Raphael Soyer's correspondence spans over forty years, with the bulk of it dating between 1960 and his death in 1987. Letters are arranged chronologically and the majority are incoming to Soyer, but there are also scattered drafts of outgoing letters. Soyer was friends with many artists and cultural figures, and his personal correspondence includes letters to and from artists such as Lambro Ahlas, Benny Andrews, Rudolf Baranik, Leonard Baskin, George Biddle, Peter Blume, Aaron Bohrod, John Bratby, Alex Brook, David Burliuk, Marc Chagall, Peter De Francia, Otto Dix, Guy Du Bois, Philip Evergood, Josef Herman, Joseph Hirsch, Edward Hopper, Jacob Kainen, R. B. Kitaj, Leon Kroll, Joe Lasker, Jack Levine, Jacques Lipchitz, Henry Varnum Poor, Fairfield Porter, Max Weber, and numerous others. Soyer also corresponded with many writers such as Erskine Caldwell, Allen Ginsberg, Marianne Moore, and Isaac Bashevis Singer.
Also found here is correspondence with the Forum Gallery which represented him and dealer Bella Fishko. There is also correspondence with numerous galleries, museums, and schools which exhibited his work or requested his work for potential exhibitions. Additionally, there is correspondence with students and publishers, mostly requests for him to lecture or write articles, and business correspondence on the sale, donation, or commission of his work. Soyer corresponded with many art historians and critics, curators, gallery owners, and collectors, such as Andrei Chegodaev, Lloyd Goodrich, Joseph Hirshhorn, Abram Lerner, and Carl Zigrosser, as well as arts and social organizations. The collection includes very little family correspondence. Some of the letters are in Russian.
See Appendix for a list of correspondents in Series 2.
Arrangement note:
This series has been scanned in its entirety.
Appendix: Correspondents in Series 2:
A. S. Barnes & Company, Inc.: 1965, 1976
Abeles, Sigmund: 1981, 1987
Abram, Carl Fisher: 1986
ACA Galleries: 1981, 1985
Ackerberg, Sanders: 1974
Ahlas, Lambro: 1964, 1965, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978-1980, 1985, 1986, undated
Alderson, Cella: undated
Alexander, Sidney: 1962, 1978, undated
Algase, Benjamin: 1981
Allen, Mary: 1980
Allentuck, Dan: 1986
Allinson, Jane: 1985
American Academy and Institute of Arts and letters: 1981, 1987
American Art Journal -- : 1970
American Contemporary Art Gallery: 1968
Amsden, Floyd T.: 1978
Andrews, Benny: 1965, 1972, 1974
Arikha, Avigdor: 1985-1987, undated
Art Dealers Association of America, Inc.: 1984
Art Harris Gallery: 1972, 1974
Art New -- s: 1953, 1963
Art Students League of New York: 1968
Artists for Core: 1966
Ashkenazy, Arnold: 1984, 1986
Associated American Artists: 1961, 1965, 1968
Atelier Royce: 1977
Bakshi, Ralph: 1978
Baranik, Rudolf: 1961, 1962, 1964, 1973, 1974, undated
Baskin, Leonard: 1963, 1964, undated
Bearden, Romare: undated
Bender, William H., Jr.: 1967
Berman, Saul: 1970, undated
Bernstein, Bo: 1973
Bezalel National Museum: 1963
Biddle, George: 1957, 1962, 1966, 1967, 1971
Biegle, Peter: undated
Bloch, Maurice: 1981
Bloch, Robert: 1984, 1985, undated
Blume, Peter: 1967, 1969
Bohrod, Aaron: 1954, 1960, 1977, 1979
Boston Public Library: 1963
Boston University: 1961, 1965
Bouche, Louis: 1960
Bowdoin College Museum of Art: 1964, 1968
Boyle, Kay: 1983
Bratby, John: 1962, 1965-1968, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, undated
Braun, Walter: 1977
Brook, Alex: 1969, 1977
Brooklyn Association for Mental Health, Inc.: 1969
Brooklyn Community Counseling Center: 1964
Brooklyn Museum: 1966, 1986
Brooks, Van Wyck: 1962, undated
Brown, Margaret Root: 1962
Browne, Renni: undated
Bulla, Clyde Robert: 1978
Burliuk, David Marussia: 1959-1961, 1963, 1966
Burliuk, Nicholas: 1967, 1982, 1983, undated
Burston Graphic Centre, Jerusalem: 1975
Butler Institute of American Art: 1963, 1984, 1987
Butler, Joseph G.: 1963
Caldwell, Virginia: 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, undated
Carvalho, Milton A.: 1968, 1969
Castellon, Hieda: 1977
Centre Culturel Americain: 1979
Chagall, Marc: 1955, 1957
Chapnick, Paul: 1980
Charnow, Miriam: 1964
Chegodaev, A.: 1965, 1966, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, undated
Chernow, Burt: 1966
Chicago Tribune -- : 1953
Chute, Marchette: 1961, 1966, 1969, 1981
Ciardi, John: 1966, 1969
Cogen, Charlie: 1975
Cohen, Arthur: 1975-1977, 1979, 1980
Coleman, Edward: 1975
Connellan, Carl: 1972
Constructionist -- : 1966
Copper, Dennis: 1976
Corbin, Douglas: 1981
Corcoran Gallery of Art: 1943, 1951
Cornell University: 1962, 1965
Dale, Marion: 1972
De Francia, Peter: 1961, 1968, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1986
De Groot, P.: 1965
Delbanco, Kurt: 1981
Deldeo, Salvatore: 1979
Detroit Institute of Arts: 1963
Diamond, David: 1977
Dickinson, Edwin: undated
Dickinson, Sidney: 1959
Dix, Otto: 1963
Dmitrievitch, Andrei: 1976, undated
Dobkin, John: 1983, undated
Du Bois, Guy: 1951, 1953, 1955
Eaton, Charles Edwar: 1978, 1979
Edel, Leon: 1969
Edgeworth, Richard C.: 1984, 1986
Evergood, Philip: 1941, 1954, 1967, undated
Everson Museum of Art: 1976, 1977
Feinberg, Charles E.: 1947
Feinberg, Paul: 1986
Fiala, Vaclav: 1975, 1978
Fisher, Jacob: 1979
Flaig, Bea: 1981
Floch, Joseph: 1962, undated
Fogg Art Museum: 1974, 1975
Ford Foundation: 1962
Forum Gallery (Bella Fishko): 1961-1963, 1966-1968, 1970, 1973-1975, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1986, undated
Frankenstein, Alfred V.: 1971
Franklin, Elaine: 1974
Freifeld, Eric: 1968, 1972, 1978
Friends of Art: 1985
Fuks, Leo: 1975
Furth, Dora: 1973, 1975-1977
Garrett, Adams: 1982, 1986
George Mason University: 1980
Georgia Museum of Art: 1968, 1983
Gibbs, Charles: 1972
Gillette, Henry: 1981
Ginsberg, Allen: 1968
Gladstein, Sheldon: 1987
Glaser, Mary Todd: 1965
Goldsmith, Morton G.: 1964
Gonzales, Xavier: 1982
Goodrich, Lloyd: 1963, 1967, 1971, 1981, undated
Goshans, Werner: 1977, 1981, 1982
Grant, Quentin: 1979
Grausman, Philip: 1965, undated
Gray, Don: 1984
Grossman, Emery: 1964
Grosz, George: 1956, 1957
Guggenheim Museum: 1980
Guttuso, Renato: 1962, 1963, undated
Gwathney, Bob: undated
Halegua, Lillian: 1967, 1977
Halper, Albert: 1972
Harmon, Lily: 1981
Harris, Victor: 1977
Harriton, Abe: 1981
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.: 1964, 1969, 1971
Harvard University: 1962
Hautzig, Debbi: 1978
Hebrew Union College: 1983
Hecht, Fels: 1984, 1987
Heckscher Museum: 1977, 1987
Herman, Josef: 1967, 1976, 1983, undated
Hills, Patricia: 1981, 1982, 1985
Hirsch, Joseph: 1960, 1964, 1966, 1977, 1979, 1981
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden: 1975, 1979-1983
Hirshhorn, Joseph: 1965, 1968, 1969
Hoag, Paul Sterling: 1954
Hoffman, Gladys: 1961
Hollfelder, Jack: 1983
Homar, Lorenzo: 1979, 1980
Hopper, Edward: 1960-1963, undated
Horn, Lex: 1964
Horowitz, Brenda: 1984
Hosbach, Marguerette: 1973
Hutchins, Robert: 1984, undated
Jackson, Harry: 1966
Jackson, Valentina: 1979
Jewish Museum: 1974, 1981, 1982
Johns, Judith: 1982
Jones, Kathryn: 1986
Jones, Wilma: 1960
Josephson, Matthew: 1969, 1970
Kainen, Jacob: 1968, 1969
Kalet, Maureen: 1982
Kalischer, Nathan: 1979
Kane, Doris: 1975
Kaplan, Kathy Walden: 1983
Karlstrom, Paul: 1972
Kearney, John: 1984, undated
Kennedy Galleries, Inc.: 1980
King, Barry: 1985
King, Raymond: 1986
Kitaj, R. B and Sandra: 1979-1985, 1987, undated
Klemeri, Diana: 1982
Knaths, Karl: 1953
Kroll, Leon: 1945, 1961, 1964
Kuniyoshi, Yasuo: undated
Kunstverein in Hamburg: 1980
Landau, Ellen G.: 1982
Lasansky, Leonardo: 1986
Lasker, Joe: 1955, 1962, 1968, 1970, 1985, undated
Leiser, Erwin: 1980
Lerner, Abram (Al): 1958, 1985
LeRoy, Marvyn: 1968
Lesser, Gerson: 1979
Levin, Eli: 1977
Levin, Gail: 1985
Levine, David: 1963, 1971
Levine, Jack: 1963, 1986
Levine, Sheldon: 1987
Levy, Alan; 1982, 1983, 1985
Lipchitz, Jacques: 1962, undated
Loeb, Albert: 1980
Long, Rose: 1986
Loyola Marymount University: 1985, 1986
Ludgin, Earle: 1966
Lyons, Leonard: 1963
Maass, John: 1986
Maryland Institute, College of Art: 1975
Mayer, Bena Frank: 1967
Mayer, Bernadette: 1981
Mazo, Joe: 1984
McBain, Gertrude: 1986, undated
McDaniel, Aletha: 1982
Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1978-1980, 1982-1984, 1986
Meyers, Bill: 1962, undated
Miami Herald -- : 1972
Milwaukee Art Museum: 1983
Minnigerode, C. Powell: 1940
Mishkan Le'Omanut, Museum of Art: 1964
Mondale, Joan: 1977
Moore, Marianne: 1960, 1968
Morgan, Bill: 1984
Morlan, Nina: 1983
Mourlot, Liliane: 1967
Mumford, Lewis: 1965
Museum of Modern Art: 1953, 1961, 1962, 1966
Museum Tel Aviv: 1962, 1972, 1973
Myers, Neil: 1973
Nathan, Helmuth: 1967
National Academy of Design: 1970, 1977, 1981, 1984
National Arts Club: 1978
National Council of American-Soviet Friendship, Inc.: 1968
Neel, Alice & Neel Family: 1969, 1985
Neugass, Ludwig: 1965
New Republic Book Company, Inc.: 1976, 1977
New School for Social Research: 1980
New York Times -- : 1959, 1972, undated
Newark Public Library: 1981
Newman, John: 1984
Nichols, Norma: 1982
Nordness, Leo: 1961
Otis, Elizabeth R.: 1963
Palevsky, Jaon: 1980
Papazian, Gilbert: 1977, 1978, 1980, 1987
Parrish Art Museum: 1980
Pembroke Gallery: 1983
Penney, Charles: 1981
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: 1948
Pennsylvania State University: 1977, 1982, 1983
Perlis, Don: 1979
Perlman, Bennard: 1977
Petrovsky, Mira & Vladimir: 1975, undated
Pink, Marilyn: 1986
Poor, Henry Varnum & Annie: 1957, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1969, 1975, 1985, undated
Porter, Fairfield: 1956, undated
Portland Art Museum: 1985
Provincetown Art Association: 1984
Queens Child Guidance Center, Inc.: 1970
Quirt, Eleanor: 1981, 1985, undated
Randolph-Macon Woman's College: 1985
Random House, Inc.: 1968, 1969, 1976
Rappin, Adrian: 1976
Rewald, John & Alice: 1963, 1966, 1982, undated
Rhode Island School of Design: 1971
Robbins, Warren: 1983, 1984, 1985
Rogers, Leo M.: 1961
Rose, Herman: 1962, undated
Rosenberg, James N.: 1969
Rosenkranz, Rita: 1987
Rosner, Stanley: 1969
Roszak, Theodore: 1977
Roth, Audrey M.: 1978
Rothwell, Jed: 1987
Rozmaryn, Jack: 1974
Russell, Rhoda Winter: 1980
Saint John's University: 1981
Salisbury, Harrison: 1975
Salpeter, Harry: 1964, undated
San Antonio Museum Association: 1980
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: 1982
Sandler, Marc J.: 1962
Sarnewitz, Lyle Evan: 1984
Schiff, Sidney: 1984
Schlang, Joseph: 1965
Schoen, Jason: 1985, 1986
Schrag, Karl: 1969, undated
Schrag, Raymond: 1986
Seyffert, Richard: 1979
Shannon, Joe: 1981
Shapiro, David: 1979
Shubert, Katherine: 1967
Singer, Isaac B.: 1978, undated
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture: 1981
Sleigh, Sylvia: 1984
Smith, Mrs. Wallace (Kelcey): 1985
Smith, Vincent D.: 1976, 1981
Smithsonian Institution (National Collection of Fine Arts): 1968, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985-1987
Sonnemann, Nell: 1972, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1985, 1986
Styron, William: 1969
Swanson, Mary T.: 1979
Syracuse University: 1965, 1973
Taliano, A. D.: 1978, 1981, undated
Tapper, Joan: 1977
Thaler, Jesse: 1978
Tinsley, Betty: 1961
Todd, Ellen: 1986
Todorchev, Anne: 1979, 1980
Tolskaya, Leidmila: 1965, 1967
Toney, Anthony: 1955
United American Artists: 1940
United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York: 1970, 1974
University of California, Berkeley: 1966
University of Maryland: 1968
University of Minnesota: 1985, 1986
University of Texas: 1969
Van der Tweel, L. H.: 1975
Van Devanter, Ann C.: 1973
Vereisky, Oriest: undated
Vincent Price Collection: 1964
Walsh, Alexandria: 1977
Warner, Keith: 1944
Warshaw, Howard: 1953
Washburn, Gordon B.: 1967
Weber, Max: 1954, undated
Wertham, Fredric: 1967
West, Michael: 1967
Wheelock, Susan; 1976
Whitney Museum of American Art: 1950, 1966, 1969, 1977, 1979, 1981-1983, 1985
Wichita Art Museum: 1977
Wigglesworth, Anne Parker: 1983
William A. Farnsworth Library and Art Museum, 1981, 1985-1987, undated
Winer, Arthur: 1976
Wolff, Theodore: 1981
Worcester Art Museum (Francis Henry Taylor): 1957
Yeshiva University: 1967, 1974
Zabriskie, Virginia: 1979
Zigrosser, Carl: 1941, 1969
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the original papers requires an appointment.
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:
Raphael Soyer papers, 1933-1989. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.