924, Box 5." -- Pennsylvania State Archives -- . Web. 15 Apr. 2010. -- http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/Bah/dam/mg/ys/m85ys3.htm

PL: -- "Catalogues, Seed." -- Planting Fields Foundation Archives, Plantings Fields Estate Collection -- . [Finding aid] Web. 2010. [Clint McDade] -- http://www.plantingfields.org/collec/pdf/Estate_Collection.pdf

ROE: -- Fusco, Mary Ann Castronovo. "A family of some cultivation." -- New York Times, New Jersey Weekly Desk -- , March 28, 1999. Web. 18 Jun. 2010 [Julius Roehrs Co., East Rutherford, NJ] -- http://www.juliusroehrs.com/inthenews.html

SHACK: -- "Baldwinsville's premiere flower businesses 1902-1934. The story behind the Museum's Heritage Peony Collection, Indian Spring Farms, Inc. and H. B. Williams Aster specialist." -- Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse -- . 2008. Web. 15 Apr. 2010. -- http://www.shacksboromuseum.com/flower_farms.htm

STAR: -- "Our story." -- Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co -- . 2010. Web. 21 Apr. 2010. -- http://ww.starkbros.com/About/ourStory.jsp

SUT: -- "History." -- Suttons Seeds -- . Web. 21 Apr. 2010. -- http://www.suttons.co.uk/aboutus.htm

TAY: -- Taylor, Judith. "The legacy of Victor Lemoine: hybridizing on a heroic scale." -- Rare Book Review -- , June 2004 p. 42-43. Web. 20 Apr. 2010 -- http://horthistoria.com/?p=115

TB: -- Morrison, Ernest. -- J. Horace McFarland: A Thorn for Beauty -- . Harrisburg, PA: commissioned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1995.

TRUMP: -- Trump, Bess E. -- Handbook of botanical names of trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, bulbs, etc -- . Harrisburg, PA: J. Horace McFarland Co., [19 ?]

VSC1: -- "Seed company histories and timelines, including selected seed related organizations." -- Victory Seed Company. 2009 -- . Web. 22 Apr. 2010 -- http://www.saveseeds.org/seedsmen/company_history.html

VSC2: -- "A.W. Livingston & Company, a business timeline." -- Victory Seed Company -- . Web. 22 Apr. 2010. -- http://www.saveseeds.org/biography/livingston/history.html

WALL: -- "Waller Flowerseed Company and Lionel Waller. " Web. 21 Apr. 2010. [website by the grandson of Lionel Waller] -- http://wanderingthewest.com/waller/wallerseed.html

WEIN: -- Weinard, F. F. and Dorner, H. B. -- Peonies: single and Japanese in the Illinois trial garden -- . Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, 1938. [Babcock Peony Gardens, Jamestown, NY; Bonnewitz Gardens (Lee R. Bonnewitz), Van Wert, OH]

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, J. Horace McFarland Company Collection.

Identifier:

AAG.MCF, Series 3

See more items in:

J. Horace McFarland Company collection

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6bca0f104-9423-4413-891a-abada97e34b4

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-mcf-ref798

Creator:

Abercrombie, Gertrude, 1909-1977  Search this

Names:

Algren, Nelson, 1909-1981  Search this

Armin, Emil, 1883-  Search this

Armour, Richard Willard, 1906-  Search this

De Diego, Julio, 1900-  Search this

Evans, B.  Search this

Huppler, Dudley, 1917-1988  Search this

Karidis, Jerome  Search this

Priebe, Karl J., 1914-1976  Search this

Purdy, Carl  Search this

Purdy, James  Search this

Rollins, Sonny  Search this

Rorem, Ned, 1923-  Search this

Terkel, Studs, 1912-2008  Search this

Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964  Search this

Warren, Paul, 1916-  Search this

Wilcox, Wendell  Search this

Wilde, John, 1919-2006  Search this

Wilder, Thornton, 1897-1975  Search this

Extent:

5.9 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketchbooks

Diaries

Drawings

Scrapbooks

Sound recordings

Sketches

Photographs

Writings

Date:

circa 1880-1986

bulk 1935-1977

Summary:

The papers of surrealist artist Gertrude Abercrombie date from circa 1880-1986, with the bulk of the material dated 1935-1977, and measure 5.9 linear feet. Found within are biographical material; correspondence (mostly incoming letters) with friends, museums, and galleries; files for artists that interested her; writings and notes, including five journal-type notebooks; scattered personal business records; two sketchbooks by Abercrombie and additional sketches and drawings, some by others; printed material, audio recordings, one scrapbook, photographs, and estate records.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of surrealist artist Gertrude Abercrombie date from circa 1880-1986, with the bulk of the material dated 1935-1977, and measure 5.9 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material; correspondence (mostly incoming letters) with friends, museums, and galleries; artists files; writings and notes, including five journal-type notebooks; scattered personal business records; two sketchbooks by Abercrombie and additional sketches and drawings, some by others; printed material, audio recordings, one scrapbook, photographs, and estate records.

Biographical material consists of biographical notes, Gertrude Abercrombie's will, address books, and a file titled "memorabilia." Personal and professional correspondence consists mainly of incoming letters and some drafts of Gertrude Abercrombie's outgoing letters. Letters from museums and galleries concern loans of paintings and exhibitions. A large amount of the personal correspondence consists of post cards including many antique ones, as well as cards containing original art work by Julio de Diego, Jerry [Jerome] Karidis, Karl Priebe.

Artist files consist of correspondence, printed material, and photographs concerning painters, writers, a jazz musician, and a photographer. The individuals represented are: Dudley Huppler, Jerome Karidis, Karl Priebe, James Purdy, Sonny Rollins, Carl Van Vechten, Wendell Wilcox, John Wilde, and Thornton Wilder.

Writings and notes include reminiscences, miscellaneous writings and notes, and a girlhood diary with brief entries. Five notebooks contain a variety of writings dating from 1953 through 1975, and undated. One volume concerns only her second husband Frank Sandiford.

Business records include a painting catalog on file cards, mailing and guest lists, and miscellaneous sales records. In addition, six notebooks record expenses, sales, inventories, mailing lists, a register of paintings, and a guest book.

There are two sketchbooks, Christmas card designs, sketches and drawings done by Gertrude Abercrombie. There are also prints, drawings, and a painting by Emil Arman, B. Evans, de Diego, and unknown artists.

Printed material consists of articles and clippings about Gertrude Abercrombie, exhibition catalogs, and reproductions. Also included are books by friends inscribed by the authors, among them: Nelson Algren, Richard Armour, Dudley Huppler, James Purdy, Ned Rorem, Paul Warren [pen name of Abercrombie's second husband, Frank Sandiford], Studs Terkel, and Thornton Wilder.

Audio recordings (33-1/3 rpm phonograph alums) are inscribed to Gertrude Abercrombie by the artists. Orlando's album cover, designed by Abercrombie, incorporates one of her paintings.

Records of the Estate of Gertrude Abercrombie and the Gertrude Abercrombie Trust, Donald Baum, Executor, consist mainly of correspondence with the institutions that were offered works of art by Gertrude Abercrombie and from her personal collection. Also included are general correspondence, financial and tax records, and legal documents.

There is one scrapbook dated 1943 containing photographs and printed material.

Photographs are of art work, people, places, and miscellaneous subjects; negatives, slides, and transparencies are included in this series, too. Photographs of art include the work of Gertrude Abercrombie, Karl Priebe, and Charles Sebree. People pictured are Gertrude Abercrombie and family, including her parents, Richard I. Livingston, Dinah Livingston, and Frank Sandiford. There are also 19th and early 20th century photographs of ancestors. Among the images of friends are: Ivan le Lorraine Albright, Arnold Blanch, Dudley Huppler, Doris Lee, Karl Priebe, and Richard Purdy. Photographs of jazz artists include: Louis Armstrong, George Davis, Erroll Garner, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Orlando, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Sarah Vaughn, and the Modern Jazz Quartet. Of particular note the portraits of Gertrude Abercrombie and Dizzy Gillespie by Carl Van Vechten.Among the photographs of places are interior views of Gertrude Abercrombie's home and studio, unidentified landscapes, travel pictures of San Francisco and commercially produced stereopticon slides of other locations. Miscellaneous subjects are automobiles, cats, exhibition installations, and a still life setup.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 11 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1902-1976 (Box 1, OV9; 0.1 linear ft.)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1935-1977 (Boxes 1-2; 1.65 linear ft.)

Series 3: Artist files, circa 1935-1977 (Box 2; 0.25 linear ft.)

Series 4: Writings and Notes, circa 1919-1977 (Box 3; 0.1 linear ft.)

Series 5: Business Records, circa 1944-1977 (Box 3; 0.2 linear ft.)

Series 6: Art Work, circa 1939-1975 (Boxes 3, 7; O.2 linear ft.)

Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1906-1977 (Boxes 3-4; 1.6 linear ft.)

Series 8: Audio Recordings, circa 1970-1974 (Box 7; 0.1 linear ft.)

Series 9: Estate Records, circa 1976-1986 (Box 5; o.5 linear ft.)

Series 10: Scrapbook, circa 1943(Box 5; 1 folder)

Series 11: Photographs, circa 1880-1978(Boxes 5-7; OV8, 1.0 linear ft.)

Biographical Note:

Surrealist painter Gertrude Abercrombie (1909-1977) lived and worked in Chicago and was a prominent member of Chicago's Hyde Park arts community.

Abercrombie was known for surrealist oil paintings featuring dreamlike landscapes and fantasies. Her wide circle of friends included locally and nationally known artists, writers, and jazz musicians who made her home a popular avant-garde salon. She was the inspiration for Richie Powell's "Gertrude's Bounce" and, appeared as a fictional character in Malcolm, Eustace Chisholm, and as herself in Gertrude of Stony Island Avenue all by James Purdy.

The only child of Tom and Lula Janes [Jane] Abercrombie, Gertrude was born in Austin, Texas in 1909, while her opera singer parents were in town with a traveling company. In 1913, the family relocated to Berlin to further Jane's career, but the outbreak of World War I forced their return to the United States. They lived with Tom Abercrombie's family in Alledo, Illinois, before permanently settling in Chicago.

Gertrude Abercrombie had a facility with language and possessed musical and artistic talents. After graduation from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana with a degree in romance languages in 1929, she studied figure drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for a short time. She then enrolled at the American Arcademy of Art, also in Chicago, for a year long course in commercial art. Her first job was drawing gloves for Mesirow Department Store ads, followed by a stint working as an artist for Sears.

By 1932, Gertrude Abercrombie began painting seriously. The following summer, she participated in an outdoor art fair in downtown Chicago where she made her first sale and received favorable mention in a newspaper review of the event. Abercrombie's work that featured self-portraits and recurring images of personal symbols - trees, horses, owls, keys, shells, doors, stairways, ladders - began to attract attention. Beginning in 1934, Gertrude Abercrombie was employment as a painter in the WPA Federal Art Project in 1934, enabling her to feel validated as an artist and move from the home of her conservative, Christian Scientist parents to her own apartment. The Chicago Society of Artists presented a solo exhibition of Abercrombie's work in 1934, and in 1936 she showed at the Katharine Kuh Gallery (along with Rita Stein and Nicola Ziroli). In 1936 and 1938 Gertrude Abercrombie won prizes at the Art Institute of Chicago's Annual Exhibition of Works by Artists of Chicago and Vicinity.

She left the WPA in 1940 and married lawyer Robert Livingston. Their daughter, Dinah, was born in 1942, and they soon moved to a large Victorian house on South Dorchester St. where Gertude lived for the remainder of her life. The couple divorced in 1948. That same year she married Frank Sandiford, a music critic whose pen name was Paul Warren. An accomplished improvisational pianist, Gertrude Abercrombie became friends with many prominent jazz artists whom she met through Sandiford; in fact, Dizzy Gillespie performed at their wedding. Abercrombie and Sandiford separated in 1964.

The 1940s through 1950s were Gertrude Abercrombie's most productive and prolific period. Although she no longer painted many portraits, he work remained focused on the same themes and symbols. She believed that art was about ideas rather than technique and insisted that "It is always myself that I paint." During this period, Amercrombie exhibited widely in group shows and had solo exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago, Associated American Artists (New York), and Leonard Linn, Inc. (Winnetka, Ill.)

By the late 1950s, Gertrude Abercrombie began a long decline. Alcoholism started to take a toll. She suffered serious financial reverses, and in 1964 separated from Frank Sandiford. Debilitating arthritis eventually landed her in a wheel chair, and she became reclusive. In 1977, very near the end of her life, Gertrude Abercrombie was honored with a well-received retrospective exhibition at the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago. She was able to attend the reception and enjoy seeing the many old friends who were at the event.

Gertrude Abercrombie died in Chicago in 1977. Her will established The Gertrude Abercrombie Trust that cared for and distributed to various institutions her own paintings and a personal collection of works by other artists to selected institutions, mainly in the Midwest.

Related Material:

A photograph of Gertrude Abercrombie at home with her painting "Slaughter House", was donated by Donald Baum to the National Collection of Fine Arts in 1979 and transferred to the Archives of American Art that same year.

Provenance:

Donald Baum, executor of both the estate and trust of Gertrude Abercrombie, donated the papers to the Archives of American Art in 1978 and 1986.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

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:

Painters -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Surrealism  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Diaries

Drawings

Scrapbooks

Sound recordings

Sketches

Photographs

Writings

Citation:

The Gertrude Abercrombie papers, circa 1880-1986, bulk 1935-1977. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.abergert

See more items in:

Gertrude Abercrombie papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw93af9ed86-0dce-4ea7-9cb4-085eb5d48b67

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-abergert

Creator:

Brooks, James, 1906-1992  Search this

Subject:

Gottlieb, Adolph  Search this

Bolotowsky, Ilya  Search this

Park, Charlotte  Search this

King, William  Search this

Guston, Philip  Search this

New York University  Search this

Southern Methodist University  Search this

United States. Army  Search this

Kootz Gallery (N.Y.)  Search this

Type:

Sketchbooks

Sound recordings

Transcripts

Interviews

Drawings

Photographs

Diaries

Citation:

James Brooks and Charlotte Park papers, 1909-2010, bulk 1930-2010. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

World War, 1939-1945  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Abstract expressionism  Search this

Theme:

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)8955

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211142

AAA_collcode_broojame

Theme:

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211142

Creator:

Brooks, James, 1906-1992  Search this

Names:

Kootz Gallery (N.Y.)  Search this

New York University -- Students  Search this

Southern Methodist University -- Students  Search this

United States. Army  Search this

Bolotowsky, Ilya, 1907-1981  Search this

Gottlieb, Adolph, 1903-1974  Search this

Guston, Philip, 1913-1980  Search this

King, William, 1925-2015  Search this

Park, Charlotte  Search this

Extent:

20.1 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketchbooks

Sound recordings

Transcripts

Interviews

Drawings

Photographs

Diaries

Date:

1909-2010

bulk 1930-2010

Summary:

The papers of Abstract Expressionist painters James Brooks and Charlotte Park measure 18.7 linear feet and are dated 1909-2010, bulk 1930-2010. Correspondence, subject files, personal business records, printed material, and a sound recording document his painting career, interests, professional and personal activities. Also found are biographical materials, interviews, writings, and art work. The collection also includes papers of his wife, Abstract Expressionist painter Charlotte Park, regarding her painting career, personal life, activities as executor of James Brooks' estate, and some material concerning the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Brooks Foundation. There is a 1.4 linear foot addition to this collection donated in 2017 that includes 58 "week-at-a-glance" appointment books, three journals and one address/ telephone book of Charlotte Park; a hand written chronology with significant dates and notes; postcards and exhibition announcements sent to Charlotte and James; doodles; and a sketch, possibly by Don Kingman.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of Abstract Expressionist painters James Brooks and Charlotte Park measure 18.7 linear feet and are dated 1909-2010, bulk 1930-2010. Correspondence, subject files, personal business records, printed material, and a sound recording document his painting career, interests, professional and personal activities. Also found are biographical materials, interviews, writings, and art work. The collection also includes papers of his wife, Abstract Expressionist painter Charlotte Park, regarding her painting career, personal life, activities as executor of James Brooks' estate, and some material concerning the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Brooks Foundation. There is a 1.4 linear foot addition to this collection donated in 2017 that includes 58 "week-at-a-glance" appointment books, three journals and one address/ telephone book of Charlotte Park; a hand written chronology with significant dates and notes; postcards and exhibition announcements sent to Charlotte and James; doodles; and a sketch, possibly by Don Kingman.

Biographical materials include biographical notes and documents such as copies of birth and death certificates, curricula vitae, family history. Educational records are from Southern Methodist University and documentation of flight training courses at New York University. Brooks' military service in World War II is well documented by United States Army records with related correspondence. Also found is extensive documentation of his death and funeral.

Professional and personal correspondence is addressed to Brooks, the couple, and to Charlotte Park during the later years of Brooks' life when she managed his affairs. A significant amount of correspondence is categorized as art, autograph requests, personal, and teaching; also include is general correspondence that overlaps all categories. Art correspondence with museums, galleries, collectors, artists, and friends concerns exhibitions, Brooks' work, and invitations to exhibit, speak, or serve as a juror. Of note is the correspondence with Samuel M. Kootz Gallery. The personal correspondence is mainly social, and teaching correspondence consists largely of requests that he teach in summer programs, serve as a visiting artist/critic.

Six interviews with James Brooks are in the form of published and unpublished transcripts; a seventh is a sound recording with no known transcript. Charlotte Park participates in one interview.

Writings by Brooks are statements about his work and a tribute to Ilya Bolotowsky. Among the writings by others about Brooks are a catalog essay, academic papers, and lecture; also found are a few short pieces on miscellaneous topics. Three diaries include brief entries regarding his work, exhibitions, and activities.

Subject files maintained by Brooks concerning organizations, exhibitions, mural projects, a commission and teaching document his professional activities, relationships and interests. Personal business records concern appraisals, conservation, gifts, insurance, loans, sales, shipping, and storage of artwork. Gallery records include agreements, consignments, lists, and receipts. Also, there are accounts for lettering work and personal income tax returns.

Printed material is mostly exhibition announcements, invitations, catalogs, and checklists, as well as articles and reviews. The majority are about/mention Brooks or include reproductions of his work; some concern artist friends, former students, and others.

Artwork by Brooks consists of pencil and ink drawings, two sketchbooks, and "telephone doodles." Other artists include Adolph Gottlieb (ink drawing of sculpture), Philip Guston (three pencil drawings of Brooks), and William King (two silhouettes of Brooks).

Photographic materials (photographs, digital prints, negatives, slides, and color transparencies) provide extensive documentation of Brooks' artwork and, to a lesser extent, exhibitions.There are pictures of Brooks as a very young boy, though the most views of him date from the 1930s through 1980s, and with friends. Places include Brooks' homes and studios in Montauk, New York and the Springs, East Hampton, New York; travel to Maine, Oregon and California. Views of the Middle East from World War II show Brooks with colleagues, local people engaged in daily activities, and scenery. Also of note are a copy print of "The Irascibles" by Nina Leen, and attendees at the dedication of Flight dining in view of Brook's LaGuardia Ariport mural.

Charlotte Park papers document the professional career and personal life of the Abstract Expressionist painter, art teacher, and wife of James Brooks through correspondence, personal business records, exhibition records, printed material, and photographs. In addition, this series documents artwork in the estate of James Brooks and posthumous exhibitions. Twelve years younger than her husband, Park began handling business matters for him as he aged and developed Alzheimer's disease. She also served as his executor. In the 1990s, a curator assumed management of the artwork and loans for exhibitions. After the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Brooks Foundation was established in 2000, its director handled most business activities. Some copies of Foundation minutes and correspondence are found among Park's papers.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in 11 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1924-1995 (Box 1, OV 19; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1928-1995 (Boxes 1-3; 1.7 linear feet)

Series 3: Interviews, 1965-1990 (Box 3; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Writings, 1952-1999 (Box 3; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 5: Diaries, 1975-1984 (Box 3; 0.1 linear feet)

Series 6: Subject Files, 1926-2001 (Boxes 3-5, OV 20; 2.0 linear feet)

Series 7: Personal Business Records, 1932-1992 (Boxes 5-6; 1.0 linear feet)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1928-1992 (Boxes 6-11, OV 21-OV 22; 4.8 linear feet)

Series 9: Artwork, 1930s-1992 (Box 11; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 10: Photographic Materials, 1909-2000s (Boxes 11-15; 4.1 linear feet)

Series 11: Charlotte Park papers, 1930s-2010 (Boxes 15-18, OV 23; 3.6 linear feet)

Series 12: Unprocessed Additition, circa 1930-2010 (Boxes 25-26; 1.4 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical:

James Brooks (1906-1992) and Charlotte Park (1919-2010) were Abstract Expressionist painters in East Hampton, N.Y. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Brooks spent his childhood in Colorado, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Texas. He begn drawing as a young boy, finding inspiration in magazine illustrations and comic strips. Before moving to New York City in 1926, he studied at Southern Methodist University (1923-1924) and at the Dallas Art Institute.

In New York, Brooks studied illustration at the Grand Central Art School. After exposure to museums led him to differentiate between illustration and fine art, Brooks enrolled at Art Students League. During this period he supported himself by doing lettering for magazine advertisements. From 1936-1942 he participated in the WPA Federal Art Project, executing murals at Woodside Library, Queens, New York (destroyed); the Post Office, Little Falls, New Jersey; and his famous Flight at LaGuardia Airport's Marine Air Terminal (painted over in the 1950s and restored in 1980).

During World War II Brooks served in the United States Army as an art correspondent in Cairo. When at the Office of Special Services, Washington, DC, he met Charlotte Park who worked there as a graphic artist and later became his wife. The couple moved to New York City in 1945 and married in 1947. Brooks resumed friendships with artists he knew from the WPA including Philip Guston, Bradley Walker Tomlin, and Jackson Pollock. Brooks and Park were especially close with Pollock and Lee Krasner; after they moved to Long Island, Brooks and Park, soon followed, first to Montauk and later to the Springs, East Hampton, New York.

By the late 1940s, Brooks had turned away from figural painting in the social realist style and moved toward abstraction. In the early 1950s, he was experimenting with enamel, gouache, and diluted oil paints, staining various grounds in ways that produced interesting shapes, adding spontaneous splashes of color over which he painted more deliberately. In the 1960s he switched to acrylics, leading to wider use of color and broader strokes.

Peridot Gallery presented Brooks' first solo exhibition in 1949. He helped organize and participated in the famous Ninth Street Show of 1951, earning critical acclaim. This assured him a place in two of the Museum of Modern Art's most important exhibitions of the period, Twelve Americans (1956) and New American Painting (1958). He showed at the Stable Gallery, Kootz Gallery, Martha Jackson Gallery and others. During his lifetime Brooks enjoyed five traveling retrospective exhibitions.

Prizes and awards included Carnegie Institute's Pittsburgh International Exhibition 5th prize for painting (1952), The Art Institue of Chicago's 62nd American Exhibition Logan Medal and Prize for Painting (1957) and 64th American Exhibition Harris Prize (1961), The National Arts Club Medal (1985), and a citation of appreciation for Flight from The North Beach Club Marine Air Terminal, LaGuardia Airport (1986).

Brooks taught for nearly three decades: drawing at Columbia University (1947-1948) and lettering at Pratt Institute (1948-1955); was a visiting critic, Yale University (1955-1960), University of Pennsylvania (1971-1972), and Cooper Union (1975); and served on the Queens College faculty (1966-1969). In addition, he was an artist-in-residence at The American Academy in Rome (1963), the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1969), and a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant (1973).

Brooks developed Alzheimer's disease around 1985 and died in East Hampton, New York in 1992.

Charlotte Park graduated from the Yale School of Fine Art (1939) and during World War II, when working in Washington, D.C., she met James Brooks. They moved to New York City in 1945, where she studied with Australian artist Wallace Harrison. Park taught children's art classes at several private schools in the early 1950s and at the Museum of Modern Art, 1955-1967.

Park's approach to Abstract Expressionism featured curved or linear shapes with vibrant colors and dynamic brushstrokes. Tanager Gallery presented her first solo show in 1957 and her work was included in numerous group exhibitions from the 1950s through 2000s, mainly in New York City and Long Island. After Park's second solo exhibition, held in 1973 at Elaine Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, New York, interest in her work revived; other one-person shows followed at Guild Hall (1979), Ingber Gallery (1980), and paired with James Brooks at Louise Himelfarb Gallery. The National Institute of Arts and Letters honored Park with its Art Award in 1974. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Parrish Art Museum, Guild Hall Museum, Telfair Museum of Art, and in many private collections.

Charlotte Park died in 2010.

Related Materials:

Also among the Archives of American Art's holdings are letters from James Brooks and Sean Scully, 1980-1989 addressed to Theodora ["Teddy"] S. Greenbaum, and an oral history interview with James Brooks conducted by Dorothy Seckler, 1965 June 10 and June 12.

Separated Materials:

Correspondence, interview transcripts, photographs, and printed material were loaned by James Brooks for microfilming in 1969 (reel N69-132). With the exception of an address book, a scrapbook, and a few photographs, Brooks donated almost all of the loan in 1979.

Provenance:

The majority of the collection was donated in 2013 by the James Brooks and Charlotte Brooks Foundation and an additional 1.4 linear feet donated 2017 by the Foundation. In 1979 James Brooks donated most of the material lent for microfilming in 1969.

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.

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.

Topic:

World War, 1939-1945  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Abstract expressionism  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Sound recordings

Transcripts

Interviews

Drawings

Photographs

Diaries

Citation:

James Brooks and Charlotte Park papers, 1909-2010, bulk 1930-2010. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.broojame

See more items in:

James Brooks and Charlotte Park papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw948fd3af3-1ae9-4a9a-af05-4ef35e505b4a

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-broojame

Artist:

Joan Mitchell, American, b. Chicago, Illinois, 1925–1992  Search this

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

110 1/4 × 204 3/4 in. (280 × 520.1 cm)

Type:

Painting

Date:

1973

Credit Line:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David T. Workman, 1975

Accession Number:

75.20

See more items in:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection

School:

Abstract Expressionism (Second Generation)

Data Source:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/py2b742002a-9a46-4d25-aff1-979a50e54daa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:hmsg_75.20