Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Search Results

Collections Search Center
15 documents - page 1 of 1

Alexander Liberman papers

Creator:
Liberman, Alexander, 1912-1999  Search this
Names:
André Emmerich Gallery  Search this
Bennington College  Search this
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum  Search this
Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1902-1981  Search this
Beaton, Cecil Walter Hardy, Sir, 1904-  Search this
Cartier-Bresson, Henri, 1908-  Search this
Chernow, Burt  Search this
Dalí, Salvador, 1904-1989  Search this
De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997  Search this
Dietrich, Marlene  Search this
Emmerich, André  Search this
Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011  Search this
Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994  Search this
Hopps, Walter  Search this
Klein, William  Search this
Kline, Franz, 1910-1962  Search this
Leibovitz, Annie, 1949-  Search this
Motherwell, Robert  Search this
Mulas, Ugo  Search this
Namuth, Hans  Search this
Newman, Barnett, 1905-1970  Search this
Newton, Helmut, 1920-  Search this
Parks, Gordon, 1912-2006  Search this
Parsons, Betty  Search this
Penn, Irving  Search this
Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973  Search this
Ritts, Herb  Search this
Snowdon, Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of, 1930-  Search this
Steichen, Edward, 1879-1973  Search this
Vogel, Lucien  Search this
Vreeland, Diana  Search this
Extent:
59 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drafts (documents)
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Interviews
Photographs
Sketches
Sound recordings
Transcripts
Video recordings
Date:
circa 1912-2003
Summary:
The papers of sculptor, painter, and publishing executive Alexander Semeonovitch Liberman date from circa 1913-2003 and measure 59 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical materials; correspondence with family, galleries, museums, and many artists; numerous recorded interviews and transcripts with and by Liberman, including one of Walter Hopps; writings and writing project files; extensive subject files maintained by Liberman; exhibition files; printed materials; scattered drawings; and extensive photographs of Liberman's artwork, exhibitions, Liberman, and of Liberman with notable artists, dealers, collectors, and critics. Many of the photographs were taken by noted photograhers. Also found within the papers are unidentified sound and video recordings. Additional sound and video recordings have been integrated into other series.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor, painter, and publishing executive Alexander Semeonovitch Liberman date from circa 1913-2003 and measure 59 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical materials; correspondence with family, galleries, museums, and many artists; numerous recorded interviews and transcripts with and by Liberman, including one of Walter Hopps; writings and writing project files; extensive subject files maintained by Liberman; exhibition files; printed materials; scattered drawings; and extensive photographs of Liberman's artwork, exhibitions, Liberman, and of Liberman with notable artists, dealers, collectors, and critics. Many of the photographs were taken by noted photograhers. Also found within the papers are unidentified sound and video recordings. Additional sound and video recordings have been integrated into other series.

Biographical materials include awards, biographies and chronologies, family history materials, membership cards, writings by Liberman's mother, and a scrapbook about his father.

Correspondence is extensive and concerns both personal and professional affairs. It is with artists and photographers, art magazines, organizations and museums, art collectors, businesses, and family. Notable correspondents include Cecil Beaton, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Burt Chernow, Salvador Dali, Robert Motherwell, Helen Frankenthaler, Barnett and Annalee Newman, Additional correspondence is found within the subject files compiled and organized by Liberman (series 6).

There are sound and video recordings and transcripts of interviews with and by Liberman, most completed for broadcast television and radio shows. Of particular interest are sound cassettes, a sound tape reel, and a transcript of an interview with Walter Hopps by Liberman.

Writings by Liberman include essays, short stories, and a play entitled 2+1. Writing project files were organized by Liberman for writing projects for which he was the author, collaborator, or subject. There are numerous files concerning Barbara Rose's book about Liberman Alexander Liberman that also include recorded interviews with Liberman and transcripts. Other books for which there are files include The Art and Technique of Color Photography, The Artist in His Studio, Vogue: The First 100 Years, Vogue History of Fashion Photography, and others.

Subject files were organized by Liberman for a wide variety of work projects, activities, topics, and entities of interest. Files cover commissions, the filming and distribution of the 1981 documentary film Alexander Liberman: A Lifetime Burning, Liberman's personal collection of art, gifts of artwork, and his relationship with galleries and dealers, particularly André Emmerich Gallery.

Exhibition files document exhibitions of Liberman's artwork, and include those held at André Emmerich Gallery, Bennington College, the Guggenheim, Museum of Modern Art, among other venues. Files contain correspondence, contracts, photographs, plans and drawings, notes, etc. Also found are inventory records of Liberman's artwork in the form of lists, index cards, bound registers, and notes.

Ten linear feet of printed materials include exhibition announcements and catalogs, books and book flyers, brochures, calendars, clippings, postcards, posters, press releases, and other materials.

There are scattered drawings and sketches found within the papers, some of which are sketches of sculpture pieces.

Nearly one-half of the collection is comprised of photographs of Liberman and his artwork, and of artists and colleagues, many of which were taken by noted photographers, including Cecil Beaton, Henri Cartier-Bresson, William Klein, Henri Lartique, Annie Leibowitz, Inge Morath, Ugo Mulas, Hans Namuth, Helmut Newton, Gordon Parks, Irving Penn, Herb Ritts, and Lord Snowden, among others. Subjects of note found in the photographs include Alfred Barr, Salvador Dali, Marlene Dietrich, Willem de Kooning, Andre Emmerich, Helen Frankenthaler, Clement Greenberg, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Betty Parsons, Pablo Piccaso, Edward Steichen, Lucien Vogel, and Diana Vreeland, among many others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into twelve series. Photographs retain Liberman's original numerical and alpha schemas and the corresponding indexes are found in the Inventory Records in Series 8.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, circa 1930s-1999 (1 linear foot; Box 1, 56)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1944-1997 (4 linear feet; Boxes 1-5, 56, OV 65)

Series 3: Interviews, 1946-1996 (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 5-7, 56)

Series 4: Writings, 1948-1995 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 7-8)

Series 5: Writing Project Files, 1951-1997 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 8-9, 56)

Series 6: Subject Files, 1946-2000 (6 linear feet; Boxes 9-15, 56, OV 66-67)

Series 7: Exhibition Files, 1954-1991 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 15-16, 56, OV 68)

Series 8: Inventory Records, 1938-1998 (6 linear feet; Boxes 16-22)

Series 9: Printed Materials, 1932-2003 (10 linear feet; Boxes 22-31, 56-57, OV 69)

Series 10: Artwork, circa 1940s-1990s (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 32, 57, OV 70)

Series 11: Photographic Materials, circa 1912-1999 (26 linear feet; Boxes 32-55, 57-64, OVs 71-77)

Series 12: Unidentified Sound and Video Recordings, circa 1941-1999 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 55, 64)
Biographical / Historical:
Alexander S. Liberman (1912-1999) was a sculptor, painter, photographer, graphic designer, writer, and publishing executive who worked primarily in New York City. He held senior positions at Condé Nast Publications for 32 years.

Alexander Semeonovitch Liberman was born in 1912 in Kiev Russia. He was educated in London and the École des Beaux Art in Paris. He began his journalistic career in Paris at VU magazine owned by Lucien Vogel and there he befriended photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brassai, Robert Capa, and André Kértesz. He served in the French army for a short time in 1940, but he and his family fled Paris in 1941 to New York City. Condé Nast hired Liberman in 1941 as an assistant to the art director of Vogue magazine. Liberman became art director in 1943 and editorial director of Condé Nast Publications in 1962, a position he held until his retirement in 1994.

Liberman was also a photographer whose subjects included Georges Braque, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Marlene Dietrich, among others, many represented in his 1960 book entitled The Artist in his Studio and Marlene: An Intimate Photographic Memoir (1992). He was also the subject of the work of noted photographers Cecil Beaton, Irving Penn, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gordon Parks, Lord Snowden, Jill Krementz, Henri Lartique, Annie Leibovitz, and Hans Namuth.

Liberman took up painting and sculpting in the 1950s. Although his first exhibition was at the Betty Parsons Gallery, he was primarily associated with the André Emmerich Gallery in New York City. His monumental sculptures were mostly assembled from industrial parts and painted and can be seen in museums and public sites worldwide.

Liberman was briefly married to Hildegarde Sturm. He married his second wife Tatiana Yacovleff du Plessix in 1942. Before their marriage, they fled occupied France together. She was a noted hat designer, working for Henri Bendel and Saks, where she became known as Tatiania of Saks. She died in 1991 and, in 1992, Liberman married Melinda Pechangco, a nurse who had earlier cared for Tatiania. Alexander Liberman died in 1999 in Miami, Florida.
Related Materials:
Related collections found at the Archives of American Art include the Dodie Kazanjian and Calvin Tomkins research materials on Alexander Liberman and numerous collections of gallery records.
Provenance:
The Alexander Liberman papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Liberman Art Partners in 2010 via Dodie Kazanjian.
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. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Publishers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Graphic designers  Search this
Topic:
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Photography  Search this
Sculptors -- France -- Paris  Search this
Fashion photography  Search this
Painters -- France -- Paris  Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Photographers -- France -- Paris  Search this
Genre/Form:
Drafts (documents)
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Interviews
Photographs
Sketches
Sound recordings
Transcripts
Video recordings
Citation:
Alexander Liberman Papers, circa 1912-2003. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.libealex
See more items in:
Alexander Liberman papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw942e7024f-773e-4db8-b545-31138550580a
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-libealex
Online Media:

Jewel Kilcher

Artist:
Herb Ritts, 1952 - 26 Dec 2002  Search this
Sitter:
Jewel Kilcher, born 1974  Search this
Medium:
Chromogenic print on paper
Dimensions:
33.7 x 36.9 cm. (13 1/4 x 14 1/2")
Type:
Photograph
Date:
1997
Topic:
Costume\Jewelry\Earring  Search this
Interior  Search this
Jewel Kilcher: Female  Search this
Jewel Kilcher: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Songwriter  Search this
Jewel Kilcher: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Singer  Search this
Portrait  Search this
Credit Line:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine
Object number:
NPG.99.TC25
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
Copyright:
© Herb Ritts
See more items in:
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Location:
Currently not on view
Data Source:
National Portrait Gallery
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm46a258484-4400-4f8c-9743-6e5bcfe3fdef
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npg_NPG.99.TC25

Jewel Kilcher

Artist:
Herb Ritts, 1952 - 26 Dec 2002  Search this
Sitter:
Jewel Kilcher, born 1974  Search this
Medium:
Chromogenic print on paper
Dimensions:
33.7 x 36.9 cm. (13 1/4 x 14 1/2")
Type:
Photograph
Date:
1997
Topic:
Costume\Jewelry\Earring  Search this
Jewel Kilcher: Female  Search this
Jewel Kilcher: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Songwriter  Search this
Jewel Kilcher: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Singer  Search this
Portrait  Search this
Credit Line:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine
Object number:
NPG.99.TC25.1
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
Copyright:
© Herb Ritts
See more items in:
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Location:
Currently not on view
Data Source:
National Portrait Gallery
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4d1f27257-508e-481a-85c6-f3466b3fc37f
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npg_NPG.99.TC25.1

Jewel Kilcher

Artist:
Herb Ritts, 1952 - 26 Dec 2002  Search this
Sitter:
Jewel Kilcher, born 1974  Search this
Medium:
Fujichrome transparency
Dimensions:
12.4 x 9.8 cm. (4 7/8 x 3 7/8")
Type:
Positive Transparency
Date:
1997
Topic:
Jewel Kilcher: Female  Search this
Jewel Kilcher: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Songwriter  Search this
Jewel Kilcher: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Singer  Search this
Portrait  Search this
Credit Line:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine
Object number:
NPG.99.TC25.2
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
Copyright:
© Herb Ritts
See more items in:
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Location:
Currently not on view
Data Source:
National Portrait Gallery
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4d076653b-a235-4e23-b955-832bada9207d
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npg_NPG.99.TC25.2

Jewel Kilcher

Artist:
Herb Ritts, 1952 - 26 Dec 2002  Search this
Sitter:
Jewel Kilcher, born 1974  Search this
Medium:
Fujichrome transparency
Dimensions:
12.4 x 9.8 cm. (4 7/8 x 3 7/8")
Type:
Positive Transparency
Date:
1997
Topic:
Jewel Kilcher: Female  Search this
Jewel Kilcher: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Songwriter  Search this
Jewel Kilcher: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Singer  Search this
Portrait  Search this
Credit Line:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine
Object number:
NPG.99.TC25.3
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
Copyright:
© Herb Ritts
See more items in:
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Location:
Currently not on view
Data Source:
National Portrait Gallery
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4f3bcebfe-e92a-4774-88ee-2957e87bbaa1
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npg_NPG.99.TC25.3

Alexander Liberman papers, circa 1912-2003

Creator:
Liberman, Alexander Semeonovitch, 1912-1999  Search this
Subject:
Leibovitz, Annie  Search this
Motherwell, Robert  Search this
Kline, Franz  Search this
Klein, William  Search this
Barr, Alfred H., Jr.  Search this
Hopps, Walter  Search this
Cartier-Bresson, Henri  Search this
Beaton, Cecil Walter Hardy, Sir  Search this
Penn, Irving  Search this
Parks, Gordon  Search this
Parsons, Betty  Search this
Newman, Barnett  Search this
Newton, Helmut  Search this
Mulas, Ugo  Search this
Namuth, Hans  Search this
Picasso, Pablo  Search this
Snowdon, Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of  Search this
Ritts, Herb  Search this
Vogel, Lucien  Search this
Steichen, Edward  Search this
Vreeland, Diana  Search this
Dalí, Salvador  Search this
Chernow, Burt  Search this
Dietrich, Marlene  Search this
De Kooning, Willem  Search this
Emmerich, André  Search this
Greenberg, Clement  Search this
Frankenthaler, Helen  Search this
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum  Search this
Bennington College  Search this
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
André Emmerich Gallery  Search this
Type:
Drafts (documents)
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Interviews
Photographs
Sketches
Sound recordings
Transcripts
Video recordings
Citation:
Alexander Liberman papers, circa 1912-2003. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Photography  Search this
Sculptors -- France -- Paris  Search this
Fashion photography  Search this
Painters -- France -- Paris  Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Photographers -- France -- Paris  Search this
Theme:
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)15871
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)295430
AAA_collcode_libealex
Theme:
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_295430
Online Media:

Namuth, Hans; Ritts, Herb; Snowden, Lord

Collection Creator:
Liberman, Alexander, 1912-1999  Search this
Container:
Box 54, Folder 7
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1964-1988
Scope and Contents note:
Oversized material housed in Box 63, Folder 14
Collection 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. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Alexander Liberman Papers, circa 1912-2003. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Alexander Liberman papers
Alexander Liberman papers / Series 11: Photographic Materials / 11.5: Personal / Photographs of Liberman by Noted Photographers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw992deed3d-655e-4244-a009-4494bba4cda0
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-libealex-ref907

Ritts, Herb

Collection Creator:
Liberman, Alexander, 1912-1999  Search this
Container:
Box 54, Folder 17
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1980s-1990s
Scope and Contents note:
Oversized material housed in Box 64, Folder 1
Collection 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. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Alexander Liberman Papers, circa 1912-2003. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Alexander Liberman papers
Alexander Liberman papers / Series 11: Photographic Materials / 11.5: Personal / Photographs of Liberman by Noted Photographers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw93ea99eb0-2132-4608-ad43-c7c3c7dd9f41
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-libealex-ref920

Herb Ritts, 1952-2002 [Folder]

Contents:
Folder(s) may include exhibition announcements, newspaper and/or magazine clippings, press releases, brochures, reviews, invitations, illustrations, resumes, artist's statements, exhibition catalogs.
Topic:
Artists  Search this
Location:
Art & Artist files at the Smithsonian American Art Museum/ National Portrait Gallery Library
Data source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:SILAF_31387

Herb Ritts, pictures

Author:
Ritts, Herb  Search this
Subject:
Ritts, Herb  Search this
Physical description:
[110] p. (some folded) : all ill., ports. ; 37 cm
Type:
Books
Date:
1988
C1988
Topic:
Portrait photography  Search this
Photography of the nude  Search this
Call number:
TR647.R586 R6 1988
TR647.R586 R6 1988
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_389047

Africa / Herb Ritts

Author:
Ritts, Herb  Search this
Jamison, Judith  Search this
Physical description:
1 v. (unpaged) : chiefly ill. ; 32 x 37 cm
Type:
Books
Pictorial works
Place:
Africa
Date:
1994
C1994
Topic:
Photography, Artistic  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_473186

Notorious / Herb Ritts

Author:
Ritts, Herb  Search this
Subject:
Ritts, Herb  Search this
Physical description:
1 v. (unpaged) : ill. ; 39 cm
Type:
Portraits
Date:
1992
C1992
Topic:
Celebrities  Search this
Portrait photography  Search this
Call number:
TR647.R586 R6n 1992
TR647.R586R6n 1992
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_446698

Herb Ritts, work / essay by Trevor Fairbrother ; writings by Richard Martin, Steven Meisel, and Ingrid Sischy

Title:
Work
Author:
Ritts, Herb  Search this
Fairbrother, Trevor J  Search this
Martin, Richard (Richard Harrison)  Search this
Meisel, Steven  Search this
Sischy, Ingrid  Search this
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston  Search this
Subject:
Ritts, Herb  Search this
Physical description:
1 v. (unpaged) : chiefly ill., ports. ; 36 cm
Type:
Portraits
Exhibitions
Date:
1996
Topic:
Celebrities  Search this
Portrait photography  Search this
Call number:
TR681.F3 R55 1996X
TR647.R586 R6w 1996
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_501809

Herb Ritts

Author:
Ritts, Herb  Search this
Fondation Cartier  Search this
Subject:
Ritts, Herb  Search this
Physical description:
1 v. (unpaged) : ill. ; 29 cm
Type:
Portraits
Exhibitions
Date:
2000
Topic:
Celebrities  Search this
Portrait photography  Search this
Photography, Erotic  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_619962

Herb Ritts : L.A. style / Paul Martineau ; with an essay by James Crump

Title:
L.A. style
Author:
Ritts, Herb  Search this
Martineau, Paul 1967-  Search this
Crump, James  Search this
J. Paul Getty Museum  Search this
Cincinnati Art Museum  Search this
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art  Search this
Subject:
Ritts, Herb  Search this
Physical description:
xvii, 206 p. : chiefly ill. (some col.) ; 32 cm
Type:
Exhibitions
Place:
California
Los Angeles
Date:
2012
C2012
Topic:
Fashion photography  Search this
Photography, Artistic  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_993145

Modify Your Search







or


Narrow By