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Woman's Building records

Creator:
Woman's Building (Los Angeles, Calif.)  Search this
Names:
Feminist Studio Workshop  Search this
Women's Graphic Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)  Search this
Chicago, Judy, 1939-  Search this
De Bretteville, Sheila Levrant  Search this
Raven, Arlene  Search this
Extent:
32.5 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Slides
Artists' books
Date:
1970-1992
Summary:
The records of the Woman's Building feminist arts organization in Los Angeles measure 32.5 linear feet and date from 1970-1992. Originally founded by artist Judy Chicago, graphic designer Sheila Levant de Bretteville, and art historian Arlene Raven in 1973, the Woman's Building served as an education center and public gallery space for women artists in southern California. The records document both the educational and exhibition activities and consist of administrative records, financial and legal records, publications, curriculum files, exhibition files, grant funding records and artist's works of arts and prints. A significant portion of the collection documents the Women's Graphic Center, a typesetting, design, and printing service operated by The Woman's Building.
Scope and Content Note:
The records of the Woman's Building measure 32.5 linear feet and date from 1970 to 1992. The organization played a key role as an alternative space for women artists energized by the feminist movement in the 1970s. The records document the ways in which feminist theory shaped the Building's founding core mission and goals. During its eighteen year history, the Building served as an education center and a public gallery space for women artists in Los Angeles and southern California; the records reflect both functions of the Building's activities.

The Administrative Files series documents the daily operations of the Building, with particular emphasis on management policies, budget planning, history, cooperative relationships with outside art organizations and galleries, special building-wide programs, and relocation planning. Included in this series are the complete minutes from most Building committees from 1974 through closing, including the Board of Directors and the Advisory Council. The General Publicity and Outreach series is particularly complete, containing publicity notices from most events, exhibits, and programs held at the Woman's Building, including brochures, announcements, programs, invitations, press releases, newspaper clippings, and magazine articles.

The Woman's Building's educational programs centered on courses offered by the Feminist Studio Workshop and the Extension Program. While the Workshop provided a two-year program for women interested in fully developing their artistic talent, the Extension Program offered a broad range of classes, specifically oriented to working women interested in art and art vocations. The records fully document both programs, focusing on the course development and descriptions, teacher contracts, class evaluations, budget planning, and scholarship programs. Although the Archives does not have the entire slide library, there are files concerning the establishment and administration of the library, as well as a few folders of slides.

The Gallery Programs series houses the records of the visual, performing, literary and video arts events held at the Woman's Building. Administrative files detail the daily operation of the gallery spaces. The files in the remaining subseries are primarily arranged by event and contain proposals, announcements, publicity, and artist biographies.

The Women's Graphic Center became a profit-making arm of the Woman's Building in 1981 but the typesetting and design equipment had been used by staff and students since 1975. The records in this series focus on the work produced at the Center, including general projects and artist designs and art prints. Many of the design and printing examples were produced for Woman's Building events and programs.

The Artist's Works of Art series includes artist books, resumes, correspondence, postcards, and samples of art in the form of sketches, drawings, and prints. There is also material related to Woman's Building projects. Especially noteworthy is the "What is Feminist Art?" project where artists gave their responses in various formats and mediums from text to pieces of artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 6 series.

Series 1: Administrative Files, circa 1970-1991 (Box 1-9, 32; 9 linear feet)

Series 2: Educational Programs, 1971-1991 (Box 10-14; 4.9 linear feet)

Series 3: Gallery Programs, 1973-1991 (Box 14-20, OV 54; 5.7 linear feet)

Series 4: Women's Graphic Center, circa 1976-1989 (Box 20-23, 32, OV 33-50; 5.6 linear feet)

Series 5: Artists' Works of Art, circa 1972-1990 (Box 24-25, OV 51-53; 1.7 linear feet)

Series 6: Grants, 1974-1992 (Box 25-30; 5.3 linear feet)
Historical Note:
In 1973, artist Judy Chicago, graphic designer Sheila Levant de Bretteville, and art historian Arlene Raven founded the Feminist Studio Workshop (FSW), one of the first independent schools for women artists. The founders established the workshop as a non-profit alternative education center committed to developing art based on women's experiences. The FSW focused not only on the development of art skills, but also on the development of women's experiences and the incorporation of those experiences into their artwork. Central to this vision was the idea that art should not be separated from other activities related to the developing women's movement. In November of 1973 the founders rented workshop space in a vacated building in downtown Los Angeles and called it The Woman's Building, taking the name from the structure created for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The FSW shared space with other organizations and enterprises including several performance groups, Womanspace Gallery, Sisterhood Bookstore, the National Organization of Women, and the Women's Liberation Union.

When the building they were renting was sold in 1975, the FSW and a few other tenants moved to a three-story brick structure, originally designed to be the administrative offices of the Standard Oil Company in the 1920s. In the 1940s, it had been converted into a warehouse and consisted of three floors of open space, conducive to publically available extension classes and exhibitions offered by the Woman's Building staff and students. By 1977, the majority of the outside tenants had left the Woman's Building, primarily because they were unable to sustain business in the new location. The new building was more expensive to maintain and the FSW staff decided to hire an administrator and to create a board structure to assume the financial, legal, and administrative responsibility for the Building. The funds to operate came from FSW tuition, memberships, fund-raising events, and grant monies.

In 1981, the Feminist Studio Workshop closed, as the demand for alternative education diminished. The education programs of the Building were restructured to better accommodate the needs of working women. The Woman's Building also began to generate its own artistic programming with outside artists, including visual arts exhibits, performance art, readings, and video productions. That same year, the Woman's Building founded the Women's Graphic Center Typesetting and Design, a profit-making enterprises designed to strengthen its financial base. Income generated from the phototypesetting, design, production, and printing services was used to support the educational and art making activities of the Building.

When the graphics business closed in 1988, the Woman's Building suffered a financial crisis from which it never fully recovered. The Building closed its gallery and performance space in 1991.
Related Material:
Among the other resources relating to the Woman's Building in the Archives of American Art is an oral history with Suzanne Lacy on March 16, 1990, March 24, 1990, and September 24, 1990. While not credited as a founding member, Lacy was among the first group of staff of the Woman's Building which she discusses in her interview.

The Getty Research Institute also holds a large collection on the Woman's Building which includes a wide range of material relating to its exhibitions, activities, and projects.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art donated 5 boxes of video tape from the collection to the Long Beach Museum of Art, Video Annex in 1994. According to documentation, this was the desire of Sandra Golvin and the Board of Directors of the Woman's Building. Printed material collected but not produced by the Woman's Building regarding feminism was transfered to Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
Provenance:
The Woman's Building records were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1991 by Sandra Golvin, President of the Board of Directors. An small addition of a set of "Cross Pollination" posters was donated in 2019 by by ONE Archives at University of Southern California Libraries via Loni Shibuyama, Archives Librarian.
Topic:
Works of art  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Feminism and art  Search this
Function:
Nonprofit organizations -- California
Arts organizations -- California
Genre/Form:
Slides
Artists' books
Citation:
Woman's Building records, 1970-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.womabuil
See more items in:
Woman's Building records
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw938796dfe-5dbf-49e9-96e7-5a8745391f13
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-womabuil
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Online Media:

Oral history interview with Hans Burkhardt, 1974 November 25

Interviewee:
Burkhardt, Hans Gustav, 1904-  Search this
Interviewer:
Karlstrom, Paul J  Search this
Subject:
Bordeaux, Jean-Luc  Search this
Burkhardt, Thordis W., 1908-1993  Search this
Gorky, Arshile  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Hans Burkhardt, 1974 November 25. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews  Search this
Educators -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews  Search this
Painters -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews  Search this
Printmakers -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12117
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212077
AAA_collcode_burkha74
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_212077
Online Media:

Ethel Fisher papers

Creator:
Fisher, Ethel, 1923-  Search this
Names:
Art Students League (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Brentwood Art Center  Search this
Barnet, Will, 1911-2012  Search this
Boxer, Stanley  Search this
Coleborn, Keith  Search this
Ehrenkranz, Elaine  Search this
Fernandez, Rafael  Search this
Fine, Irving, 1914-1962  Search this
Getz, Ilse, 1917-  Search this
Jones, Keri  Search this
Kitaj, Sandra Fisher  Search this
Kott, Seymour  Search this
Lassaw, Ibram, 1913-2003  Search this
Pearson, Henry, 1914-2006  Search this
Thek, Paul  Search this
Extent:
12.5 Linear feet
0.558 Gigabytes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Travel diaries
Photographs
Sketchbooks
Drawings
Sketches
Watercolors
Transcripts
Interviews
Video recordings
Sound recordings
Date:
1930-2017
Summary:
The papers of California and New York painter Ethel Fisher measure 12.5 linear feet and 0.558 GB and date from 1930 to 2017. Included are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, project files, exhibition files, artists' files, personal business records, printed and digital material, artwork and several sketchbooks, a few sound and video recordings, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of California and New York painter Ethel Fisher measure 12.5 linear feet and 0.558 GB and date from 1930 to 2017. Included are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, project files, exhibition files, artists' files, personal business records, printed and digital material, artwork and several sketchbooks, a few sound and video recordings, and photographic material.

Biographical material includes Art Students League records, address books and business cards, artist statements and resumes, an interview transcript and sound cassette, and other miscellaneous documents.

Correspondence is with family, friends, colleagues, artists, galleries, and museums. The bulk of the correspondence is with daughter Sandra Fisher and husband Seymour Kott. Notable correspondents include Will Barnet, Keith Coleborn, Elaine Ehrenkranz, Rafael Fernandez, Henry Pearson, and others. There are also greeting cards and postcards, inluding numerous illustrated cards from Fisher to her husband Seymour.

Writings mostly consist of annotated appointment calendars and travel diaries along with some writings by others, such as a travel diary by Keith Coleborn and a graduate thesis by Keri Jones.

Project files include correspondence, grant applications, printed and digital material, and publication agreements for art projects, commissions, studio tours, auctions, and speaking engagements. Notable projects include material on the NBC-TV film Family Ties, art loans for the Showtime movie Town of the Eighties, and teaching material from Brentwood Art Center.

Exhibition files contain exhibition announcements, catalogs, publicity, reviews, correspondence, exhibition lists, price lists of artwork, and other material for Ethel Fisher's group and solo shows.

Artists' files include printed material about and limited correspondence with various artists in which Fisher was interested or with whom she was friends, including Stanley Boxer, Irving Fine, Ilse Getz, Ibram Lassaw, and Paul Thek.

Personal business records include consignments, price lists, loan agreements, receipts, donations, and sales documentation.

Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, announcements, magazines, and clippings about Ethel Fisher and other artists. There are also books inscribed to Fisher.

The artwork series includes sketchbooks, drawings, watercolors, and loose sketches.

Photographic material consists of photographs, digital photographs, slides, and negatives of Ethel Fisher, her artwork, exhibitions, events, family, friends, artists, studios, and travel. There are also "reference photos" of people, places, and objects which Fisher used for her portraits and paintings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1939-2014 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 1, 13)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1930-2017 (5.4 linear feet; Boxes 1-6, 13, 15)

Series 3: Writings, 1965-2014 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 6-7, 13)

Series 4: Project Files, 1954-2011 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 7, 12, 0.128 GB; ER01)

Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1945-2006 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 7-8)

Series 6: Artists' Files, 1952-2010 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 8, 12)

Series 7: Personal Business Records, 1959-2017 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 8, 13)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1940-2016 (1.0 linear feet; Boxes 8-9, 12-13)

Series 9: Artwork and Sketchbooks, 1944-2014 (1.0 linear feet; Boxes 9, 12-15, OV16)

Series 10: Photographic Materials, 1942-2014 (2.2 linear feet;Boxes 9-11, 14, 0.430 GB; ER02)
Biographical / Historical:
Ethel Fisher (1923-2017) was a painter who lived in Pacific Palisades, California.

Ethel Fisher was born in Galveston, Texas in 1923. She studied art at the University of Houston, University of Texas, and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. After college, she moved to New York City and attended The Art Students League on scholarship from 1943-1946. In New York, she studied with painter Will Barnet, Morris Kantor, and Robert Beverly Hale, and befriended many people in the art world. She married Gene Fisher and their first daughter Sandra was born. Sandra also became a painter and later married artist R. B. Kitaj.

Fisher and her family moved to Miami in 1948 where her daughter Margaret was born. Upon her divorce, Fisher travelled in Europe for about a year before returning to New York City in the early 1960s, where she continued to paint and maintained 2 studios for her artwork. She married art historian Seymour Kott in 1963.

In 1970, Fisher and her husband moved to Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, California. Throughout her career as a painter, Ethel Fisher has had solo and group exhibitions at galleries in Havana, Cuba; West Palm Beach, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; New York City, New York; and San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and continues to paint. In 2003, Fisher had solo exhibit of portraits at Platt Gallery in Los Angeles.
Provenance:
The Ethel Fisher papers were donated by Ethel Fisher in two installments in 1997 and 2015.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate 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:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Genre/Form:
Travel diaries
Photographs
Sketchbooks
Drawings
Sketches
Watercolors
Transcripts
Interviews
Video recordings
Sound recordings
Citation:
Ethel Fisher papers, 1930-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.fishethe
See more items in:
Ethel Fisher papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9d7e887a2-bffd-4c8e-ad17-16d3139bc61f
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-fishethe
Online Media:

Joyce Treiman papers

Creator:
Treiman, Joyce  Search this
Extent:
4.1 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Sketchbooks
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Date:
1942-1990
Scope and Contents:
Biographical material, undated and 1980; correspondence with galleries, museums, publishers, artists, and critics, 1951-1990, including Leonard Baskin, Richard Diebenkorn, Grant Holcomb, Bella Fishko, Theodore Wolff, Ernest Fiene, and others; business and financial records, 1955-1979; writings and notes, including personal journals and illustrated travel journals, undated and 1968-1989; artworks, including a pen and ink drawing and 3 sketchbooks, 1970-1977; five scrapbooks, 1942-1960, containing articles, bulletins, and clippings; exhibition catalogs and announcements, undated and 1940-1980s; clippings and articles undated and 1955-1986, photographs and slides of Treiman and her work, undated and 1960-1981;
2 U-matic video interviews of Treiman, including "Joyce Treiman: Painter," interview with Bob Pelfrey, Apr. 1978, 37 min., at Barnstall Municipal Gallery, L.A., and a Univ. of Minn. Media Resources production, "Undercurrents in American Art: Joyce Treiman," 1981, 7 min.; a motion picture film (silent, color, 22 min., also available on VHS videocassette), "Joyce Treiman, 1955-1958" shows Treiman at work and many close-up shots of paintings; a sound tape of Irving Block's senior seminar, UCLA, 1985; a 26 p. transcript of an interview conducted by Lucy Sargeant, 1980; and a file on the exhibition and symposium "Personal Realities in American Painting," Minneapolis, Minn, 1981.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, sculptor; Chicago, Ill. and Los Angeles, Calif.
Provenance:
Donated by Joyce Treiman, 1973-1990.
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.
Occupation:
Painters -- California  Search this
Sculptors -- California  Search this
Topic:
Painting, American -- California  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women sculptors  Search this
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Sketchbooks
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Identifier:
AAA.treijoyc
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9aa0f92b8-cbb4-4ec0-bf65-7bc5d654e018
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-treijoyc

Ankrum Gallery records

Creator:
Ankrum Gallery  Search this
Names:
Art Dealers Association of America  Search this
Black Arts Council (Washington, D.C.)  Search this
California Arts Council  Search this
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden  Search this
Krannert Art Museum  Search this
Laguna Art Museum (Laguna Beach, Calif.)  Search this
Paramount Pictures  Search this
San Diego Museum of Art  Search this
Staempfli Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Storm King Art Center  Search this
Almaraz, Carlos  Search this
Andrews, Benny, 1930-2006  Search this
Ankrum, Joan  Search this
Bauer, Richard, 1944-  Search this
Block, Irving  Search this
Broderson, Morris, 1928-2011  Search this
Caryl, Naomi  Search this
Casey, Bernie  Search this
Duveneck, Frank, 1848-1919  Search this
Feitelson, Lorser, 1898-1978  Search this
Groth, Bruno  Search this
Halpert, Edith Gregor, 1900-1970  Search this
Herschler, David  Search this
Hirsch, Joseph, 1910-1981  Search this
Hirshhorn, Olga  Search this
Homer, Jessie  Search this
Jackson, Suzanne, 1944-  Search this
Johnson, Buffie  Search this
Lundeberg, Helen, 1908-1999  Search this
Mesches, Arnold, 1923-  Search this
Miller, Henry, 1891-  Search this
Palm Springs Desert Museum  Search this
Schuler, Melvin  Search this
Secunda, Arthur  Search this
Shores, Kenneth, 1928-  Search this
Varda, Jean  Search this
Zev  Search this
Extent:
41.5 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Date:
circa 1900-circa 1990s
bulk 1960-1990
Summary:
The Ankrum Gallery records measure 41.5 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to circa 1990s, with the bulk of the records dating from 1960 to 1990. The papers include over 395 artists files, general gallery correspondence, project files, administrative records, exhibition files, collector and client files, financial material, printed material, 1 unbound scrapbook, and photographs. Also included are personal papers of gallery founder Joan Ankrum and her nephew, artist Morris Broderson.
Scope and Contents:
The Ankrum Gallery records measure 41.5 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to circa 1990s, with the bulk of the records dating from 1960 to 1990. The papers include over 395 artists files, general gallery correspondence, project files, administrative records, exhibition files, collector and client files, financial material, printed material, 1 unbound scrapbook, and photographs. Also included are personal papers of gallery founder Joan Ankrum and her nephew, artist Morris Broderson.

General correspondence is with artists, museums, collectors, and clients, and generally concerns sales, exhibitions, and consignments. Correspondents include Irving Block, Morris Broderson, Naomi Caryl, Suzanne Jackson, Joseph and Olga Hirshhorn, among many others. Correspondence is also found in the artists files and the collector/client files.

Project files document various events, benefits, and projects undertaken by the gallery, including a UNICEF benefit, "Up Against Hunger," the Exceptional Children's foundation, and the Young Art Patrons.

Administrative files document many activities of the gallery, such as the gallery's and Joan Ankrum's membership in the Black Arts Council, the California Arts Council, and the Art Dealers Association of California of which Joan Ankrum was a primary organizer. Also found are publicity files, a file on the history of the gallery, leases, floor plans, insurance documents, lists of graphics for sale, and other miscellany.

Exhbition files appear to be incomplete, but do include files for Huichol Indian's art, "The Art of African Peoples" (1973), "Five Contemporary Mexican Painters" (1977), Ethiopian Folk Painting (1978), San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild All Media Exhibition (1982), "25th Anniversary Exhibition" (1985), among several others.

Extensive artists' files include correspondence, price lists, photographs and slides,resumes and biographical material, and sales invoices. Files are found for Benny Andrews, Carlos Almaraz, Richard Bauer, Irving Block, Naomi Caryl, Bernie Casey, Frank Duveneck, Lorser Feitelson, Bruno Groth, David Herschler, Jessie Homer, Suzanne Jackson, Buffie Johnson, Samella Lewis, Helen Lundeberg, Arnold Mesches, Henry Miller, Melvin Schuler, Arthur Secunda, Ken Shores, Jean Varda, and Zev, among many others. The Pat Alexander and Andy Nelson files also contain motion picture film.

Collector and client files document the gallery's relationship with over 115 collectors, museums, and art centers. Files may include correspondence and sales records and are found for Edith Halpert, Olga and Joseph Hirshhorn and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Krannert Art Museum, Laguna Art Museum, Palm Spring Desert Museum, Paramount Pictures, San Diego Museum of Art, Staempfli Gallery, and Storm King Art Center, among many others.

Financial material documents sales through numbered invoices, consignments, loans, and insurance valuations. Printed material consists of exhibition catalogs and announcements, bulletins, periodicals, and newspaper clippings. One unbound scrapbook contains clippings and exhibition materials.

Photographs are of artwork, artists, and gallery openings. Additional photographs are found in the artists' files.

Joan Wheeler Ankrum personal papers document her personal and professional relationship with family, artists, and collectors. They include correspondence, personal writings, personal financial materials, printed material and loose scrapbook materials, family photographs and photographs of her as an actress, and artwork from various artists.

The papers of artist Morris Broderson, nephew of Joan Ankrum, document his professional relationship with the gallery as his primary dealer. Included are biographical materials, correspondence, publicity files, travel files, projects, exhibitions, collector/client files, financial material, printed material, photographs, and artwork.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 12 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Correspondence, 1961-1994 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Project Files, 1965-1987 (0.25 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 3: Administrative Records, 1961- circa 1990s (1 linear foot; Boxes 1-2)

Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1961-1991 (1 linear foot; Boxes 2-3)

Series 5: Artists' Files, 1957-1994 (22.5 linear feet; Boxes 3-25, 41-42, FC 43-45)

Series 6: Collector and Client Files, 1960-1994 (3.2 linear feet; Boxes 25-28)

Series 7: Financial Material, 1962-1990 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 28-30)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1957-1994 (2 linear feet; Boxes 30-32, 41)

Series 9: Scrapbook, 1960-1988 (3 folders; Box 32)

Series 10: Photographs, circa 1960s-circa 1990s (0.35 linear feet; Boxes 32, 42)

Series 11: Joan Ankrum Personal Papers, circa 1900-1993 (2 linear feet; Boxes 32-34, 41)

Series 12: Morris Broderson Papers, 1941-1989 (7.2 linear feet; Boxes 34-42)
Biographical / Historical:
The Ankrum Gallery was established 1960 in Los Angeles by American film actress Joan Wheeler Ankrum and William Chalee. The gallery closed in 1989.

Joan Wheeler Ankrum and William Challee opened Ankrum Gallery on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles in 1960 with a one-man show of Ankrum's nephew Morris Broderson. With a focus on contemporary California artists, Ankrum Gallery represented over 395 artists during its 30 years in operation, including Benny Andrews, Carlos Almaraz, Richard Bauer, Irving Block, Naomi Caryl, Bernie Casey, Frank Duveneck, Lorser Feitelson, Bruno Groth, David Herschler, Jessie Homer, Suzanne Jackson, Buffie Johnson, Samella Lewis, Helen Lundeberg, Arnold Mesches, Henry Miller, Melvin Schuler, Arthur Secunda, Ken Shores, Jean Varda, and Zev. In addition, the gallery was among the earliest to exhibit the work of black artists. The gallery also held exhibitions of world artists, which included "Art of African Peoples" (1973), "Yarn Paintings of the Huichol Indians" (1973), "Five Contemporary Mexican Painters" (1977), and "Ethiopian Folk Painting" (1978). Ankrum Gallery closed in 1989.

Art dealer and gallery owner, Joan Wheeler Ankrum was an actress before establishing the Ankrum Gallery primarily to showcase the work of her deaf nephew, Morris Broderson. Born in 1913 in Palo Alto, California, she began acting at the Pasadena Playhouse where she met her first husband Morris Ankrum with whom she had two sons, David and Cary Ankrum. She married gallery co-owner and partner William Challee in 1984. She helped organize the Los Angeles Art Dealers Association and the Monday Night Art Walks on La Cienega Boulevard. She was a member of the relatively short-lived Black Arts Council. Joan Wheeler Ankrum died in 2001 at the age of 88.

Morris Broderson (1928-2011) was a deaf painter. His first one-man show was at the Stanford Museum in 1957, followed by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. By 1959 he'd won two awards from the Los Angeles County Museum, and appeared in the Whitney Museum's "Young America" show in 1960. His travels influenced his work, including the hand gestures of Kabuki art in Japan. His work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, among others. Following Joan Ankrum's death in 2001, Broderson was represented by her son David Ankrum.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are two oral history interviews with Joan Ankrum, one conducted by Betty Hoag, April 28, 1964, and a second by Paul Karlstrom, November 5, 1997-February 4, 1998. Additionally, there is an oral history interview with Morris Broderson conducted by Paul Karlstrom, March 11-13, 1998.
Provenance:
The Ankrum Gallery records were donated to the Archives of American Art by Joan Ankrum in 1995.
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.
Topic:
Artists -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this
Function:
Art galleries, Commercial -- California
Genre/Form:
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Citation:
Ankrum Gallery records, circa 1900-circa 1990s, bulk 1960-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.ankrgall
See more items in:
Ankrum Gallery records
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9d89bb020-f420-4b01-9a0f-f1d5132866c4
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-ankrgall
Online Media:

Hassel Smith papers, circa 1900-2004, bulk 1930-1995

Creator:
Smith, Hassel Wendell, 1915-2007  Search this
Subject:
Fitz Gibbon, John  Search this
Emmerich, AndrĆ©  Search this
Gimpel, Charles  Search this
Still, Patricia  Search this
Thiebaud, Wayne  Search this
Swanson, Kathryn  Search this
Wollard, Robert  Search this
Butterfield, Jan  Search this
Still, Clyfford  Search this
Bischoff, Elmer  Search this
Anglim, Paule  Search this
Gimpel Fils  Search this
New Arts (Art gallery)  Search this
San Francisco Art Institute  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Sketches
Transcripts
Christmas cards
Photographs
Citation:
Hassel Smith papers, circa 1900-2004, bulk 1930-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Educators -- California -- Berkeley  Search this
Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this
Abstract expressionism  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Art -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area  Search this
Art, American  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)5714
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)208552
AAA_collcode_smithass
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_208552
Online Media:

Frederick Hammersley papers, circa 1860-2009, bulk 1940-2009

Creator:
Hammersley, Frederick, 1919-2009  Search this
Subject:
McLaughlin, John  Search this
Stone, Susie  Search this
Benjamin, Karl  Search this
L.A. Louver Gallery  Search this
Pomona College (Claremont, Calif.)  Search this
Type:
Diaries
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Interviews
Sketchbooks
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Citation:
Frederick Hammersley papers, circa 1860-2009, bulk 1940-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Computer Art  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7270
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209421
AAA_collcode_hammfred
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209421
Online Media:

Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg papers, circa 1890s-2002

Creator:
Feitelson, Lorser, 1898-1978  Search this
Subject:
Seldis, Henry  Search this
Rattner, Abraham  Search this
Moran, Diane De Gasis  Search this
McLaughlin, John  Search this
McCoy, Esther  Search this
Lundeberg, Helen  Search this
Langsner, Jules  Search this
Longstreet, Stephen  Search this
Hammersley, Frederick  Search this
Kadish, Reuben  Search this
Butterfield, Jan  Search this
Benjamin, Karl  Search this
Sheets, Millard  Search this
Miller, Dorothy Canning  Search this
Federal Art Project (Calif.)  Search this
Type:
Sketches
Poetry
Writings
Drawings
Sound recordings
Photographs
Citation:
Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg papers, circa 1890s-2002. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7341
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209494
AAA_collcode_feitlors
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209494
Online Media:

John McLaughlin papers, 1922-1979, bulk 1936-1976

Creator:
McLaughlin, John, 1898-1976  Search this
Subject:
Tamarind Lithography Workshop  Search this
Type:
Sketches
Photographs
Citation:
John McLaughlin papers, 1922-1979, bulk 1936-1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this
Painting, Abstract -- California -- Exhibitions  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7963
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210131
AAA_collcode_mclajohn
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210131
Online Media:

Charles W. White papers, 1933-1987, bulk 1960s-1970s

Creator:
White, Charles, 1918-1979  Search this
Subject:
White, Frances Barrett  Search this
Catlett, Elizabeth  Search this
BarthĆ©, 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
Online Media:

Beatrice Wood papers, 1894-1998, bulk 1930-1990

Creator:
Wood, Beatrice, 1893-1998  Search this
Subject:
Arensberg, Walter  Search this
Arensberg, Louise S. (Louise Stevenson)  Search this
Duchamp, Marcel  Search this
Hoag, Stephen Asa  Search this
John Waller, Fine Ceramics (Firm : Los Angeles, Calif.)  Search this
Zachary Waller Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif.)  Search this
Garth Clark Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Diaries
Drawings
Sketchbooks
Drawings
Citation:
Beatrice Wood papers, 1894-1998, bulk 1930-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women ceramicists  Search this
Scrapbooks  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women authors  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Women  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)9363
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211559
AAA_collcode_woodbeat
Theme:
Diaries
Women
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211559
Online Media:

Claire Falkenstein papers

Creator:
Falkenstein, Claire, 1908-1997  Search this
Names:
Coos Art Museum  Search this
Fresno Art Museum  Search this
Galerie Anderson-Mayer  Search this
Galerie Stadler  Search this
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts (Los Angeles, Calif.)  Search this
John Bolles Gallery (San Francisco, Calif.)  Search this
Los Angeles Museum of Art  Search this
Malvina Miller  Search this
Martha Jackson Gallery  Search this
Merging One Gallery  Search this
Mills College -- Faculty  Search this
Pond Farm Workshop  Search this
San Francisco Museum of Art  Search this
University of California, San Francisco. School of Fine Arts -- Faculty  Search this
Green, Ray, 1908-1997  Search this
Guggenheim, Peggy, 1898-1979  Search this
Kuh, Katharine  Search this
O'Donnell, May, 1906-2004  Search this
Sawyer, Kenneth B.  Search this
Still, Clyfford, 1904-  Search this
Still, Patricia  Search this
Tapie, Michel  Search this
Temko, Allan  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Wildenhain, Frans, 1905-1980  Search this
Extent:
42.8 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sketchbooks
Diaries
Scrapbooks
Interviews
Date:
circa 1914-1997
bulk 1940-1990
Summary:
The papers of sculptor, painter, jewelry designer, and teacher Claire Falkenstein measure 42.8 linear feet and date from 1917 to her death in 1997. There is extensive correspondence with fellow artists, collectors, critics, friends, museums, and galleries. The collection also contains biographical materials, much of it collected and organized by Falkenstein, personal and business records, writings, diaries, exhibition files, commission files, teaching files, photographs, original artwork, scrapbooks, and printed materials. There is a short motion picture film of an interview with Falkenstein featuring the windows she designed for St. Basil's Church in Los Angeles.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of sculptor, painter, jewelry designer, and teacher Claire Falkenstein measure 42.8 linear feet and date from 1917 to her death in 1997. There is extensive correspondence with fellow artists, collectors, critics, friends, museums, and galleries. The collection also contains biographical materials, much of it collected and organized by Falkenstein, personal and business records, writings, diaries, exhibition files, commission files, teaching files, photographs, original artwork, scrapbooks, and printed materials. There is a short motion picture film of an interview with Falkenstein featuring the windows she designed for St. Basil's Church in Los Angeles.

Biographical material includes appointment calendars, awards and honorary degrees, interview transcripts, passports, resumes, wills, and scrapbooks. Scrapbooks were compiled by Falkenstein and focus primarily on her exhibitions at the Galerie Stadler and Gallery Meyer in 1959 and 1960. Also of interest are the "biography files" created and arranged by Falkenstein. These files contain material that she personally felt was the most important in documenting her activities each year. They include correspondence, exhibition catalogs, printed material, and invitations.

Measuring nine linear feet, correspondence is extensive and comprehensively documents Falkenstein's work, social life, relationships, and other business and personal activities. Correspondence dates from 1941 to 1997 and includes business letters and correspondence with friends and family. Her communications with friends, family, clients, gallery owners, collectors, museums, publishers, foundations, and grant agencies reveal many of her ideas and techniques. Individual correspondents include Ray Green, Peggy Guggenheim, Katharine Kuh, May O'Donnell, Ken Sawyer, Clyfford and Pat Still, Michel Tapie, Allan Temko, Mark Tobey, and Frans Wildenhain. Gallery and museum correspondence is with the San Francisco Museum of Art, Coos Art Museum, Los Angeles Museum of Art, Galerie Stadler (Paris), Gallery Mayer (Paris), Malvina Miller (New York), Martha Jackson Gallery (New York), Jack Rutberg Fine Arts (Los Angeles), Galerie Anderson-Mayer (Paris), and Bolles Gallery. Correspondence is also found in the Commission Files and Exhibition Files.

Personal and business records contain a wide variety of material documenting Falkenstein's business, financial, legal, professional, and personal transactions. Files are found for sales and prices, art inventories, smaller jewelry commissions, her work as a juror, her business with galleries, legal affairs and contracts, expenses, records of arts organizations to which she belonged, conferences, grants and fellowships, studio and house renovations, her Paris studio and Paris expenses, travel, donations, loans and consignments, conservation, art shipping, insurance, and taxes. Oversized visitor's logs contain comments from visitors to Falkenstein's studio in Venice, California.

Falkenstein maintained comprehensive documentation of her exhibitions from her first exhibition in the 1930s to the last one at the Merging One Gallery in 1996. Files include both a chronological record and individual record for nearly all of her exhibitions. Found with the files are correspondence, photographs, loan and shipping records, catalogs, announcements, clippings, articles, and other records. Most of the photographs related to exhibitions are found in the Photographs Series. The files for exhibitions at the Fresno Art Museum, Martha Jackson Gallery and Jack Rutberg Fine Art Gallery are particularly rich.

Commission files document nearly all of Falkenstein's public and private large-scale projects and often contain a visual record of the work, as well as correspondence, design notes, contracts, and expense reports. There is documentation of the St. Basils Church windows in Los Angeles; the Peggy Guggenheim gate in Venice, Italy; and the fountain at the California Savings and Loan, in Los Angeles; and many others. There is also a chronological record of her commissions. The bulk of the photographs of commissions are found in the Photograph series. Also, most of Falkenstein's jewelry design commissions are found in the Personal and Business Records series.

Falkenstein's work as a prolific writer, particularly in the 1940s and 1950s, is well-documented here through her numerous published articles in Arts and Architecture magazine, and the New York Herald-Tribune. Her work for Arts and Architecture was primarily written for the "Art Comments from San Francisco" section. She was living in Paris when she contributed an art news column to the New York Herald-Tribune. Also found here are five diaries and one journal dating from circa 1929-1978. The entries are inconsistent and concern mostly travel. The diaries from 1929 and 1934 are more personal. Falkenstein also maintained extensive notes and notebooks about artwork ideas, observations about art, research, and even drafts of letters. There are also many notes about various topics, including art and class notes. Additional writings are eclectic and cover a wide range of topics, including music, poetry, the script for Falkestein's film entitled Touching the Quick, and drafts of her unpublished book on murals. A handful of writings by others are found, most with annotations by Falkenstein.

Teaching files include Falkenstein's numerous lectures given while teaching at Mills College, Pond Farm Workshops, and California School of Fine Arts, and various symposiums and conferences. Also found are lesson plans, contracts, scattered correspondence, and notes. The files on her tenure at the Pond Farm Workshops are particularly interesting, with notes about her fellow teacher Frans Wildenhain and correspondence with workshop owners, Jane and Gordon Herr.

There are extensive photographs of Falkenstein, her family and friends, colleagues, commissions, exhibitions, and works of art. Included are many images of Falkenstein, of Falkenstien with her art, of Falkentstien working, and of Falkenstein's studio. There are numerous photographs of Falkenstein with friends, family, and colleagues in social or work settings. Also found are photographs of exhibition openings, installation views, and works of art exhibited. Additional photographs document Falkenstein's commissions, including images of her at work. Additional images of commissions may also be found in the Commission Series, but the bulk are filed here. There are numerous photographs of Falkenstein's works of art, including drawings, sculpture, jewelry, murals, lamps, and ceramics.

Falkenstein's papers include a large amount of sketches, sketchbooks, and drawings. Many of the sketches and drawings relate to her ideas about commissions and large sculpture, jewelry designs, and general sketches. Sketches are also found in the Commission Files. Also included are drawings by Mark Tobey and Michel Tapie, and others.

Finally, printed materials include general exhibition catalogs, newspapers clippings, and clippings of articles by and about Falkenstein. Also included are books that have been inscribed and signed by the author.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 9 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1934-1997 (Box 1-4, 41; 4.3 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1931-1997 (Box 5-13; 9 linear feet)

Series 3: Personal and Business Records, 1936-1997 (Box 14-17, 41, 46-49; 4.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Exhibitions, 1930-1996 (Box 18-21, 42, OV 50; 3.3 linear feet)

Series 5. Commissions, 1930-1992 (Box 21-22, OV 50-54 ; 2.0 linear feet)

Series 6: Writings, circa 1929-1993 (Box 22-26, 42, 55; 4.6 linear feet)

Series 7: Teaching Files, 1929-1995 (Box 26; .8 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1917-1997 (Box 27-35, 43, 55-56; 9.5 linear feet)

Series 9: Artwork, circa 1937-1995 (Box 36-37, 44, 57; 2.0 linear feet)

Series 10: Printed Materials, circa 1914-1990 (Box 37-40, 45, 58; 3.9 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Claire Falkenstein (1908-1997) spent the majority of her life working as an artist, sculptor, jewelry designer, teacher, and writer in California.

Claire Falkenstein was born in 1908 and grew up in Coos Bay, Oregon. In 1920, Falkenstein and her family moved to Berkeley, California, where she attended high school and then college at the University of California at Berkeley, studying philosophy, anthropology, and art. She graduated in 1930. Falkenstein had her first solo show at the East-West Gallery in San Francisco in 1930, the only member of her class to have an exhibition before graduation.

During the early 1930s, Falkenstein studied at Mills College with modernist sculptor Alexander Archipenko. There she also met Bauhaus artists Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Gyorgy Kepes. Falkenstein married her high school sweetheart, Richard McCarthy in 1936.

In 1944, Falkenstein had her first New York exhibition at the Bonestall Gallery. At that time, Falkenstein's primary mediums were stone and wood. However, she became increasingly experimental with new materials that included sheet aluminum, Cor-Ten steel, glass, plastics, and welded wire rods while maintaining a connection to organic and natural forms. Her work in jewelry design was an outlet for exploring these new materials, forms, and techniques on a small scale. As her work grew physically larger, so did her recognition and it was her work in sculpture that won her a faculty appointment at the California School of Fine Arts from 1947-1949. It was here that she met Patricia and Clyfford Still, Hassel Smith, and Richard Diebenkorn.

In 1948, Falkenstein was invited to exhibit at the Salon des Realites Nouvelle in Paris, her first European show. She eventually moved to Europe in 1950 and had studios in Paris, Venice, and Rome. While in Europe, Falkenstein executed a number of large scale commissions, including the stair screen for Galerie Stadler (1955), grotto gates for Princess Pignatelli's villa in Rome (1957), and the bronze, steel, and the glass gate at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice (1961). While in Paris, she became acquainted with noted art critic Michel Tapie, with whom she maintained a life-long friendship.

During the 1940s and 1950s Falkenstein was a regular contributor to Arts and Architecture magazine, most often writing the "Art Comments from San Francisco" section. While in Paris, she also wrote a column on art news for the New York Herald Tribune.

Falkenstein returned to the United States in 1962, eventually renovating a studio space in Venice, California. It was here that she conceived her largest commissions. In 1965, Falkenstein received a commission from the California Savings and Loan to create a sculpture for a large fountain at the front of the bank in downtown Los Angeles. The copper tube fountain, entitled "Structure and Flow #2," was the first of many large scale public art commissions that Falkenstein completed during her years in California. Her most important commission in the United States, completed in 1969, was for the doors, rectory gates and grills and stained-glass windows for St. Basil's Church on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. The eight doors and fifteen rectory screens, including 80 foot high windows in the nave, were an expansion of the "never ending screen" concept that Falkenstein executed with the Pignatelli commission in Rome. She continued to use this motif in her work throughout her career.

Claire Falkenstein worked as an arts instructor, visiting artist, and guest lecturer at many colleges, workshops, and schools in California. Her first position was at Mills College from 1946-1947. Shortly thereafter, she was appointed to the faculty at the California School of Fine Arts and later taught in the Extension Divisions of the University of California, Berkeley. She taught classes at California State Polytechnic University, California State University at Davis, and the Anna Head School. Falkenstein also taught art at the Pond Farm Workshops in California, and lectured at numerous colleges and museums. She served on many juried art shows in Southern California.

Falkenstein was acquainted with many artists, writers, instructors, collectors, gallery owners, and critics. Close friends included Esther and Bob Robles, Clyfford and Patricia Still, Michel Tapie, Allan Temko, Mark Tobey, Frans Wildenhain, and other notable figures in the art world.

Falkenstein continued to complete large scale private and public commissioned sculptures during the 1960s through the 1980s, including work for the University of Southern California, Hyland Biological Laboratory, California State University at Dominquez Hills and the California State Department of Motor Vehicles. Throughout her career, Falkenstein's work was featured in numerous exhibitions across the country. Her sculpture and other artwork can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Coos Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museum, University of Southern California Fisher Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Tate Gallery.

Falkenstein died in 1997 at the age of 89.
Related Material:
The Archives of American Art also holds two oral history interviews with Claire Falkenstein. The interview on April 13, 1965 was conducted by Betty Hoag and the one on March 2 and 21, 1995 was conducted by Paul Karlstrom.
Provenance:
The Claire Falkenstein papers were donated in 1997 by Steffan Wacholtz and Nancy Kendall, trustees for the Claire Falkenstein Trust.
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:
Sculptors -- California  Search this
Painters -- California  Search this
Jewelers -- California  Search this
Educators -- California  Search this
Authors -- California  Search this
Topic:
Art patronage  Search this
Artists' studios  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women designers  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Women authors  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sketchbooks
Diaries
Scrapbooks
Interviews
Citation:
Claire Falkenstein papers, circa 1914-1997, bulk 1940-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.falkclai
See more items in:
Claire Falkenstein papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9911c74ff-413b-4b54-9280-89c8b0480495
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-falkclai
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Constance Lebrun Crown and David Lebrun, 1974 November 23

Interviewee:
Crown, Constance Lebrun, 1916-2010  Search this
Interviewer:
Karlstrom, Paul J., 1941-  Search this
Subject:
Lebrun, David  Search this
Baskin, Leonard  Search this
Lebrun, Rico  Search this
Warshaw, Howard  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Constance Lebrun Crown and David Lebrun, 1974 November 23. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Sculptors  Search this
Italian American artists  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)13021
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212324
AAA_collcode_crown74
Theme:
Women
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_212324
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Constance Lebrun Crown and David Lebrun

Interviewee:
Crown, Constance Lebrun  Search this
Lebrun, David  Search this
Interviewer:
Karlstrom, Paul J.  Search this
Names:
Baskin, Leonard, 1922-2000  Search this
Lebrun, Rico, 1900-1964  Search this
Warshaw, Howard  Search this
Extent:
64 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1974 November 23
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Constance Lebrun Crown and David Lebrun conducted 1974 November 23, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.
Constance Lebrun Crown and David Lebrun speak of Rico Lebrun; living in Mexico, Los Angeles, and New Haven, and traveling to Italy. Both speak of Lebrun's work methods, and daily habits; subject matter that inspired him; his mural paintings; and images of suffering in Lebrun's work. They recall Howard Warshaw and Leonard Baskin.
Biographical / Historical:
Constance Lebrun Crown (1916-2010) was the wife of the sculptor and painter Rico Lebrun (b. Naples, Italy, 1900, d. Malibu, California, 1964). David Lebrun is their son.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 32 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- California  Search this
Topic:
Sculptors  Search this
Italian American artists  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.crown74
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw95a78573e-5ddf-4d3e-8d4b-37938576641a
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-crown74
Online Media:

Frank Romero drawings, 1972-1973

Creator:
Romero, Frank, 1941-  Search this
Type:
Drawings
Citation:
Frank Romero drawings, 1972-1973. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Latino and Latin American artists  Search this
Chicano art movement  Search this
Chicano artists  Search this
Theme:
Latino and Latin American  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)13525
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211807
AAA_collcode_romefran
Theme:
Latino and Latin American
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211807

Frank Romero drawings

Creator:
Romero, Frank  Search this
Extent:
0.01 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Date:
1972-1973
Summary:
The drawings of Frank Romero measure 0.01 linear feet and date from 1972 to 1973. The collection consists of seven pen and colored ink drawings of frogs, people, and abstract images. The sketches were taken from one of Romero's early sketchbooks.
Scope and Contents:
The drawings of Frank Romero measure 0.01 linear feet and date from 1972 to 1973. The collection consists of seven pen and colored ink drawings of frogs, people, and abstract images. The sketches were taken from one of Romero's early sketchbooks.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into one series.
Biographical / Historical:
California painter Frank Romero (1941- ) is a pioneer in the Chicano art movement.

Romero was born in 1941 to parents of Mexican heritage in Los Angeles, California. He studied at Otis College of Art and Design and California State University, Los Angeles, where he befriended Carlos Almaraz. In the 1960s he worked in graphic design for the Charles and Ray Eames Studio. In the 1970s Romero, along with Almaraz, Roberto de la Rocha, and Gilbert Lujan, formed the art collective Los Four. Los Four were the first Chicano artist to be shown at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. His best known painting is "Death of Ruben Salazar" (1986), which was from his police brutality series.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Frank Romero conducted by Jeffrey Rangel, January 17-March 2, 1997.
Provenance:
Donated 1988 by Frank Romero.
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.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this
Topic:
Latino and Latin American artists  Search this
Chicano art movement  Search this
Chicano artists  Search this
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Citation:
Frank Romero drawings, 1972-1973. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.romefran
See more items in:
Frank Romero drawings
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9197ee068-3555-4112-a2fe-125000cc1a0e
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-romefran

Charles W. White papers

Creator:
White, Charles (1918-1979)  Search this
Names:
Belafonte Enterprises  Search this
Heritage Gallery  Search this
Otis Art Institute  Search this
BarthĆ©, 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 BarthƩ, 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.
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
Online Media:

Billy Al Bengston papers

Creator:
Bengston, Billy Al  Search this
Names:
Ferus Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif.)  Search this
James Corcoran Gallery  Search this
John Berggruen Gallery (San Francisco, Calif.)  Search this
Martha Jackson Gallery  Search this
Alexander, Peter, 1939-  Search this
Altoon, John, 1925-  Search this
Andre, Carl, 1935-  Search this
Chamberlain, John, 1927-2011  Search this
Diebenkorn, Richard, 1922-1993  Search this
Flavin, Dan, 1933-  Search this
Goode, Joe, 1937-  Search this
Lichtenstein, Roy, 1923-1997  Search this
Motherwell, Robert  Search this
Plagens, Peter  Search this
Ruscha, Edward  Search this
Extent:
10.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Photographs
Date:
circa 1940s-1989
bulk 1960-1988
Summary:
The papers of southern California Pop artist Billy Al Bengston measure 10.4 linear feet and date from circa 1940s to 1989, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1960 to 1988. The collection documents the life and work of the artist through biographical materials, correspondence, personal business records, gallery and museum files, teaching files, project and commission files, scattered artwork, printed materials, and photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of Billy Al Bengston measure 10.4 linear feet and date from circa 1940s to 1989, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1960 to 1988. The collection documents the life and work of the southern California artist through biographical materials, correspondence, personal business records, gallery and museum files, teaching files, project and commission files, scattered artwork, printed materials, and photographs.

Found within the biographical materials series are three feet of calendars which extensively document Bengston's personal and professional activities for fourteen years, and include ephemera related to these activities. This series also includes health records, wills, and passports.

Correspondence is with galleries, museums, universities, businesses, friends, and colleagues, and primarily concerns exhibitions, sales, consignments, commissions, and Bengston's personal finances. Bengston's relationship with the James Corcoran Gallery, Janie C. Lee Gallery, John Berggruen Gallery, Martha Jackson Gallery, and Texas Gallery are well-documented here, as well as in the Museum and Gallery Files series. Also found is a limited amount of personal correspondence with collectors, researchers, and friends. A few letters from other artists, including Peter Plagens and a letter from Richard Diebenkorn are interfiled here.

Bengston's professional relationships with galleries, museums, and universities are well-documented in the gallery and museum files, including the galleries mentioned above, Ferus Gallery, and others. Lists of consignments and prices, invoices, records of sales, loan agreement forms, shipping receipts, exhibition checklists, and exhibition floor plans provide information about sales, exhibitions, and loans. A few files provide further information about Bengston teaching activities. His personal business records include art sales records, price lists, lists of purchases, records of investment, and personal finance records. Project files include correspondence, notes, and printed materials related to Bengston's commissions for artwork and personal projects, including a book he worked on with Ed Ruscha, Business Cards.

Writings by Bengston include responses to exhibitions of West Coast art and his thoughts on his career, art, the artistic community, motorcycles, as well as a recollection of John Altoon. Also found are questionnaires sent out by Bengston for an art survey, with responses from Peter Alexander, Carl Andre, John Chamberlain, Dan Flavin, Joe Goode, Robert Graham, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Motherwell, Ed Ruscha, and others. Writings by others consist primarily of exhibition catalog essays, manuscripts of interviews with Bengston, and other writings about Bengston. Also found is an essay by Walter Hopps. Photographs of Bengston include a family picture from the 1940s, Bengston at work on projects in Los Angeles and Syracuse, New York, and Bengston at social events. Other photographs consist of pictures of friends and artists, Bengston's artwork, documentary evidence of damaged artwork, and of commission sites.

Printed materials from the 1960s - 1980s include clippings, full articles, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and posters. They document exhibitions, art in southern California, and society and art events. The collection houses limited amounts of artwork including sketches, cut-outs, doodles and drawings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 10 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1958-1987 (Boxes 1-4, 11; 3.7 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1966-1989 (Boxes 4-6; 1.75 linear feet)

Series 3: Gallery and Museum Files, 1961-1989 (Boxes 6-7; 1.5 linear feet)

Series 4: Teaching Records, 1968-1982 (Box 7; 7 folders)

Series 5: Personal Business Records, circa 1960-1987 (Boxes 7-8; 1.0 linear foot)

Series 6: Project Files, 1968-1987 (Boxes 8-9; 0.25 linear feet)

Series 7: Writings, 1967-circa 1988 (Box 9, OV 12; 0.25 linear feet)

Series 8: Artwork, 1960s-1987 (Box 9; 7 folders)

Series 9: Printed Materials, 1958-1988 (Boxes 9-10, OV 12-13; 1.25 linear feet)

Series 10: Photographs, circa 1940s-1987 (Box 10; 0.5 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Billy Al Bengston was born in Dodge City, Kansas on June 7, 1934. After moving back and forth from Kansas to California multiple times, he and his family settled in Los Angeles in 1948. While attending the Manual Arts High School, Bengston became interested in art, especially ceramics. After a brief stint at Los Angeles Junior College, Bengston worked as a beach attendant at Doheny State Beach. While working there he met fellow surfer and future ceramicist Kenneth Price, who became one of Bengston's closest friends. In 1953, he reenrolled in Los Angeles Junior College to study ceramics. For the next four years he attended both the California College of Arts and Crafts and the Los Angeles County Art Institute (now the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design). At these institutions he studied with Richard Diebenkorn, Sabro Hasegawa, Nathan Oliveira, and Peter Voulkos.

Around 1957, Bengston shifted his emphasis from ceramics to painting, and became affiliated with the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, founded that same year by Edward Kienholz and Walter Hopps. Bengston's first solo exhibition was held at the Ferus Gallery in 1958, and a second followed in 1960. At this time Bengston began to work with Pop icons combined with Color Field abstractions. His early bold paintings often featured symmetrical strong color compositions with a central image of a valentine, star, cross, chevron, or iris. The irises he called "draculas," after Kenneth Price remarked that they resembled Dracula flying through a window. He first showed his chevron paintings in 1962 at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York. In the early 1960s, Bengston extended his imagery to the California subculture and created paintings of leisure time activities, focusing on motorcycles, racing, and scuba diving - his own interests as well.

Throughout his career, Bengston experimented with technique and materials. He experimented with automobile lacquer and spray painting techniques associated with car customization. He also used non-traditional surfaces, such as masonite and aluminum. In 1965, Bengston began creating paintings on sheets of aluminum into which he hammered dents and sometimes bent and buckled; these subsequently came to be known as "dentos." Along with painting, Bengston has also created watercolors, ceramics, and furniture. He was also one of the artists selected by Carol and Roy Doumani to design their home.

Bengston first visited Hawaii in 1974, and after several subsequent trips, established a second studio there in 1979. The work Bengston created in the following years was characterized by the use of tropical colors and representational images of running figures, airplanes, and the moon. In 1988, the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston organized a retrospective entitled "Billy Al Bengston: Paintings of Three Decades," which traveled to the Oakland Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Contemporary Museum of Art, Honolulu. Bengston also completed several years as an art instructor and lecturer at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and The University of California at Los Angeles. Bengston continues to create and exhibit new work.
Related Material:
Found in the Archives of American Art are oral history interviews with Bengston conducted by Susan Larsen, September 9, 1980, and Susan Ford Morgan, August 2-October 7, 2002. Also found are portraits of Bengston in the Photographs of artists taken by Mimi Jacobs collection, and a rare copy of the book Business Cards by Bengston and Ed Ruscha in the Wallace Berman papers.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Billy Al Bengston in 1990.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use 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 -- California  Search this
Topic:
Works of art  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Art -- Economic aspects  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Photographs
Citation:
Billy Al Bengston papers, circa 1940s-1989 (bulk 1960-1988). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.bengbill
See more items in:
Billy Al Bengston papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9100ab903-2685-4182-8e65-3886c54e0d7f
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-bengbill
Online Media:

Oral history interview with Laura Owens

Interviewee:
Owens, Laura  Search this
Interviewer:
Proctor, Jacob  Search this
Names:
Pandemic Oral History Project  Search this
Extent:
1 Item ((21 min.) digital, mp4)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Video recordings
Date:
2020 September 2
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Laura Owens conducted 2020 September 2, by Jacob Proctor, for the Archives of American Art's Pandemic Oral History Project, at Owens's studio in Arles, France.Ā­
Biographical / Historical:
Laura Owens (1970 - ) is a Los Angeles-based painter known for her large scale works that include a wide range of art historical allusions and painterly techniques. She was born in Euclid, Ohio.
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 access restricted; written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its Oral History Program interviews available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. Quotation, reproduction and publication of the recording is governed by restrictions. If an interview has been transcribed, researchers must quote from the transcript. If an interview has not been transcribed, researchers must quote from the recording. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this
Topic:
COVID-19 (Disease) and the arts  Search this
Pandemics  Search this
COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Video recordings
Identifier:
AAA.owens20
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw975bffa71-97a0-48de-bbe7-13af5ce7d8c4
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-owens20

Maxine Kim Stussy papers

Creator:
Stussy, Maxine Kim, 1923-2020  Search this
Names:
University of California, Los Angeles  Search this
Stussy, Jan, 1921-1990  Search this
Extent:
2.7 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Date:
circa 1930-2018
bulk 1956-1999
Summary:
The papers of sculptor Maxine Kim Stussy measure 2.7 linear feet and date from circa 1930-2018, bulk 1956-1999. Included is biographical material; a transcript of an interview of Stussy conducted by Gregory Cloud, May 12, 1972; transparencies, photographs, negatives and slides of works of art, Maxine Kim Stussy, Jan Stussy and others; writings by Maxine and Jan; printed material; scrapbook pages; lists of works of art and price lists; exhibition planning documents; and correspondence.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor Maxine Kim Stussy measure 2.7 linear feet and date from circa 1930-2018, bulk 1956-1999. Included is biographical material comprised of a transcript of an interview of Stussy conducted by Gregory Cloud, May 12, 1972, and resumes, and correspondence, the bulk of which are letters and an unofficial will from Jan Stussy. Also found are letters from colleges and universities and Decker Studio, an art foundry. Writings contain poems and screenplay: Sam and Dellah written by Maxine Kim Stussy; artist statements and priced sculpture descriptions. Also found is a copy of the book Burnt Icarusemph> by Virginia Murrell with cover illustration done by Stussy. Photographic materials make up the bulk of the papers and consist of photographs, negatives and slides of Maxine Kim Stussy, her artwork, family and colleagues including Jan Stussy, her home and exhibitions, notably a joint show with Jan Stussy at Everett Ellis Gallery, circa 1985 and solo exhibition at Sindin Gallery, 1986. The papers also include printed material; magazine articles and news clippings; scrapbook pages; lists of works of art and price lists; an artist portfolio and exhibition planning documents.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as seven series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1957-2001 0.1 Linear feet (Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1957-2001 0.1 Linear feet (Box 1)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1940-2009 0.1 Linear feet (Box 1)

Series 4: Professional Files, circa 1958-2018 0.1 Linear feet (Box 1)

Series 5: Printed Materials, circa 1957-2017 0.3 Linear feet (Box 1, 4)

Series 6: Scrapbooks, circa 1956-1986 0.1 Linear feet (Box 4)

Series 7: Photographic Material, circa 1930-2018 2 Linear feet (Boxes 1-4)
Biographical / Historical:
Maxine Kim Stussy (1923-2020) was a native Los Angeles modernist sculptor and painter. Stussy studied at University of California, Los Angeles, earning her B.A. in 1947. During her studies at UCLA she met painter Jan Stussy whom she married in 1949. The couple often exhibited together in the late 1950s and 60s. Her sculptural work is comprised of many forms of materials ranging from ceramic to wood, bronze, and wood cast in bronze. She created an enormous body of work, with subjects including horses, abstract figures and towering human figures over six feet tall. Over the past sixty years, Stussy exhibited at galleries and museums throughout the United States and in Europe, such as the Esther Robles Gallery and Ceeje Gallery. In addition to her fine arts, Stussy also wrote poetry. In 1982, she married her long-time friend Raymond Frankel, Jr. They moved to New York for 16 years before returning to Los Angeles where she continued her artistic pursuits. Maxine Kim Stussy passed away in March of 2020.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Jan Stussy papers, 1943-1989.
Provenance:
Donated in 1977 by Maxine Stussy. 84 of the slides of her art work were donated in 1985 by her ex-husband, Jan Stussy, with his papers. Additional material donated in 2022 by Belinda Frankel, Maxine's stepdaughter.
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:
Sculptors -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this
Topic:
Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women sculptors  Search this
American poetry  Search this
Animals in art  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Citation:
Maxine Kim Stussy papers, circa 1930s-2018, bulk 1956-1999. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
AAA.stusmaxi
See more items in:
Maxine Kim Stussy papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw999639bc3-bb77-46eb-9a9a-60ba9f29393d
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-stusmaxi
Online Media:

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