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Burt Chernow papers

Creator:
Chernow, Burt  Search this
Names:
Housatonic Community College (Bridgeport, Conn.)  Search this
Housatonic Museum of Art  Search this
Westport Schools Permanent Art Collection  Search this
Westport-Weston Arts Council (Westport, Conn.)  Search this
Arman, 1928-2005  Search this
Avery, Milton, 1885-1965  Search this
Christo, 1935-  Search this
Hendricks, Barkley L., 1945-  Search this
Jeanne-Claude, 1935-2009  Search this
Johnson, Lester, 1919-2010  Search this
Peterdi, Gabor  Search this
Woodham, Jean, 1925-  Search this
Zúñiga, Francisco, 1912-1998  Search this
Extent:
21.8 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Transcriptions
Video recordings
Sound recordings
Photographs
Date:
1930-2002
Summary:
The papers of Burt Chernow measure 21.8 linear feet and consist mainly of research materials gathered and produced in the course of writing Christo and Jeanne-Claude: A Biography over an extensive period of close contact with the subjects, from the early 1980s until Chernow's death in 1997. Research materials for the biography include photocopies of personal documents of the Christos, hundreds of recorded interviews with Christo, Jeanne-Claude, their family members, and their associates, transcripts of interviews and research on interview subjects, other collected research material compiled chronologically, drafts of the biography written by Chernow, drafts of the biography and its epilogue produced after Chernow's death, and business records related to the book's production, which include significant correspondence with the Christos. Also found are the published German and U.S. editions of the biography, printed materials and photographs related to the book's subject matter, and fabric samples from five of the Christos' projects undertaken during Chernow's association with them. Chernow's career as an art critic, writer, educator, and arts advocate, primarily in Southern Connecticut, is documented in Chernow's other writings, organizational records, printed materials, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Burt Chernow measure 21.8 linear feet and consist mainly of research materials gathered and produced in the course of writing Christo and Jeanne-Claude: A Biography over an extensive period of close contact with the subjects, from the early 1980s until Chernow's death in 1997. Research materials for the biography include photocopies of personal documents of the Christos, hundreds of recorded interviews with Christo, Jeanne-Claude, their family members, and their associates, transcripts of interviews and research on interview subjects, other collected research material compiled chronologically, drafts of the biography written by Chernow, drafts of the biography and its epilogue produced after Chernow's death, and business records related to the book's production, which include significant correspondence with the Christos. Also found are the published German and U.S. editions of the biography, printed materials and photographs related to the book's subject matter, and fabric samples from five of the Christos' projects undertaken during Chernow's association with them.

Chernow's career as an art critic, writer, educator, and arts advocate, primarily in Southern Connecticut, is documented in Chernow's other writings, organizational records, printed materials, and photographs. Other writings include drafts of articles, lectures, exhibition reviews, and catalog essays, some of which include research material gathered on the subjects. Artists written about by Chernow include Arman, Milton Avery, Barkley Hendricks, Francisco Zuñiga, Lester Johnson, Gabor Peterdi, and Jean Woodham, among many others, and including many Connecticut artists. A recorded interview with Arman, as well as transcripts of multiple interviews with Zuñiga, are filed with these writings. Also found are many writings and lectures related to the value of visual art in public life and in elementary and higher education. Numerous lectures by Chernow about several of the Christos' large-scale projects are also found, one of which, on the Wrapped Reichstag, is recorded on video.

Organizational records document Chernow's involvement in various art education organizations, his years of teaching at Housatonic Community College, his development of the Housatonic Museum of Art collection, and his work with several local arts organizations in Westport, Conn., including the Westport Arts Advisory Council, the Westport Arts Center, the Westport Schools Permanent Art Collection Committee, and the Westport Weston Arts Council. Types of documents found include correspondence, clippings, photographs, flyers, and notes.

Printed material includes many of the books written by Chernow, and monographs and magazines which included essays on specific artists by Chernow. A file of clippings about Chernow spanning his career is also found. Photographs include prints, negatives, and contact sheets, and consist mainly of photographs of artists, many of which were taken by Chernow, and many of which are signed by the artists with a personal note to the Chernows. A handful of personal photographs of the Chernows are also found.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged as 5 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Research Material for -- Christo and Jeanne-Claude: A Biography -- , 1930-2002 (17.1 linear feet; Boxes 1-17, 23, OV 24)

Series 2: Other Writing, 1962-1999 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 17-19)

Series 3: Organizational Records, 1963-2000 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 19-20, 23, OV 24)

Series 4: Printed Material, 1960-2002 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 20-21, 23)

Series 5: Photographs, 1950-1997 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 21-23, OV 24)
Biographical / Historical:
Burt Chernow was an art historian, writer, educator, collector, and dealer who founded the Housatonic Museum of Art in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and who, upon his retirement from Housatonic Community College, became the authorized biographer of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, which he researched through close contact with the Christos from 1984 until his death in 1997. Although he had not completed the biography when he died, his wife Ann Chernow saw the manuscript through to publication, and the biography, Christo and Jeanne-Claude: A Biography, was first published in Germany in 2000, and then in the United States in 2002.

Born in New York City in 1933, Chernow earned a master's degree in art education at New York University in 1960, and began his career as an art teacher in the Westport, Connecticut public schools, later joining the faculty of the Art Department at the Housatonic Community College, where he eventually became the department's director. He also taught at the Museum of Modern Art, organizing the Children's Art Carnival in Harlem through the museum, and at Silvermine School of the Arts, the A.B.C.D. Arts Center in Bridgeport, Conn., and the Stamford Museum. While on the faculty at Housatonic Community College, he began collecting original artworks, mainly through donations directly from the artists, for what eventually became the Housatonic Museum of Art. Over the course of nearly 30 years he amassed over 4000 works for the collection, the largest of its kind for a community college, and remained the museum's Emeritus Director until his death. He remained active in civic arts organizations in Westport as well, where he was a founding member of the Westport Arts Center, served on the Westport Arts Advisory Council, and helped to establish the annual Westport Arts Awards.

Upon his retirement from the Housatonic faculty in 1984, Chernow approached Christo and Jeanne-Claude about becoming their authorized biographer. He had participated in their project Surrounded Islands in Miami in 1983, and had played a role in exhibitions and artist talks by Christo at the Aldrich Museum (1981) and the Wadsworth Atheneum (1978) as well. He and his wife Ann Chernow attended and helped to document the Wrapped Pont Neuf (1985) in Paris, and then visited Christo's family in Bulgaria in 1986. It was after their Bulgarian trip that Christo and Jeanne-Claude agreed to authorize him to write their biography, and Chernow's research began in earnest. He conducted hundreds of interviews with them, their family, and associates, participated in the major large-scale projects that took place between 1985 and 1995, and completed a draft of the biography up to the year 1982 before he died suddenly in 1997. After his death, his wife Ann Chernow saw the biography through to publication. It was published with an epilogue by Wolfgang Volz, the Christos' official photographer, bringing the Christos' story up to date from where Chernow had left off, first in Germany, and later in the United States and Italy.

Chernow wrote many books, catalogs, and articles about other artists as well, including Milton Avery, Francisco Zuniga, Gabor Peterdi, Will Barnet, Jean Woodham, and Lester Johnson, among others, and published and lectured widely on the subjects of art education and public art.
Provenance:
Donated 2002 by Ann Chernow, the widow of Burt Chernow.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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.
Occupation:
Art historians -- Connecticut  Search this
Art critics -- Connecticut  Search this
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Authors -- Connecticut  Search this
Educators -- Connecticut  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Transcriptions
Video recordings
Sound recordings
Photographs
Citation:
Burt Chernow papers, 1930-2002. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.cherburt
See more items in:
Burt Chernow papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9b0f96b06-f802-418f-9058-619da6096571
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-cherburt
Online Media:

Jeanne-Claude Dictated by Burt Chernow

Collection Creator:
Chernow, Burt  Search this
Extent:
1 Sound cassette (tape labeled 17)
Container:
Box 3, Folder 1, Item 3
Type:
Archival materials
Audio [31027000543906]
Sound cassettes
Date:
1985 December 26
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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:
Burt Chernow papers, 1930-2002. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Burt Chernow papers
Burt Chernow papers / Series 1: Research Material for Christo and Jeanne-Claude: A Biography / 1.2: Sound Recordings / Interviews with Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw93b7833ff-84c3-4eda-ac5a-b38b08a10e75
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-cherburt-ref71

Landscape, (painting)

Painter:
Daingerfield, Elliott 1859-1932  Search this
Medium:
Oil
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Landscape--Tree  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380041
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481195

Mountain Landscape, (painting)

Painter:
Daingerfield, Elliott 1859-1932  Search this
Medium:
Oil
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Landscape--Mountain  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380042
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481196

Sky Study, (painting)

Painter:
Daingerfield, Elliott 1859-1932  Search this
Medium:
Oil
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Landscape--Weather--Cloud  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380043
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481197

Sunlit Hillside, (painting)

Painter:
Daingerfield, Elliott 1859-1932  Search this
Medium:
Oil
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Landscape--Weather--Sun  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380044
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481198

Hunting Scene, (painting)

Painter:
Young, Charles Morris 1869-1964  Search this
Medium:
Oil
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Landscape--Forest  Search this
Landscape--River  Search this
Figure--Full length  Search this
Equestrian  Search this
Animal--Dog  Search this
Recreation--Sport & Play--Hunting  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380045
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481199

Tree, (painting)

Painter:
Snyder, Bladen Tasker 1864-1923  Search this
Medium:
Oil
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Landscape--Tree  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380046
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481200

Flowering Orchard, (painting)

Painter:
Lawson, Ernest 1873-1939  Search this
Medium:
Oil
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Landscape--Orchard  Search this
Animal--Cattle  Search this
Figure  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380047
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481201

Hudson River Palisades, (painting)

Painter:
Hassam, Childe 1859-1935  Search this
Medium:
Oil
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Landscape--River--Hudson River  Search this
Figure group  Search this
Architecture--Bridge  Search this
Architecture exterior  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380048
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481202

The Mayor's House, (painting)

Painter:
Rudolph, Norman Guthrie 1900-1985  Search this
Medium:
Watercolor
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Architecture exterior--Domestic--House  Search this
Landscape--Tree  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380049
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481203

Landscape, (painting)

Painter:
Garber, Daniel 1880-1958  Search this
Medium:
Oil
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Landscape--Tree  Search this
Architecture exterior--Domestic--House  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380050
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481204

Toby Tyler, (painting)

Painter:
Shinn, Everett 1876-1953  Search this
Subject:
Tyler, Toby  Search this
Medium:
Watercolor
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Portrait male--Full length  Search this
Landscape  Search this
Animal--Monkey  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380051
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481205

Delmonico's, (painting)

Painter:
Shinn, Everett 1876-1953  Search this
Medium:
Pastel
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Cityscape--New York--New York City  Search this
Cityscape--Street  Search this
Figure group  Search this
Architecture--Vehicle--Carriage  Search this
Architecture exterior--Commercial--Restaurant  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380052
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481206

Shimmering Sea, (painting)

Painter:
Sloan, John 1871-1951  Search this
Medium:
Oil
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Landscape--Coast  Search this
Landscape--Rocks  Search this
Architecture exterior--Domestic--Cottage  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380053
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481207

Autumn Thicket, (painting)

Painter:
Sloan, John 1871-1951  Search this
Medium:
Oil
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Landscape--Season--Autumn  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380054
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481208

Road in the Arroyo, (painting)

Painter:
Sloan, John 1871-1951  Search this
Medium:
Oil
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Landscape--Road  Search this
Landscape--Tree  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380055
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481209

Mare's Tails, Gloucester Moors, (painting)

Painter:
Sloan, John 1871-1951  Search this
Medium:
Oil
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Landscape--Massachusetts--Gloucester  Search this
Landscape--Rocks  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380056
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481210

Village of Stonington, Maine, (painting)

Painter:
Sloan, John 1871-1951  Search this
Medium:
Watercolor
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Landscape--Maine--Stonington  Search this
Landscape--Coast  Search this
Architecture exterior--Domestic--House  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380057
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481211

Victorian Drawing Room, (painting)

Painter:
Tucker, Allen 1866-1939  Search this
Medium:
Oil
Type:
Paintings
Topic:
Architecture interior--Domestic--House  Search this
Architecture interior--Domestic--Living Room  Search this
Architecture interior--Detail--Window  Search this
Figure female  Search this
Recreation--Leisure--Reading  Search this
Control number:
IAP 8G380058
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_481212

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