Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information
Research and teaching files relating to murals, painted ca. 1933-1966, many for the Public Works of Art Project and Department of the Treasury, and muralists, consisting mainly of two-card indexes listing murals by city and by artist; miscellaneous files on more than 50 artists, many of whom are muralists; a seminar paper by Watrous, "Nineteenth Century Criticism of Degas"; and photographs of murals by Victor Arnautoff, Frank Bergman, John Ballator, Jose Moya Del Pino, and Paul Sample.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, mural painter, art historian; Madison, Wisc. Full name is James Scales Watrous.
Provenance:
Donated 1966 by James Watrous.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art historians -- Wisconsin -- Madison Search this
The papers of sculptor and painter Brents Carlton measure 4.7 linear feet and 0.528 GB and date from 1903 through 2014. The collection consists of biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, notes, a scrapbook, exhibition files, art work, photographs, digital photographs, and printed material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor and painter Brents Carlton measure 4.7 linear feet and 0.528 GB and date from 1903 through 2014. The collection consists of biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, notes, a scrapbook, exhibition files, art work, photographs, digital photographs, and printed material.
Biographical materials include several autobiographical accounts, school-related materials, a student card from the Art Students' League, and other identification cards.
Correspondence consists primarily of letters from family members and colleagues, including letters from Victor Arnautoff, H. Mallette Dean, Margaret De Patta, Eugen Neuhaus, Dale Nichols, and Judson T. Smith.
Personal business records include bank passbooks, pharmacy licensing records, receipts, income tax records, and ledgers of income, expenses, and art work sold.
Notes consists of Brents Carlton's address book, notebooks, and meeting minutes, as well as notes written by his daughter Carrie Carlton Helser.
There is one scrapbook. Exhibition files include correspondence, notes, photographs, and printed material related to the Golden Gate International Exhibition and other shows. There are also sketches, drawings, and prints by Carlton in the artwork series.
Photographic material includes an album, slides, negatives, and prints depicting Brents Carlton and his artwork, friends, family, and studios.
Printed material includes magazines, brochures, catalogs, and clippings.
A 2015 addition to the Brents Carlton papers includes additional biographical material, correspondence, personal business records, photographic material, and printed material.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series. Series 10 consists of a 2015 addition to the papers that was not integrated into the other series, although there are similar types of materials.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1921-1944 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1922-1987 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 1, 6)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1924-1959 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 4: Notes, circa 1923-2009 (0.1 linear feet; Boxes 1, 6, 0.013 GB; ER01)
Series 5: Scrapbook, 1928-1962 (0.2 linear feet; Box 6)
Series 6: Exhibition Files, 1927-1983 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1, OV 8)
Series 7: Art Work, 1924-1962 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1, 6, OV 8)
Series 8: Photographs, 1923-circa 1960 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 6-7)
Series 9: Printed Material, 1923-2012 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 10: 2015 Addition to the Brents Carlton Papers, 1903-2014 (2.3 linear feet; Boxes 2-5, 7, 0.515 GB; ER02-ER03)
Biographical / Historical:
Brents Carlton was a sculptor and painter who worked primarily in San Francisco, California.
Brents Carlton was born on October 31, 1903, in Roswell, New Mexico; his family later moved to Arkansas. In 1924, Carlton moved to San Francisco to attend the California School of Fine Arts for four years. From 1928 to 1929, he studied under a scholarship at the Art Students' League in New York, after which he returned to San Francisco and established his own studio at Polk Street. In order to support his family, Carlton was also employed as a pharmacist for 30 years.
In 1937, Carlton moved to a studio on Montgomery Street. In 1938, Carlton was commissioned to create four of his most notable works for the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939-1940) on Treasure Island: two large cast concrete figures for the Fountain of Western Waters at the Court of Pacifica, and two 18-foot bas-relief figures for the façade of the California State Building. He married Jessie Bosworth in 1939 and they had a daughter Carrie.
In the mid-1940s, Carlton relocated to a new studio above the pharmacy on Mission Street, where he worked. Due to failing health in the late 1950s, Carlton switched from sculpture to painting. Brents Carlton died of cancer on September 6, 1962 in San Francisco. His works have been exhibited in the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, the Oakland Art Gallery, and the San Francisco Museum.
Provenance:
The Brents Carlton papers were donated by the artist's daughter Carrie Carlton Helser in 1991 and 2015.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
The papers of artist and art teacher Victor Mikhail Arnautoff measure 3.3 linear feet and date from 1920 to 2017 with the bulk of the material dating from the 1920 to 1953. The collection contains biographical material such as marriage certificates, passports, naturalization certificates, and an Arnautoff family history; correspondence between family members, as well as with colleagues including Diego Rivera, and with institutions concerning Arnautoff's work; writings about Arnautoff and others, including his statement regarding the House Un-American Activities Committee Hearing; professional records related to mural projects and exhibitions of Arnautoff's work; and printed material including exhibition announcements and catalogs, clippings, and On the Drumhead by Mike Quin, illustrated by Victor Arnautoff. Also included are a scrapbook containing correspondence, printed material, and photographs highlighting Arnautoff's career with particular emphasis on the controversy surrounding his Dix McSmear lithograph, as well as photographic material depicting Arnautoff, other individuals, and works of art. The bulk of the collection is made up of artwork, including sketches, a sketchbook, watercolors, and prints.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in eight series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1920-1952, 1961-1979, 1995-1997 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1923-2008 (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1956, circa 1984-2006 (Box 1; 5 folders)
Series 4: Professional Records, 1940-1953, 1963-2004 (Box 1, OV 5; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1923-1998, 2007-2017 (Boxes 1-2, OV 5; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 6: Scrapbook, 1928-1968, 1979-1981 (Bound Volume 4; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographic Material, circa 1920s-circa 1960s, 2015 (Box 2; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1920s-circa 1950s (Boxes 2-3, OVs 6-13; 1.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Victor Mikhail Arnautoff (1896-1979) was an artist and art teacher known for his murals. Arnautoff was born in the Ukraine and served in the Russian army during World War I. After a defeat in Siberia, he crossed into China, where he remained for five years. In China he met and married his wife Lydia, and they had their first two sons.
In 1925 Arnautoff went to San Francisco to study at the California School of Fine Arts. He continued with his family to Mexico in 1929 and became an assistant to muralist Diego Rivera. While in Mexico, his third son was born, and Arnautoff met Bernard Zakheim, with whom he would later work on the Coit Tower murals. Arnautoff and his family returned to San Francisco in 1931 and in 1934 he was chosen to paint one of the murals at the Coit Tower with funding from the Public Works of Art Project. Arnautoff was one of the most prolific muralists in San Francisco in the 1930s, completing murals at Coit Tower and the Palo Alto Clinic, as well as the Presidio chapel, George Washington High School, and the California School of Fine Arts library. He also painted murals at five post offices in California and Texas.
Arnautoff began teaching at the California School of Fine Arts in 1936. He taught at Stanford from 1938 to 1962 and also taught art courses at the California Labor School.
Following the death of his wife in 1961, Arnautoff retired from teaching at Stanford and returned to the Soviet Union in 1963. While living there he continued to create works of art and published a memoir. He died in Leningrad in 1979.
Provenance:
The Victor Mikhail Arnautoff papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1983 by Jacob and Vasily Arnautoff, Victor Arnautoff's sons. Additional papers were donated in 2018 by Michael and Peter Arnautoff, Victor Arnautoff's son and grandson, and by Robert Cherney, a scholar who wrote a book about Arnautoff.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Topic:
Artists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Genre/Form:
Sketchbooks
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Citation:
Victor Mikhail Arnautoff papers, 1920-2017, bulk 1920-1953. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by Gerald and Bente Buck.
This series consists of identification documentation such as birth, marriage, and death certificates, passports, visas, and naturalization certificates. Also found are an Arnautoff family history, which includes a family tree for Leonid Arnautov and Elga Aše, as well as obituaries.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Collection Citation:
Victor Mikhail Arnautoff papers, 1920-2017, bulk 1920-1953. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by Gerald and Bente Buck.
