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Catalog Data

Creator:
Licht, Ira Richard, 1938-  Search this
Names:
Lowe Art Museum  Search this
Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago, Ill.)  Search this
National Endowment for the Arts  Search this
Extent:
0.8 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1963-1991
Summary:
The Ira Licht papers measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1963-1991. The papers document Licht's career as an art historian and museum professional. Included is professional and personal correspondence with artists during his career as curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, coordinator of Art in Public Places, National Endowment for the Arts, and tenure as director of the University of Miami's Lowe Art Museum. The letters are from many notable artists at early stages in their careers, which provides insight into how they built success from an early point. There are also artist and exhibition files which document working relationships with and about artists and exhibitions Licht curated, as well as printed materials such as exhibition invitations and posters.
Scope and Contents:
The Ira Licht papers measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1963-1991. The papers document Licht's career as an art historian and museum professional. Included is professional and personal correspondence with artists during his career as curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, coordinator of the Art in Public Places Program of the National Endowment for the Arts, and director of the University of Miami's Lowe Art Museum and relate to projects and funding. The letters are from many notable artists at early stages in their careers, which provides insight into how they built success from an early point. Some letters have photographs and printed material enclosed. Artist files are arranged alphabetically by name and include writings on and by artists, resumes and project descriptions, photographic prints, slides of artists' artwork, press clippings, correspondence and exhibition catalogs. Exhibition files consist of planning documents, exhibition catalogs, correspondence related to and press releases for exhibitions Licht curated. Of note is an catalog for Bodyworks a 1975 group exhibition Licht curated for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. The papers also include printed material which consists of exhibition announcements, invitations, and posters.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 4 series. Series 1: Correspondence, 1969-1991 (0.3 Linear feet; Box 1) Series 2: Artist and Exhibition Files, 1963-1991 (0.3 Linear feet; Box 1-2) Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1972-1984 (0.1 Linear feet; Box 2) Series 4: Printed Material, 1967-1978 (0.1 Linear feet; Box 2)
Biographical / Historical:
Ira Licht (1938- ) is a museum director, curator and art historian in Miami, Florida. During his career he served as the curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1974-1976); coordinator of the Art in Public Places Program of the National Endowment for the Arts (1976-1978); and director of the University of Miami's Lowe Art Museum (1978-1989). Licht was closely connected with artists associated with 20th century minimalism, conceptualism, and land art. Artists who are represented by at least one piece of correspondence (postcards and/or letters) in the papers include: Duane Hanson, Pat Steir, Carl Andre, Ana Mendieta, Jackie Ferrara, Romare Bearden, Larry Bell, Robert Irwin, Adrian Piper, Lawrence Wiener, Dan Flavin, Laurie Anderson, Dan Graham, Robert Graham, Lynda Benglis, Dennis Oppenheim, Red Grooms and Christo. Ira Licht is married to Jennifer Licht who was an associate curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2019 by Ira Licht.
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.
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 museum directors -- Florida -- Miami  Search this
Art historians -- Florida -- Miami  Search this
Art museum curators  Search this
Citation:
Ira Licht papers, 1963-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
AAA.lichtira
See more items in:
Ira Licht papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw95b7a4a97-f941-40d9-b9c1-c2dc1e77bf81
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-lichtira