The papers of painter Frank Kleinholz measure 6.3 linear feet and date from 1910s to 1980, with the bulk of the records dating from 1940s to 1980. The records document his career through correspondence, writing, exhibition and gallery records, financial files, audiovisual material, printed material, photographs, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter Frank Kleinholz measure 6.3 linear feet and date from 1910s to 1980, with the bulk of the records dating from 1940s to 1980. The records document his career through correspondence, writing, exhibition and gallery records, financial files, audiovisual material, printed material, photographs, and artwork. Files pertain to exhibitions, books and other writings, the sale of artwork, collection inventories, and recorded interviews. Correspondents include family, friends and colleagues, galleries, and collectors. The collection also contains books, catalogs, clippings, announcements, and other ephemera; several paintings and illustrations, most of which were given to family members or kept private; and photographs of Kleinholz, his artwork, family and friends, and other artists.
Also included are 26 phonograph records of interviews, 1944-1945, which Kleinholz conducted for the "Art in New York" program, Station WNYC. Persons interviewed include Philip Evergood, Philip Reisman, Ralph Mayer, Elizabeth McCausland, Lily Harmon, Abraham Walkowitz, John Groth, and Ladislas Segy; and 2 7" tapes (untranscribed) of interviews, one containing a brief interview with Holger Cahill and a more lengthy interview with McCausland discussing Picassco and the 1944-1945 art season; the other an interview with Evergood.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series.
Series 1: Professional Files, 1940-1979, undated (Box 1, 9-11; 1.9 linear foot)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1920s, bulk 1940s-1980 (Box 2; 10 folders)
Series 3: Writings, 1920s, bulk 1940s-1970s (Box 2-3; .5 linear feet)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1940s-1980s (Box 3-4, OV 8; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 5: Artwork, 1940s-1970s, undated (Box 4; 5 folders)
Series 6: Photographs, 1910s, 1930s, bulk 1940s-1970s (Box 4-6, OV 8; 2 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Frank Kleinholz (1901-1987) was an painter and art educator in New York.
Kleinholz was born in Brooklyn, New York. He received a bachelor's degree from Colby College in Maine, and in 1923, he graduated from Fordham University Law School and passed the New York State Bar examination. He then married Leah Schwartz in 1928; they had no children. Until the late 1930s, Frank Kleinholz was a lawyer in New York who, occasionally, submitted poems to newspapers for publication.
In 1939, Kleinholz was awarded a scholarship to study for one year at the American Artists School in New York, and the following summer he studied and painted in Mexico. After Mexico, his art career took off, establishing notoriety for his modernist paintings of the people and scenes in the world around him. By 1945, his work had been selected for exhibitions held by the Carnegie Institute, Phillips Memorial Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In an unfortunate turn of events, Leah died of cancer in November of 1945. Frank then married Lidia Brestovan in 1946. They had two girls, Lisa and Anna, and one boy, Marco.
Kleinholz held one-man exhibitions at the Associated American Artists Gallery in New York, Park Gallery in Detroit, ACA Gallery in New York and Rome, and had retrospectives at Nassau Community College, Colby College, and the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami. He participated in group exhibitions at the Chicago Art Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Brooklyn Museum. He wrote the books Frank Kleinholz: A Self Portrait in 1964 and Ile de Brehat, The Flowering Rock in 1971; and books written about him include Frank Kleinholz: The Outsider, by August L. Freundlichn in 1969, and Kleinholz Graphics: Catalogue Raisonne, 1940-1975 by Sylvan Cole, Jr. and Ralph G. Martin in 1976. In addition to those mentioned above, his work is found in the permanent collections of the Moscow Museum of Fine Art, Newark Museum, University of Oklahoma, Marquette University, Akron Art Institute, and private collectors. Although most widely known for his paintings, Kleinholz worked with lithography, etching, and prints as well.
Contemporaneous with his career as an artist, Kleinholz was an art educator and talk-show contributor. He started the "Art in New York" interview program on radio station WNYC, New York City, circa 1940s, and was an art commentator for radio station WIOD, Miami, Florida in the 1960s. Kleinholz was an instructor at Hofstra University, Uniondale, New York, and lectured on contemporary art and art history at Smith College, Brandeis University, and the Park Synagogue in Akron, Ohio.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Frank Kleinholz from 1961-1982.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment, and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Frank Kleinholz papers, 1910s-1980. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
