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Oral history interview with Rudolf Staffel, 1987 July 17-August 6

Interviewee:
Staffel, Rudolf, 1911-2002  Search this
Interviewer:
Drutt, Helen Williams  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Rudolf Staffel, 1987 July 17-August 6. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Glass craft -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Artisans -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews  Search this
Decorative arts  Search this
Ceramics  Search this
Glass art  Search this
Theme:
Craft  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)13047
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212101
AAA_collcode_staffe87
Theme:
Craft
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_212101

Oral history interview with Nelli Bar Wieghardt, 1987 July 9-1989 April 29

Interviewee:
Wieghardt, Nelli Bar, 1904-2001  Search this
Interviewer:
Pacini, Marina  Search this
Subject:
Barnes, Albert C. (Albert Coombs)  Search this
Art Institute of Chicago  Search this
Illinois Institute of Technology  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Nelli Bar Wieghardt, 1987 July 9-1989 April 29. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Interviews  Search this
Theme:
Chicago's Art-Related Archival Materials: A Terra Foundation Resource  Search this
Women  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)11675
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212173
AAA_collcode_wiegha87
Theme:
Chicago's Art-Related Archival Materials: A Terra Foundation Resource
Women
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_212173

Richard Hood papers, 1930-1983

Creator:
Hood, Richard, 1910-  Search this
Subject:
American Color Print Society  Search this
Philadelphia College of Art  Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration  Search this
Federal Art Project (Pa.)  Search this
Citation:
Richard Hood papers, 1930-1983. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Prints -- 20th century -- United States -- Societies, etc  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)10450
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213855
AAA_collcode_hoodrich
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213855

Cecilia Beaux photographs and newsclippings, circa 1890-1912

Creator:
Beaux, Cecilia, 1855-1942  Search this
Subject:
Beaux, Cecilia  Search this
Citation:
Cecilia Beaux photographs and newsclippings, circa 1890-1912. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)13632
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)271424
AAA_collcode_beauceci3
Theme:
Women
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_271424

Oral history interview with Richard Hood, 1964 Dec. 15

Interviewee:
Hood, Richard, 1910-  Search this
Interviewer:
Doud, Richard Keith  Search this
Subject:
Federal Art Project (Pa.)  Search this
Index of American Design  Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Richard Hood, 1964 Dec. 15. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Federal aid to the arts  Search this
Art and state  Search this
Designers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews  Search this
Printmakers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews  Search this
Theme:
New Deal  Search this
Architecture & Design  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)11862
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213572
AAA_collcode_hood64
Theme:
New Deal
Architecture & Design
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_213572

Oral history interview with Walter Erlebacher, 1991 Jan. 19

Interviewee:
Erlebacher, Walter, 1933-1991  Search this
Interviewer:
Hunter, Anne S.  Search this
Subject:
Pearlstein, Philip  Search this
Beal, Jack  Search this
Kostellow, Alexander  Search this
Hesse, Eva  Search this
Leslie, Alfred  Search this
Rigby, Ivan B.  Search this
Pratt Institute. Art School  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Walter Erlebacher, 1991 Jan. 19. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Figurative art  Search this
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12750
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)214374
AAA_collcode_erleba91
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_214374

Oral history interview with Jimmy C. Lueders, 1990 Nov. 14

Interviewee:
Lueders, Jimmy C., 1927-1994  Search this
Interviewer:
Veloric, Cynthia  Search this
Subject:
Watkins, Franklin Chenault  Search this
Kamihira, Ben  Search this
Potamkin, Vivian  Search this
Potamkin, Meyer  Search this
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this
Dubin Gallery, (Philadelphia, Pa.)  Search this
Gallery 1015  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Jimmy C. Lueders, 1990 Nov. 14. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painting, Abstract -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Figurative art  Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12984
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)214380
AAA_collcode_lueder90
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_214380

Oral history interview with Hugh Mesibov, 2012 Dec. 4

Interviewee:
Mesibov, Hugh, 1916-2016  Search this
Interviewer:
McElhinney, James, 1952-  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Hugh Mesibov, 2012 Dec. 4. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- Interviews  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)16114
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)362298
AAA_collcode_mesibo12
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_362298
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Eleanor Moty, 2014 November 18-20

Interviewee:
Moty, Eleanor, 1945-  Search this
Interviewer:
Church, Sharon, 1948-  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Eleanor Moty, 2014 November 18-20. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)16217
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)368475
AAA_collcode_moty14
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_368475
Online Media:

Roswell Weidner papers, 1930-1989

Creator:
Weidner, Roswell T., 1911-1999  Search this
Subject:
Shahn, Ben  Search this
Federal Art Project  Search this
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this
Citation:
Roswell Weidner papers, 1930-1989. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Federal aid to the arts  Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- History -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)10155
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213126
AAA_collcode_weidrosw
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213126

Oral history interview with Harlan Butt

Interviewee:
Butt, Harlan W., 1950-  Search this
Interviewer:
Riedel, Mija, 1958-  Search this
Creator:
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
Names:
American Craft Council  Search this
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts -- Faculty  Search this
Enamelist Society  Search this
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts -- Faculty  Search this
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
Penland School of Crafts -- Faculty  Search this
Rhode Island School of Design -- Faculty  Search this
San Diego State University -- Faculty  Search this
Society of North American Goldsmiths  Search this
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale -- Students  Search this
Tyler School of Art -- Students  Search this
University of North Texas -- Faculty  Search this
Brooks, Jan  Search this
Glantz, Ken  Search this
Kington, L. Brent (Louis Brent), 1934-2013  Search this
Lechtzin, Stanley, 1936-  Search this
Moty, Eleanor  Search this
Paley, Albert  Search this
Pijanowski, Eugene, 1938-  Search this
Pijanowski, Hiroko Sato, 1942-  Search this
Pujol, Elliot  Search this
Scanga, Italo, 1932-2001  Search this
Shirk, Helen Z., 1942-  Search this
Snyder, Gary, 1930-  Search this
Staffel, Rudolf, 1911-2002  Search this
Winokur, Robert, 1933-  Search this
Extent:
7 Items (Sound recording: 7 sound files (5 hr., 19 min.), digital, wav)
90 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Place:
Australia -- Description and Travel
India -- description and travel
Japan -- Description and Travel
Date:
2009 July 27-28
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Harlan W. Butt conducted 2009 July 27-28, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Butt's studio, in Ptarmigan Meadows, Colorado.
Harlan Butt speaks of the influence of Asian art on his work; the use of text and imagery in his work; the use of pattern in his work; his undergraduate minor in weaving; the influence of Asian religion and mythology; series The Earth Beneath Our Feet , Garden Anagogies, and Snakes in Heaven; his childhood growing up in Hopewell, New Jersey, near Princeton; undergraduate work at Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; discovery of Buddhism and Eastern religions; his mother's death when he was 20; studying with Stanley Lechtzin and Elliot Pujol at Tyler; graduate school at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; interest in Japanese tea ceremony; more exploration of Zen Buddhism; use of color in his work; studying with L. Brent Kington; reliquary series; move to Connecticut in 1974; second trip to Japan in 1984 to co-curate Kyoto Metal: An Exhibition of Contemporary Japanese Art Metalwork; introduction to Japanese system of artisan apprenticeship; early efforts as a writer and poet; the influence of poet Gary Snyder; summer teaching position at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence; teaching job at San Diego [California] State University in the mid-1970s; rattles and pipes series; exploring the Western landscape; the power of the snake image; taking a teaching position at University of North Texas, Denton (1976- ); first trip to Japan in 1980; differences in artisanal/metalworking practices in Japan and the United States; teaching workshops at various craft schools, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina; Haystack School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine; and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, compared with teaching in a university; the pros and cons of the gallery system; work with the Nancy Yaw Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan; the challenge of commission work; National Parks Project, Denton Center for the Visual Arts, Denton, Texas; the role of haiku and text in his pieces; series 1,001 Views of Mt. Mu; series Snakes in Heaven; the influence of his wife and children; trip to India and organizing Colour & Light: The Art and Craft of Enamel on Metal, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, 2001; trip to Australia; involvement with the Society of North American Goldsmiths, Enamelist Society, and American Craft Council; subtle issues of environmentalism in his work; his affinity for metalsmithing and enameling. He also recalls [Rudolf] Staffel, Robert Winokur, Italo Scanga, Jan Brooks, Mike Riegel, Rachelle Thiewes, Eleanor Moty, Albert Paley, Shumei Tanaka, Ken Glantz (Ken Chowder), Randy Thelma Coles, Sandy Green, Mickey McCarter, Gene Pijanowski, Hiroko Pijanowski, Toshihiro Yamanaka, Helen Shirk, Ana Lopez, and Sarah Perkins.
Biographical / Historical:
Harlan W. Butt (1950- ) is an artist, metalsmith, and educator in Denton, Texas. Mija Riedel (1958- ) is a writer and independent scholar in San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound mini discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 19 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 administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- Interviews  Search this
Topic:
Art, Asian  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Buddhism  Search this
Metal-workers -- Texas -- Interviews  Search this
Weaving  Search this
Japanese tea ceremony  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Identifier:
AAA.butt09
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw990c0174f-3e27-4a2f-bccb-8d302a50d30d
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-butt09
Online Media:

Ed Colker papers

Creator:
Colker, Ed, 1927-  Search this
Names:
Atelier Desjobert  Search this
Haybarn Press  Search this
United States. Army  Search this
Barnet, Will, 1911-2012  Search this
Johnson, J. Curtis  Search this
Konner, Melvin  Search this
Norris, Kathleen, 1947-  Search this
Pease, Deborah  Search this
Takaezu, Toshiko  Search this
Walker, Jeanne Murray  Search this
Extent:
3.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Date:
1944-2020
Summary:
The papers of painter, printmaker, educator and administrator Ed Colker are dated 1944-2020 and measure 3.4 linear feet. Colker's painting, printmaking, and Haybarn Press, as well as his career as an art teacher and university administrator, are documented through biographical materials, correspondence, interviews, writings, subject files, printed material, and photographs. There is a 0.2 linear ft. addition to the collection donated in 2020 that includes lists of works of art, exhibition information, letters to Colker, talks and lecutres by Colker, printed material and miscellany.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter, printmaker, educator and administrator Ed Colker are dated 1944-2020 and measure 3.4 linear feet. Colker's painting, printmaking, and Haybarn Press, as well as his career as an art teacher and university administrator, are documented through biographical materials, correspondence, interviews, writings, subject files, printed material, and photographs. There is a 0.2 linear ft. addition to the collection donated in 2020 that includes lists of works of art, exhibition information, letters to Colker, talks and lecutres by Colker, printed material and miscellany.

Biographical materials include official letters regarding Colker's performance in the Army, caricatures of him, diplomas, resume, awards, and certificates.

Correspondence, mainly professional in nature with a few scattered personal letters, concerns Colker's academic and artistic work, Haybarn Editions, exhibitions, projects, and various interests. Poet correspondents are J. Curtis Johnson, Kathleen Norris, Deborah Pease, and Jeanne Walker; translators include Melvin Konner and others.

Interviews with Ed Colker, conducted between 1982 and 2008 for various purposes, are preserved as 1 sound cassette and published transcripts. Also found are 1 sound cassette, 1 videocassette, and a published transcript of interviews Colker conducted with Will Barnet and Toshiko Takaezu in 1981 and 1994 respectively.

Among Colker's writings are the published versions of several articles and the manuscript of an unpublished one; two proposed books for students of design and typography; lectures delivered to students (3 videocassettes), miscellaneous writings, notes, and 1 videocassete of readings by artists from one of Colker's Haybarn Press poetry portfolios.

Subject files document many of Colker's professional interests, activities, projects, and relationships. Also of note are files about Haybarn Press.

The bulk of the printed material consists of exhibition catalogs, announcements, and school catalogs. Almost all is about or mentions Colker, or features reproductions of his work. Of note is the first and only issue of Re-Art: A Reflection of Current Ideas on the Arts (1954), published by Colker and Gene Feldman.

Photographs are of Colker and his family; Colker at events related to his artistic, academic, and publishing activities; artwork by Colker, and his work as reproduced in Haybarn Editions. Also found are an exterior view of the barn studio and one of printers working at Desjobert Press.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1946-circa 2011 (Box 1; 1 folder)

Series 2: Correspondence,1954-2011 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 3: Interviews, 1981-2008 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Writings, 1961-1990s (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 5: Subject files, 1952-2013 (Boxes 2-3; 1.3 linear feet)

Series 6: Printed Material,1944-2011 (Box 3; 0.7 linear feet)

Series 7: Photographs, circa 1960s-2010 (Box 4; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 8: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1963-2020 (Box 5; 0.2 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Ed Colker (b. 1927) is a painter, printmaker, educator, and administrator who has worked in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York City. Colker founded the not-for-profit fine art publisher Haybarn Press. He is married to artist Elaine Galen and resides in Mt. Kisco, NY.

After high school, Colker was awarded a scholarship and began his art education at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Arts. He interrupted his studies to serve in the U.S. Army (1944-1946). He graduated in 1949, by which time the school had become the Philadelphia Museum School of Art; today it is the University of the Arts. He taught art in the Philadelphia area before moving to New York City in 1956. Later, Colker earned degrees from New York University (B.S. Ed, 1964; M.A., 1985).

Colker taught art and design courses at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, Cornell University, Pratt Institute, and Philadelphia College of Art. By the 1980s, he had become an administrator as well as a professor. Throughout his academic career, Colker published and lectured widely, served as a visiting artist, acted as a consultant, and participated in professional organizations. He occasionally organized exhibitions and served on exhibition juries.

Since 1960, under the imprints Editions du Grenier, Haybarn Editions, and Haybarn Press, Colker has published limited edition books, portfolios, broadsides, individual pages, and folders of poetry. Most are accompanied by Colker's etchings and lithographs inspired by the texts. Haybarn Press, under the Ambor Edition imprint, also produced four portfolios with text and drawings by Elaine Galen, 1996-2008. From its inception, the work of Haybarn Press has been featured in many exhibitions of book arts. Colker also participated in group shows throughout the United States and enjoyed solo exhibitions of his paintings and prints. Haybarn Press productions and Colker's prints and paintings are in the permanent collections of Brown University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, New York Public Library, University of Arizona Museum of Art, and others.

Now retired from university administration and teaching, Colker continues to operate Haybarn Press and occasionally serves as an exhibition juror and visiting artist.
Provenance:
Donated by Ed Colker in 1991, 2013 and 2020.
Restrictions:
Use of original material requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- United States  Search this
Painters -- United States  Search this
Topic:
Printmakers -- United States  Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
Printing  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Transcripts  Search this
Design  Search this
Educators -- United States  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Identifier:
AAA.colked
See more items in:
Ed Colker papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9677cefb0-ea6d-4565-b7ac-2fe91567811e
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-colked

Oral history interview with Hugh Mesibov

Interviewee:
Mesibov, Hugh, 1916-2016  Search this
Interviewer:
McElhinney, James Lancel, 1952-  Search this
Extent:
4 Items (sound files (3 hr., 24 min.), digital, wav)
80 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
2012 Dec. 4
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Hugh Mesibov conducted 2012 Dec. 4, by James McElhinney, for the Archives of American Art, at Mesibov's home and studio, in Chestnut Ridge, N.Y. Mesibov speaks of growing up in Philadelphia; working as a shipfitter at Cramp's Shipyard; his time working with the graphic arts division of the WPA and creating a new print process called the carborundum print with artists Dox Thrash and Michael Gallagher; painting canvases and mural for the WPA; his time at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art; his relationship with Dr. Albert C. Barnes of the Barnes Foundation and Barnes Collection; gatherings at "The Heel" on South Broad Street in Philadelphia, which was part of Horn and Hodart; painting murals The Book of Job and Byzantine Figure; his relationship with art collector David Orr. He recalls moving to New York City in the 1940s and becoming a member of "The Club" with other Abstract Expressionists like David Kline and Ibram Lassaw; exhibiting his work at the Sragow Gallery, the Susan Teller Gallery, the Woodmere Art Gallery, and the Chinese Gallery; his time spent in Aspen, Colorado, where he was exposed to poets and nature that influenced his work; working as an art teacher at the Wiltwyck School in Esopus, New York; working as an art therapist with Judith Kramer at the Lenox Hill House in New York City; moving to Rockland County, New York in the 1960s with his family; teaching at Rockland Community College; his friendships with other artists in the area such as Khoren Der Harootian, Vaclav Vytlacil, Richard Pousette-Dart, and Maurice Prendergast. Mesibov is joined in the interview by his wife, Eudice Charney Meisbov, and his daughter, Deborah Mesibov. Chelsea Cooksey assists James McElhinney with the recording.
Biographical / Historical:
Interviewee Hugh Mesibov (1916-2016) was an artist and professor emeritus in Chestnut Ridge, N.Y. Interviewer James McElhinney is a painter and educator in New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded as 4 sound digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 24 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 administrators.
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- Interviews  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.mesibo12
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw903227005-a9b0-4e49-acbd-4cbab1ce77e4
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-mesibo12
Online Media:

Cecilia Beaux papers

Creator:
Beaux, Cecilia, 1855-1942  Search this
Names:
Andrew, A. Piatt (Abram Piatt), 1873-1936  Search this
Extent:
3.3 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Poems
Diaries
Date:
1863-1968
Summary:
The papers of the painter Cecilia Beaux measure 3.3 linear feet and date from 1863 to 1968. Papers document her education, career and personal life through family and professional correspondence, twelve diaries, lectures, essays, poems, notes, clippings, catalogs, pamphlets, exhibition records, business records, photographs, certificates, diplomas, and artifacts.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of the painter Cecilia Beaux measure 3.3 linear feet and date from 1863 to 1968.

Biographical Materials include autobiographical notes written by Beaux, published biographical essays, and articles about Beaux. A lengthy correspondence from Beaux to her friend A. Piatt Andrew of Massachusetts is found, as well as correspondence with family and professional associates. Lengthy letters from Beaux to her family during trips to Europe contain scattered illustrations. Professional correspondents include other artists, teachers, patrons, critics, curators, dealers, and writers.

Writings include one early diary from the 1870s, and a series of eleven additional diaries dating from 1905 to 1913, which record daily activities related to her artwork and personal life. Numerous lectures and essays from her later career are found, often in multiple drafts, as are manuscripts of published and unpublished poems by Beaux. A single sketch, a study for a portrait, is also found.

A floor plan, lists of paintings, receipts, written bids, and other notes document the exhibition and sale of Beaux's artwork. Printed materials related to her career include exhibition catalogs and other ephemera, a scrapbook of primarily clippings related to her early career, and loose clippings related to her later career. Photographs include formal portraits of Cecilia Beaux and informal photographs of Beaux alone and with colleagues, friends, and family members in various settings including Concarneau, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Gloucester, and Malines, Belgium. Also found is a photograph of John Singer Sargent painting.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 6 series, with multiple subseries in Series 2:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, circa 1893-1943 (Box 1, OV 4-5; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1863-1968 (Boxes 1-2; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1868-1954 (Boxes 2-3, OV 6; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 4: Personal Business Records, circa 1883-1936 (Box 3, OV 6; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 5: Printed Materials, circa 1874-1953 (Box 3, OV 6; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 6: Photographs, circa 1888-1919(Box 3; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Cecilia Beaux was born in Philadelphia in 1855. Her mother died just days after her birth, and Beaux and her sister went to live with their grandmother and aunts. Her adoptive family exposed her to fine art throughout her childhood and, once in school, Beaux excelled in her drawing classes and began training in the studio of Catherine A. Drinker, an artist and a cousin of her uncle Will Biddle. From 1881-1883 she attended life classes directed by William Sartain, who traveled to Philadelphia from New York to give criticisms. She also counted the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts master Thomas Eakins among her early influences, though she did not receive direct instruction from him.

Her first major success in painting was a double-portrait of her sister and nephew entitled Les Derniers Jours d'Enfance, exhibited first at the American Art Association, and in 1885 at the Pennsylvania Academy, where it won the Mary Smith Prize, the first of many prizes Beaux received during her lifetime. In 1887, the painting was exhibited at the Paris salon to critical acclaim. Beaux's reputation as a Philadelphia portraitist grew steadily with the execution of several portraits her in Chestnut Street studio, and in 1888 she traveled to Europe to continue her studio education.

In Paris, she joined the Academie Julien, where she received criticisms from Tony Robert Fleury and William Adolph Bougereau. She spent the summer in Concarneau, Brittany, where Alexander Harrison and Charles Lazar critiqued her work, and returned to Paris, where she attended the Academie Colarossi under and sought out private criticisms in the atelier of Benjamin Constant. She copied paintings and classical sculpture at the Louvre, and traveled throughout Europe to view the works of old masters. In England, she painted several portraits of her friends, the Darwins, before returning to Philadelphia in August of 1889. She traveled to Europe several more times in her life, including a trip in 1896 to see six of her paintings exhibited at the Salon de Champs de Mars. At the time this was an unprecedented number of paintings shown there by an American, and their strength earned her a membership in the Societé Nationale des Beaux-Arts.

In the 1890s, Beaux earned a living painting commissioned portraits at her Philadelphia studio, while experimenting with and refining her style and technique with portraits of friends and family such as Sita and Sarita, of her cousin Sarah Leavitt with her cat, The Dreamer, of her friend Caroline Smith, and Ernesta with Nurse, of her niece, who was a favorite sitter of Beaux's throughout her life. Beaux became the first full-time female faculty member at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1895, and continued teaching there until 1915.

In the late 1890s, Beaux painted several works for which she would be repeatedly honored, including Mother and Daughter, a double-portrait of Mrs. Clement A. Griscom and her daughter Frances, which won four gold medals at international exhibitions, and The Dancing Lesson, a double-portrait of Dorothea and Francesca Gilder, the daughters of Richard Watson Gilder, editor of Century Magazine and himself a devoted friend and supporter of Beaux. The Gilders, and especially Dorothea, were steady companions as well as sitters for Beaux throughout her adult life. In 1901 and 1902, Beaux painted Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt and her daughter Ethel in the White House, and in 1903, she was elected to the National Academy of Design.

By 1905 Beaux was living and working primarily in New York during the winter, and at "Green Alley," a home she built in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in the summer. She was introduced to Gloucester by her friend, the Harvard economist A. Piatt Andrew, and entertained a steady stream of intellectual, literary, and artistic friends such as Isabella Stuart Gardner, William James, and Thornton Oakley. Beaux continued to amass prizes and honors for her artwork, including an honorary doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania in 1908. She had solo exhibitions at Macbeth Gallery in 1910, the Corcoran Gallery in 1912, and M. Knoedler Gallery in 1915 and 1917. She had regular public speaking appearances, published articles, and interviews on such subjects as art education, women in art, and modernist art, the pervasive influence of which she eschewed as a passing fad.

In 1919, she traveled to war-torn Europe as the official portraitist of the United States War Portraits Commission painted the portraits of three European war heroes: Cardinal Mercier, Admiral Beatty, and Georges Clemenceau. In 1924, she broke her hip in Paris, and although she continued to paint, she would never again be the prolific painter of her earlier years due to the injury. She wrote her autobiography Background with Figures in 1930, and in 1935-1936, the American Academy of Arts and Letters held the largest exhibition of her work that was mounted during her lifetime. Beaux died in 1942 in Gloucester, at the age of 87.
Related Material:
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts holds additional papers related to Cecilia Beaux, particularly personal photographs. Portions of these papers were loaned to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1985 and were microfilmed on reel 3658.

The Archives of American Art also holds the Dorothea Gilder papers regarding Cecilia Beaux.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels 3425 and 3658) including a sketchbook and other related papers. Lent materials were returned to the lenders and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Portions of the papers were first lent for microfilming by Harrison Cultra in 1968. The bulk of the collection was donated in1970-1971 by Catherine Drinker Bowen, Beaux's niece, and by Cultra. In 1985, the sketchbook on reel 3425 was lent for microfilming by art dealer Jeffrey Brown with additional material by The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. A palette was donated by Helen Seely Wheelwright, whose former husband, Paul Seeley, was an artist and friend of Beaux. Awards and diplomas were gifted in 1995 by Cecilia Saltonstall, a descendant of Beaux. Material and a poster reproduction of Beaux's portrait of Rear-Admiral Sampson advertising an article in Century Magazine, 1899, was donated in 1991 by Alfred J. Walker, a dealer who organized a Beaux exhibition. He received the material along with artwork he exhibited from the estate of Richard Barker, who had received them from Harrison Cultra. Cultra had inherited them from Beaux's niece, Ernesta Drinker Barlow.
Restrictions:
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
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 -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Portrait painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Educators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Art -- Economic aspects  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Poems
Diaries
Citation:
Cecilia Beaux papers, 1863-1968. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.beauceci
See more items in:
Cecilia Beaux papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9b73488eb-4fd6-48d5-82fe-36e503af84c5
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-beauceci
Online Media:

Roswell Weidner papers

Creator:
Weidner, Roswell, 1911-1999  Search this
Names:
Federal Art Project  Search this
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this
Shahn, Ben, 1898-1969  Search this
Extent:
0.5 Linear feet ((on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1930-1989
Scope and Contents:
Resumes, awards, and a typescript of an interview of Weidner conducted by a University of Pennsylvania student in 1986, regarding Weidner's years with the Federal Art Project. The interview includes a discussion of Dox Thrash and the carborundum print. Also included are statements on art; talks delivered by Weidner regarding the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; typescripts of writings by Ben Shahn, George Stout, and Francis Speight; correspondence regarding commissions, sales and exhibitions; letters from John Kucera, Francis Speight, Franklin Watkins and E.P. Richardson;
consignment lists; photographs of Weidner teaching and of exhibition installations; clippings; and exhibition catalogs.
Biographical / Historical:
Art instructor and painter; Philadelphia, Pa. Attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Worked on the Federal Art Project, 1937-1939, before joining the staff of the Academy in 1939.
Provenance:
Microfilmed in 1989 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Pastelists -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Topic:
Federal aid to the arts  Search this
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- History -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.weidrosw
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw95d6dd10f-1432-46fe-97e2-59f0d0edaccd
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-weidrosw

Oral history interview with Nelli Bar Wieghardt

Interviewee:
Wieghardt, Nelli Bar, 1904-2001  Search this
Interviewer:
Pacini, Marina  Search this
Names:
Art Institute of Chicago  Search this
Illinois Institute of Technology  Search this
Barnes, Albert C. (Albert Coombs), 1872-1951  Search this
Extent:
105 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1987 July 9-1989 April 29
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Nelli Bar Wieghardt conducted 1987 July 9-1989 April 29, by Marina Pacini, for the Archives of American Art.
Wieghardt discusses her and her husband Paul Wieghardt's art training in Germany; their move to Paris in 1931; their emigration to the United States in 1940 and their involvement with Quaker refugee programs; their move to a hostel in Cummington, Massachusetts and subsequent employment at the Cummington School in the Hills and the Berkshire Museum; their move in 1943 to Philadelphia to set up and run an art department for the Friends Neighborhood Guild; exhibitions at the Carlen Galleries and their relationship with Albert Barnes; the move in 1946 to Chicago and their teaching careers and methods at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology; the University of Chicago, and the Evanston Art Center; their exhibition history; and the Wieghardt galleries at the State Museum, Ludensheid.
Biographical / Historical:
Nelli Bar Wieghardt (1904-2001) was a sculptor and instructor of Gwynedd, Pennsylvania and Chicago, Illinois.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 2 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives' 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.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- Pennsylvania -- Interviews  Search this
Topic:
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Interviews  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.wiegha87
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9466f6897-fb41-4cda-a8da-8dc7588353fe
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-wiegha87
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Neil Welliver

Creator:
Welliver, Neil  Search this
Interviewer:
Brown, Robert F.  Search this
Names:
Fischbach Gallery  Search this
Marlborough Gallery  Search this
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this
Philadelphia Museum College of Art -- Students  Search this
Stable Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
University of Pennsylvania. Graduate School of Fine Arts -- Faculty  Search this
Yale University. School of Art -- Faculty  Search this
Yale University. School of Art -- Students  Search this
Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994  Search this
Kahn, Louis I., 1901-1974  Search this
Kramer, Hilton  Search this
Marburger, Aladar  Search this
Porter, Fairfield  Search this
Ward, Eleanor, 1912-1984  Search this
Extent:
2 Sound cassettes (Sound recording (2 hr., 8 min.), analog)
45 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound cassettes
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
1996 November 14
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Neil Welliver conducted 1996 November 14, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art, in Welliver's home in Lincolnville, Maine.
Welliver talks about his childhood in Pennsylvania; his self-education; his marriage to a fashion illustrator; attending the Philadelphia Museum College of Art (now University of the Arts), receiving a BFA in 1953; teaching art in a public school; attending the Yale School of Art (MFA 1955) and teachers there; going to Maine; teaching at Yale (1955-1965); teaching at the University of Pennsylvania (1966-1989) at the graduate level. He recalls architect Louis Kahn at Yale and then at Pennsylvania; his various New York dealers from the 1960s, including Eleanor Ward at Stable Gallery, Aladar Marburger at Fischbach Gallery, and Pierre Lefraie at Marlborough Gallery; various art world friends, including Hilton Kramer, Clement Greenberg, and Fairfield Porter; and receiving an honorary doctorate of fine arts at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1996.
Biographical / Historical:
Neil Welliver (1929-2005) was a painter and teacher in Lincolnville, Maine.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 8 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 administrators.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- Maine -- Interviews  Search this
Painters -- Maine -- Interviews  Search this
Art dealers  Search this
Topic:
Artists as teachers  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Identifier:
AAA.welliv96
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw99cafd843-aea1-445f-a432-461370fce0a5
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-welliv96
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Joseph J. Greenberg

Interviewee:
Greenberg, Joseph J., 1915-1991  Search this
Interviewer:
Veloric, Cynthia  Search this
Names:
Tyler School of Art  Search this
Abels, Alexander  Search this
Blai, Boris, 1893-1985  Search this
Fink, Ferman  Search this
Horter, Earl, 1881-1940  Search this
Sabatini, Raphael, b. 1898  Search this
Watkins, Franklin Chenault, 1894-1972  Search this
Extent:
2 Sound cassettes (Sound recording)
76 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound cassettes
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1991 Mar. 19
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Joseph J. Greenberg, Jr. conducted 1991 Mar. 19, by Cynthia Haveson Veloric, for the Archives of American Art Philadelphia Project.
Greenberg discusses his family and early education; attending the Tyler School of Art; instructors including Boris Blai, Raphael Sabatini, Franklin Watkins, Earl Horter, Ferman Fink, and Alexander Abels; fellow students; Army service in WWII; his early career and years in Italy.
Biographical / Historical:
Joseph J. Greenberg, Jr. (1915-1991) was a sculptor and wood-carver from Philadelphia, Pa.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' 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:
Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews  Search this
Wood-carvers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews  Search this
Topic:
Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Sculptors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews  Search this
Function:
Art Schools -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.greenb91
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9e60aeb00-228d-4516-88d1-386387d58a8a
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-greenb91
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Roswell Weidner, 1989 July 20-27

Interviewee:
Weidner, Roswell T., 1911-1999  Search this
Interviewer:
Pacini, Marina  Search this
Subject:
Curran, Mary  Search this
De Mazia, Violette  Search this
Garber, Daniel  Search this
Harding, George  Search this
Laessle, Albert  Search this
McCarter, Henry  Search this
Nuse, Roy Cleveland  Search this
Pierson, Joseph  Search this
Pinto, Angelo  Search this
Speight, Francis  Search this
Thrash, Dox  Search this
Weidner, Marilyn Kemp  Search this
Barnes Foundation  Search this
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  Search this
United States. National Youth Administration  Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration  Search this
United States. Work Projects Administration  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Roswell Weidner, 1989 July 20-27. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, American  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews  Search this
Educators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12252
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212536
AAA_collcode_weidne89
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_212536

Mina Smith Segal was interviewed by Catherine Perge on June 28, 1996. Segal was born in 1942 and lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she is an art teacher. She has been visiting the Smithsonian and the Folklife Festivals for 7 years. This interv...

Collection Creator::
  Search this
Container:
Interviews
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9594, Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews
See more items in:
Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews
Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews / Interviews
Archival Repository:
Smithsonian Institution Archives
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-sia-faru9594-refidd1e2690

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