The papers of painter, sculptor, author, and illustrator Esphyr Slobodkina measure 1.9 linear feet and date from circa 1925 to 1995. Found within the papers are personal and professional correspondence, including letters from Ilya Bolotowsky, George L.K. Morris, and Paul Kelpe; writings, including a copy of the autobiography Notes for a Biographer (vol. 1); printed materials; photographs; and material on the American Abstract Artists, including administrative records, business correspondence, and publications.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter, sculptor, author, and illustrator Esphyr Slobodkina measure 1.9 linear feet and date from circa 1925 to 1995. Found within the papers are personal and professional correspondence, including letters from Ilya Bolotowsky, George L.K. Morris, and Paul Kelpe; writings, including a copy of the autobiography Notes for a Biographer (vol. 1); printed materials; photographs; and material on the American Abstract Artists, including administrative records, business correspondence, and publications.
Correspondence is primarily with Slobodkina's family, friends, and business associates. The series includes significant correspondence from her first husband, Ilya Bolotowsky, as well as abstract artists George L.K. Morris, Paul Kelpe, Ruth Eckstein, Leo Rabkin, and Harry Tedlie. The series also includes correspondence regarding her published works.
Writings consist of 3 essays by Slobodkina on abstract art, the autobiography Notes for a Biographer (vol. 1), the edited folio Ilya Bolotowsky, and a small notebook kept by Ilya Bolotowsky during the 1920s-30s.
Printed material includes clippings; samples of announcements and cards designed by Slobodkina; exhibition announcements and catalogs; and press releases.
Photographs are of Slobodkina and her paintings and sculptures, as well as photographs of artwork by other abstract artists.
American Abstract Artists' records includes administrative material, correspondence, writings, selected exhibitions, and printed material dating from 1936 to 1996.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 5 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1934-1992 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Writings, circa 1920-1985 (6 folders; Box 1)
Series 3: Printed material, circa 1939-1994 (7 folders; Box 1, OV 4)
Series 4: Photographs, circa 1925-1970 (3 folders; Box 1)
Series 5: American Abstract Artists, circa 1936-1995 (0.9 linear feet, Box 1-3, OV 4)
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, sculptor, author, and illustrator Esphyr Slobodkina (1908-2002) lived and worked in New York City, Great Neck, and Long Island, New York and was known for her abstract art and her children's books, including the seminal Caps For Sale.
Slobodkina was born in Chelyabinsk, Siberia to Solomon Slobodkin and his wife, Itta Agranovich. After the Russian Revolution and Civil War of 1917-1918, her family immigrated to Harbin, Manchuria where her father found work with Standard Oil and her mother contributed to the family's finances by working as a dressmaker. After graduating from high school in 1927, Slobodkina immigrated to the United States to join her brother in New York City where she enrolled at the National Academy of Design.
At the Academy, Slobodkina met her future husband, the artist and fellow Russian émigré Ilya Bolotowsky. In 1936, they became founding members of the American Abstract Artists, an artist run organization that worked to advance abstract art at a time when few opportunities to exhibit their works existed. She served as the organization's first secretary and later served as treasurer, president, and institutional bibliographer.
In 1937, Slobodkina met the children's author Margaret Wise Brown. After seeing her work, Brown invited Slobodkina to illustrate The Little Fireman, the first of their many collaborations together. In 1940, Slobodkina's first published book, Caps For Sale, was released and has remained in print for over 70 years. It won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958 and is considered a classic of children's literature.
Slobodkina and Bolotowsky divorced in 1938, after which she continued to produce abstract mixed media paintings and sculptures. Her first major one-person show was organized by the gallery owner A.E. Gallatin in 1940. Through the 1940s and into 1970s, Slobodkina regularly contributed to group exhibitions and her works are owned by numerous institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and Hillwood Art Museum.
In addition to publishing children's books, Slobodkina authored three volumes of her autobiography, Notes for a Biographer (1976-1983) and edited American Abstract Artists: Its Publications, Catalogs, and Membership (1979) and the folio Ilya Bolotwosky (1985). Active until the end of her life, she oversaw the production of musical audio recordings for her 20 children's books well into her 80s, and at the age of 90, designed a museum financed through the Slobodkina Foundation. She died at her home in Glen Head, Long Island in 2002.
Related Materials:
The Archives also holds the American Abstract Artists records.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds materials lent for microfilming (N70-61) including a travel album, printed material, notes, McDowell colony correspondence, and an American Abstract Artists financial ledger. Lents materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Additionally, 69 rolled drawings on tracing paper were transferred to Hillwood Art Museum in 2006.
Provenance:
Esphyr Slobodkina loaned a portion of her papers for microfilming and donated material in 1970. She gave additional papers between 1995 and 1996.
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.
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.
African Art in American Collections (Monograph : 1989)
African Art in American Collections (Monograph : 1966)
Extent:
83.1 cu. ft. (80 record storage boxes) (4 12x17 boxes) (2 16x20 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Brochures
Clippings
Newsletters
Floor plans
Maps
Color photographs
Black-and-white photographs
Black-and-white negatives
Black-and-white transparencies
Color transparencies
Color negatives
Glass negatives
Audiotapes
Artifacts
Place:
Cameroon
Date:
circa 1927-2009
Descriptive Entry:
These papers document the life and work of Warren M. Robbins, covering a wide swath of his life, from his early career in the Foreign Service to his work in cross cultural
communications and African art. A prolific writer, Robbins correspondence with such people as Maya Angelou, Ernie Barnes, Saul Bellow, Eliot Elisofon, Otto Fried, Buckminster
Fuller, Francoise Gilot, Chaim Gross, S. I. Hayakawa, Harry Holtzman, Frances Humphrey Howard, Herbert H. Humphrey, Ben Shahn, and Margaret Mead document the close relationships
he had with a wide range of people as well as reveal his personality and character.
The papers also include Robbins subject files and reveal his interests in African art, Piet Mondrian, and semantics among other things. Also included are records related
to the creation and administration of the Museum of African Art, the work it took to get it included as part of the Smithsonian, its transfer, and the difficulties and conflicts
Robbins experienced as a result. The records provide extensive coverage of the work involved in keeping the MAA a vibrant center of education, as well as documents the acquisition
of collection material and the production of exhibitions.
The papers also contain materials related to publications, including Robbins' African Art in American Collections, both the 1966 and 1989 editions. Also included
are materials related to his writings, lectures, and introductions of which he was known for. Of interest are the materials prepared by Roulhac Toledano in preparation for
an unpublished work: Before and After the Smithsonian, The Legacy of Warren Robbins, Founder, National Museum of African Art: A Biography of Letters and Essays.
Other highlights include audio recordings from the dedication of the Museum of African Art on September 21, 1966, as well as recordings of lectures and interviews; records
regarding the return of the Afo-A-Kom to the Kom people of Cameroon; records related to the acquisition of the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives; transcripts of oral history
interviews; and the numerous awards and honors received by Robbins including the Joseph Henry Medal.
Materials include correspondence, memoranda, invitations, publications, articles, reports, images, sound recordings, transcripts, awards, clippings, newsletters, brochures,
scrapbooks, pamphlets, mailings, maps, and floor plans. Some materials are in German and French.
Historical Note:
A graduate of the University of New Hampshire, BA, 1945 and the University of Michigan, MA, 1949, Warren Murray Robbins started his career as a secondary school teacher.
He later served in the United States Foreign Service, holding a variety of educational and curatorial posts in Germany and Austria. After returning to the United States, Robbins
established the Center for Cross Cultural Communication (CCCC) in 1962 to serve as an educational institute integrating, popularizing and utilizing the insights and perspectives
of the social sciences and the arts to foster international and interracial understanding as well as communication between the academic world and a broader public audience.
Once of first major projects of the CCCC was the creation in 1964 of the Museum of African Art (MAA). The museum was the extension of an interest in African art that Robbins
developed while in Europe. The museum was originally located in the Washington, DC residence of Frederick Douglass and became part of the Smithsonian Institution in1979 and
was later renamed the National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) in 1981.
During the 15 years that the MAA was in operation, the CCCC operated under the Museum's name. Following the Museum's inclusion as part of the Smithsonian it reverted back
to its original corporate name with the inclusion of Robbins' name in the title to become the Robbins Center for Cross-Cultural Communication.
From 1964 to 1982, Robbins was the Director of the MAA, later becoming the Founding Director Emeritus and Senior Scholar from 1982-1995. In June of 1995, the Smithsonian
eliminated Robbins position as Founding Director Emeritus/Senior Scholar because of budgetary reasons. Subsequently Robbins sued the Smithsonian, but ultimately lost and was
not able to be reinstated.
After leaving the Smithsonian, Robbins continued his work at the Robbins Center for Cross Cultural Communications to apply the perspectives and insights of the social sciences
and the arts in public education with particular emphasis on interracial understanding. Robbins passed away on December 4, 2008.
Chronology:
September 4, 1923 -- Born - Worcester, Massachusetts
1928-1937 -- Midland Street Elementary School
1938-1941 -- Classical High School
1941-1945 -- University of New Hampshire, Durham - BA English
1945-1949 -- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor - MA History
August 1949-September 1950 -- Teacher, High School, Department of the Army, Dependent School System - Bremerhaven, Germany
September-December 1950 -- Teacher, High School, Department of the Army, Dependent School System - Nurnberg, Germany
January 1951-November 1951 -- Visiting Expert, Public Affairs Program, Department of State - Hicog, Germany
1951-1955 -- Education Officer, American Embassy, Department of State -Vienna, Austria
1955-1957 -- Cultural Affairs Officer, American Consulate General, United States Information Agency - Stuttgart, Germany
1957-1958 -- Public Affairs Officer, American Consulate General, United States Information Agency - Stuttgart, Germany
1958-1960 -- Deputy Chief, Cultural Centers and Program Unit, American Embassy - Bonn, Germany
1960-1961 -- Staff, U. S. Advisory Commission on Educational and Cultural Relations
1961-1962 -- Assistant to Deputy Assistant of State for Educational and Cultural Relations, Department of State
1962-1963 -- Course Chairman, Foreign Service Institute, Department of State
1962-2010 -- Founder and Director, Center for Cross Cultural Communications (CCCC) and later the Robbins Center for Cross Cultural Communications
1964 -- Museum of African Art founded as a part of CCCC
1964-1982 -- Founder and Director, Museum of African Art/National Museum of African Art
1966 -- Establishment of the Frederick Douglass Institute for Intercultural Understanding
1978 -- President Carter signs bill authorizing the transfer of MAA to the Smithsonian
1979, August 13 -- Museum of African Art officially becomes part of the Smithsonian
1981 -- Museum of African Art changed names to the National Museum of African Art
1982 -- Sabbatical to Africa
1982-1995 -- Founding Director Emeritus and Senior Scholar, National Museum of African Art
1987 -- National Museum of African Art building opens in the Quadrangle on the National Mall
1995, June -- Terminated from National Museum of African Art
Records kept by George C. Seybolt in his capacity as Chairman of the National Museum Service Board.
Biographical / Historical:
The National Museum Services Board is the policy making and priority setting arm of the Institute of Museum Services (IMS). IMS was created by the Museum Services Act as an independent agency within the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities to make grants to museums in areas of operations, conservation, asssessment, and professional services.
Provenance:
Donated by the widow of George C. Seybolt, 1994.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Topic:
Federal aid to museums -- United States Search this
Controversial issues and the budget : forces of change in museums : the proceedings of the Twelfth Museum Studies Conference / cosponsored by the Museum Studies Program and the Museum Studies Association, University of Delaware, April 6, 1991 ; edited by Bryant F. Tolles
Author:
Museum Studies Conference (12th : 1991 : University of Delaware) Search this
