Ca. 100 artists' files, 1920s-1980s, compiled by the Harwood Foundation, Taos, New Mexico. Also included are files on the Taos Society of Artists, the "Taos Six," and Taos Writers. The files contain biographical data, correspondence, letters from researchers, price lists for works of art, exhibition announcements, catalogs and invitations, newspaper clippings, press releases, printed material, and photographs of works of art.
REELS 3255-3256: Files on: William Acheff, Kenneth Adams, Patrocinio Barela, Gustave Baumann, Tom Benrimo, Oscar E. Berninghaus, Morris Blackburn, Ernest L. Blumenschein, Mary Shepard Blumenschein, Helen Greene Blumenschein, Dorothy Engeme Brett, Lawrence Calcagno, Elizabeth Campbell, Louis Catusco, Howard Norton Cook, Regina Tatum Cooke, Ron Cooper, Eanger Irving Couse, Catherine Carter Critcher, Andrew Dasburg, Rex Dolmith, William Herbert Dunton, Ted Egri, R. C. Ellis, Nicolai Fechin, Joseph Amadeus Fleck and Alyce Frank.
REELS 3241-3243: Files on: Louise Ganthiers, Leon Gaspard, R. C. Gorman, Blanche Chloe Grant, Worthington E. Hagerman, Barbara Harmon, Elihu Buritt Harwood, Lucy Case Harwood, Claire Haye, Margaret Henn, E. Martin Hennings, Victor Higgins, Joseph Adam Andrew John Imhof, Ned Jacob, Rebecca Salsbury James, Juanita Jaramillo, Walter Willard Johnson, Dora Deborah Kaminsky, Eleanora Kissel, Alice Geneva Glasier Kloss, Jonathan Krout, Susan Kulbacki, Mario Larrinaga, Barbara Latham, D. H. Lawrence, Gisella Loeffler, John Ward Lockwood, Mabel Dodge Luhan, Max Luna, Ila Turner Mcafee, Leal Mack, Beatrice Mandelman, John Marin, Agnes Martin, Willard Midgette, Loren Norman Mozley, Georgia O' Keeffe, Bert G. Phillips, Kenneth G. Price, Angelino Ravagli, Robert Donald Ray, Doel Reed, Charles Henry Reynolds, Louis Ribak, Wesley A. Russell, Leon Gorge Salazar, Bob Saltzman, Fritz Scholder, Jonathan Scott, Joseph Henry Sharp, Mary Shiras, Eugenie Frederica Shonnard, Hyde Solomon, Clay Edgar Spohn, Charles C. Stewart, Bettina Blair Steinke, Earl Stroh, Rita Sutcliffe, Michio Takayama, Yaki Takayma, The Taos Six: Ron Barsano, Robert A. Daughters, Rod Goebel, Walter Gonske, Julian Robles, Ray Vinella, Taos Society of Artists, Taos Writers, Charles W. Thwaites, Mildred Tolbert, Walter Ufer, Harold Joe Waldrum, Randy Lee White, Connie Witt, John Young-Hunter and Artists Biography Files, General A-Z.
Biographical / Historical:
Art organization; Taos, New Mexico. Founded 1923 by Lucy Harwood, and conveyed to the University of New Mexico in 1935.
Provenance:
Microfilmed as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project.
Lent for microfilming 1984 by the Harwood Foundation of the University of New Mexico.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Constitution and by-laws; minutes of meetings, 1915-1925; reports of the President, Secretary and Treasurer, 1921-1925; letters, 1922-1925, from the American Federation of Arts, Art Association of Boulder, Cyrus Boutwell, Cleveland Museum of Art, Feragil Galleries, George E. Gage, The H. Lieber Company, Indianapolis, Howard Young Galleries, New York City, Robert Henri, School of American Research, Museum of New Mexico, Birger Sandzen, Springfield Art Association, Traxel Art Company, Cincinnati, Worcester Art Museum, Yunt Art Galleries, Oklahoma City and others; financial data, 1922-1925; a list of members, 1924-1925; a price list of paintings, ca. 1923; exhibition catalogs and clippings; Ernest L. Blumenschein's article, 1926, "Origin of the Taos Art Colony;" and correspondence, 1946 and 1948, of Reginald Fisher with Joseph H. Sharp and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Art society; Taos, New Mexico. Founded 1914.
Provenance:
Microfilmed as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project.
Donated 1984 by the Museum of New Mexico. Photocopies of originals discarded after microfilming.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Biographical data; a letter, 1975, to Stroh from Dorothy Dehnner; a transcript (2 pages) of a portion of a conversation among Andrew Dasburg, Earl Stroh, John Sommers and Clinton Adams in Dasburg's Taos studio, May 18, 1978 discussing Dasburg's Tamarind lithographs; a file on the First Kansas Biennial Painting Exhibition, Lindsborg, Kansas, 1972, juried by Stroh, containing a letter to Stroh from Bob Walker discussing reviews of the exhibition, an entry form, an exhibition catalog and clippings; printed materials; and photographs of Stroh, his home in Taos, his works of art and his colleagues Joseph Almeda, Lyn Baker, Burton Phillips, John Sommers and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, printmaker; Taos, New Mexico.
Provenance:
Microfilmed as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project.
Lent for microfilming 1984 by Earl W. Stroh.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Files on 141 artists, 1945-1979. The files may contain biographical data, resumes, clippings, announcements, catalogs, price lists of work and notes. Also included are 4 files on exhibitions and organizations.
Biographical / Historical:
Art organization; Taos, New Mexico.
Provenance:
Microfilmed as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project.
Lent for microfilming 1984 & 1985 by the Harwood Foundation.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
An interview of Mary Shaffer conducted 2008 April 13-14, by Jospehine Shea, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Shaffer's home and studio, in Taos, N.M.
Born in Walterboro, SC, Shaffer speaks of her early childhood living in South America; her formative years being raised in Europe; her early artistic training in a European tradition; then studying art at the Rhode Island School of Design where she met her husband, artist Hardu Keck. She discusses her transition from working as a painter to experimental work in glass and conceptual art; being part of a community of artists that included Dale Chihuly and Fritz Dreisbach; and teaching as a means of support during the early years of her career. She discusses the importance of galleries in promoting her work, and how commissions enabled her to stretch and grow as an artist.
Biographical / Historical:
Mary Shaffer (1947- ) is a glass artist in Taos, N.M. Josephine Shea (1958- ) is curator in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 54 min.
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 transcript is open for research. Access to the entire recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The papers of sculptor Arnold Rönnebeck and painter Louise Emerson Ronnebeck measure 4.24 linear feet and date from 1884-2002. The collection contains biographical material, family and professional correspondence, sketches and drawings, writings, a scrapbook, and printed material. There are also numerous photographic prints, copy prints, negatives, and 7 glass plate negatives of the Rönnebecks and their artwork, travels, family, and friends, including Charles Demuth, Marsden Hartley, Alfred Stieglitz, and Tony Luhan.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of sculptor Arnold Rönnebeck and painter Louise Emerson Ronnebeck measure 4.24 linear feet and date from 1884-2002. The collection contains biographical material, family and professional correspondence, sketches and drawings, writings, a scrapbook, and printed material. There are also numerous photographic prints, copy prints, negatives, and 7 glass plate negatives of the Rönnebecks and their artwork, travels, family, and friends, including Charles Demuth, Marsden Hartley, Alfred Stieglitz, and Tony Luhan.
Biographical materials include articles on the Rönnebecks by Betsy Fahlman, curriculum vitae, and documentation on the Emerson family. Correspondence is primarily between Arnold Rönnebeck to Louise, and also includes letters in German to Arnold's sister Irmgard Rönnebeck. Among the professional and personal correspondence from friends and family to both of the Rönnebecks are letters from Kenneth Hayes Miller to Louise Ronnebeck.
Writings include essay drafts, notes, and poetry by the Rönnebecks, including Arnold Rönnebeck's "Paint-As-You-Go Plan." There is a scrapbook of clippings covering Louise Ronnebeck's work. Additional printed material includes Christmas cards, clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs of both the Rönnebecks' work. Artwork consists of drawings and sketches by Arnold Rönnebeck.
Photographic materials include photographs of the Rönnebecks and their travels to Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, New York, and Europe. The series also contains photos, copy prints, negatives, and 7 glass plate negatives of artist friends, and formal and informal documentation of their works of art and public and private art commissions.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1926-2002 (9 folders; Box 1, OV 7)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1909-1998 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1, 5)
Series 3: Writings, 1920-1944 (6 folders; Box 1, 5)
Series 4: Scrapbook, 1926-1966 (1 folder; Box 1)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1923-1999 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1-2)
Series 6: Artwork, 1915-1950 (2 folders; Box 2, 5)
Series 7: Photographic Materials, 1884-1976 (2.6 linear feet; Box 2-6)
Biographical Note:
Sculptor Arnold Rönnebeck (1885-1947) was part of the "Stieglitz circle" and settled in Denver where he served as director of the Denver Art Museum from 1926-1931. Rönnebeck married Louise Emerson (1901-1980) in 1926. Emerson was a painter and muralist who worked on New Deal mural commissions in Colorado and Wyoming.
Arnold Rönnebeck was born in Nassau, Germany and was a noted sculptor and lithographer. From 1905 to 1907, Rönnebeck studied architecture at the Royal Art School in Berlin and spent a year studying sculpture in Munich. In 1908, he moved to Paris where he furthered his studies in sculpture under Aristede Maillol and Emile Bourdelle. From 1914 to 1918, Rönnebeck served as an officer in the German Imperial Army during World War I. In 1923, he emigrated to the United States where he became part of the Stieglitz circle.
In 1925, Rönnebeck visited Mabel Dodge Luhan at her ranch in Taos, New Mexico, where he met his future wife, the painter Louise Emerson, born Mary Louise Harrington Emerson in 1901. After their marriage, the Rönnebecks lived in Denver where Arnold Rönnebeck worked as director of the Denver Art Museum and continued to execute commissioned works, including bas reliefs, portrait busts, and sculptures. He died in Denver, Colorado in 1947. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Louise Emerson Ronnebeck continued to receive commissions for frescoes and murals in Colorado and Bermuda and died in Denver, Colorado in 1980.
Related Material:
Correspondence between Arnold Rönnebeck and Alfred Stieglitz and Marsden Hartley is located at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.
Provenance:
The papers were donated in 2001 by Ursula Moore Works and Arnold Rönnebeck, the artists' daughter and son.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers 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.
Arnold Rönnebeck and Louise Emerson Ronnebeck papers, 1884-2002. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
This collection includes glass plate negatives, copy negatives and photographic prints taken and collected by Joseph Imhof, a lithographer and painter known for documenting Pueblo culture in New Mexico. These include images shot by Imhof in Acoma, Isleta, Santa Clara (K'apovi) and Taos Pueblos; glass plate negatives (copies) of Frank Rinehart portraits; original glass plate negatives made by Orlando Scott Goff among the Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) in Montana circa 1894; photographic prints of Imhof artworks; and photographs of Joseph and Sarah Imhof and their home in Taos, New Mexico.
Scope and Contents:
Series 1: Glass plate negatives contains 89 glass plate negatives donated by Joseph Imhof to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation in 1930. This includes—copies of Frank Rinehart portraits; Joseph Imhof photographs made in Acoma Pueblo and Isleta Pueblo in 1912; Orlando Scott Goff Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) photographs from Montana; and Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl) photographs from Vancouver Island, British Columbia (photographer unknown). The majority of the Rinehart glass plate negatives include two portraits side by side on one 8x10 plate, though copy negatives were made of the individual portraits. The copy negatives were created by the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation (NMAI's predecessor museum) during a photo conservation project in the 1960s.
Series 2: Photographic Prints includes 89 cataloged and 38 uncatalogued photographic prints from 1900-1964. This includes Joseph Imhof photographs made in K'apovi (Santa Clara) Pueblo; images of Imhof's drawings, sketches and paintings; photographs in Taos of the Imhof home and studio; and portraits of Sarah and Joseph Imhof.
The negatives have catalog numbers N19283-N19371. The prints have catalog numbers P19480-P19484, P19532-P19591.
Arrangement:
Arranged in two series by photographic type. Series 1: Glass plate Negatives, circa 1894, 1898, 1912, undated and Series 2: Photographic Prints, 1900-1964. Within the series they are arranged by catalog number with the uncatalogued prints at the end of Series 2.
Biographical / Historical:
Joseph Adam Imhof was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1871. After teaching himself lithography, Imhof was hired by Currier and Ives and eventually earned enough money from this job to buy a bookstore. In 1891 he eventually quit his job and sold the bookstore to pursue a formal art education in Europe which led to four years in Paris, Brussels, Antwerp and Munich where he apprenticed with several artists.
During this time, Imhof met Buffalo Bill Cody and was invited to join him in Antwerp to sketch and paint members of his "Wild West Show". Returning to New York, Imhof rented a studio and began to study the Iroquois Indians in New York and Canada. He spent the next ten years painting and improving his lithography, photography and color printing innovations - which financed his early painting career. He also freelanced for Allen and Ginter, painting his Indian Head Series for insertion on cards in boxes of cigarettes.
In 1897 Joseph married Sarah "Sallie" Ann Elizabeth Russell. In 1905 they visited the Southwest for the first time to record the ceremonies of the Pueblo Indians. Joseph built a studio in Albuquerque in 1906, and the Imhofs spent the next few years traveling around the region, though they eventually returned to New York. In 1929, Joseph and Sarah moved to New Mexico permanently and built their new home and studio in Taos Pueblo. There, he would have Native Puebloan models to live in his home for a time before he painted them. He also collected many artifacts and had the first lithography press in Taos. His series of paintings called Kivas and Corn, which he gifted to the University of New Mexico, was his last and most famous work. The Koshare Indian Museum also houses one of the largest collections of his paintings. Joseph Imhof died in 1955 leaving the remainder of his collection in the care of his wife and daughter.
Bibliography: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West, by Peggy and Harold Samuels; Joseph Imhof: Artist of the Pueblos, by Nancy Hopkins Reily and Lucille Enix, Koshare Indian Museum.
Related Materials:
A large collection of Joseph Imhof artwork and photographs can be found at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico.
The NMAI has a collection of Joseph Imhof artwork and lithographs donated by his wife Sarah in the 1960s.
For a bibliography on Joseph Imhof written by his wife, Sarah Imhof, see Box 255, Folder 7 in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation records (NMAI.AC.001).
Separated Materials:
The uncataloged photographic prints in Series 2 were originally housed with documents in Box 255, Folder 7 in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation records (NMAI.AC.001). They have been moved to be with the rest of the Joseph Imhof photographic collection.
Provenance:
The glass plate negatives were a Gift of Joseph Imhof in 1930. It is still unclear how/when the photographic prints were acquired by the museum, but they were likely donated by Sarah Imhof along with a collection of Imhof artwork in the 1960s.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Joseph A. Imhof photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.142; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
