No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
Original text on slide reads, "75th Street Mural by Marcus Jefferson. From his brochure"
Restrictions:
Access by appointment only. To make a research appointment, contact Archives staff at elisofonarchives@si.edu.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. For terms of use, contact Archives staff at elisofonarchives@si.edu.
Original text on slide reads, "75th Street Mural by Marcus Jefferson. From his brochure"
Restrictions:
Access by appointment only. To make a research appointment, contact Archives staff at elisofonarchives@si.edu.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. For terms of use, contact Archives staff at elisofonarchives@si.edu.
A cartoon of Air for the National Academy of Sciences mural., circa 1924. Hildreth Meière papers, 1901-2011. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
A cartoon of Earth for the National Academy of Sciences mural., circa 1924. Hildreth Meière papers, 1901-2011. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
A cartoon of Fire for the National Academy of Sciences mural., circa 1924. Hildreth Meière papers, 1901-2011. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
A cartoon of Water for the National Academy of Sciences mural., circa 1924. Hildreth Meière papers, 1901-2011. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Ethiopian Tourism Commission (Addis Ababa) Search this
Extent:
1 Postcard (halftone., col., 10.5 x 15 cm.)
Container:
Volume 1
Type:
Archival materials
Postcards
Postcards
Paintings
Picture postcards
Place:
Africa
Ethiopia
Ethiopia -- Āmara region -- Lalībela
Date:
circa 1980
Scope and Contents:
Printed caption on verso reads: "925. A painting of Jesus in Genet Mariam Church, Lalibela, Ethiopia."
Series title on verso reads: "13 Months of Sunshine."
Additional printed text on verso reads: "Photo: Gerster / Produced by Ethiopian Tourist Organization, P.O. Box 2183, Addis Ababa."
Local Numbers:
EEPA ET-03-14
General:
Title source: Postcard caption.
Provenance:
Roy and Brigitta Mitchell Collection; Donation; 2010; EEPA 2010-008.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Ethiopian Tourism Commission (Addis Ababa) Search this
Extent:
1 Postcard (halftone., col., 10.5 x 15 cm.)
Container:
Volume 1
Type:
Archival materials
Postcards
Postcards
Paintings
Picture postcards
Place:
Africa
Ethiopia
Ethiopia -- Āmara region -- Lalībela
Date:
ca. 1980
Scope and Contents:
Printed caption on verso reads: "924. A wall fresco of "Jesus entering Jerusalem" in the Church of St. Michael of Debre-Damo, Lalibela, Ethiopia."
Series title on verso reads: "13 Months of Sunshine."
Additional printed text on verso reads: "Photo: Gerster / Produced by Ethiopian Tourist Organization, P.O. Box 2183, Addis Ababa."
Local Numbers:
EEPA ET-03-13
General:
Title source: Postcard caption.
Provenance:
Roy and Brigitta Mitchell Collection; Donation; 2010; EEPA 2010-008.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Tobey, Alton S. (Alton Stanley), 1914-2005 Search this
Extent:
2.8 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Video recordings
Photographs
Date:
1913-2000
Summary:
The Abraham Joel Tobias papers date from 1913 to 2000 and measure 2.8 linear feet. Through project and exhibition files, printed material, correspondence, and photographs, the collection provides an overview of Tobias's career as a painter and muralist in New York City.
Scope and Content Note:
The Abraham Joel Tobias papers date from 1913 to 2000 and measure 2.8 linear feet. Through project and exhibition files, printed material, correspondence, and photographs, the collection provides an overview of Tobias's career as a painter and muralist in New York City.
General correspondence regards mural proposals, exhibitions, professional activities, and museums' acquisitions of artwork by Tobias. A file of correspondence with the Fine Arts Federation of New York concerns efforts to recognize murals by Irving Block, James Brooks, Philip Evergood, Abraham Lishinsky, José Clemente Orozco, and Max Spivak as landmarks; it also includes minutes of meetings, 1988-1995, that reflect Tobias's service as a board member. Other correspondence is with friends and artists including Edward Caswell, George Gaber, Filia Holtzman, Vincent La Gambina, and Alton S. Tobey.
Project files document murals such as: The Four Freedoms, Midwood High School, Brooklyn, New York, honoring students and teachers who died in World War II (circa 1946); Birth for the maternity ward at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City (1951-1953); and Medical Science and Medical Research, Long Island Jewish Hospital (1954). The Science and Engineering project file (1958) contains a patent certificate for striated plastic, a material Tobias used in two murals. Also of interest is correspondence with the Harman Foundation regarding a documentary film about Tobias's use of ethyl silicate for outdoor murals. Among the exhibitions documented are: "Plastics U.S.A.," "New York WPA Artists Then and Now," and "Abraham Joel Tobias: Sculptural Paintings of the 1930s."
Printed material consists of announcements, invitations, solo and group exhibition catalogs, and clippings relating to Tobias's artistic career. Also found are pamphlets he designed for the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Photographs are of Tobias's artwork and the artist with friends and family. There is a video recording of an interview with Tobias conducted by Brendan Gill in 1995.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1913-1996 (Boxes 1, 4; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1933-1997 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 3: Project and Exhibition Files, 1938-2000 (Boxes 1, 2, 4, OV 5; 1.6 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings, circa 1928-1992 (Box 2; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1913-1999 (Boxes 3, 4; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 6: Artwork, circa 1990s (Box 3; 1 folder)
Series 7: Photographs, 1929-1970 (Box 3; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 8: Video Recording, 1995 (Box 3, 1 folder)
Biographical Note:
Abraham Joel Tobias (1913-1996) was a painter, muralist, and educator in New York City. He was a pioneer in the use of shaped canvases.
A native of Rochester, New York, Tobias came to New York City to study at the Cooper Union School of Art, 1930-1931, and at the Art Students League, 1930-1933. He worked for the Federal Arts Project,1938-1940, where he continued his training as a muralist, working with artist and technicians.
During World War II, Tobias served in the armed forces. He was an art director with the Intelligence Division, Army Air Force, and in 1945 was employed as a graphic designer for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Tobias was artist-in-residence and served as instructor in painting and drawing at Adelphia College, Garden City, Long Island, 1947-1957. He also was was a visiting lecturer at various schools including Howard University, Brooklyn Museum Art School, Pratt Institute Art School, as well as at colleges in Illinois and Kansas.
Tobias completed over ten mural commissions for governmental agencies and educational institutions, including: United States Post Office, Clarendon, Arkansas; Howard University, Washington, D.C.; James Madison High School, Brooklyn, New York; Beth Israel Hospital, New York City; Domestic Relations Court Building, Brooklyn, New York; and Adelphi College, Garden City, New York. In 1962, Tobias began The History of Science mural for the lobby of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn; it was never completed.
Tobias experimented with diverse materials such as terrazzo and mosaic for mural application. He also broke new ground with the use of ethyl silicate paint as a permanent medium for outdoor murals. In 1958, he patented striated plastic, a pliable material used to achieve an effect similar to stained glass.
He participated in many solo and group exhibitions. In 1935, Tobias presented his shaped canvas painting in the "Sculptural Painting" exhibition at Delphic Studios in New York City. In 1987, Tobias was recognized for his earlier pioneering work with a retrospective exhibition, "Abraham Joel Tobias: Sculptural Paintings" at The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum of Rutgers University. Other exhibitions included: "Plastics U.S.A.," the United States Information Service's exhibition in Moscow (1961); "New York City WPA Art," Parsons School of Design, New York City (1977); "For a Permanent Public Art," Tweed Gallery, New York City (1989); and "The Technological Muse," Katonah Museum of Art, New York (1991).
Tobias's professional memberships included the Architectural League of New York, National Society of Mural Painters, and New York Artists Equity Association. He served on the Board of Directors for the Fine Arts Federation of New York from 1988-1996. He won the Architectural League Award in 1952. The Art Commission of the City of New York recognized Tobias, posthumously, for distinguished service to public art.
Abraham Joel Tobias married Carolyn Pratt in 1949; the couple had one daughter. Abraham Joel Tobias died in Rego Park, New York, in 1996 at the age of 82.
Provenance:
The papers were donated in 2001 by Carolyn Tobias, the widow of Abraham Joel Tobias.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. 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.
Cecere, Ada Rasario, 1894 or 1898-1971 Search this
Extent:
0.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1938-1972
Summary:
The scattered papers of painter and muralist Ada Cecere measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1938 to 1972. Found are letters from artists, galleries, institutions, and museums, and photographs of Cecere's works of art.
Scope and Contents:
The scattered papers of painter and muralist Ada Cecere measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1938 to 1972. Found are letters from artists, galleries, institutions, and museums, and photographs of Cecere's works of art.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Ada Rasario Cecere (1898-1983) was a painter, muralist, and designer active in New York City, New York, and Rome, Italy. Ada Rasario was born in New York and studied art in Paris and Rome. She married Gaetano Cecere, a Roman sculptor and together they settled in Manhattan. She was president of the Pen and Brush Society. Cecere died in New York in 1983.
Provenance:
Ada Cecere donated her papers to the Archives of American Art in 1972.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Designers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
A resume; personal and business correspondence; financial receipts; correspondence with the Treasury Department regarding murals painted by Pels in Wilmington, De. and Normal, Ill. for the Section of Fine Arts during the Depression; ca. 450 sketches of street scenes, figures, and mural studies for government murals; signatures and notes from Kenneth Hayes Miller and William Palmer; photographs of Pels and his work; clippings; exhibition catalogs; and a scrapbook containing clippings, announcements, and letters.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, art school administrator; Cincinnati, Ohio and New York, N.Y. Born May 7, 1910; died 1998. Painted murals for the Section of Fine Arts under the Department of the Treasury government work-relief art projects.
Provenance:
Donated 1979 by Albert Pels.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.