The papers of Edith Bry measure 1.3 linear foot and date from 1914 to 1969. The papers document her art career and her activities with the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors through biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, personal business records, printed material, photographs, artwork, and two scrapbooks.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Edith Bry measure 1.3 linear foot and date from 1914 to 1969. The papers document her art career and her activities with the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors through biographical material, correspondence, writings and notes, personal business records, printed material, photographs, artwork, and two scrapbooks.
Correspondence from friends and colleagues largely discusses Bry's artwork and activity within committees and organizations. Correspondents include John Taylor Arms, Alfred H. Barr, Marc Blitzstein, Adolf Dehn, Alma Dettinger, George Gershwin, Adolph Gottlieb, Marsden Hartley, Ruth Lembeck, Abraham Rattner, Sigmund Romberg, C. L. Sulzberger, Louis Untermeyer, John von Wicht, Stow Wengenroth, Harold Weston, and others.
Writings include notes on various techniques and materials used by Bry in her artwork. An etching is by Hermann Struck and a doodle is by Adolph Gottlieb. Two mixed media scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings and exhibition announcements and catalogs spanning Bry's career from 1922 to 1967.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Series 1: Edith Bry papers, 1914-1967 (Boxes 1-3; 1.0 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Edith Bry (1898-1991) was an assemblage artist, collagist, painter, and lithographer active in New York City, New York.
Edith Bry was born in 1898 in St. Louis, Missouri and moved to New York City to study art. She began her career making batik and went on to produce oil paintings, enamels, mosaics, jewelry, lithographs, stained glass, collages, assemblage works, woodcuts and silkscreen prints. Later in life, she became an officer with the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors.
Bry married Maurice Shevelson Benjamin and together they had one child, Bry Benjamin. Edith Bry died in 1991 at her apartment located in the Beresford along Central Park in New York City, New York.
Provenance:
Edith Bry loaned her papers for microfilming and later donated them to the Archives of American Art from 1969 to 1976.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Assemblage artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Lithographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Collagists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
