Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Additional Online Media

Catalog Data

Creator:
Hiler, Hilaire, 1898-1966  Search this
Subject:
Hiler, Hilaire  Search this
Type:
Sketchbooks
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
3.8 Linear feet
Arrangement:
This collection consists of six series. Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1927-1967 (.2 Linear feet: Box 1) Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1923-1966 (.4 Linear feet: Box 1) Series 3: Writings, circa 1928-1969 (1.4 Linear feet: Boxes 1-2) Series 4: Personal Business Records, circa 1898-1965 (1 Linear foot: Boxes 3-4) Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1916-1966 (.7 Linear feet: Box 3, OV 5-7) Series 6: Artwork, circa 1954-1965 (.1 Linear feet: Box 3)
Access Note / Rights:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Summary:
The Hilaire Hiler papers measure 3.8 linear feet and date from circa 1898-1969. They illustrate his career through biographical materials, correspondence, writings, personal business records, printed material, and artwork.
Citation:
Hilaire Hiler papers, circa 1898-1969. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Material lent for microfilming is available on 35mm microfilm reel(s) D302-D302a and 611-614 at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Funding:
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.
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:
The archives also hold three articles by Hiler: "The Aquatic Park Murals", November 5, 1938; "Color in Architecture", and "An Approach to Mural Decoration" as well as a letter from Hiler to Joe Allen, State Supervisor, Federal Art Project, San Francisco and an announcement of a seminar on color directed by Hiler.
Biography Note:
Hilaire Hiler (1898-1966) was a mural painter, designer, decorator, and writer who worked mainly in New York and Paris.
Hilaire Hiler was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. Hiler attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Pennsylvania School of Industrial Art, the University of Pennsylvania, University of Denver, University of Paris, and Golden State University. While living in Paris as an expatriate, he became friends with Henry Miller, Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, and Anais Nin. After returning to the United States, he was named art director of the bathhouse building at the San Francisco Aquatic Park (1936-1939) which was a major Works Progress Administration (WPA) project.
Hiler was best know for his combining of his artistic and psychoanalytical training to create an original perspective on color. Throughout his career Hiler moved towards abstract imagery and by the 1940s his theories on color and abstraction developed into a movement he called "Structuralism".
Hiler died on January 20, 1966 at the age of sixty-nine.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
Papers were donated 1967-1968 by Hilaire Hiler.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Research and writing about art  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)9015
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211204
AAA_collcode_hilehila
Theme:
Diaries
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Research and writing about art
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211204