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Catalog Data

Creator:
Shuster, Will, 1893-1969  Search this
Subject:
Henri, Robert  Search this
La Farge, Oliver  Search this
Scott, Winfield Townley  Search this
Sheridan, John E.  Search this
Wheelock, Warren  Search this
Nash, Willard Ayer  Search this
Karig, Walter  Search this
Sloan, John  Search this
Public Works of Art Project  Search this
Place:
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945 -- New Mexico
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
12 Reels, ca. 3000 items (on 12 microfilm reels)
Arrangement:
Letters arranged chronologically.
Access Note / Rights:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Summary:
Correspondence with John Sloan and others, writings, poems, original art works, scrapbooks, photographs, and Shuster's own descriptions of his work.
Reel NDA 3: Instructions, releases, speeches, manuscripts notes, photographs of Shuster's PWAP murals in New Mexico; and a typescript of a comedy written by Shuster.
Reels 169-177: 400 letters, 1917-1968, including correspondence with Robert Henri, Edgar Varese, John S. Velie, Walter Karig, and family members. Other materials consist of diaries, 1918, 1928, 1933-1934, 1937-1962, and 1964-1969; photographs of Shuster, family, and friends, and his work; original drawings, watercolors, oils and etchings; sketchbooks; poems, lectures, and stories by Shuster; a record of his works; scrapbooks, 1920-1928, 1923-1935, and 1935-1963; and material relating to John Sloan, who was Shuster's close friend and his teacher in 1920.
Reel 277: Materials relating to John Sloan, including letters from him 1922-1951; notes by Winifield Townley Scott recording conversations with Helen Shuster and Mrs. Sloan after Sloan's death and commenting on Sloan's work, tributes by Oliver LaFarge and others, and clippings. Additional correspondents are John Sheridan, Robert Henri, Warren Wheelock, Willard Nash, and the Veterans Administration, concerning Shuster's medical disability after having his lungs damaged by poisoned gas during the World War, 1914-1918. Also included are poems by Shuster, 1925-1939, and other Santa Fe residents, including Scott; and correspondence and printed material relating to Shuster's participation in various Santa Fe festivals.
Reel 4283: Five letters from Sloan to Shuster. Three letters are illustrated and contain detailed instructions and advice on etching technique. A fourth letter, dated Jan 2, 1922, includes a recipe for gesso preparation and an offer from Sloan to pay Shuster's entry fee to "show in the Independents." Sloan in his two page letter, dated January 3, 1947, comments on the pace of his work; his participation in a "Mr. & Mrs. Exhibition" at the Laurel Gallery; a production of Eugene O'Neill's "The Ice Man Cometh"; and the Whitney Annual.
Citation:
Will Shuster papers, [undated] and 1914-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
35mm microfilm reels NDA 3, 4283, 169-177, 277 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Location of Originals:
Letters from Sloan to Shuster: Originals in the Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, De.
All materials except John Sloan letters: Originals in the library of the Santa Fe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Loan:
Loan
Biography Note:
Painter, printmaker, and writer active in Santa Fe, N.M.; b. 1893; d. 1969
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
The material borrowed from Will Shuster in October 1964 (reel NDA 3) was part of a project of AAA to document New Deal art projects throughout the U.S. The bulk of the Will Shuster papers (reels 169-177, 277) were lent by his widow, Selma Dingee Shuster. Five letters from John Sloan (Reel 4283) were lent in 1989 by her estate.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Art, American -- New Mexico -- Santa Fe  Search this
New Deal, 1933-1939 -- New Mexico  Search this
Art and state -- New Mexico  Search this
Federal aid to the arts -- New Mexico  Search this
Mural painting and decoration -- 20th century -- New Mexico  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)13458
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211861
AAA_collcode_shuswill
Theme:
Diaries
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211861