Search Results

Creator:

Gray, Cleve, 1918-2004  Search this

Subject:

Richter, Hans  Search this

Marin, John  Search this

Lipchitz, Jacques  Search this

Pollock, Jackson  Search this

Grace, Louise N.  Search this

Gray, Francine du Plessix  Search this

Duchamp, Marcel  Search this

Dillenberger, Jane  Search this

Gabo, Naum  Search this

Ernst, Jimmy  Search this

Davis, Jim  Search this

Calder, Alexander  Search this

Barzun, Jacques  Search this

Weber, Nicholas Fox  Search this

Smith, David  Search this

Villon, Jacques  Search this

Pratt Institute  Search this

Rhode Island School of Design  Search this

Neuberger Museum of Art  Search this

Jacques Seligmann & Co  Search this

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Connecticut. Commission on Arts, Tourism, Culture, History and Film  Search this

Princeton University  Search this

Berry-Hill Galleries  Search this

Type:

Poems

Articles

Photographs

Reviews (documents)

Notes

Illustrations

Notebooks

Sketches

Drafts (documents)

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Interviews

Manuscripts

Paintings

Prints

Watercolors

Drawings

Lectures

Citation:

Cleve Gray papers, 1933-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Protest movements -- United States  Search this

Designers  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Women sculptors  Search this

Theme:

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9567

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211768

AAA_collcode_grayclev

Theme:

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211768

Artist:

Enrico Donati, American, b. Milan, Italy, 1909–2008  Search this

Medium:

Acrylic and granulated quartz on canvas

Dimensions:

54 X 72 IN. (137.2 X 182.9 CM.)

Type:

Painting

Date:

1958

Credit Line:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of Edwin Weisl, Jr., 1980

Accession Number:

80.115

See more items in:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection

Data Source:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/py24181863d-bbf5-49d2-817c-a95c61f68c42

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:hmsg_80.115

Creator:

Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this

Krasner, Lee, 1908-  Search this

Subject:

Greenberg, Clement  Search this

Cavaliere, Barbara  Search this

Davis, Bill  Search this

De Kooning, Willem  Search this

Dehner, Dorothy  Search this

Pollock, Jackson  Search this

Eames, Ray  Search this

Forge, Andrew  Search this

Friedman, B. H. (Bernard Harper)  Search this

Glaser, Jane R.  Search this

Benton, Thomas Hart  Search this

Brooks, James  Search this

Burkhardt, Rudy  Search this

Rouche, Burton  Search this

Rose, Barbara  Search this

Namuth, Hans  Search this

Motherwell, Robert  Search this

Pollock, Charles C.  Search this

Ossorio, Alfonso  Search this

Zogbaum, Wilfrid  Search this

Wright, William  Search this

Still, Clyfford  Search this

Smith, Tony  Search this

Wasserman, Tamara E.  Search this

Valliere, James  Search this

Isaacs, Reginald R.  Search this

Janis, Sidney  Search this

Johnson, Philip  Search this

Kadish, Reuben  Search this

Gray, Cleve  Search this

Gruen, John  Search this

Holmes, Doloris  Search this

Matter, Mercedes  Search this

McCoy, Sanford, Mrs.  Search this

Miller, Daniel  Search this

Miller, Robert  Search this

Maddox, Charles  Search this

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Martha Jackson Gallery  Search this

Type:

Motion pictures (visual works)

Video recordings

Photographs

Interviews

Sound recordings

Scrapbooks

Sketchbooks

Transcripts

Citation:

Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner papers, circa 1914-1984, bulk 1942-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Art -- Economic aspects  Search this

Abstract expressionism  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Theme:

Women  Search this

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)8943

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211129

AAA_collcode_polljack

Theme:

Women

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211129

Creator:

Gray, Cleve  Search this

Names:

Berry-Hill Galleries  Search this

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Connecticut. Commission on Arts, Tourism, Culture, History and Film  Search this

Jacques Seligmann & Co  Search this

Neuberger Museum of Art  Search this

Pratt Institute  Search this

Princeton University  Search this

Rhode Island School of Design  Search this

Barzun, Jacques, 1907-  Search this

Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976  Search this

Davis, Jim, 1901-1974  Search this

Dillenberger, Jane  Search this

Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968  Search this

Ernst, Jimmy, 1920-1984  Search this

Gabo, Naum, 1890-1977  Search this

Grace, Louise N.  Search this

Gray, Francine du Plessix  Search this

Lipchitz, Jacques, 1891-1973  Search this

Marin, John, 1870-1953  Search this

Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this

Richter, Hans, 1888-1976  Search this

Smith, David, 1906-1965  Search this

Villon, Jacques, 1875-1963  Search this

Weber, Nicholas Fox, 1947-  Search this

Extent:

9.2 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Poems

Articles

Photographs

Reviews (documents)

Notes

Illustrations

Notebooks

Sketches

Drafts (documents)

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Interviews

Manuscripts

Paintings

Prints

Watercolors

Drawings

Lectures

Date:

1933-2005

Summary:

The Cleve Gray papers, 1933-2005, measure 9.2 linear feet. Papers include biographical material, alphabetical files, writings, artwork, audio/visual records, artifacts, printed material, and photographs. Extensive alphabetical files contain personal and professional correspondence as well as subject files relating to projects and interests. Especially well-documented are: Gray's involvement with the Vietnam protest movement; and Threnody, his best-known work composed of fourteen large panels lamenting the dead of both sides sides in Vietnam, commissioned by the Neuberger Museum of Art.

Scope and Content Note:

The Cleve Gray papers, 1933-2005, measure 9.2 linear feet. Papers include biographical material, alphabetical files, writings, artwork, audio/visual records, artifacts, printed material, and photographs. Extensive alphabetical files contain personal and professional correspondence as well as subject files relating to projects and interests. Especially well-documented are: Gray's involvement with the Vietnam movement; and Threnody, his best-known work composed of fourteen large panels lamenting the dead of both sides sides in Vietnam, commissioned by the Neuberger Museum of Art.

Among the biographical material are award and membership certificates, biographical notes, and personal documentation.

The alphabetical files contain Cleve Gray's personal and professional correspondence, as well as subject files relating to projects and interests. Correspondence is with friends and family, colleagues, publishers, museum curators and directors, art dealers, collectors, and fans. Among the correspondents of note are: Jacques Barzun, James E. Davis, Naum Gabo, Louise N. Grace, Hans and Fridel Richter, and Jacques and Gaby Villon. Other substantial correspondence includes: Berry-Hill Galleries, Betty Parsons Gallery, Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Jacques Seligmann and Co., Neuberger Museum of Art, Pratt Institute, Princeton University, and Rhode Island School of Design. Subject files mostly consist of correspondence, but include printed material and some photographs. Among the subject files are: Art Collection of Cleve and Francine Gray, Artist-Dealer Consignments and Visual Artists' Rights Act of 1989, Artists' Tax Equity Act of 1979, Promised Gifts to Museums, Threnody, Vestments, and Vietnam Protest. Of particular interest are files relating to the Estate of Hans Richter (Cleve Gray, executor), and Gray's research correspondence and illustrations for his Cosmopolitan article "Women-Leaders of Modern Art."

Writings are manuscripts and drafts, research materials, notes, and miscellaneous writings by Cleve Gray and other authors. Those by Gray include articles and catalog introductions on a wide range of art-related topics, as well as book and exhibition reviews. Also found are a book proposal, texts and notes for lectures and talks, miscellaneous notes, poems, political statements, and student papers. Of particular interest are autobiographical notes in the form of a chronology that his biographer, Nicholas Fox Weber, cited as an "autochronology."

Among the writings by other authors are pieces about Cleve Gray including Nicholas Fox Weber's manuscript Cleve Gray. A significant amount of material relates to three books edited by Gray: David Smith by David Smith: Sculpture and Writings, Hans Richter, and John Marin. Research material survives for an unpublished volume, Naum Gabo. Also included are notes relating to his translation of A l'Infinitif by Marcel Duchamp. Jane Daggett Dillenberger is represented by a lecture, "The Resurrection in Art." The remaining items by other authors are unsigned; of particular interest is a small notebook of reminiscences and notes about Jackson Pollock.

Artwork by Cleve Gray consists mostly drawings and sketches, and a small number of paintings, prints, and watercolors. Works by other artists consist are an unsigned mobile of paper cut-outs, possibly by Alexander Calder, and a pencil drawing signed Dick (probably Richard Avedon).

Audio recordings are a radio broadcast featuring Cleve Gray, several lectures by Gray on John Marin, and a lecture titled "Meaning in the Visual Arts." Other recordings are of Hans Richter and an interview with Jimmy Ernst conducted by Francine du Plessix Gray. Also found is a videocassette of "Glenville School Students at SUNY (Lincoln Center Activity)."

Artifacts are a Chinese scroll representative of those that hung in Cleve Gray's studio, two of his paintbrushes, Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Association blue ribbon, and Neuberger Museum of Art Lifetime Achievement Award.

The vast majority of printed material - articles, clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, reproductions of art work, etc. - are about or by Cleve Gray. Miscellaneous items and publications mentioning Gray consist of annual reports, brochures, calendars, newsletters, programs, etc. Clippings about Vietnam and Vietnam protest memorabilia reflect his passionate involvement in the anti-war movement; a small number of these items mention Gray or were written by him.

Photographs are of artwork, events, people, places, and miscellaneous subjects. Most of the art work appearing in the photographs is by Cleve Gray and includes images of destroyed paintings. Also found is an original print of Photo Abstraction by Gray, circa 1934. Of particular note are photographs of Threnody, among them preparatory drawings and views of the work in progress. Photographs of artwork by other artists include Louise N. Grace, Jacques Lipchitz, John Marin, Hans Richter, and Jacques Villon.

Photographs of people are mainly portraits of Gray, and views of him with his wife and sons. Other individuals appearing in photographs are Hans Richter and some of Richter's descendants. Pictures of places consist of Gray's studio.

Events are an unidentified exhibition opening. Miscellaneous subjects are mostly exhibition installations. Illustrations consist of photographs published in David Smith by David Smith: Sculpture and Writings. Also found are small number of negatives and color transparencies.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into 8 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1943-circa 2001 (Box 1; 0.1 linear ft.)

Series 2: Alphabetical Files, 1936-2005 (Boxes 1-5, 9; 4.3 linear ft.)

Series 3: Writings, 1935-2000 (Boxes 5-6; 0.85 linear ft.)

Series 4: Artwork, circa 1933-1987 (Boxes 6, 9, OV 12; 0.45 linear ft.)

Series 5: Audio/Visual Records, 1971-1989 (Box 6; 0.25 linear ft.)

Series 6: Artifacts, 1957-1999 (Box 6, RD 11; 0.45 linear ft.)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1933-2005 (Boxes 7-8; 1.25 linear ft.)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1934-2002 (Boxes 8-10; 1.15 linear ft.)

Biographical Note:

Abstract Expressionist painter, sculptor, and writer Cleve Gray (1918-2004) lived and worked in Connecticut where he was politically active in the Vietnam protest movement and other liberal causes.

Born Cleve Ginsberg in New York City (the family changed its name to Gray in 1936), he attended the Ethical Culture School and at a young age developed a fascination with color and paint. At the urging of friends, Cleve's parents allowed him to accompany a school friend for lessons with George Bellows' student Antonia Nell. She encouraged and inspired the young artist, and a still life he painted in her class was shown at the National Academy of Design's 1932 annual exhibition. Miss Nell also introduced him to Louise N. Grace, an artist who became a good friend and had a lasting influence on him. While a student at Phillips Academy, Cleve studied painting with Bartlett Hayes and aspired to paint in France. Upon his graduation in 1936, he was awarded the Samuel F. B. Morse Prize for most promising art student.

Gray's mother was always supportive of his career choice. His businessman father, who didn't understand his son's desire to be an artist, insisted on a college education. Cleve chose Princeton, where he majored in art and archaeology, and studied painting with James E. Davis. His senior thesis was on Chinese landscape painting; both Eastern philosophy and art were long-term influences on Gray's work and outlook. He graduated summa cum laude in 1940, and then spent several months painting while living at the farm of a family friend in Mendham, New Jersey.

When a doctor suggeted that a dry climate might relieve sinus and asthma problems, Gray moved to Tucson, Arizona. Once settled in the desert, he contacted Louise N. Grace, whom he had met as a young teenager through his art instructor. Miss Grace, an artist and daughter of the founder of W. R. Grace and Co., was a highly cultured and independent woman older than his parents. The summer before Gray entered Phillips Academy, she had hired him to brush ground color onto canvases for murals she was painting for "Eleven Arches," her home in Tuscon then under construction. Miss Grace invited Gray to visit "Eleven Arches" to see the completed murals, and despite the substantial age difference, their friendship deepened; Gray found in her intellectual and spiritual guidance that was lacking in his own family. He remained in Tucson until enlisting in the U. S. Army in 1942, and they corresponded frequently during the the war. When a stroke in 1948 prevented Miss Grace from participating in the extensive tour of Europe she was arranging for a small group of friends, including Gray, she provided sufficient funds and insisted he make the trip on his own. Another stroke, suffered while Gray was traveling, left her in a coma; he was not permitted to see her again. Upon her death in 1954, Gray inherited "Eleven Arches."

Between 1943 and 1946, Gray was stationed in England, France, and Germany, serving in Army Signal Intelligence. Most of his work was performed at night, and he spent his free time drawing. While in London, Gray produced many colored pencil drawings of buildings that had been bombed. In France, a Red Cross volunteered to introduce him to Jacques Villon; although unfamiliar with the artist, Gray knew of Villon's brother, Marcel Duchamp, and accepted the invitation. Jacques and Gaby Villon lived near Gray's billet and he became a frequent visitor. Their friendship was important to his development as an artist. After being discharged from the Army in 1946, Gray remained in France to work with Villon who introduced him to the study of color and the concept of intellectual quality in painting. Gray also studied informally with André Lhote, Villon's former teacher. "American Painters in Paris," an exhibition presented in 1946 at Galerie Durand-Ruel, included work by Cleve Gray.

He returned to New York City in 1946. In the tight post-war rental market Gray managed to find a small room upstairs from a grocery store on East 106th Street for use as a studio. He commenced painting the London Ruins series based on drawings he had made during the war, and began thinking about exhibiting in New York. Gray secured introductions to Pierre Matisse, Curt Valentin, and Dorothy Miller. They encouraged him, but no opportunities came his way until Germain Seligmann, whose gallery was expanding its scope to include contemporary art, followed the advice of Curt Valentin and looked at Gray's work. Gary's first solo exhibition, held at Jacques Seligmann and Co., included selections from the London Ruins series, paintings done in Maine and Arizona, and a few portraits. The New York Times called it "an auspicious first," and one of the London Ruins series was selected by Edward Alden Jewell for the "Critic's Exhibition" at Grand Central Gallery.

Gray found New York City too frenetic. In 1949 he bought a large, old house in Warren, Connecticut, and lived and worked at "Graystones" for the remainder of his life. Half of a 6-car garage was converted to a studio; many years later, his studio moved to a barn, its renovation and design planned by sculptor and architect Tony Smith.

He married Francine du Plessix in 1957. Always interested in literature and philosophy, in the 1960s Francine du Plessix Gray began contributing articles to The New Yorker and is still affiliated with the magazine. Her reviews and articles appeared in prominent publications, and she wrote several award-winning novels and biographies. Their sons, Thaddeus and Luke (now a painter), were born in 1959 and 1961. Francine's mother, Tatiana du Plessix (the hat designer Tatiana of Saks), and step-father, the sculptor Alexander Liberman (also former art director of Vogue and later editorial director of Condé Nast publications) became Cleve Gray's closest friends.

The paintings and drawings of Cleve Gray - first consisting of figures and portraits, and then abstract compositions - were often produced in series. The earliest series, London Ruins, grew from the colored pencil drawings made while stationed in London during World War II. Travels to France, Italy, Greece, Morocco, Hawaii, Spain, Egypt, Japan, and Czechoslovakia, inspired many series, among them: Etruscan, Augury, Ceres, Demeter Landscape, Hera, Morocco, Hawaii, Ramses, Perne, Hatshepsut, Roman Walls, Zen, and Prague. His hometown, the Holocaust, and musicians inspired other series: Warren, Sleepers Awake!, Bela Bartok, and Four Heads of Anton Bruckner. Some series were works on paper, others were collage canvases, and a few series later spawned prints. Gray began using acrylics in the 1940s. Although the medium offered many benefits, he did not always like its appearance and frequently returned to oils. Around 1966 Gray was painting almost exclusively with acrylic, and eventually developed a technique of thinning the paint and applying successive layers of color (sometimes by pouring or with a sponge) on cotton duck rather than traditional canvas.

Gray was attracted to sculpture, too, working in that medium at different points in his career. His first sculpture, in plaster, was completed in 1959. In the early 1960s he visited a commercial sand-casting foundry and became excited about learning to cast in bronze. He made about a dozen sculptures to cast in sand, but due to too much undercutting, their casting became too difficult a problem. Lava flows seen while in Hawaii during 1970 and 1971 inspired a return to sculpture. This time, he used wood, papier maché, and metal. Gray then decided these pieces should be cast in bronze, and he was determined to do it himself. Friends taught him the lost wax process and he began working at the Tallix Foundry in Peekskill, New York where, over the next year, he cast about forty bronzes.

Gray's best known work is Threnody, a lament for the dead of both sides in Vietnam. In 1972, Gray received a commission to fill a very large gallery of the soon-to-open Neuberger Museum of Art (State University of New York, College at Purchase) designed by Philip Johnson. Friends of the Neuberger Museum paid his expenses and Gray, who was enormously excited about the project he considered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, donated his time. Developing plans for the execution of Threnody consumed most of his time during 1972 and 1973. Composed of a series of fourteen panels, each approximately twenty feet square, the piece presented a number of technical challenges. It was constructed and painted in situ during the summer and early fall of 1973. Since then, Threnody has been reinstalled at the Neuberger Museum of Art on several occasions.

Gray was commissioned to design liturgical vestments for two Episcopal churches in Connecticut in the 1970s. A chasuble, stoles, and a mitre were commissioned by the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut in 1984.

He won the "Outdoor Art at the Station Competition," for Union Station, Hartford, Connecticut. His very large porcelain enamel tile mural, Movement in Space, was installed on the façade of the transportation center in 1988.

Gray began writing occasional articles and exhibition reviews in the late 1940s. His concern with rational structure in art led him to question Abstract Expressionism and write "Narcissus in Chaos." This article, published in 1959 by The American Scholar, drew considerable attention. In 1960, Cosmopolitan published "Women - Leaders of Modern Art" that featured Nell Blaine, Joan Brown, Elaine de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Sonia Gretchoff, Grace Hartigan, Ethel Magafan, Louise Nevelson, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Between 1960 and 1970, Gray was a contributing editor of Art In America, producing numerous articles (a few co-authored with Francine) and reviews for the periodical. He edited three books, David Smith by David Smith: Scupture and Writings, Hans Richter, and John Marin, all published by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, and translated Marcel Duchamp's A l'Infinitif.

During the early 1960s, Gray became intensely focused on the situation in Vietnam. His first artistic response came in 1963 with Reverend Quan Duc, painted to commemorate a Buddhist monk who had immolated himself. Francine, too, felt strongly about the issue and over time the couple became increasingly active in the anti-war movement. They joined a number of organizations and helped to found a local chapter of Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam. The years 1968 and 1969 were an especially intense and active period for the Grays. They protested, wrote and spoke out against the war, raised funds to support anti-war political candidates, and on a few occasions were arrested and jailed. Writing for Art in America, editing the book series, and anti-war activities left little time for his art. In 1970 Gray refocused his attention on painting.

Beginning in 1947, Gray was always represented by a New York Gallery: Jacques Seligmann and Co. (1947-1959), Staempfli Gallery (1960-1965), Saidenberg Gallery (1965-1968), Betty Parsons Gallery (1968-1983), Armstrong Gallery (1984-1987), and Berry-Hill Galleries (1988-2003). He was represented by galleries in other cities, as well, but not as consistently or for such long periods.

He exhibited extensively in group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally. In addition to numerous solo exhibitions presented by the dealers who represented Gray, there were retrospective exhibitions at: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, Columbus Museum of Art, Krannert Art Museum (University of Illinois, Champaign), Princeton University Art Museum, Rhode Island School of Design, and Wadsworth Atheneum.

Many museums' permanent collections include the work of Cleve Gray, among them: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Butler Institute of American Art, Columbus Museum of Art, Neuberger Museum of Art (SUNY, College at Purchase), the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Newark Museum, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Phillips Collection, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), Smithsonian Institution, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Yale University Art Gallery.

Cleve Gray served as artist-in-residence at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art in 1963 and at the Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1970, both sponsored by Ford Foundation programs. In 1980, he was appointed an artist-in-residence at the American Academy in Rome, where Francine concurrently served as a writer-in-residence; they returned for shorter periods during each of the subsequent seven years. Cleve Gray was presented the Connecticut Arts Award in 1987, and the Neuberger Museum of Art Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. He was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Hartford in 1992, and was elected a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1998. In addition, he was a trustee of the Neuberger Museum of Art, New York Studio School, Rhode Island School of Design, and Wadsworth Atheneum.

Cleve Gray hit his head and suffered a massive subdural hematoma after falling on ice outside of his home. He died the following day, December 8, 2004.

Separated Material:

Exhibition catalogs and announcements and two scrapbooks donated to the Archives in 1967 and 1968 were microfilmed on reels D314-D315. Items on reel D315, transferred to the Smithsonian American Art Museum Library in 1975, are not described in this finding aid.

Provenance:

The Cleve Gray papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Mr. Gray in 1967 and 1968. The bulk of the collection was given by his widow, Francine du Plessix Gray, in 2007 and 2008.

Restrictions:

Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordigs 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:

Sculptors -- Connecticut  Search this

Painters -- Connecticut  Search this

Topic:

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Protest Movements -- United States  Search this

Designers  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Women sculptors  Search this

Genre/Form:

Poems

Articles

Photographs

Reviews (documents)

Notes

Illustrations

Notebooks

Sketches

Drafts (documents)

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Interviews

Manuscripts

Paintings

Prints

Watercolors

Drawings

Lectures

Citation:

Cleve Gray papers, 1933-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.grayclev

See more items in:

Cleve Gray papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw92d3d47d0-baa3-4085-80f2-9b5d1730c052

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-grayclev

Creator:

Liberman, Alexander, 1912-1999  Search this

Names:

André Emmerich Gallery  Search this

Bennington College  Search this

Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum  Search this

Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1902-1981  Search this

Beaton, Cecil Walter Hardy, Sir, 1904-  Search this

Cartier-Bresson, Henri, 1908-  Search this

Chernow, Burt  Search this

Dalí, Salvador, 1904-1989  Search this

De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997  Search this

Dietrich, Marlene  Search this

Emmerich, André  Search this

Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011  Search this

Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994  Search this

Hopps, Walter  Search this

Klein, William  Search this

Kline, Franz, 1910-1962  Search this

Leibovitz, Annie, 1949-  Search this

Motherwell, Robert  Search this

Mulas, Ugo  Search this

Namuth, Hans  Search this

Newman, Barnett, 1905-1970  Search this

Newton, Helmut, 1920-  Search this

Parks, Gordon, 1912-2006  Search this

Parsons, Betty  Search this

Penn, Irving  Search this

Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973  Search this

Ritts, Herb  Search this

Snowdon, Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of, 1930-  Search this

Steichen, Edward, 1879-1973  Search this

Vogel, Lucien  Search this

Vreeland, Diana  Search this

Extent:

59 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Drafts (documents)

Drawings

Scrapbooks

Interviews

Photographs

Sketches

Sound recordings

Transcripts

Video recordings

Date:

circa 1912-2003

Summary:

The papers of sculptor, painter, and publishing executive Alexander Semeonovitch Liberman date from circa 1913-2003 and measure 59 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical materials; correspondence with family, galleries, museums, and many artists; numerous recorded interviews and transcripts with and by Liberman, including one of Walter Hopps; writings and writing project files; extensive subject files maintained by Liberman; exhibition files; printed materials; scattered drawings; and extensive photographs of Liberman's artwork, exhibitions, Liberman, and of Liberman with notable artists, dealers, collectors, and critics. Many of the photographs were taken by noted photograhers. Also found within the papers are unidentified sound and video recordings. Additional sound and video recordings have been integrated into other series.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of sculptor, painter, and publishing executive Alexander Semeonovitch Liberman date from circa 1913-2003 and measure 59 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical materials; correspondence with family, galleries, museums, and many artists; numerous recorded interviews and transcripts with and by Liberman, including one of Walter Hopps; writings and writing project files; extensive subject files maintained by Liberman; exhibition files; printed materials; scattered drawings; and extensive photographs of Liberman's artwork, exhibitions, Liberman, and of Liberman with notable artists, dealers, collectors, and critics. Many of the photographs were taken by noted photograhers. Also found within the papers are unidentified sound and video recordings. Additional sound and video recordings have been integrated into other series.

Biographical materials include awards, biographies and chronologies, family history materials, membership cards, writings by Liberman's mother, and a scrapbook about his father.

Correspondence is extensive and concerns both personal and professional affairs. It is with artists and photographers, art magazines, organizations and museums, art collectors, businesses, and family. Notable correspondents include Cecil Beaton, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Burt Chernow, Salvador Dali, Robert Motherwell, Helen Frankenthaler, Barnett and Annalee Newman, Additional correspondence is found within the subject files compiled and organized by Liberman (series 6).

There are sound and video recordings and transcripts of interviews with and by Liberman, most completed for broadcast television and radio shows. Of particular interest are sound cassettes, a sound tape reel, and a transcript of an interview with Walter Hopps by Liberman.

Writings by Liberman include essays, short stories, and a play entitled 2+1. Writing project files were organized by Liberman for writing projects for which he was the author, collaborator, or subject. There are numerous files concerning Barbara Rose's book about Liberman Alexander Liberman that also include recorded interviews with Liberman and transcripts. Other books for which there are files include The Art and Technique of Color Photography, The Artist in His Studio, Vogue: The First 100 Years, Vogue History of Fashion Photography, and others.

Subject files were organized by Liberman for a wide variety of work projects, activities, topics, and entities of interest. Files cover commissions, the filming and distribution of the 1981 documentary film Alexander Liberman: A Lifetime Burning, Liberman's personal collection of art, gifts of artwork, and his relationship with galleries and dealers, particularly André Emmerich Gallery.

Exhibition files document exhibitions of Liberman's artwork, and include those held at André Emmerich Gallery, Bennington College, the Guggenheim, Museum of Modern Art, among other venues. Files contain correspondence, contracts, photographs, plans and drawings, notes, etc. Also found are inventory records of Liberman's artwork in the form of lists, index cards, bound registers, and notes.

Ten linear feet of printed materials include exhibition announcements and catalogs, books and book flyers, brochures, calendars, clippings, postcards, posters, press releases, and other materials.

There are scattered drawings and sketches found within the papers, some of which are sketches of sculpture pieces.

Nearly one-half of the collection is comprised of photographs of Liberman and his artwork, and of artists and colleagues, many of which were taken by noted photographers, including Cecil Beaton, Henri Cartier-Bresson, William Klein, Henri Lartique, Annie Leibowitz, Inge Morath, Ugo Mulas, Hans Namuth, Helmut Newton, Gordon Parks, Irving Penn, Herb Ritts, and Lord Snowden, among others. Subjects of note found in the photographs include Alfred Barr, Salvador Dali, Marlene Dietrich, Willem de Kooning, Andre Emmerich, Helen Frankenthaler, Clement Greenberg, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Betty Parsons, Pablo Piccaso, Edward Steichen, Lucien Vogel, and Diana Vreeland, among many others.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into twelve series. Photographs retain Liberman's original numerical and alpha schemas and the corresponding indexes are found in the Inventory Records in Series 8.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, circa 1930s-1999 (1 linear foot; Box 1, 56)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1944-1997 (4 linear feet; Boxes 1-5, 56, OV 65)

Series 3: Interviews, 1946-1996 (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 5-7, 56)

Series 4: Writings, 1948-1995 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 7-8)

Series 5: Writing Project Files, 1951-1997 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 8-9, 56)

Series 6: Subject Files, 1946-2000 (6 linear feet; Boxes 9-15, 56, OV 66-67)

Series 7: Exhibition Files, 1954-1991 (0.7 linear feet; Boxes 15-16, 56, OV 68)

Series 8: Inventory Records, 1938-1998 (6 linear feet; Boxes 16-22)

Series 9: Printed Materials, 1932-2003 (10 linear feet; Boxes 22-31, 56-57, OV 69)

Series 10: Artwork, circa 1940s-1990s (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 32, 57, OV 70)

Series 11: Photographic Materials, circa 1912-1999 (26 linear feet; Boxes 32-55, 57-64, OVs 71-77)

Series 12: Unidentified Sound and Video Recordings, circa 1941-1999 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 55, 64)

Biographical / Historical:

Alexander S. Liberman (1912-1999) was a sculptor, painter, photographer, graphic designer, writer, and publishing executive who worked primarily in New York City. He held senior positions at Condé Nast Publications for 32 years.

Alexander Semeonovitch Liberman was born in 1912 in Kiev Russia. He was educated in London and the École des Beaux Art in Paris. He began his journalistic career in Paris at VU magazine owned by Lucien Vogel and there he befriended photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brassai, Robert Capa, and André Kértesz. He served in the French army for a short time in 1940, but he and his family fled Paris in 1941 to New York City. Condé Nast hired Liberman in 1941 as an assistant to the art director of Vogue magazine. Liberman became art director in 1943 and editorial director of Condé Nast Publications in 1962, a position he held until his retirement in 1994.

Liberman was also a photographer whose subjects included Georges Braque, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Marlene Dietrich, among others, many represented in his 1960 book entitled The Artist in his Studio and Marlene: An Intimate Photographic Memoir (1992). He was also the subject of the work of noted photographers Cecil Beaton, Irving Penn, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gordon Parks, Lord Snowden, Jill Krementz, Henri Lartique, Annie Leibovitz, and Hans Namuth.

Liberman took up painting and sculpting in the 1950s. Although his first exhibition was at the Betty Parsons Gallery, he was primarily associated with the André Emmerich Gallery in New York City. His monumental sculptures were mostly assembled from industrial parts and painted and can be seen in museums and public sites worldwide.

Liberman was briefly married to Hildegarde Sturm. He married his second wife Tatiana Yacovleff du Plessix in 1942. Before their marriage, they fled occupied France together. She was a noted hat designer, working for Henri Bendel and Saks, where she became known as Tatiania of Saks. She died in 1991 and, in 1992, Liberman married Melinda Pechangco, a nurse who had earlier cared for Tatiania. Alexander Liberman died in 1999 in Miami, Florida.

Related Materials:

Related collections found at the Archives of American Art include the Dodie Kazanjian and Calvin Tomkins research materials on Alexander Liberman and numerous collections of gallery records.

Provenance:

The Alexander Liberman papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Liberman Art Partners in 2010 via Dodie Kazanjian.

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 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:

Publishers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Graphic designers  Search this

Topic:

Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Photography  Search this

Sculptors -- France -- Paris  Search this

Fashion photography  Search this

Painters -- France -- Paris  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Photographers -- France -- Paris  Search this

Genre/Form:

Drafts (documents)

Drawings

Scrapbooks

Interviews

Photographs

Sketches

Sound recordings

Transcripts

Video recordings

Citation:

Alexander Liberman Papers, circa 1912-2003. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund.

Identifier:

AAA.libealex

See more items in:

Alexander Liberman papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw942e7024f-773e-4db8-b545-31138550580a

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-libealex

Container:

Box 91 of 117

Type:

Archival materials

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 313, National Collection of Fine Arts, Central Administrative File, Records

See more items in:

Central Administrative File, Records

Central Administrative File, Records / Series 11: STATE AND FOREIGN COUNTRY FILES / Box 91

Archival Repository:

Smithsonian Institution Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-sia-faru0313-refidd1e16208

Collection Creator:

Bearden, Romare, 1911-1988  Search this

Container:

Box 1, Folder 3

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1944-1950

Collection Restrictions:

The bulk of the collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website. Use of material not digitized requires an appointment.

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:

Romare Bearden papers, 1937-1982. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art

See more items in:

Romare Bearden papers

Romare Bearden papers / Series 2: Correspondence

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9d89639f8-98b7-4184-bf98-b5fe06385005

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-bearroma-ref20

Creator:

Bermingham, Peter  Search this

Subject:

George, Thomas  Search this

Citation:

Peter Bermingham papers, 1975-1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Theme:

Research and writing about art  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)5928

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)208769

AAA_collcode_bermpete

Theme:

Research and writing about art

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_208769

Creator:

Okada, Kenzo, 1902-1982  Search this

Citation:

Kenzo Okada exhibition catalogs, 1965-1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Asian American art  Search this

Asian American artists  Search this

Japanese American art  Search this

Japanese American artists  Search this

Asian American painters  Search this

Theme:

Asian American  Search this

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)6965

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209094

AAA_collcode_okadkenz

Theme:

Asian American

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209094

Creator:

Ludgin, Earle, 1898-1981  Search this

Ludgin, Mary, 1894-1962  Search this

Subject:

Seligmann, Kurt  Search this

Albright, Ivan  Search this

Bess, Forrest  Search this

Burg, Copeland Charles  Search this

Fink, Peter  Search this

Rattner, Abraham  Search this

Citation:

Earle and Mary Ludgin papers, 1930-1983. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting -- United States  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Theme:

Chicago's Art-Related Archival Materials: A Terra Foundation Resource  Search this

Patronage  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7055

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209188

AAA_collcode_ludgearl

Theme:

Chicago's Art-Related Archival Materials: A Terra Foundation Resource

Patronage

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209188

Creator:

Schapiro, Meyer, 1904-1996  Search this

Subject:

Brodie, Gandy  Search this

Bess, Forrest  Search this

Citation:

Meyer Schapiro papers, 1949-1982. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Art -- Study and teaching -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Painting, American  Search this

Theme:

Research and writing about art  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7182

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209319

AAA_collcode_schameye

Theme:

Research and writing about art

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209319

Creator:

Parsons, Betty, 1900-1982  Search this

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Subject:

Bess, Forrest  Search this

Reinhardt, Ad  Search this

Rothko, Mark  Search this

Pollock, Jackson  Search this

Congdon, William  Search this

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Type:

Sketchbooks

Interviews

Video recordings

Drawings

Citation:

Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991, bulk 1946-1983. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Women art dealers  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Abstract expressionist  Search this

Theme:

Art Gallery Records  Search this

Art Market  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7211

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209348

AAA_collcode_parsbett

Theme:

Art Gallery Records

Art Market

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209348

Creator:

Elsen, Albert Edward, 1927-1995  Search this

Subject:

Jenkins, Paul  Search this

Lipton, Seymour  Search this

Rodin, Auguste  Search this

Golub, Leon  Search this

Schapiro, Miriam  Search this

Citation:

Albert Edward Elsen papers, 1942-ca. 1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Sculpture, Modern -- 19th century -- United States  Search this

Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Theme:

Research and writing about art  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7280

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209431

AAA_collcode_elsealbe

Theme:

Research and writing about art

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209431

Creator:

Kessler, Charles, 1943-  Search this

Subject:

Still, Clyfford  Search this

McCanless, Rosamond  Search this

Citation:

Charles Kessler letters, 1973-1974. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Painting, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Theme:

Research and writing about art  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)7720

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209884

AAA_collcode_kesschar

Theme:

Research and writing about art

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209884

Creator:

Morgan, Maud Cabot, 1903-1999  Search this

Type:

Scrapbooks

Video recordings

Citation:

Maud Cabot Morgan papers, 1938-circa 1994. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Abstract expressionism  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Theme:

Women  Search this

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9783

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212210

AAA_collcode_morgmaud

Theme:

Women

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_212210

Creator:

Jacques Seligmann & Co.  Search this

Subject:

Hauke, Cesar M. de (Cesar Mange)  Search this

Glaenzer, Eugene  Search this

Haardt, Georges  Search this

Seligman, Germain  Search this

Seligmann, Arnold  Search this

Parker, Theresa D.  Search this

Waegen, Rolf Hans  Search this

Trevor, Clyfford  Search this

Seligmann, René  Search this

Seligmann, Jacques  Search this

De Hauke & Co., Inc.  Search this

Jacques Seligmann & Co  Search this

Eugene Glaenzer & Co.  Search this

Germain Seligmann & Co.  Search this

Gersel  Search this

Type:

Gallery records

Citation:

Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Mackay, Clarence Hungerford, 1874-1938 -- Art collections  Search this

Schiff, Mortimer L. -- Art collections  Search this

Arenberg, duc d' -- Art collections  Search this

Liechtenstein, House of -- Art collections  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting -- France -- Paris  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

World War, 1939-1945 -- Art and the war  Search this

La Fresnaye, Roger de, 1885-1925  Search this

Art, Renaissance  Search this

Decorative arts  Search this

Art treasures in war  Search this

Art, European  Search this

Theme:

Art Gallery Records  Search this

Art Market  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9936

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212486

AAA_collcode_jacqself

Theme:

Art Gallery Records

Art Market

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_212486

Creator:

Murch, Walter Tandy, 1907-1967  Search this

Subject:

Murch, Katherine  Search this

Murch, Walter Scott  Search this

Kepes, Gyorgy  Search this

Scott, Katharine  Search this

Dubuffet, Jean  Search this

Bocour, Leonard  Search this

Bonnard, Pierre  Search this

Gonzalez, Xavier  Search this

Bishop, Isabel  Search this

Rhode Island School of Design  Search this

Brooklyn Museum  Search this

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Type:

Diaries

Awards

Woodcuts

Resumes

Lecture notes

Drawings

Photographs

Notebooks

Sketches

Notes

Sketchbooks

Citation:

Walter Tandy Murch papers, 1880-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Painting, American  Search this

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Theme:

Diaries  Search this

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)10097

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212978

AAA_collcode_murcwalt

Theme:

Diaries

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_212978

Creator:

Rand, Harry  Search this

Subject:

Jackson, Martha Kellogg  Search this

Dine, Jim  Search this

Falkenstein, Claire  Search this

Gilhooly, David  Search this

Hartigan, Grace  Search this

Hultberg, John  Search this

Jenkins, Paul  Search this

Katz, Alex  Search this

Nevelson, Louise  Search this

Stanczak, Julian  Search this

Wayne, June  Search this

Breeskin, Adelyn Dohme  Search this

Brooks, James  Search this

Calcagno, Lawrence  Search this

Diebenkorn, Richard  Search this

National Museum of American Art (U.S.)  Search this

Martha Jackson Gallery  Search this

Citation:

Research material on Martha Jackson, 1953-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Theme:

Research and writing about art  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)10431

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213832

AAA_collcode_randharr

Theme:

Research and writing about art

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213832

Creator:

Sturm, Dorothy M., 1910-1988  Search this

Subject:

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Citation:

Dorothy Sturm papers, 1913-1989. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Theme:

Women  Search this

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)10812

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)214546

AAA_collcode_sturdoro

Theme:

Women

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_214546

Creator:

American Museum of Natural History.  Search this

Subject:

Parsons, Betty  Search this

Shapiro, Harry L. (Harry Lionel)  Search this

Newman, Barnett  Search this

Wakefield Gallery  Search this

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Citation:

American Museum of Natural History, Dept. of Anthropology correspondence with Barnett Newman and Betty Parsons, 1944-1946. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Theme:

Research and writing about art  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)10978

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)214812

AAA_collcode_amermuse

Theme:

Research and writing about art

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_214812