The papers of painter Howard Kanovitz measure 8.0 linear feet and 1 GB and date from 1953-2017. The collection documents Kanovitz's work as a professional artist through biographical material; personal and professional correspondence; writings; interviews; personal business records; gallery, exhibition and project files; photographic and printed material; sound and video recordings; and preliminary drawings and studies for artworks.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter Howard Kanovitz measure 8.00 linear feet and 1 GB and date from 1953-2017. The collection documents Kanovitz's work as a professional artist through biographical material; personal and professional correspondence; writings; interviews; personal business records; gallery, exhibition and project files; photographic and printed material; sound and video recordings; and preliminary drawings and studies for artworks.
Biographical material includes Kanovitz's address and appointment books, artist statements, CVs, genealogical research, a Guggenheim fellowship application, and United States passports. Correspondence files reflect relationships with friends and colleagues, including Frank O'Hara, Larry Rivers, Gregory Corso, B.H. Friedman, and others, as well as curators, museums, and galleries in the United States and Europe. Writings include Kanovitz's notes and notebooks; essays, poetry, and prose by Kanovitz; lists of artworks; poems by others; manuscripts; graduate student papers; and lectures given by Kanovitz. Exhibition and gallery files include checklists, mailing lists, inventories, correspondence, contracts, commission files, invoices, sales records, and proposals related to installations that included Kanovitz's work. Project files include correspondence, artist bios, contracts, invoices, press releases, interview transcripts, notes, source material, and photographs related to film, theater, and other projects. Personal business records include bills of sale, consignment memos, invoices, price lists, and leases for art studios and apartments. Printed material includes publications; clippings; exhibition announcements and catalogs; event programs; source material; posters; and a scrapbook of digital prints. Artwork includes preliminary sketches and source material for Kanovitz's photo-based paintings and set design materials for a circa 1977 play entitled, "The Party." Photographic material includes color and black and white prints, slides, negatives, transparencies, digital prints, and contact sheets that document exhibition installations, friends, artworks, commissions, and various studies and source material. Sound and video recordings include interviews, films, BBC broadcasts, documentaries, and performances that document Kanovitz's set design.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 11 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1971-2007 (0.35 linear feet; Box 4-5, 8)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1953-2007 (0.50 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1954-2007 (0.60 linear feet; Box 1-2)
Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1965-2008 (0.40 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 5: Gallery Files, 1969-2007 (0.70 linear feet; Box 2, 3)
Series 6: Project Files, 1974-2008 (0.40 linear feet, Box 3)
Series 7: Personal Business Records, 1936-2000 (0.30 linear feet; Box 3)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1960-2017 (1.95 linear feet; Box 4-5, 8; OV 14)
Series 9: Artwork, circa 1960s-circa1990s (0.70 linear feet; Box 5, 8, 10; OV 11-13; OV 15-18)
Series 10: Photographic Material, 1954-2008 (1.40 linear feet; Box 6-7)
Series 11: Sound Recordings and Video Recordings, 1967-2008 (0.70 linear feet; Box 7, 9)
Biographical / Historical:
Howard Kanovitz (1929-2009) was a painter based in New York City and Southampton, NY. After an early career as a jazz trombonist, Kanovitz began painting in 1949 and studied at The Rhode Island School of Design and The Art Students League in Woodstock with Yasuo Kuniyoshi. He moved to New York City and apprenticed with Franz Kline. Although he began his painting career as an abstract expressionist, Kanovitz became one of the early practitioners of photorealism in the 1960s. He also taught at the Salzburger Summer Art School and the School of Visual Arts and took on set design projects in both America and Germany. Kanovitz had more than fifty one-person gallery shows, with his last in 2008, one year before he died.
Provenance:
Donated in 2021 by Carolyn Oldenbusch, Kanovitz's widow and Director of the Howard Kanovitz Foundation.
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 born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- Southampton Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
