This collection is arranged as 14 series: Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1930-circa 1986 (Boxes 1-2, 51, 53, 67, OV 54, OV 57; 2.1 linear feet) Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1937-1990 (Boxes 2-16, 51, 67, OV 55; 15.1 linear feet) Series 3: Writings, circa 1930s-1972 (Boxes 16-18, 51; 1.5 linear feet) Series 4: Appointment Books, 1939-1973 (Boxes 18-21; 2.9 linear feet) Series 5: Professional Files, circa 1933-circa 1986 (Boxes 21-28, 51-52, 67-69; 10 linear feet) Series 6: Project Files, 1937-circa 1981 (Boxes 28-34, 51, 69; 6.1 linear feet) Series 7: Teaching Files, circa 1939-circa 1973 (Boxes 34-35; 0.6 linear feet) Series 8: Exhibition Files, circa 1938-circa 1992 (Boxes 35-38; 2.7 linear feet) Series 9: Financial and Estate Records, circa 1947-1992 (Boxes 38-40; 2.4 linear feet) Series 10: Printed Material, 1915-circa 1993 (Boxes 40-49, 51-52, 69; 8.7 linear feet) Series 11: Scrapbooks, circa 1936-circa 1952 (Boxes 49, 51; 0.5 linear feet) Series 12: Photographs, circa 1937-circa 1986 (Boxes 49-51, OV 56; 0.7 linear feet) Series 13: Artwork, circa 1933-circa 1970s (Boxes 50-52, 69, OV 58-66; 1.1 linear feet) Series 14: Artifacts, 1923-circa 1986 (Boxes 50, 53; 0.9 linear feet)
Access Note / Rights:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Summary:
The papers of art historian, educator, painter, and printmaker Albert Christ-Janer measure 56.3 linear feet and date from 1915 to circa 1993, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1930 to 1981. The papers include biographical materials, personal and professional correspondence, writings, professional files, project files, teaching files, exhibition files, financial and estate records, printed material, scrapbooks and scrapbook material, photographs, artwork, and artifacts.
Citation:
Albert Christ-Janer papers, 1915-circa 1993, bulk 1930-1981. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Funding:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
Use Note:
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.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Albert Christ-Janer conducted by Dorothy Seckler, March 21, 1964.
Albert Christ-Janer's research materials for his book <em>American Hymns Old and New</em> (1980) are found at the St Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, a center for the study of hymns.
Biography Note:
Albert Christ-Janer (1910-1973) was a painter, printmaker, art historian, writer, and educator active at colleges and universities across the U.S.
Albert Christ-Janer was born in Appleton, Minnesota in 1910 and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, Yale University, and Harvard University. Christ-Janer wrote about American artists Boardman Robinson and John Caleb Bingham, and taught at a variety of institutions, including Stephens College, Cranbrook Academy, Pratt Institute Art School, and the University of Georgia. He was also an artist-in-residence at Tamarind Lithography Workshop in 1972.
Christ-Janer began his teaching career at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri in 1934, and soon became head of the art department. He moved to Michigan to accept the position of head of the art department and professor of art at Michigan State University in 1942. In 1945, he began working for the Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, serving as director of the educational program, director of the museum and library, and professor of art history.
In 1947, Christ-Janer moved to Chicago and worked at the University of Chicago and the Arts Center Association, Inc. In the 1950s, he served as director of Arts Center Development at New York University, director of the School of Arts at Pennsylvania State University, and on the Lake Erie College Board of Trustees. In 1958, he moved to New York and become dean of the School of Art and Design at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, later becoming director. He left Pratt in 1970 to accept the position of Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Art at the University of Georgia, where he remained until his tragic death in 1973.
Christ-Janer was the author of several books: Art in Child Life (University of Iowa Press, 1938), George Caleb Bingham of Missouri (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1940), Boardman Robinson (Unversity of Chicago Press, 1946), Eliel Saarinen (University of Chicago Press, 1948), and Modern Church Architecture , with Mary Mix Foley (McGraw-Hill, 1962).
Albert Christ-Janer was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1950, awarded the Rockefeller Award in 1954, and the Guggenheim Award in 1960. He was also awarded multiple grants from the American Philosophical Society and the J. M. Kaplan Fund for research and work in lithography, as well as multiple Arthur Judson grants. In 1972 Christ-Janer was the Tamarind artist-in-residence at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
Christ-Janer traveled often. In 1962 he was a guest of the Bonn government for two months to visit museums and schools of design in Germany. And in 1964, he was a guest of the governments of Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden for two months to study schools, museums, and cultural centers. In July of 1973, Christ-Janer was the official NASA artist for the Skylab III launch, and in October of 1973, he was the studio guest of the Norway-America Association and the Norwegian government in Oslo. From November to December of 1973, Christ-Janer was the scholar-in-residence at the Study and Conference Center of the Rockefeller Foundation (Centro Culturale delle Fondazione Rockefeller), at the Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio (Como), Italy.
Albert Christ-Janer was killed in an automobile accident in Bellagio (Como), Italy on December 12, 1973.
Language Note:
Collection is in English
Provenance:
The Albert Christ-Janer papers were donated by Virginia Christ-Janer in 1980-1981 and 1994.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
