Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Sidney Simon, 1973 October 17-November 8. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of writer, art critic and collector Bernard Harper Friedman, 1926-2011, bulk 1943-2010, measure 30.6 linear feet. Extensive professional and personal correspondence, 41 diaries, a large number of his published and unpublished writings, and subject files document Friedman's career as a writer, relationships with cultural institutions and art world figures, and his personal life. Also included are biographical materials, interviews, printed material, 5 scrapbooks and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of writer, art critic and collector Bernard Harper Friedman, 1926-2011, bulk 1943-2010, measure 30.6 linear feet. Extensive professional and personal correspondence, 41 diaries, a large number of his published and unpublished writings, and subject files document Friedman's career as a writer, relationships with cultural institutions and art world figures, and his personal life. Also included are biographical materials, interviews, 5 scrapbooks, and photographs.
Biographical materials include educational records, documentation of Friedman's World War II service in the U.S. Navy, and birth, marriage, and death certificates.
Correspondence is with friends, family, artists, art world figures and institutions, writers, publishers, and literary agents. Among the correspondents are: John I. H. Baur, Harry Bertoia, Flora Biddle, Norman Bluhm, James Brooks, Fritz Bultman, Leo Castelli, William N. Copley, Jim Dine, Helen Frankenthaler, Brendan Gill, Robert Goodnough, Cleve and Francine Gray, Howard Kanovitz, Grace Knowlton, Stanley Kunitz, Conrad Marca-Relli, Mercedes Matter, Fred W. McDarrah, Rory McEwen, Robert Motherwell, Arnold Newman, Barnett Newman, Dorothy Norman, Alfonso Ossorio, Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, Robert Richenburg, Barney Rosset, Philip Roth, Judith Rothschild, Irving Sandler, Salvatore Scarpitta, Jon Schueler, Sidney Simon, David Slivka, Clyfford Still, Myron Stout, Calvin Tompkins, and David Windham.
There are transcripts of interviews with B. H. Friedman, his daughter and wife conducted by the Yale University School of Medicine's "Adult Development Study," and 2 recordings of interviews with Friedman for radio broadcast.
Writings by Friedman include manuscripts of novels, short stories, plays, articles, monographs, and art criticism, some published versions of his work, and a variety of notes. Also found are recordings of lectures by B. H. Friedman and panel discussions in which he participated. Other authors represented are John Cage, W. B. Henry, and Jon Schueler. Friedman's diaries, 1948-1993 (41 volumes) record activities, thoughts, and events.
Subject files compiled by Friedman reflect professional and personal interests, activities, and projects. Many concern publicity for published writings or efforts to find publishers. Especially well documented is his interest in Jackson Pollock, Timothy Leary, and Alfonso Ossorio, and his affiliation with the Whitney Museum of American Art.
The majority of printed material is about or mentions Friedman. Five scrapbooks consist mainly of printed material.
Most photographs are of B. H. and Abby Friedman, their family, and friends. Among the individuals pictured are: Elise Asher, Cary and Norman Bluhm, Sandy Friedman, Joellen Hall, Doug Huebler, Howard Kanowitz, Stanley Kunitz, Lee Krasner, Sheridan Lloyd, Barnett and Annalee Newman, Alfonso Ossorio, Magda Salvesen, Salvatore Scarpitta, John Schueler, and Myron Stout. A photograph album records scenes from a 1979 performance of Whispers, a stage adaptation by Alan Wynroth from Friedman's novel of the same title.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 9 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1926-2011 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1946-2011 (Boxes 1-15; 14.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Interviews, 1969-2001 (Box 15; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings, 1940s-2010 (Boxes 16-23; 8 linear feet)
Series 5: Diaries, 1948-1993 (Boxes 24-25; 1.75 linear feet)
Series 6: Subject Files, 1940-2010 (Boxes 25-30; 4.45 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1954-2010 (Box 30-31; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1960-2006 (Boxes 30-32; 0.8 lilnear feet)
Series 9: Photographs, circa 1950s-2008 (Box 30; 0.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Bernard Harper Friedman (1926-2011), a writer best known as the author of the first biography of Jackson Pollock, was also an art critic and art collector involved in the cultural life of New York City.
Bernard Harper Friedman, known professionally as B. H. Friedman, was called Bob by family and friends. After interrupting his studies at Cornell University to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he graduated in 1948 with a degree in English. Friedman and his new bride, fellow student Abby G. Noselson (1926-2003), returned home to New York City and he began a real estate career in his uncles' firm, Uris Buildings Corporation. While a businessman, Friedman spent much of his spare time writing. He produced fiction, plays, and criticism; Friedman's articles on art, literature and music appeared in a wide variety of periodicals. During this period, Friedman also pursued his interests in jazz, collecting abstract art, and psychedelic drug experiences with Timothy Leary.
His first published novel, Circles, about the Abstract Expressionist milieu, appeared in 1962. A year later, B. H. Friedman became a full-time writer. For nearly 20 years, he divided his time between New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he was affiliated with the Fine Arts Work Center as a director and consultant. During this period, he published several novels and two biographies: Jackson Pollock: Energy Made Visible and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, written with Flora Biddle. More novels and short story collections were published, and staged readings of seven plays were presented between 1987 and 2007. Tripping, a memoir of using psychedlics with Timothy Leary, appeared in 2006.
A founding member of Fiction Collective, a nonprofit publishing group run by and for writers, Friedman was also a member of several national writers' organizations. He served as a trustee of the Whitney Musuem of American Art, 1961-1968, and then as honorary trustee. B. H. Friedman died from complications of pneumonia on January 4, 2011 in New York City.
Related Materials:
Also available is an oral history interview with Bernard Harper Friedman, 1972 November 10, conducted by Paul Cummings for the Archives of American Art.
Provenance:
The Bernard Harper Friedman papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2012 by his daughter, Daisy Friedman.
Restrictions:
The collection is ACCESS RESTRICTED; written permission is required. Use of original materials requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of sculptor, painter, and educator Sidney Simon measure 23.7 linear feet and 2.21 GB and date from circa 1917-2002, with the bulk of the papers dating from 1940-1997. The collection documents Simon's career through biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, subject files, sketches, sketchbooks, printed and digital material, and photographs.
There is a 15.7 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2022 that includes exhibition files; commission files; project files; ledgers; photograph albums, slides, transparencies and glass plate negatives of works of art and installations and photographs of Simon, family and others; inventories of works of art; files relating to World War II including personal and professional photographs, blank postcards, sketches, printed material, and personnel information; unidentified CDs and a cassette with a letter from mother; journals with sketches and notes; biographical information including certificates and awards; printed material including catalogs and announcements and articles about Simon; appraisals; correspondence including posthumous letters of condolence; sketchbooks and drawings, including oversized student drawings and drawings for commissions and competitions; interviews with Simon on Hi8 tapes, mini DV; a scrapbook; and a zinc metal plate. Materials date from circa 1940-1997 and 2008.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor, painter, and educator Sidney Simon measure 23.7 linear feet and 2.21 GB and date from circa 1917-2002, with the bulk of the papers dating from 1940-1997. The collection documents Simon's career through biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, subject files, sketches, sketchbooks, printed and digital material, and photographs.
Biographical material chronicles Simon's academic training and professional activities through curriculum vitae, biographical accounts, and awards. Included are letters and memoranda, many from Forbes Watson pertaining to Simon's service as a combat artist in World War II. Also found is a transcript of an interview with Simon recounting his experiences in the Southwest Pacific. Simon's personal correspondence with colleagues, friends, and family includes scattered letters from Jacqueline Helion, Penelope Jencks, William King, Burgess Meredith, among others. Many letters are illustrated by Sidney Simon and others. General correspondence includes letters from artists, galleries, museums, public and religious institutions primarily relating to Simon's exhibitions and commissioned projects. Among the correspondents are Castle Hill, Truro Center for the Arts, Colby College, André Emmerich, Eric Makler Gallery, Xavier Gonzalez, Graham Gallery, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Interspersed among the files are letters of a personal nature. Other correspondence relates to Simon's faculty positions and his activities in professional organizations, e.g., Century Association, National Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
Writings and notes include Simon's 1943 diary entries recording his activities in the Army Corps of Engineers, draft versions of writings and lectures, and notes. Included are digital audio recordings of Simon's lectures at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Subject files provide documentation on Simon's commissioned projects, select exhibitions and competitions, as well as his faculty positions and memberships in several arts organizations. Printed material consists of clippings, invitations, announcements, newsletters, and programs. Exhibition catalogs are of Simon's solo and group shows at galleries, museums, and art organizations from 1959-1966. Photographs are of Simon by Budd Brothers, Richard Pousette-Dart, and Bernard Gotfryd. There are a number of photographs of the artist in his studio and outdoors as well as of Simon's family and friends, including group photographs with Ellsworth Kelly, André Emmerich, Robert Motherwell, and Louise Nevelson. Also found are three personal and family albums and twenty-one photograph albums of Simon's paintings and sculptures.
There is a 15.7 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2022 that includes exhibition files; commission files; project files; ledgers; photograph albums, slides, transparencies and glass plate negatives of works of art and installations and photographs of Simon, family and others; inventories of works of art; files relating to World War II including personal and professional photographs, blank postcards, sketches, printed material, and personnel information; unidentified CDs and a cassette with a letter from mother; journals with sketches and notes; biographical information including certificates and awards; printed material including catalogs and announcements and articles about Simon; appraisals; correspondence including posthumous letters of condolence; sketchbooks and drawings, including oversized student drawings and for commissions and competitions; interviews with Simon on Hi8 tapes, mini DV; a scrapbook; and a zinc metal plate. Materials date from circa 1940-1997 and 2008.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1940-1998 (Boxes 1, 9; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1936-2002 (Boxes 1-2; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1943, circa 1960-1997 (Box 2; 0.4 linear feet, ER01-ER03; 2.21 GB)
Series 4: Subject Files, 1940-1941, 1951-1997 (Boxes 2-4, 9; 1.8 linear feet)
Series 5: Sketches, 1937-1942 (Box 4; 1 folder)
Series 6: Sketchbooks, 1939-1995 (Boxes 4-5, 9; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1933, 1942-1998 (Box 5; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1978-1995 (Box 5; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 9: Photographs, circa 1917-1997 (Boxes 5-10; 3.0 linear feet)
Series 10: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1940-1997, 2008 (Boxes 11-27, OV 28-43; 15.7 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Sidney Simon (1917-1997) was a sculptor, painter, and educator who worked primarily in New York City and Truro, Massachusetts. Simon was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of 14, he won a place as a special student at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1934 and from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1936. Simon also studied at the Barnes Foundation from 1937-1940. Simon received professional recognition early in his career; he was awarded the Prix de Rome Collaborative Prize in 1939 and the Edwin Austin Abbey Fellowship in mural painting in 1945.
In 1941, Simon enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in the Army Corps of Engineers. Assigned to MacArthur's headquarters as an official war artist for the Southwest Pacific Theater, Simon was chosen to paint the signing of the peace treaty between the U.S. and Japan aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. He was discharged from the army with a Bronze Star and five presidential citations. In 1945, along with Bill Cummings and Henry Varnum Poor, Simon co-founded the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where he later served as a director and a member of the Board of Governors. By the mid-1950s, Simon's interest shifted from painting to sculpture, creating works in wood, clay, and other media. Over the years, Simon collaborated with architects on a number of public and private commissions, including the doorway for the Downstate Medical Center, the Jewish Chapel at West Point, a playground sculpture for Prospect Park, and the totemic column for the Temple Beth Abraham. In addition to serving on the faculty at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Simon also taught at the Art Students League, Brooklyn Museum, and Parsons School of Design. An active champion of artists' rights, Simon established the New York Artists Equity Association. He participated in solo and group shows at the Graham Gallery, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, and the Sculptors Guild, among other venues.
In 1997, Sidney Simon died at the age of 80 in Truro, Massachusetts. Simon was divorced from Joan Crowell in 1964. He is survived by his wife, Renee Adriance Simon and five children from his first and second marriages.
Related Materials:
The Archives has two oral history interviews with Sidney Simon conducted by Paul Cummings in October 17-November 8, 1973 and the Karl E. Fortress taped interviews with artists, [1963-1985].
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds materials lent for microfilming (reel D210) including biographical material, correspondence, sketchbooks, scrapbooks, and photographs of Sidney Simon. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Sidney Simon lent the Archives of American Art material for microfilming in 1965. Rene Simon, Simon's widow, donated the Sidney Simon papers in 2009. Additional material donated in 2022 by the Renee A. Simon Revocable Trust via trustees Barbara Sussman, Alexa Elam and Susanne Howard.
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 and born-digital records 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.
The records of the New York Artists Equity Association (NYAEA) measure 26.8 linear feet and 2.99 Gb and date from 1920-2012. The records include history and founding documents, presidents' files, board of directors' files that include monthly board meeting minutes, committee files and annual membership meeting minutes, general administrative and correspondence files, financial and legal files, event and program files, artists and subject files, extensive individual membership files, art project and exhibition files, Broome Street Gallery files, NYAEA publications that include issues of The Artists Proof, printed and digital materials, four scrapbooks, sketches created by artists attending a party in honor of Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and photographs of member artists and events.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the New York Artists Equity Association (NYAEA) measure 26.8 linear feet and 2.99 GB and date from 1920-2012. The records include history and founding documents, presidents' files, board of directors' files that include monthly board meeting minutes, committee files and annual membership meeting minutes, general administrative and correspondence files, financial and legal files, event and program files, artists and subject files, extensive individual membership files, art project and exhibition files, Broome Street Gallery files, NYAEA publications that include issues of The Artists Proof, printed and digital materials, four scrapbooks, sketches created by artists attending a party in honor of Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and photographs of member artists and events.
The President's files appear to be complete and include files for presidents Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Louise Nevelson, Harry Waterson, Roy Gussow, Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence, Karl Zerbe, Ernst Fiene, Sidney Laufman, Carolyn deLisser, Burt Hasen, and Bert Diener, among others. Committee files and meeting minutes are found, as well as general administrative and correspondence files which include information pertaining to the national level Association.
Event files include documentation of the Association's Art Thursday series, where they hosted talks and panels by artists. Artists referenced in these files include Jean Cohen, Charles Searles, Leon Golub, Doug Ashford, Bruno Palmer-Poroner, Dom Facci, Susan Teller, Eleanor Lipsky, Ted Berger, Hilton Kramer, Bernice Steinbaum, Laura Stirton, Jean Zaleski, Renee Philips, Denise Bibro, Dan Concholar, Irving Sandler, Angela Babin, Dorothy Gillespe, Donna Marxer, Nan Hall, Ivan Karp, Alan Gussow, Mary Carswell, Bill Smart, Charlotte Kotik, Klaus Kertess, Elaine Marinoff, and Judith Brodski. Additional events covered in this series include the annual awards dinner, masquerade balls, lectures, the Association's 55th Anniversary event, which includes recollections by Helen Frankenthaler, Sidney Simon, and Lorrie Goulet, as well as other events and programs. Videocassette and sound recordings of many of the events are found here.
Artists' and subject files contain mostly printed materials about a few artists and subjects or issues in which the Association was interested.
There are extensive files on individual members that include card files, applications, biographies, and clippings.
Project and exhibition files include material pertaining to the Artists Welfare Fund, the Art Bank artwork donation, and a few scattered exhibitions. Additional exhibition and event files are found in the series containing the Broome Street Gallery files.
Association publications consist of what appears to be a full run of Association newsletters and reports. The NYAEA newsletter changed its name to The Artists Proof in 1986. Additional printed materials include exhibition catalogs and announcements, programs, clippings, posters, and newsletters of other arts organizations. There are four scrapbooks (two unbound) that contain printed materials, and a few items of correspondence. One of the scrapbooks documents the annual "Bal Fantastique".
Artwork consists mostly of sketches and drawings by artists attending a 1948 dinner in honor of Yasuo Kuniyoshi. Photographs are of members and events. Photographers include Arnold Newman, Marvin Bolotsky, and Frances Avery, among others. Numerous notable artists are depicted in the images.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into sixteen series.
Missing Title
Series 1: History and Founding Documents, 1933-2000 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1, 27
Series 2: Presidents' Files, 1927-2007 (2.8 linear feet; Boxes 1-4)
Series 3: Board of Directors' Files, 1947-2003 (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 4-5)
Series 4: Committee and Meeting Files, 1950-2009 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 5-6)
Series 5: General Administrative and Correspondence Files, circa 1930-2008 (2 linear feet; Boxes 7-8, 0.284 GB; ER01)
Series 6: Financial and Legal Files, 1947-2000 (1 linear foot; Box 9)
Series 7: Events and Programs, 1930-2010 (4.2 linear feet; Boxes 10-14, 27, 0.446 GB; ER02)
Series 8: Artists and Subject Files, 1930-1998 (0.4 linear feet; Box 14)
Series 9: Membership Files, 1920-2009 (4.4 linear feet; Boxes 14-18, 27, 2.26 GB; ER03)
Series 10: Project and Exhibition Files, 1934-2010 (2 linear feet; Boxes 19-20)
Series 11: Broome Street Gallery Files, 1990-2011 (2.7 linear feet; Boxes 21-23, 31)
Series 12: Association Publications, 1947-2012 (1 linear foot; Boxes 23-24)
Series 13: Printed Materials, 1930-2008 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 24-25, 27, 31, OV 28, OV 29)
Series 14: Scrapbooks, 1947-1969 (0.3 linear feet; Box 25, OV 30)
Series 15: Artwork, 1947-2000 (0.1 linear foot; Box 26, 27)
Series 16: Photographs, 1930s-2004 (0.9 linear feet; Box 26, 27)
Biographical / Historical:
The New York Artists Equity Association (originally the Artists Equity Association) was created in 1947 to promote and support living American artists. Nine prominent New York artists founded the organization and elected Yasuo Kuniyoshi as the organization's first president. The original membership included 160 well-known American artists, but by the end of its first year, membership had grown to over one thousand. By the 1950s, the organization had grown into an influential national organization. Past and present members have included Milton Avery, Will Barnet, Romare Bearden, George Biddle, Isabel Bishop, Robert Blackburn, Paul Cadmus, Charles Burchfield, Stuart Davis, Jose de Creeft, Elaine and Willem de Kooning, Leon Golub, Chaim Gross, Rockwell Kent, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Motherwell, Alice Neel, Isamu Noguchi, Jules Olitski, Philip Pearlstein, Henry Varnum Poor, Charles Scheeler, Ben Shahn, David Smith, Frank Stella, Andrew Wyeth, and many others.
In 1959, the New York Chapter, with more members than all of the other states combined, re-organized into the New York Artists Equity Association. The Association maintained it own gallery, Broome Street Gallery, from 1991-2011. The organization remains active today and is located in SoHo.
Provenance:
The records were donated to the Archives of American Art by the New York Artists Equity Association in several increments between 1980-2016.
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 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.
The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture records measure 35.42 linear feet and date from 1945 to 2013. The paper records of the school document the period from circa 1945 to 1977 and consist of administrative records, financial records, visiting artist files, faculty files, student files, and photographic material. Also included are motion picture films by Jack Eastman and Karl Fortess, dating from circa 1950 to 1968, showing the school's campus and faculty, staff, and students at work and leisure. A large portion of the collection consists of the Skowhegan Lecture Archives, a sound recording archive of lectures given by artists speaking at the school between 1952 and 2013.
Scope and Contents:
The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture records measure 35.42 linear feet and date from 1945 to 2013. The paper records of the school document the period from circa 1945 to 1977 and consist of administrative records, financial records, visiting artist files, faculty files, student files, and photographic material. Also included are motion picture films by Jack Eastman and Karl Fortess, dating from circa 1950 to 1968, showing the school's campus and faculty, staff, and students at work and leisure., artists, and students. A large portion of the collection consists of the Skowhegan Lecture Archives, a sound recording archive of lectures given by artists speaking at the school between 1952 and 2013.
Administrative records include files for the school's board, exhibitions and benefits, fundraising, government agencies, publicity, and other office files. Financial records consist of accounting procedure documents, bills paid, budgets, student drawing accounts, payroll, real estate expenses, and reports.
Files for visiting artists such as Philip Pearlstein, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, and William Zorach contain correspondence, lecture notes and transcripts, and records regarding the broadcast of artists' lectures. Faculty files consist of correspondence, faculty lists, and other material for Isabel Bishop, Xavier Gonzalez, Sidney Simon, and other faculty members. Student files include alumni records, correspondence, recommendations and rejections, and scholarship material.
Photographs and negatives are of Janet Fish, Paul Rasika, Alice Neel, Bette Davis, Jacob Lawrence, Roy Lichtenstein, faculty and visiting artists, and students at events, lectures, social gatherings, and in class.
Motion picture films include silent, color footage of the school's campus, working faculty and students, and social activities. Footage includes both edited footage and outtakes (footage shot but not used in the edited piece), that form three distinct sets of films from three different periods: 16 mm films from the 1950s, 8 mm films from 1964-1965, and super 8 mm films from 1966-1968. Based on handwritten notes on the original film containers, Karl Fortess was the creator of the 16 mm films, and Jack Eastman was the creator of the 8 mm film. It is unclear who created the super 8 mm films, but some of the footage appears to have been shot by Willard Cummings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series.
Series 1: Administrative Records, 1945-1977 (Boxes 1-5, 12, OV 31; 5.0 linear feet)
Series 2: Financial Records, 1945-1967 (Boxes 5-8, 12, OV 31; 3.0 linear feet)
Series 3: Visiting Artists Files, 1948-1965 (Boxes 8; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 4: Faculty Files, 1946-1965 (Boxes 8-9; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 5: Student Files, 1946-1964 (Boxes 9-12; 2.0 linear feet)
Series 6: Photographic Materials, 1955-1977 (Boxes 11-12; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 7: Motion Picture Films, circa 1955-1970 (Box 11, film cans FC 13-30; 1.9 linear feet)
Series 8: Skowhegan Lecture Archives, 1952-2013
Biographical / Historical:
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (est. 1946) is an art school and artist residency in Skowhegan, Maine. Since the school's beginnings, it has attracted prominent visiting artists and faculty members such as Jacob Lawrence, Philip Pearlstein, Ben Shahn, Isabel Bishop, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi.
The school was founded by Willard W. Cummings, Henry Varnum Poor, Sidney Simon, and Charles Cutler. While serving in Europe during World War II on The War Art Unit project, a project that sent artists to battle zones in order to record their impressions, they noticed that the European system of studying art allowed students intimate access to artists, their studios, and creative life. The Skowhegan School founders wanted to create a similar intimacy between students and artists in the U.S. After returning to the U.S., Cummings, Poor, Simon, and Cutler built an art program that included visiting artists and an artist lecture series that enabled students to interact with professional, well-established artists. In 1960, the school's administration was reorganized due to a fire that burned down the barn, which served as a fresco painting studio, and other nearby buildings. The reorganization introduced trustees and other facets of the administration that were needed to sustain the school's funding and operations.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming on reels N68-27-N68-30, N68-78-N68-80, and N68-96-N68-97. Loaned materials were returned to the donor and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture records were lent to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1968. The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture via Willard Cummings and Jack Eastman donated portions of the lent material from 1968 to 1977. The lecture archive was donated between 2002 to 2014 via the Executive Director.
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 copies requires advance notice.
Rights:
Skowhegan Lecture Archives: Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Skowhegan in addition to the copyright holders. A list of copyright holders is available at the Archives of American Art Washington, D.C. office. Transcripts may not be duplicated. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture records, 1945-2013. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection and digitization of the motion picture film was provided by the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
An interview of Sidney Simon conducted 1973 October 17-November 8, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Sidney Simon (1917-1997) was a sculptor and painter from New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hr., 24 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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.
The records of the Long Point Gallery measure 7.1 linear feet and date from 1959 to 1999, bulk 1976 to 1998. The collection documents the history of the gallery through administrative records, guest books, correspondence, exhibition files, artists' files, financial records, printed material, and photographic materials.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the Long Point Gallery measure 7.1 linear feet and date from 1959 to 1999, bulk 1976 to 1998. The collection documents the history of the gallery through administrative records, guest books, correspondence, exhibition files, artists' files, financial records, printed material, and photographic materials.
Administrative records consist of legal documents, contracts, mailing lists, price lists, membership files, correspondence, meeting minutes, gallery history, projects files, and one videocassette of the Long Point Gallery dinner filmed by Renate Ponsold Motherwell in 1993. Guest books document the signatures and salutations of attendees at gallery exhibitions. Correspondence is with artists, organizations, and gallery customers. Exhibition files contain correspondence, press releases, articles, and exhibition announcements. Artists' files consist of news clippings, exhibition records, price lists, and correspondence. Financial records contain bills, receipts, deposits, financial reports, gallery sales, and records for the transport of artwork. Printed material includes news clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, press releases, obituaries, publications, souvenirs, and posters signed by the artists. Photographic materials include slides and printed photographs of artwork, artists, exhibitions, parties, and candid moments. Overall the collection documents the activities of artist members, including Varujan Boghosian, Fritz Bultman, Carmen Cicero, Sideo Fromboluti, Edward Giobbi, Budd Hopkins, Rick Klauber, Leo Manso, Robert Motherwell, Paul Resika, Judith Rothschild, Sidney Simon, Nora Speyer, Tony Vevers, Robert Beauchamp, Paul Bowen, Gilbert Franklin, Dimitri Hadzi, Renate Ponsold, and Michael Mazur.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 8 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Administrative Records, 1976-1999 (1.5 linear ft.; Box 1-2)
Series 2: Guest Books, 1986-1998 (7 folders; Box 2)
Series 3: Correspondence, 1979-1998 (0.8 linear ft.; Box 2-3)
Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1959-1998, bulk 1972-1998 (0.6 linear ft.; Box 3-4)
Series 5: Artists' Files, 1963-1997 (0.8 linear ft.; Box 4)
Series 6: Financial Records, 1976-1998 (0.8 linear ft.; Box 5)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1972-1998 (0.8 linear ft.; Box 5-6, OV 8)
Series 8: Photographic Materials, 1972-1998 (1.5 linear ft.; Box 6-7)
Biographical / Historical:
Long Point Gallery (est. 1977, closed 1998) was a cooperative art gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The gallery operated in the American Legion building during the summer seasons as an artist cooperative. Members contributed financially, as well as artistically, enabling the promotion and preparation of exhibitions throughout the summer. The founding members were Varujan Boghosian, Fritz Bultman, Carmen Cicero, Sideo Fromboluti, Edward Giobbi, Budd Hopkins, Rick Klauber, Leo Manso, Robert Motherwell, Paul Resika, Judith Rothschild, Sidney Simon, Nora Speyer, and Tony Vevers. Later in the gallery's history Robert Beauchamp, Paul Bowen, Gilbert Franklin, Dimitri Hadzi, Renate Ponsold, and Michael Mazur also became members. Some notable friends of the gallery were Nassos Daphnis, Jack Tworkov, and Myron Stout. The gallery's first director was Rick Librizzi.
The Long Point Gallery gained a reputation for showing progressive, expressionist and abstract paintings and sculptures that veered away from the traditional tourist scenes of Cape Cod. During the 1980's, Provincetown was becoming a popular tourist destination, which caused real estate values to climb. Fortunately, members of the cooperative were able to afford the rising costs and remain in Provincetown allowing the gallery to become a fixture within the community. The gallery often held dual exhibits featuring two artists who presented their artwork individually. Other exhibitions include "Homeric Themes" (1987), "Myth & Ritual" (1989), "From the Studio Wall" (1990), "A Long Point Portfolio" (1991), "Keyworks" (1991), "Those Lovely Golden Thighs" (1991), and "A Story to Tell" (1996). Members also represented the Long Point Gallery in exhibitions at the Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC), the Cape Museum of Fine Arts (CMFA), the Archives of American Art, and exhibitions in Europe. For over 20 years, the Long Point Gallery was the site of art exhibitions, poetry readings, musical performances, and parties until its closing in 1998.
In 1998, the American Legion building was sold at a price that was too high for the gallery to continue in the same location. The advanced ages and deaths of a few members prior to the sale of the building contributed to the members' decision to dissolve the gallery, which was under the direction of Rosalind Pace at the time of closing.
Provenance:
Donated in 1999 and 2013 by the Long Point Gallery via Rosalind Pace, former Director.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Function:
Artist-run galleries -- Massachusetts
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Visitors' books
Video recordings
Citation:
Long Point Gallery records, 1959-1999, bulk 1976-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of New York sculptor Robert White measure 8.4 linear feet and 0.846 GB and date from 1889-2003, with the bulk of the material from 1915-2003. The collection documents White's varied career as a sculptor, educator, painter, and illustrator through biographical material; extensive correspondence; project files; personal business records; notes and writings; sketchbooks and sketches by Robert White and others; printed and digital material; audiovisual material; artifacts; and photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of New York sculptor Robert White measure 8.4 linear feet and 0.846 GB and date from 1889-2003, with the bulk of the material from 1915-2003. The collection documents White's varied career as a sculptor, educator, painter, and illustrator through biographical material; extensive correspondence; project files; personal business records; notes and writings; sketchbooks and sketches by Robert White and others; printed and digital material; audiovisual material; artifacts; and photographs.
Scattered biographical materials include a curriculum vitae, documentation relating to White's service in the U.S. Coast Guard, a certificate of appreciation, and a memorial card for White's daughter, Natalie Laura White.
Correspondence contains primarily incoming letters from family and friends, and from clients, galleries, museums, arts organizations, students, and university administrators. Spanning over a seventy year period, family and friends correspondence centers on daily activities, events, and work. There is extensive correspondence from Robert White's parents, Lawrence Grant White and Bessie Chanler White and from Claire Nicolas White and her family. Other correspondents include Gil Franklin, Walker Hancock, Jim Harrison, Susan Hobbes, Willard R. Huntington, Ben LaFarge, Ward Lamb, Suzannah Lessard, Peter Matthiessen, Walker O'Cain, Mark and Katja Oxman, Frank C. Platt, Laura Spencer Pope, Paul and Ellen Resika, Paul Russotto, Sidney Simon, and William Styron, among others.
General correspondence mostly concerns White's commissions, teaching appointments, and his activities in professional organizations. Also included are letters from family members, friends, and colleagues. Frequent correspondents include: the American Academy in Rome, Amyas Ames, the Augustus Saint Gaudens Memorial, Century Association, Theodore Cremer, Davis Galleries, Patricia Fleischmann, Hugh Fosburgh, Rebekah Harkness Kean, David Garrard Lowe, National Academy of Design, Parsons School of Design, S. Dillon Ripley, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Steuben Glass, and the Suffolk Museum and Carriage House.
Project files contain materials on Robert White's exhibitions and his commissioned projects. Materials include letters, lists of artwork, notes, price lists, receipts, exhibition schedules, contracts, and loan agreements. Files document White's exhibits at the Davis Galleries, Elaine Benson Gallery, Graham Gallery, Graham Modern, Heckscher Museum, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Included are extensive files on White's commissions for the American Battle Monuments Commission, Peabody Museum, and Steuben Glass.
Personal business records include files on Robert White's association with the Augustus Saint Gaudens Memorial and the National Academy of Design; his teaching appointments at the Parsons School of Design, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture; and his dealings with foundries. There are scattered files on the Whites' St. James, New York property and residence.
Notes and writings contain Robert White's diaries, artist's statements, notebooks, essays on art, lectures, and scattered notes. Also found are writings by Clare White and others.
Sketchbooks and loose sketches contain preliminary studies by Robert White and scattered sketches by others. Printed material houses newspaper clippings and periodicals; exhibition announcements, catalogs, brochures, and posters; press releases and newsletters; and miscellaneous printed material.
Artifacts include two printing blocks: a portrait sculpture of Stephanie White and a landscape image. Audiovisual material consists of a digital audio recording of a classroom lecture by Robert White at an unidentified venue.
Photographs house images of Robert White; his studio; and snapshots of family and friends, many unidentified. Also included are photographs and slides of artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into ten series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1939-2002 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1923-2002 (Boxes 1-4; 3.8 linear feet)
Series 3: Project Files, 1952-2003 (Boxes 4-5, OV 10; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1889, 1946-2003 (Boxes 5-6, OV 10; 1.3 linear feet)
Series 5: Notes and Writings, 1915, circa 1946-2002 (Boxes 6-7; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 6: Sketchbooks and Sketches, circa 1965-1972 (Boxes 7, 9; 0.3 linear feet
Series 7: Printed Material, 1937-2003 (Boxes 7, 9; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 8: Audiovisual Material, 1973 (ER01; 0.846 GB)
Series 9: Artifacts, circa 1965 (Box 7; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographs, circa 1940s-2001 (Box 8; 0.5 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Robert Winthrop White (1921-2002) lived and worked in St. James, New York and was primarily known as a sculptor and educator.
He was the son of the architect, Lawrence Grant White (1887-1956) and Bessie Chanler White. Stanford White (1853-1906), Robert's grandfather, was one of the founding partners in the prominent New York City architectural firm, McKim, White, and Mead.
As a youth, Robert White traveled to Munich, Germany to study woodcarving, sculpture, and painting. In 1935, he entered Portsmouth Priory School in Rhode Island. From 1938-1942, he was enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design, where his mentors were Walter Raemisch in sculpture and John Howard Benson in calligraphy. In World War II, White served as chief boatswain's mate in the United States Coast Guard and later worked in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). At the end of the war, White continued his training in sculpture and painting. In 1947, Robert White married Clare Nicolas, daughter of the painter and stained glass master, Joep Nicolas and the sculptor, Suzanne Nicolas.
Robert White, influenced by the classical techniques of the Renaissance artists, worked in various media, such as bronze, stone, plaster, terra-cotta, and wood. His subjects included portrait, figure, and life studies; animals; and dancers. Robert White also was an illustrator. He illustrated works by Laura Spencer Pope, William Styron, and others. White also illustrated two collections of his own poems, Casques and Dust and Palace: The Story of A Friendship that were privately published before his death in 2002.
Robert White held teaching positions at several universities and schools, including the Suffolk Museum of Art, the Parsons School of Design, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. From 1967-1987, White was an associate professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
White exhibited his work in museums and galleries in the United States and abroad, including Artists Choice Museum, Artist's Gallery, Benson Gallery, Boston Athenaeum, Gallery North, Hartwick College Museum, Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Patricia Fleischmann Gallery, Rijksakademie Van Beeldende, State University of New York at Stony Brook, and the Suffolk Museum and Carriage House, among others. Robert White was represented by the Davis Gallery, Graham Gallery, and Graham Modern in New York City.
Robert White's private and public commissions included works for the American Battle Monuments Commission, Amyas Ames, Theodore Cremer, John Marquand, Peabody Museum, State University of New York, William Styron, and Xerox Corporation. His work can be viewed in the collections of the Boston Athenaeum, Brooklyn Museum, Civici Musei 3 Gallerie di Storia e Arte, Heckscher Museum, and the Rhode Island School of Design. Robert White was the recipient of the Laurel Gallery's "New Talent" exhibition prize, 1948; American Academy's Rome Prize, 1952-1954; and the Proctor Memorial Prize at the National Academy of Design, 1962, 1982. He was also awarded grants from the Tiffany Foundation, 1950 and the Fairfield Foundation, 1968. From 1952-1955, White was a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, where he also served as an artist-in-residence from 1969-1970. Robert White was a member of the American Academy in Rome, the Augustus Saint Gaudens Memorial, Century Association, and the National Academy of Design.
Robert White continued to work on the family estate in St. James, New York until his death in 2002.
Provenance:
The Robert W. White Papers were donated in 2003 by Claire Nicolas White, widow of Robert White.
Restrictions:
Use of the original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Topic:
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Yevtushenko, Yevgeny Aleksandrovich, 1933- Search this
Extent:
3.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Student drawings
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Drawings
Date:
1923-1999
Summary:
The papers of New York social realist painter and printmaker Jack Levine date from 1923-1999, and measure 3.2 linear feet. Levine's career is documented through biographical material, scattered letters, notes and a speech, writings, student drawings, three scrapbooks, printed material and nearly one linear foot of photographs of Levine, his family, and his colleagues.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York social realist painter and printmaker Jack Levine date from 1923-1999, and measure 3.2 linear feet. Levine's career is documented through biographical material, scattered letters, notes and a speech, writings, student drawings, three scrapbooks, printed material and nearly one linear foot of photographs of Levine, his family, and his colleagues.
Found within the papers are two driver's licenses and several biographical accounts, and scattered letters from colleagues including one each from John Taylor Arms, Hyman Bloom, Leonard Bocour, René d'Harnoncourt, Lloyd Goodrich, Jacob Lawrence, and Homer Saint-Gaudens discussing various art-related events. There is only one carbon copy of a letter written by Levine. The correspondence includes oversized photographs of the members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Additional photographs of the members are found in the Photograph series.
Notes and writings are primarily typescripts about Jack Levine written by others. There is also a transcript of one speech, "Jack Levine Speaks Regarding the Donation of 108 of his Drawings to the Archives" delivered by Levine at the Fogg Art Museum.
Artwork consists entirely of Levine's student drawings including anatomical studies, neighborhood genre scenes, copies of Old Masters, and a series of images of symphony musicians. Some of the drawings display themes that are reflected in his later paintings.
Three scrapbooks contain clippings that document Levine's career and reflect his political interests. Additional printed material consists of a comprehensive collection of clippings and exhibition announcements and catalogs. There is also an announcement for a lecture by Levine, press releases, calendars of events, reproductions of artwork, programs, brochures including one for Facing East, a portfolio of Levine's prints, and three books.
Photographs include numerous photographs of Levine throughout his artistic career, including images of his wife, painter Ruth Gikow, their daughter Susanna, and colleagues including Hyman Bloom, Leonard Bocour, Alexander Dobkin, Joachim Probst, and Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Especially notable is a series of photographs of Levine printmaking with Emiliano Sorini and Ruth Gikow.
There are photographs of Levine serving on art juries and panels with Eleanor Coen, Joseph Hirsch, Gabor Peterdi, Studs Terkel, and Max Weber, and attending events with Lawrence Fleischman, Betty Friedan, Edith Halpert, Mauricio Lasansky, Gypsy Rose Lee, Pope Paul VI, and Raphael Soyer. A small album contains photographs of Levine and various buildings in Boston. There are also photographs of miscellaneous exhibition installations including Levine's retrospective at the Jewish Museum, and of artwork by Levine and others.
Group photographs of the members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters are found here, and include Will Barnet, Paul Cadmus, Chuck Close, David Levine, George Tooker, and John Updike. Additional group photographs of the members that were originally enclosed with letters are found in the correspondence series.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1953-1955 (Box 1; 1 folder)
Series 2: Letters, 1946-1996 (Boxes 1, 5; 12 folders)
Series 3: Notes and Writings, 1961-1974 (Box 1; 6 folders)
Series 4: Artwork, 1923-1931 (Boxes 1, 5, OV 6; 11 folders)
Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1936-1962 (Boxes 1, 5; 16 folders)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1938-1999 (Boxes 1-3, 5, OV 6; 1.9 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, 1940-1998 (Boxes 3-5, OV 6; 52 folders)
Biographical / Historical:
Jack Levine (1915-2010) was born in Boston, Massachusetts and worked as painter and printmaker primarily in New York City. Levine was one of the leading painters and advocates of the Social Realism School of the late 1930s.
Jack Levine was the youngest of the eight children of Lithuanian Jewish parents, Mary Grinker and Samuel Levine. After the family moved from the South End of Boston to Roxbury in 1923, Levine began to study drawing under Harold Zimmerman at the School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. By 1929, Levine was studying painting under Denman Ross of the Fogg Art Museum.
From 1935-1940, Levine received U.S. government support from the federal Works Progress Administration. His first exhibition of paintings in New York City was at the Museum of Modern Art. In 1937, he painted The Feast of Pure Reason, a satire of Boston political power. Together with Ben Shahn, Levine became a leading exponent of the Social Realism School of the late 1930s. His first one-man show was held at the Downtown Gallery in New York City in 1938.
After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Levine was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1945, and a grant from the American Academy of Arts and Letters the following year. Also in 1946, Levine married painter Ruth Gikow and moved to New York City. Between 1950 and 1951, he was a Fulbright Fellow working in Rome where he was inspired by Old Master paintings. In the 1960s Levine's interest in printmaking intensified and he was instructed in creating intaglio prints by Emiliano Sorini, and was introduced to Abe Lublin who was associated with the New York Graphic Society.
Levine taught at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the American Art School in New York, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. His work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Fogg Art Museum. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters from 1956 on.
The D.C. Moore Gallery in New York City currently represents the Estate of Jack Levine.
Provenance:
Jack Levine donated his papers to the Archives in 1962, 1978, and 1999.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and limited to the Washington, D.C. Reference 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.
The papers of New York School painter and sculptor Fritz Bultman, 1928-2010, bulk 1940s-1990s, measure 11.9 linear feet. They document Bultman's professional activities, ties to the Abstract Expressionist movement, and his personal life. Letters from friends and family include many from Hans and Maria Hofmann. Letters by Bultman are mostly to family; also found are a few drafts and copies of business and personal letters. Writings and notes are by and about Bultman. Notebooks/sketchbooks (39 volumes) include autobiographical writings, notes on dreams and thoughts while in psychoanalysis, many sketches and some completed drawings. Subject files reflect Bultman's professional activities, interests, and relationships; Hans Hofmann is the most thoroughly documented subject. Extensive printed material concerns Bultman's activities and exhibitions; also included are his published writings. Most photographs are of artwork, Bultman, his family and friends. Also found are biographical materials, 4 diaries, 6 interviews with Fritz Bultman and Jeanne Bultman, and a small amount of artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York School painter and sculptor Fritz Bultlman, 1928-2010, bulk 1940s-1990s, measure 11.9 linear feet. They document Bultman's professional activities, ties to the Abstract Expressionist movement, and his personal life. Letters from friends and family include many from Hans and Maria Hofmann. Letters by Bultman are mostly to family; also found are a few drafts and copies of business and personal letters. Writings and notes are by and about Bultman. Notebooks/sketchbooks (39 volumes) include autobiographical writings, notes on dreams and thoughts while in psychoanalysis, many sketches and some completed drawings. Subject files reflect Bultman's professional activities, interests, and relationships. Extensive printed material concerns Bultman's activities and exhibitions; also included are his published writings. Most photographs are of artwork, Bultman, his family and friends. Also found are biographical materials, 4 diaries, 6 interviews with Fritz Bultman and Jeanne Bultman, and a small amount of artwork.
Biographical materials include school records and notice of Bultman's army classification.
Most letters are addressed to Fritz Bultman and his parents. Fritz's education in Munich and studying with Hans Hofmann is well-documented. Many letters are from Miz Hofmann and Hans Hofmann. Also found are a smaller number of letters from museums, galleries, universities, and arts organizations. The surviving letters by Bultman are mainly to his family. Most were written when he was a student in Munich or traveling in Europe. There are some drafts and copies of letters concerning professional activities, arrangements for lectures, exhibitions, and Cynthia Goodman's editing "Form and Color in the Creative Process: The Painter's Primer" by Hans Hofmann.
Most interviews focus on Bultman's career. An interview with Jeanne and Fritz Bultman is about John Graham, and one of the interviews with Jeanne Bultman concerns Hans Hofmann.
Bultman's writings and notes include articles, lectures and talks about Hans Hofman, lectures about his own work, and a book review. Among the writings about Bultman are articles, a catalog essay and exhibition review.
Notebooks/sketchbooks (39 volumes) contain a variety of writings and notes, including some that are autobiographical, along with sketches and several finished drawings. Some volumes consist of writings and notes with a few sketches and doodles while others are mainly sketchbooks containing a few stray notes and brief writings; many contain approximately the same amount of text and drawings.
Diaries (4 volumes) contain entries about his work, professional and personal activities. One volume is a record of his October 1978 trip to Istanbul.
Subject files contain varying combinations of correspondence, photographs, printed material, and manuscripts. The most extensive file relates to Hans Hofmann and includes copies of writings by him. Other files of note concern Joseph Cornell, the exhibitions "Forum '49" and "Forum '49 Revisited," Weldon Kees, Tony Smith, and Donald Windham.
The largest series, printed material, consists of exhibition catalogs, announcements, reviews, articles and clippings about or mentioning Bultman.
Noteworthy among the small amount of artwork by Bultman is an early print; also found are loose drawings and paintings on paper.
Photographs of artwork document the full range of Bultman's production --paintings, sculpture, drawings, collage, stained glass, interior design and decoration. Also found are a few photographs of works by other artists. Photographs of Fritz Bultman include many by Renate Ponsold. Other indentified individuals include parents Fred and Pauline Bultman, sister Muriel Bultman, childhood nurse Katie Belle, son Johann Bultman, Sherman Drexler, Hans Hofmann, Miz Hofmann, Miss Katsura, Lee Krasner, Annalee Newman, Barnett Newman, Alfonso Ossorio, Jeanne Reynal, Thomas Sills, Jack Tworkov, and Wally Tworkov. A group portrait of the artists of Long Point Gallery includes: Varujan Boghosian, Fritz Bultman, Carmen Cicero, Sideo Fromboluti, Budd Hopkins, Rick Klauber, Lee Manso, Sidney Simon, Robert Motherwell, Judith Rothschild, Nora Speyer, and Tony Vevers. Also found in this series are photographs of Bultman exhibition installations and views of miscellaneous places.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 10 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials,1928-2003 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 2: Letters, 1930-1995 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 3: Interviews, 1968-1998 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings and Notes, 1935-circa 1980s (Boxes 1-2; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 5: Notebooks/Sketchbooks, 1937-circa 1979 (Boxes 2-3, 11; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 6: Diaries, 1977-1979 (Box 3; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 7: Subject Files, 1942-2010 (Boxes 3-5, 11; 2.3 linear feet)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1941-2006 (Boxes 5-9, OV 12; 3.5 linear feet)
Series 9: Artwork, circa 1930s-1956 (Boxes 9, 11; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographs, 1935-1997 (Boxes 9-10; 0.6 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Fritz Bultman (1919-1985), a New York School painter and sculptor who lived and worked in Provincetown, Massachusetts and New York City, was also a collagist, stained glass artist, and educator.
Anthony Fred Bultman, III --always known as Fritz --was from a prominent and cultured New Orleans family. He began studying art as a boy and one of his teachers was Morris Graves, a family friend. His last 2 years of high school were spent at the Munich Preparatory School, boarding with Mrs. Hans Hofmann whose husband was working in New York for an extended period. Bultman attended the New Bauhaus in Chicago before studying for three years with Hans Hofmann in New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts. As well as being a major influence on Bultman's development as a painter, Hofmann became a life-long friend.
Fritz Bultman met dancer and model Jeanne Lawson (1918-2008), when she was posing in Hofmann's studio during the summer of 1941. They married in 1943 and the following year bought a house in Provincetown. In 1945, Bultman built a studio designed by a friend from the New Bauhaus, sculptor and architectural designer Tony Smith, who also helped with its construction.
His first solo exhibition was held in 1947 at the Hugo Gallery, New York; others followed in 1950, again at Hugo Gallery and at Kootz Gallery, New York. After receiving an Italian Government Grant for Exchange Fellowship, Bultman spent 1950-1951 in Florence, Italy, where he learned the process of casting and began making metal sculpture. In 1952 the Bultmans moved to New York City. Depressed and beset by anxiety, Bultman began Freudian psychoanalysis, and between 1952 and 1956 produced very little artwork.
In 1958 Bultman resumed exhibiting and continued to show regularly for the remainder of his life. He enjoyed solo exhibitions in New York City, Paris, New Orleans, North Carolina, Provincetown, and other venues. Between 1958 and 1963 Bultman taught painting at Hunter College and was an instructor in design and painting at Pratt Institute. Bultman spent 1964-1965 in Paris on a Fulbright Grant painting and sculpting, studying European methods of bronze casting, and meeting French artists. Bultman maintained his reputation as a highly regarded art instructor and in later years was a sought after guest lecturer at a various colleges. While artist-in-residence at Kalamazoo College, Michigan in 1981, he designed and produced a stained glass mural with technical assistance from his wife, Jeanne Bultman, a skilled artisan.
Fritz Bultman died of cancer in Provincetown, Massachusetts, in 1985.
Related Materials:
An oral history interview with Fritz Bultman, 1986 January 6, was conducted by Irving Sandler for the Archives of American Art (available on microfilm reel 3196).
Provenance:
Gift of Fritz Bultman in 1984, which included material lent for microfilming in 1970 and 1971. Additions donated by Jeanne Bultman, his widow, in 1988 and 2000, and by his sons, Anthony F. Bultman, IV and Ellis Johann Bultman, in 2013.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
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 and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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:
Sidney Simon papers, circa 1917-2002, bulk 1940-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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:
Sidney Simon papers, circa 1917-2002, bulk 1940-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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:
Sidney Simon papers, circa 1917-2002, bulk 1940-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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:
Sidney Simon papers, circa 1917-2002, bulk 1940-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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:
Sidney Simon papers, circa 1917-2002, bulk 1940-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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:
Sidney Simon papers, circa 1917-2002, bulk 1940-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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:
Sidney Simon papers, circa 1917-2002, bulk 1940-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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:
Sidney Simon papers, circa 1917-2002, bulk 1940-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
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:
Sidney Simon papers, circa 1917-2002, bulk 1940-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
