Biographical information, correspondence, photographs, writings, research and subject files, works of art, motion picture film, interview transcripts, financial material, printed material and miscellany relating to Mitchell Siporin.
Personal photographs of Siporin, stage sets and art work by him.
Circa 1000 letters relating to his painting, his teaching, his service as a war artist during World War II and the Federal Art Project, including letters from Sheldon Cheney, Edith Halpert, Edward Rowan, Holger Cahill, Edward Millman, Max Abramowitz, Lee Nordness, and others; biographical material; notes and lectures; art history research files; sketches; price lists for his art works; expense accounts and tax records; blueprints and architectural plans; photographs, including WWII photographs and photographs of his art work; reproductions of his art work; exhibition catalogs; and clippings.
Letters from Siporin to his brother and sister-in-law, Seymour and Mary Sipporin, as well as letters to Siporin from Jack Levine and Carl Holty. Writings, including scripts for lectures, journal articles, an unfinished novel by Siporin, a journal describing his experience in North Africa during WWII as a war photographer and painter, notes taken during sabbaticals, and a eulogy written by Siporin for Henry Varnum Poor. Photographs of Siporin with friends and family, including Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Peter Pollack, Edward Millman, and Philip Guston and a portrait of Siporin by Arnold Newman, as well as Siporin's artwork. Subject files, including the Woodstock Art Conference, American Artists' Congress, the American Federation of Arts, WWII, the Army at War exhibit, Siporin's involvement in the WPA, as well material on Siporin's Haymarket drawings used for a 1934 issue of Left Front magazine. Works of art including two studies for St. Louis, Missouri, Post Office murals, and a sketch of Siporin by S.P. Kaufman.
A VHS video and DVD copy, transferred from 16mm motion picture film, showing Siporin at work on his St. Louis frescoes (b&w, 3 min., no sound). Interview transcripts of an interview with Siporin conducted by Geofrrey Swift as well as an interview with Siporin conducted by Melvyn Bragg for the BBC. Financial records, including sales contracts. Printed material, including exhibition catalogs and programs, and newspaper clippings as well as an exhibition poster from Babcock Galleries. Also included is a small amount of material relating to Jennie Siporin, Mitchell Siporin's mother.
Biographical / Historical:
Mitchell Siporin (1910-1976) was a painter and photographer from Newton, Massachusetts.
Provenance:
The collection has been donated in several installments beginning in 1978 when Siporin's widow Miriam lent materials for microfilming (reels 1328 and 1332). She also donated materials at that time and again in 1992, at which time it was also microfilmed (reels 2011-12 and 2061). In 2003, Judith Siporin, Siporin's daughter, donated the materials previously lent on reel 1332 and 16mm motion picture film. In 2005 Mary Siporin, Mitchell Siporin's sister-in law donated papers, and in 2008 Judith donated another installment.
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.
10 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 13 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Date:
1910-1964
Scope and Contents:
Photographs, correspondence, exhibition materials, sketchbooks, diaries, scrapbooks, slides, and an untranscribed interview.
REEL NDA 14: Photographs of Jonson's murals for the Public Works of Art Project in Albuquerque, N.M. and a chart showing the relative sizes of the murals.
REELS RJ 1-RJ 10: Biographical data; correspondence with family members, artists, and others, including Josef Albers, Emil Bisttram, Albert Bloch, Sheldon Cheney, Andrew Dasburg, Elaine de Kooning, Hilaire Hiler, Beatrice S. Levy, B.J.O. Nordfeldt, Eliot O'Hara, Georgia O'Keeffe, Agnes Pelton, Cady Wells, Jean Xceron, and others; diaries, 1919-1926, with sketches; notebooks; scrapbooks; lectures; photographs; and exhibition records.
REEL 76: Catalogs; photographs; slides and schedule of exhibits, 1922-1962, of the Jonson Gallery, University of New Mexico; and photographs of Jonson.
UNMICROFILMED: Photocopies of correspondence with administrators of the WPA Federal Art Project in New Mexico and the Treasury Section of Fine Arts regarding the design and execution of murals by Jonson and Willard Nash for the Library of the University of New Mexico; an untranscribed tape of an interview of Jonson conducted by Ed Garman, undated; and two color charts, one a color circle and the other showing the main colors Jonson used, both used by Jonson to illustrate a lecture delivered at the Chili Club, December 6, 1948 [lecture is on reel RJ 9, fr. 6343-6346.]
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; Albuquerque, N.M. Painted murals for the WPA Federal Art Project and other New Deal art programs. He taught at the University of New Mexico where the Jonson Gallery was erected in his honor, housing the most complete permanent collection of Jonson's work.
Related Materials:
Raymond Jonson papers also at Syracuse University.
Provenance:
Material on reels RJ 1-10 was lent for microilming by Jonson c/o the Jonson Gallery, 1964-1965; all other material donated, 1966-1975, by Jonson and his brother Arthur, through the gallery.
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.
Letters from Puma to his mother and family; letters from William Carlos Williams, Alfred Stieglitz, Julian Huxley, George Grosz, and others; letters from Sheldon Cheney to Puma's mother following Puma's death regarding exhibitions of his work and sales of his work. Also included are numerous articles on Puma, one by Cheney and by Williams; photographs of his work; clippings; and catalogs.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; New York, N.Y. Born in Santa Fe, New Mexico of Spanish and Indian ancestry. Moved to New York where he developed a personal theory of art called texturism which gave substance to both color and surface form through building up of colors.
Provenance:
The lender, Mrs. Ruth Friedman, is Puma's mother.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- History -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Journal of a 1922 European trip and correspondence (1915-1972), notes and writings, and printed material concerning Alfred Steiglitz, New Deal art and other topics.
REEL 3947: Seventeen letters from Alfred Stieglitz (1921-1938) discuss modern art, his 291 gallery, and the artists exhibiting there. Other correspondents include Aline Barnsdall, principally writing about the theatre, Simon Lissim, Dorothy Norman, Faith Vilas and Andrew Wyeth. Additional materials consist of notes (1939), Cheney's manuscript on "Stieglitz and Modern Art", writings (ca. 1930s) including "A Brief Delivered to the WPA-Federal Theatre Project," clippings (1921-1972), exhibition announcements and catalogs (1923-1969) and miscellaneous printed material.
REEL 4283: An undated letter to Cheney from Egmont Arens, editor of PLAYBOY, inviting him to a New Year's Eve party; and a 65-page journal (January 4 - March 13, 1922) in which Cheney records his impressions of museums, art galleries, architecture, and the theater in Europe. Cheney was especially interested in the state of "modern" art and was most impressed with Berlin, Munich, and Dresden. He also visited Amsterdam, Brussels, Oxford, London, Antwerp, Paris, and several places in Italy. In addition to critiques of the museums and art he saw, the journal records conversations with collectors and museum officials. Much of this work was in preparation for his book A PRIMER OF MODERN ART, published in 1924.
Biographical / Historical:
Art historian and writer; b. 1886; d. 1980.
Related Materials:
Papers of Sheldon Cheney, 1900-1980, are also located at UC Berkeley's The Bancroft Library.
Provenance:
The donor, John T. Cheney, is the son of Sheldon Cheney.
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.
Correspondence; financial records; a draft of a proposed publication about Cranbrook; letters regarding a biography of founder, George G. Booth, and of the Scripps family; miscellaneous items, including an address by George Booth to the Cranbrook School; and clippings.
Among the individual correspondents are Albert Kahn, M. W. Childs, Emil Lorch, Oscar Bach, Mario Karbel, Francis Scott Bradford, Jr., Katherine McEwen, I. Kirshmayer, René Gimpel, Sheldon Cheney, Carl Milles, John M. Lyle, Cecil Billington, Cyril Arthur Player, and Arthur Neville Kirk. Organizations figuring in the correspondence include the American Federation of Arts, the Society of Arts and Crafts, Detroit, the Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1974 by the Cranbrook Foundation.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Walker, Hudson D. (Hudson Dean), 1907-1976 Search this
Extent:
3.6 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 2 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sketchbooks
Date:
1909-1989
Scope and Contents:
Biographical material, correspondence, business records, writings and notes, printed material, scrapbooks, and photographs document Nordfeldt's career as a painter and instructor, and his widow's involvement after his death in exhibitions, biographies, and sales of his work.
REELS D166-D167: Biographical material includes a biographical sketch by Stanton L. Catlin, several letters from Nordfeldt's first wife Margaret to his second wife, Emily, and his nephew, Leonard Olson, in response to requests for biographical information, and biographical documents; correspondence of Emily and B.J.O., 1909-1959, with museum directors, gallery owners, patrons, artists, friends, universities, and others, mainly regarding the sale and exhibitions of his paintings and his teaching positions; artists' statements; exhibition catalogs; photographs of Nordfeldt; an excerpt from The Man on the Hilltop, by Arthur Davison Ficke; 5 sketchbooks; 3 scrapbooks; and an extensive catalog of Nordfeldt's paintings compiled by Emily, containing photographs and descriptive information.
Among the correspondents are Dewey Albinson, Watson Bidwell, Gina Knee Brook, Victor Candell, Howard N. Cook, Edward L. Davison, Howard Devree, William Dickerson, Constance Forsyth, Harriet Hanley of Harriet Hanley Gallery, Raymond Jonson, William Lester, A. Hyatt Mayor, Georgette Passedoit of the Passedoit Gallery, his student Roberta Shelton, Homer Saint-Gaudens, and Hudson D. Walker. Some of the letters are illustrated.
UNMICROFILMED: Resumes; correspondence, undated, 1923-1979, includes excerpts of letters from Nordfeldt to Constance Forsyth, 1942-1943 and Emily Abbott Nordfeldt, 1944; Emily Abbott Nordfeldt's correspondence with art collectors, art dealers, galleries and museums regarding exhibitions, gifts and sales of Nordfeldt's work; with Nordfeldt's biographers F. Van Deren Coke and J. Douglas Hale; and with the University of Minnesota, University Gallery, 1970-1972 regarding a Nordfeldt exhibition and the Nordfeldt Fund established by Emily; receipts and other business records; 1944-1979; writings and notes by Emily, ca.1930-1950, and others including the preface by Sheldon Cheney for Nordfeldt, the Painter by Coke, 1972;
a transcript of an interview with Raymond Jonson by Coke; printed material, including clippings, 1912-1984, exhibition catalogs, posters and announcements, undated, 1915-1991, notably a catalog of Nordfeldt's etchings shown at the Arthur H. Hahlo & Co. with an introduction by Robert W. Bruere, 1915; reproductions of graphic work for The Outlook and Harper's Monthly Magazine, 1910; miscellaneous printed material; a scrapbook of clippings and printed material, 1971-1980; photographs of Nordfeldt, undated 1910-1955, of the Santa Fe Players' production of "Grumpy," 1921; 3 photo albums of works of art, ca. 1930-1940; 10 seconds of motion picture film; and 2 sketches by Nordfeldt.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, etcher, block printer, engraver, lithographer, watercolorist, teacher; Santa Fe, N.M. and Lambertville, N.J. Born in Tullstorp, Scania, Sweden, and came to the United States in 1891. Taught at the Minneapolis School of Art and the University of Texas. Moved to Lambertville, N.J. in 1937 from Santa Fe, N.M.
Provenance:
Material on reels D166-D167 lent for microfilming 1963 by Emily Abbott Nordfeldt, Bror's widow. In 1991 her estate donated additional material as well as portions of the previously microfilmed material. Material previously lent but NOT subsequently donated includes portions of the biographical material; several letters; artists' statements; a few personal photographs; the 5 sketchbooks; items from the scrapbooks; and the catalog of paintings. (The collection file contains a list of specific reel and frame numbers.)
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.
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945 Search this
Extent:
39 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1965 September 5
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Herman Maril conducted 1965 September 5, by Dorothy Seckler, for the Archives of American Art.
Maril speaks of growing up in Baltimore, Maryland.; attending the Maryland Institute of Fine Arts; visiting museums in the Washington, D.C. area; exhibiting his paintings in Washington, D.C. galleries and New York City galleries; working for the Treasury Art Project; surviving the Great Depression; teaching at the Cummington School of Art in Cummington, Massachusetts; serving in the Army Air Corps during WWII; painting murals with the Public Buildings Administration; teaching at the King-Smith School, the Washington Workshop of the Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the University of Maryland; living in Provincetown; painting and his influences; being interviewed for books and a short film. Maril also recalls Roger Frye, Paul Cézanne, Henry Roben, Charles Walther, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Edward Rowan, Eleanor Roosevelt, Chaim Gross, Henri Matisse, Piero della Francesca, Mino Argento, Olin Dows, Giotto di Bondone, Georges Henri Rouault, Wassily Kandinksy, Charles Walthrop, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Eliot O'Hara, Sheldon Cheney, Florence Watson, Jacques Lipchitz, Mason F. Lord, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Herman Maril (1908-1986) was a painter and printmaker from Baltimore, Maryland.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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 others.
An art-lover's guide to the exposition [microform] : explanations of the architecture, sculpture and mural paintings, with a guide for study in the art gallery / by Sheldon Cheney
