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Catalog Data

Creator:
Johnson, Ellen H., 1910-1992  Search this
Subject:
Hesse, Eva  Search this
Tworkov, Jack  Search this
Cézanne, Paul  Search this
Milles, Carl  Search this
Wilke, Wendell  Search this
Kensett, John Frederick  Search this
Saunders, David  Search this
Picasso, Pablo  Search this
Oldenburg, Claes  Search this
Tacha, Athena  Search this
Stieglitz, Alfred  Search this
Venturi, Robert  Search this
Archipenko, Alexander  Search this
Dine, Jim  Search this
American-Scandinavian Foundation  Search this
Oberlin College  Search this
College Art Association (U.S.)  Search this
Allen Memorial Art Museum  Search this
Place:
Ossabaw Island (Ga.)
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
61.5 Linear feet
Arrangement:
The Ellen Hulda Johnson papers are arranged into seven series: Series 1: Personal Papers, circa 1905-2009 (5 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 56-59) Series 2: Correspondence, 1927-2009 (5.5 linear feet; Boxes 3-7, 60) Series 3: Writing and Research Projects, 1872, 1932-1994 (15.5 linear feet; Boxes 7-20, 56, 61-62) Series 4: Subject Files, 1930-1993 (5 linear feet; Boxes 21-25, 62) Series 5: Teaching Files, 1928-1989 (6 linear feet; Boxes 26-31, 62) Series 6: Professional and Curatorial Files, 1936-1991 (6 linear feet; Boxes 32-37, 56) Series 7: Artists Files, 1935-1992 (18.3 linear feet; Boxes 37-55, 62) Series 8: Unprocessed Addition, 1956-1991 (0.2 linear feet; Box 63)
Access Note / Rights:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington D.C. Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Summary:
The papers of art historian, art critic, author, librarian and educator Ellen Hulda Johnson measure 61.5 linear feet and date from 1872-2018, with the bulk of the material dating from 1921-1992. The papers include biographical materials; personal and family files; personal, professional, and business correspondence; extensive research and writing files; teaching files; subject files; professional and curatorial files; and artists' files. Johnson's papers reflect the full range of her career, interests, and close relationships with many artists. There is a 0.2 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 that includes letters to Ellen Johnson from others, letters from Johnson to Carl Gerber, and a sketch by Johnson. Materials date from circa 1956-1991.
Citation:
Ellen Hulda Johnson papers, 1872-2018, bulk 1921-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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:
Papers of Ellen H. Johnson, 1933-1992, are also located at Oberlin College Archives. Shortly after aquisition, the Archives transferred Ellen Hulda Johnson's vertical file (16 linear feet) of clippings, press releases, and exhibition announcements to the library of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery.
Biography Note:
Ellen Hulda Johnson (1910-1992) was an art historian, critic, and professor who worked and taught at Oberlin College in Ohio for most of her career.
Ellen Hulda Johnson was born in 1910 in Warren, Pennsylvania. She received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in art history at Oberlin in 1933 and 1935. She worked briefly at the Toledo Museum of Art before returning to Oberlin as the art librarian. In 1940 she started Oberlin's art rental program, the first of its kind in the country. She was appointed to the faculty in 1948 and taught nineteenth and twentieth century art, American art from colonial times to the present, contemporary art, and Scandinavian art. She was a member of the Allen Memorial Art Museum's acquisition committee and was appointed honorary curator of modern art in 1973. She remained at Oberlin her entire career, retiring from teaching in 1977.
Johnson was a scholar of Cézanne, Claes Oldenburg, Eva Hesse, Pablo Picasso, Edvard Munch, John F. Kensett and other modern masters, as well as Scandinavian art. In 1962 she wrote the first important article on Claes Oldenburg and, in 1970, assisted curator Athena Tacha commission his first permanent large sculpture ( 3-Way Plug ) for the grounds of the Allen Memorial Art Museum. She was the first to show the black-striped paintings that established Frank Stella's reputation. Her efforts in promoting acquisitions of young contemporary artists helped make the Allen Memorial Art Museum a leading institution in contemporary art. Her Oberlin lectures on modern art became so popular that they had to be held in the college's largest auditorium and influenced generations of students, many of whom went on to signficant positions in the field. A new wing of the museum designed by Robert Venturi opened in 1977 and was named in honor of Johnson.
Johnson was the author of numerous articles, books, and exhibition catalogs including Cezanne (Penquin, 1967); Claes Oldenburg (Penquin, 1971); American Artists on Art from 1940-1980 (Harper and Row, 1982); and Modern Art and the Object (Thames and Hudson, 1976).
In 1968, Johnson purchased the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Weltzheimer house in Oberlin, and spent a considerable part of her time and money restoring the building where she lived the rest of her life. She bequethed the house and her significant art collection to Oberlin upon her death in 1992.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
The Ellen Hulda Johnson papers were donated in 1994, 1998, 2019 and 2021 by the estate of Ellen Hulda Johnson via exectutor Athena Tacha.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Art, Scandinavian  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Study and teaching  Search this
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Study and teaching  Search this
Pop art  Search this
Women authors  Search this
Women art critics  Search this
Women art historians  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Research and writing about art  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)6514
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)215772
AAA_collcode_johnelle
Theme:
Women
Research and writing about art
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_215772