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Helen Ludwig papers

Creator:
Ludwig, Helen  Search this
Extent:
10.3 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sketchbooks
Date:
1937-1999
Scope and Contents:
A majority of the collection contains sketchbooks by Helen Ludwig. Also included are biographical information; correspondence; published and unpublished writings by Ludwig; photographs and slides of works of art; financial documents; and printed material.
Biographical / Historical:
Helen Ludwig (1911-2009) was a painter, illustrator, and graphic artist, in San Francisco, California. Ludwig gained a following in San Francisco and the Bay area for her scenes of the region. She is also known for her work teaching art to children with disabilities.
Provenance:
Donated 1980-1999 by Helen Ludwig and in 2016 by the Helen Ludwig estate via Vera Conrad, Ludwig's executor and granddaughter.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Art teachers -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Painting -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Prints -- Technique  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women art teachers  Search this
Women illustrators  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sketchbooks
Identifier:
AAA.ludwhele
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9b804d40d-403f-4bd4-8c2b-f5355eae7e82
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-ludwhele

Ralph Soule Du Casse papers

Creator:
Du Casse, Ralph Soule, 1916-  Search this
Extent:
4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Date:
circa 1892-1980
Summary:
The Ralph Soule Du Casse papers measure 4 linear feet and date from circa 1892-1980. They illustrate his career through biographical materials, correspondence, writings, personal business records, printed and photographic materials, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The Ralph Soule Du Casse papers measure 4 linear feet and date from circa 1892-1980. Biographical material consists of Du Casse's resume, materials regarding Du Casse's military records and career, and documents regarding genealogical records and family members. Correspondence is to and from Du Casse and includes family and business correspondence. Writings consist of a script for Du Casse's play "Route Order," a typescript of "West Coast School of Painting Since 1946", and other writings by Du Casse. Also present are writings by others including "Ralph Du Casse Exhibition" by Louise Ballard and a typescript of "The Bold Noo World of Ralph Soule Du Casse" by Annette Kazuko Kaide.

Personal business records consist of materials related to Du Casse's time as a teacher, lists of artworks and sales records, travel records, and other miscellaneous business records. Printed material includes a scrapbook compiled by Du Casse's father, Ralph R. Du Casse (1926-1960) and a disassembled scrapbook compiled by Du Casse containing letters, school records, four sketches, clippings, announcements, and photographs (1909-1967). Also included are various news clippings, press releases, exhibition announcements and catalogs for Du Casse and for others, brochures and pamphlets, and programs and other printed material. Photographic material consists of personal photographs of Du Casse and his family and friends, as well as his artwork. Artwork includes a folder of seven sketches.
Arrangement:
This collection consists of seven series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, circa 1892-1970 (.2 Linear feet: Box 1, OV 6)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1913-1976 (.2 Linear feet: Box 1)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1908-1971 (.5 Linear feet: Box 1)

Series 4: Personal Business Records, circa 1930-1977 (.3 Linear feet: Boxes 1-2)

Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1909-1977 (2.3 Linear feet: Boxes 2-4)

Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1904-1980 (.4 Linear feet: Box 5, OV 7)

Series 7: Artwork, circa 1940-1980 (.1 Linear feet: Box 5)
Biographical / Historical:
Ralph Soule Du Casse (1916-2003) was a painter who worked primarily in San Francisco, California.

Ralph Soule Du Casse was born in Kentucky and attended the University of Cincinnati in 1940 where he gained a bachelor's degree, and at the University of California in Berkeley where he obtained a master's in 1948. He also studied with Hans Hoffman and attended the California College of Arts in 1950 where he obtained an additional master's degree in fine arts. His early paintings ranged from a loose and gestural abstract style to a linear style rooted in cubism.

During World War Two Du Casse served in the U.S. Army's cavalry corps and was honorably discharged due to demobilization. After the war he studied in Sorbonne in Paris. Du Casse taught at the University of California, Berkeley, the California College of Arts and Crafts, and the California School of Fine Art. Throughout the 1970s he was chairman of the art department at Mills College in Oakland.

Du Casse has had exhibitions at the Lucien Labaudt Gallery, the Rotunda Gallery, the Guggenheim Museum, the University of Illinois, the Syracuse Museum in New York, and many others. His work is housed in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in Brazil, the museum of modern art in San Francisco, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Art. It also resides in the private collections of Vincent Price, Phyllis Wattis, and the Haas family collection in San Francisco.

Ralph Soule Du Casse died on December 30, 2003 in the San Francisco Bay area.
Provenance:
The Ralph Soule Du Casse papers were donated in 1979 by Ralph Soule Du Casse.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Art teachers -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Citation:
Ralph Soule Du Casse papers, circa 1892-1980, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.ducaralp
See more items in:
Ralph Soule Du Casse papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw962ebb9cb-6ff8-4890-8ae8-d99b303b66aa
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-ducaralp

Victor Mikhail Arnautoff papers

Creator:
Arnautoff, Victor Mikhail, 1896-1979  Search this
Names:
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities  Search this
Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957  Search this
Extent:
3.3 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sketchbooks
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Date:
circa 1920-2017
bulk 1920-1953
Scope and Contents:
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.
Identifier:
AAA.arnavict
See more items in:
Victor Mikhail Arnautoff papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw99889c245-52bb-43ac-b9c0-1c546fd1dcb2
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-arnavict
Online Media:

Giacomo Patri papers

Creator:
Patri, Giacomo, b. 1898  Search this
Names:
Patri School for Art Fundamentals  Search this
Eloesser, Leo  Search this
Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971  Search this
Robeson, Paul, 1898-1976  Search this
Extent:
4.6 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Sketchbooks
Date:
1905-1983
Scope and Contents:
Biographical material, letters, personal business records, photographs, artworks, calendars and a journal, printed material, scrapbooks, writings, and subject files.
Biographical materials includemembership cards and other documents. Letters, 1926-1983, are from Rockwell Kent, Burton Wasserman, Ted Goertzel and others. Business records include bank books, tax records, insurance policies and a ledger. Photographs, 1907-1968, are of Patri, his family, school and artworks. The illustrated journal dates from 1915 and the calendars with diary-style entries date 1951-1957. Artworks consist of 16 sketchbooks, 17 prints, many loose sketches, tracings, and scratch boards for a book on Polish-American blue collar worker and notes for classes, some illustrated.
Printed material includes WHITE COLLAR, a book of linocuts by Patri printed in 1940 and 1975, a small book THIS IS MY OWN by Rockwell Kent as well as loose chapters from the book, an edition of STORM OVER BRIDGES illustrated by Patri, and clippings. Also included are 2 scrapbooks of printed illustrations; writings, including short stories by Patri, interviews and an unpublished manuscript about Marino Marini; and subject files containing correspondence, printed material, writings, sketches and photographs on Paul Robeson, Dr. Leo Eloesser and the Spanish Civil War, The Patri School for Art Fundamentals, and other topics.
Biographical / Historical:
Illustrator, painter, instructor; San Francisco, Calif. b. 1898, Italy; d. 1978;Emigrated to The United States from Italy in 1916. Studied at The California School of Fine Arts. In 1940 he published a "Novel in Block Prints" entitled WHITE COLLAR, a story of workers during the Depression. In 1948 he founded the Patri School for Art Fundamentals which was aimed at teaching adults with no art background.
Provenance:
Donated 1982-1984 by Tamara Rey Patri, widow of Patri.
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.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Illustrators -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Artists' illustrated books  Search this
Artists' illustrated books  Search this
Illustrated books -- 20th century  Search this
Function:
Art Schools -- California -- San Francisco
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sketchbooks
Identifier:
AAA.patrgiac
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw90ca3166c-9d0d-4f6e-bc8b-45306ae78464
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-patrgiac

Otis Oldfield letters and photograph

Creator:
Oldfield, Otis, 1890-1969  Search this
Names:
San Francisco Museum of Art  Search this
Extent:
6 Items ((on 1 microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1913, 1925-1926
Scope and Contents:
Five letters, 1925-1926, to "Odette" (Mrs. Helena Marguerita Da Rosa). Oldfield describes his work at the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts and daily activities as an artist. Also included is a photograph of Oldfield, 1913.
Biographical / Historical:
Otis Oldfield (1890-1969) was a painter and teacher from San Francisco, Calif.
Provenance:
Donated 1982 by Mrs. Betty Chidlaw.
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 teachers -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Painters -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.oldfotis
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw983aaea70-74fd-4f91-8f94-a3b21b7e4049
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-oldfotis

Rudolph Schaeffer papers

Creator:
Schaeffer, Rudolph  Search this
Names:
East & West Gallery (San Francisco, Calif.)  Search this
Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design  Search this
Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984  Search this
Cunningham, Imogen, 1883-1976 -- Photographs  Search this
Frey, Caroline  Search this
Frey, Fred  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959 -- Photographs  Search this
Extent:
13.3 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Diaries
Christmas cards
Designs
Interviews
Sketchbooks
Sketches
Sound recordings
Transcripts
Place:
Japan -- Description and Travel
Date:
1880s-1997
Summary:
The collection measures 13.3 linear feet, dates from the 1880s-1997 and documents the life and varied career of Rudolph Schaeffer, artist, designer, teacher, writer, collector of Asian art, and pioneer in the field of color study who founded the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design in San Francisco in 1926. The papers include biographical information, correspondence, subject files, writings, diaries, journals, artwork, scrapbooks, sound recordings, and photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The collection measures 13.3 linear feet, dates from the 1880s-1997, and documents the life and varied career of Rudolph Schaeffer, artist, designer, teacher, writer, collector of Asian art, and pioneer in the field of color study who founded the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design in San Francisco in 1926. The papers include biographical information, correspondence, subject files, writings, diaries, journals, artwork, scrapbooks, sound recordings, and photographs.

Correspondence documents Schaeffer's personal and professional activities as well as the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design. Subject files contain various combinations of correspondence, photographs, printed material, and drawings reflecting Schaeffer's activities, projects, and interests. Within the subject files is correspondence with artists, including Mark Tobey. Extensive writings include manuscripts for published and unpublished articles and drafts, notes, and manuscripts of several unpublished books including Collected Lectures of Rudolph Schaeffer on Color and Design, Color and Design, Prismatic Color Theory, and Rhythmo-Chromatics, all undated. Diaries include a volume recording Schaeffer's 1936 trip to Japan. 42 volumes of journals, compiled between 1954 and 1987, contain entries on a wide range of subjects including lists of errands, invitation lists, class notes, drafts of letters, notes including staff assignments and staff meetings, autobiographical notes and reminiscences, and musings on religion and philosophy.

The Artwork series houses artwork by Schaeffer and his students. Found are hand-made Christmas cards, designs, sketches, and sketchbooks. Seven scrapbooks document Rudolph Schaeffer's career, his school and former students, and the San Francisco art scene. They contain printed material, photographs, letters, and a small amount of artwork. Volume 3 is devoted to East West Gallery, and volume 7 documents Rudolph Schaeffer's 90th Birthday and the 50th Anniversary of the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design.

Most untranscribed sound recordings (audio cassettes and reels) are of lectures by Schaeffer and others delivered at the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design.

Miscellaneous records includes a series of hand-baticked fabric samples from the Wiener Werkstatte, as well as transcripts of an oral history with Schaeffer and other interviews.

Printed material concerns the career of Rudolph Schaeffer, his school and former students, the San Francisco art scene, and general art topics. Included are articles and a book by Schaeffer, catalogs and other items produced by the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design, and miscellaneous items about or mentioning Schaeffer and his school. Items of note are announcements of courses taught by Schaeffer in Piedmont and San Francisco prior to the opening of his school, and theatre programs from productions with sets and some costumes designed by Schaeffer in the early 1920s.

Photographs are of artwork, people, places, events, stage designs, and miscellaneous subjects. Artwork includes some designs by Rudolph Schaeffer; people include Schaeffer, his family, friends, and students. Of particular note are a photograph of Frank Lloyd Wright's visit to the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design, and one of Rudolph Schaeffer and Imogen Cunningham. Places include interior and exterior views of the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design at its St. Anne Street and Mariposa Street locations. Also included are photographs by Ansel Adams of the home of Ed and Caroline Fey.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Information, 1900-1988 (Box 1; 0.1 linear ft.)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1906-1989 (Box 1, 19; 0.5 linear ft.)

Series 3: Subject Files, 1907-1988 (Boxes 1-2, OV 16; 1.3 linear ft.)

Series 4: Writings, circa 1910-1987 (Boxes 2-6, 15, 19, 21; 4.2 linear ft.)

Series 5: Artwork, 1911-1957 (Boxes 6-15, 19, 21 OV 17; 0.6 linear ft.)

Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1933-1976 (Boxes 6, 14, 19; 0.6 linear ft.)

Series 7: Sound Recordings, 1949-1986 (Boxes 11-13; 1.2 linear ft.)

Series 8: Miscellaneous Records, 1905-1986 (Box 7, 19, 22; 0.8 linear ft.)

Series 9: Printed Material, 1906-1994 (Boxes 7-8, 15, 19, 22; 1.2 linear ft.)

Series 10: Photographs, 1880s-circa 1988 (Boxes 8-10,15, 20, 22, OV 18; 1.8 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Rudolph Schaeffer (1886-1988), a proponent of the Arts and Crafts movement, aspired to unite technology, science, and lifestyle in order to live in harmony with nature. An individual with many talents and interests, he was best known for his work in the field of color study and as a teacher and the founder of the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design in San Francisco.

Born on a farm in Clare, Michigan in 1886, Rudolph Schaeffer displayed musical and artistic talent from a young age. Although he initially wanted to become a professional musician, he began focusing more on art when his musical abilities were compromised by an improperly set broken wrist. Schaeffer received his first formal art training as a high school student and then attended the Thomas Normal Training School in Detroit, where he studied music, art, and design. He continued studying independently, developing interests in calligraphy and metal craft.

In 1907, Schaeffer taught manual training courses in the Columbus, Ohio, public schools. The following summer he traveled to Paris and London. While in London he saw an exhibition of Josef Hoffman's modern interiors that had a great impact on his own design ideas. He then returned to Michigan and taught in schools close to home. In 1909, Schaeffer attended a design course in Minneapolis taught by A. E. Batchelder, director of Throop Polytechnic Institute in Pasadena. Both Batchelder and his course were strong influences on Schaeffer, as was Ralph Johnot, a proponent of Arthur Wesley Dow's design principles. In 1910 Schaeffer joined the faculty of Throop Polytechnic Institute, where he remained for five years.

The U. S. Commission on Education selected Schaeffer to be part of a delegation of twenty-five American teachers sent to Munich for several months in 1914 to investigate the exemplary industrial design curriculum offered in their secondary schools. Schaeffer subsequently expected to begin teaching at the Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles at the start of the 1914 school year, but World War I erupted while he was in Germany and his return to the United States was delayed so long that another teacher had to be hired to fill his place.

In 1915 Schaeffer was a manual training instructor at the California College of Arts and Crafts (formerly the Hopkins School), and taught design and metal crafts at the University of California Berkeley. For a number of years afterwards, he did free lance design work, taught private classes, and ran a small summer school in his Piedmont studio. Schaeffer was a visiting professor at Stanford University in 1918 when he was drafted and sent to drafting and surveying courses by the Army. Between 1917 and 1924 Schaeffer was on the faculty of the California College of Arts and Crafts where he taught design, color, handicrafts, and interior design. During this period he developed a new approach to teaching color and design based on the prismatic color wheel.

During the early 1920s Schaeffer worked as a set designer and as Art Director of Greek Theatre at the University of California at Berkeley, Schaeffer began applying prismatic color theory to set and costume design. He also designed sets for productions in Detroit. In 1925, Schaeffer saw the Paris Exposition and researched interior and stage design while in France.

The Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design which, in its early days was called the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Rhythmo-Chromatic Design, opened on St. Anne Street in San Francisco's Chinatown in 1926. In 1951 the school then moved to Union Street on Telegraph Hill where it remained for nearly a decade. In 1960, the school purchased a former boys' school on Mariposa Street, Portero Hill. Rudolph Schaeffer lived in a small cottage built for him at the rear of the property where he designed and tended a remarkable "Peace Garden."

The Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design was best known for its courses in color and interior design. Schaeffer was the first person in the United States to teach prismatic color theory, is credited with being the first to use the term "interior design" rather than "interior decoration" and the first to incorporate the use of models into interior design coursework. In 1959 the school's courses were expanded from 2 to 3-year programs and a diploma was awarded. Former students include many successful interior designers, textile designers, furniture designers, industrial designers, commercial artists, color consultants, teachers, and master flower arrangers.

In addition to the interior design and color diploma courses, the school offered a summer session, classes for children, a brief lecture series for the general public, and a wide variety of classes including advertising art, architecture and design, art history, art in public schools, calligraphy, color design, color for television, color for weavers, color theory, design, drawing, environmental aesthetics, fashion design, fashion illustration, flower arrangement, industrial design, interior design, Notan, sculpture, space planning, textile design, and weaving. Always struggling financially and sometimes lacking adequate enrollment, the school nevertheless managed to stay open for nearly 60 years. In 1984, the Board of Directors voted to remove Schaeffer from the board and close the school. Two years earlier the board had forced Schaeffer to retire, appointed him Director Emeritus, and brought in a new director charged with making the institution financially solvent, reorganizing the curriculum, and working toward accreditation. Unable to separate himself from the school (though he had done so legally when it was incorporated in 1953), Schaeffer balked and refused to cooperate with plans for revitalizing the institution.

One of the aims of the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design was to interpret Asian esthetic principles. To this end the East West Gallery was established at the school in 1950. A membership organization, it offered exhibitions, lectures, concerts, and other programs that encouraged cultural integration. Exhibitions alternated between East (Asian art and artifacts from Rudolph Schaeffer's collection or other sources) and West (student work or work of local artists illustrating the influence of the Asian esthetic on contemporary art and design). East West Gallery was a membership organization, the first space of its kind in San Francisco for Asian art and operated in each of the school's locations.

In addition to running the school Schaeffer was involved in many other activities. He wrote several articles about flower arrangement, color, and color theory that were published in popular magazines. In 1935, he published Flower Arrangement Folio I (said to be the first on the subject published in this country) and in 1942 edited and wrote the introduction to Sunset's Flower Arrangement Book by Nell True Welch. Over a period of many years, he worked on several monographs on color, design, and "rhythmo-chromatics." None were ever published.

A sought-after speaker on the subjects of color, interior design, flower arrangement, and myriad other art topics, Schaeffer frequently served as a juror for art exhibitions and flower shows. From the 1930s on, the San Francisco department store Emporium used his services as a color consultant, as did Dutch Boy paints, and numerous textile and clothing manufacturers. Builders also asked Schaeffer to select interior and exterior colors for suburban housing developments.

Schaeffer worked on planning and designing the decorative arts exhibition at the 1939-40 Golden Gate International Exposition. In 1943-44, he participated in the Red Cross's Arts and Skills program, using color therapy with shell-shocked soldiers in a psychiatric unit.

The Rudolph Schaeffer Collection of Asian Art began as a collection of ceramics, both historical and contemporary examples chosen for their form and color, which he used for flower arrangements and in set-ups for still life classes. It soon expanded to include color prints, paintings, screens, and other works of art and portions were exhibited frequently in the East West Gallery. Selections from this collection were exhibited in Kansas City in 1960 and at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco in 1976.

The City of San Francisco declared June 26, 1986, Schaeffer's 100th birthday, "Rudolph Schaeffer Day" and it was observed with great fanfare. He died at home on March 5, 1988, a few months before his 102nd birthday.
Provenance:
The Rudolph Schaeffer papers were donated in 1991 by Rudolph Schaeffer and the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design administrator Peter Docili, and in 1999 and 2000 by James Alexander, a friend of both Schaeffer and Docili, who had been storing portions of Docili's estate after his death in 1998, with the assistance of Frances Valesco, a fiber artist and researcher. An addition was received in 2007 by William Woodworth, a close friend and caretaker of Schaeffer's and in 2017 and 2018 by Frances Valesco.
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. Use of archival audiovisual recordings 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 teachers -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Artists -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Designers -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Art, Asian  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Artists -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Authors -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Color -- Study and teaching  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Diaries
Christmas cards
Designs
Interviews
Sketchbooks
Sketches
Sound recordings
Transcripts
Citation:
Rudolph Schaeffer papers, 1880s-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.scharudo
See more items in:
Rudolph Schaeffer papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9e577bb5b-7a69-4e35-a266-06d309085a6a
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-scharudo

Otis Oldfield papers

Creator:
Oldfield, Otis, 1890-1969  Search this
Names:
Chittenden, Alice Brown, 1859 or 60-1944  Search this
Cuneo, Rinaldo, 1877-1939  Search this
Dixon, Maynard, 1875-1946  Search this
Gee, Yun, 1906-  Search this
Groninger, Homer  Search this
Labaudt, Lucien, 1880-1943  Search this
Oldfield, Helen, 1902-1981  Search this
Roche, Marcel  Search this
Ryan, Beatrice Judd  Search this
Stackpole, Ralph, 1885-1973  Search this
Taylor, Mildred  Search this
Extent:
62 Items ((on 2 microfilm reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1910-1975
Scope and Contents:
Business correspondence; manuscript material; 2 financial log books kept by Oldfield and his widow, 1927-1974; 3 photo albums, one with photos of Oldfield, Ralph Stackpole and Homer Groninger, and 2 albums of works, 1924-1948; loose photos of works, of Oldfield, Yun Gee, Ralph Stackpole, Rinaldo Cuneo, Helen Oldfield, Marcel Roche and others, 1921-1957; 3 scrapbooks, 1910-1940, including catalogs and announcements, manuscript and printed material, clippings, and correspondence with Beatrice Judd Ryan, Mildred Taylor, Alice Chittenden, Lucien Labaudt and Maynard Dixon; clippings; and miscellany.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, teacher; San Francisco, California. Oldfield went to Paris in 1909 where he studied briefly at the Academie Julian. He remained in France until 1924, serving in the French army during World War I, and after the war was exhibiting at the Salon des Independents and the Salon d' Automne. He taught at the California School of Fine Arts, 1925-1942, and became known for his talents as a bookbinder as well as painter. He taught at the California College of Arts and Crafts, 1945-1951 and privately until his death.
Provenance:
Material lent for microfilming 1975 by Helen Oldfield, widow of Oldfield.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Painters -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Art -- Study and teaching -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.oldfotip
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9e59c2325-f2b6-4a23-81f5-bacbe2b68705
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-oldfotip

Elizabeth Baldwin letters from Alice B. Chittenden

Creator:
Baldwin, Elizabeth Daniels  Search this
Chittenden, Alice Brown, 1859 or 60-1944  Search this
Extent:
3 Items
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
n.d.,1941-1944
Scope and Contents:
Three letters from Alice B. Chittenden, a painter and teacher in San Francisco. Chittenden sends her condolences on the death of Baldwin's mother, news of family and friends, and decries the teaching administration which is "radical...all for creative work...I am sorry for my pupils who really wanted to learn to draw." She tells of teaching at the art school for 43 years and her dismay with all the "crazy abstract stuff."
Provenance:
Donated 1978 by Elizabeth Baldwin.
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:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Art teachers -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women educators  Search this
Art, Abstract -- United States  Search this
Identifier:
AAA.baldeliz
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw99f4bb36e-06d8-477f-9a69-177e29829da2
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-baldeliz

Oral history interview with Carlos Villa

Interviewee:
Villa, Carlos, 1936-2013  Search this
Interviewer:
Roth, Moira  Search this
Extent:
6 Items (5 videocassettes (U-matic); 1 VHS)
5 Items (video files (1 hrs., 38 min.), digital, mov)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1989 July 11
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Carlos Villa conducted 1989 July 11, by Moira Roth, for the Archives of American Art, at Villa's studio in Oakland, California.
Biographical / Historical:
Carlos Villa (1936- 2013) was a Filipino American painter, curator, and educator based in San Francisco, California. Moira Roth (1933- ) is an art historian and writer in Berkeley, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 U-matic videocasettes.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds an oral history interview with Carlos Villa, 1995 June 20-July 10.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
This interview is not transcribed. The video recording is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Art teachers -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Asian American art  Search this
Asian American artists  Search this
Filipino American art  Search this
Filipino American artists  Search this
Asian American painters  Search this
Asian American curators  Search this
Asian American educators  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.villa89
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9934be520-cf61-4a19-a714-70c7c61e94a3
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-villa89

Wayne Thiebaud papers

Creator:
Thiebaud, Wayne  Search this
Names:
University of California, Davis. Art Dept. -- Faculty  Search this
Extent:
1 Linear foot
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Sketches
Cartoons (humorous images)
Photographs
Date:
1944-2001
Summary:
The papers of Sacramento painter, printmaker, and teacher Wayne Thiebaud date from 1944 through 2001 and measure 1.0 linear foot. Thiebaud's prolific painting career is documented in this collection mostly through exhibition catalogs, printed materials, original artwork, photographs, and ephemera. His career as an art professor at the University of California at Davis is documented to a lesser extent.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of Sacramento painter, printmaker, and teacher Wayne Thiebaud date from 1944 through 2001 and measure one linear foot. Thiebaud's prolific painting career is documented in this collection mostly through exhibition catalogs, printed materials, original artwork, photographs, and ephemera. His career as an art professor at the University of California at Davis is documented to a lesser extent.

Of particular interest in the collection are ten large format sketchbook pages with numerous ink, graphite, and watercolor drawings of his typical imagery of pies, cakes, tie racks, San Francisco street scenes, Sacramento Delta landscapes, many figures, storefronts, counters, and personal notations regarding color, light, and ideas for the transformation of his imagery. There are also ten smaller cartoon drawings in ink on plain copy paper. In addition to several folders of exhibition catalogs, announcements, and other printed material, there is one folder of teaching notes and one folder of photographs, many of which include other artists, such as Chuck Close, Richard Diebenkorn, Richard Estes, Gregory Kondos, Roy Lichtenstein, Barnett Newman, Claes Oldenburg, Philip Pearlstein, Mel Ramos, Harold Rosenberg, and others. Also found are ephemera items, including a collectible watch with his imagery printed onto the face and band, a palette, brushes, and plastic lids from tennis ball containers used for mixing paints.
Arrangement:
The Wayne Thiebaud papers are arranged as five series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Printed Material, 1965-2001, undated (Box 1-2; 12 folders)

Series 2: Writings, 1981, 2001, undated (Box 2; 1 folder)

Series 3: Photographs, 1944-1990, undated (Box 2; 1 folder)

Series 4: Original artwork, undated (Box 2, OV3; 1 folder, 1 oversize folder)

Series 5: Original artwork, undated (Box 2, OV3; 1 folder, 1 oversize folder)
Biographical Note:
Wayne Thiebaud was born in Mesa, Arizona in 1920 and raised in Long Beach, California. After graduating high school, he worked as a free-lance cartoonist, commercial artist, and stage technician. He later landed a job at the Walt Disney studios as an 'in-betweener' filling in individual film frames started by animators. Thiebaud joined the Air Force in 1942 where he painted murals and began to create cartoons and illustrations.

After his service in the war, Thiebaud went to California State College in Sacramento to study art and art history. His work remained figurative but gained a conceptual dimension as he read, studied, taught, and exhibited a great deal in Northern California. During the late 1950s, Thiebaud spent time in New York City with artists such as Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Barnett Newman and other painters of their generation.

Thiebaud's work found its national audience in 1962 with his first exhibition, Wayne Thiebaud: Recent Paintings, at the Allan Stone Gallery in New York and his participation in the "New Realists" exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery during the same New York season. In that memorable year, when Pop Art burst upon the American cultural scene, Thiebaud's more painterly images of food and other familiar objects found an audience that has grown with each passing decade. Thiebaud's exhibition of store counters, suburban consumers, tie racks, cakes and pies seemed to comment upon American consumer culture as did his New York contemporaries. However, his thickly painted strangely illuminated forms had a pathos and a humor that was seldom found in Pop Art. Thiebaud's roots were more likely in the urban melancholy of Edward Hopper and the robust painterly style of Willem de Kooning.

Wayne Thiebaud has served as faculty member of the art department at the University of California at Davis for more than thirty years. At this writing, he lives and works in Sacramento, California while also maintaining a studio in San Francisco. He is still affiliated with the Allan Stone Gallery. Thiebaud's work is currently found in the permanent collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. His recent 2000-2001 retrospective exhibition organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, traveled the nation to critical acclaim and great interest from the general public.
Provenance:
Wayne Thiebaud donated his papers in 2001 to the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.
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:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Art teachers -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Artists' preparatory studies  Search this
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Sketches
Cartoons (humorous images)
Photographs
Citation:
Wayne Thiebaud papers, 1944-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.thiewayn
See more items in:
Wayne Thiebaud papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw903b4ac23-15bd-4a2f-b3c8-1b949a126096
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-thiewayn

Enrique Chagoya papers

Creator:
Chagoya, Enrique  Search this
Names:
California State University, Hayward -- Faculty  Search this
Extent:
0.8 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1990-1995
Summary:
The papers of Mexican born painter, printmaker, and educator Enrique Chagoya measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1990 to 1995. The collection includes four dossiers compiled by Chagoya for evaluations of his professorship at California State University in Hayward, California. The dossiers contain resumes, student evaluations, correspondence, exhibition announcements and catalogs, clippings, transparencies of artwork, class syllabi, lists of accomplishments as an educator, and lists of exhibitions.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Mexican born American painter, printmaker, and educator Enrique Chagoya measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1990 to 1995. The collection includes four dossiers compiled by Chagoya for evaluations of his professorship at California State University in Hayward, California. The dossiers contain resumes, student evaluations, correspondence, exhibition announcements and catalogs, clippings, transparencies of artwork, class syllabi, lists of accomplishments as an educator, and lists of exhibitions.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as one series.

Series 1: Enrique Chagoya papers, 1990-1995 (Boxes 1-2; 0.8 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Enrique Chagoya (1953- ) is a painter, printmaker, and educator in San Francisco, California.

Chagoya was born in Mexico City. His father, also an artist, encouraged Chagoya's interest in art from a young age. Chagoya studied political economics at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. It was during this time that he worked in rural areas on development projects. The projects helped shape the political and social perspective that often appears in Chagoya's artwork. After emigrating to the U.S. in 1977, he began working as an illustrator and graphic designer. Chagoya attended the San Francisco Art Institute where he received his bachelor's degree in 1984 and received a master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1987. He also taught at the University of California at Berkeley, as well as California State University at Hayward, and Stanford University.
Related Materials:
Also found at the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Enrique Chagoya conducted by Paul Karlstrom in San Francisco, California from July 25 to August 6, 2001 for the Archives of American Art.
Provenance:
The papers were donated by Enrique Chagoya in 2016.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Rights:
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that he may own.
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:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Printmakers -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Art teachers -- California -- San Francisco  Search this
Topic:
Latino and Latin American artists  Search this
Mexican American artists  Search this
Citation:
Enrique Chagoya papers, 1990-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.chagenri
See more items in:
Enrique Chagoya papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw92867e2f4-1a86-4e5f-ab6e-f003547e687f
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-chagenri

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