The papers of art historian, curator, and educator Patricia Hills measure 39.1 linear feet and 0.113 GB and date from circa 1900-2015, bulk 1968-2009. Central to this collection are project files documenting professional work that resulted in lectures, publications, exhibitions, art history courses on numerous artists including Alice Neel, Jacob Lawrence, May Stevens, Rudolf Baranik, and John Singer Sargent. These files and files documenting Hills's tenure at the Whitney Museum of American Art include planning documents, research files, correspondence, manuscripts and accompanying publications, as well as other printed materials. Some of this material is in digital format. The collection also contains correspondence with art historians, artists, curators, and others, notably Lawrence Alloway, Lowery Stokes Sims, Lucy R. Lippard, T.J. Clark, Leon Golub, and Donald Kuspit; professional files documenting grants and residencies awarded and consulting work; artist and subject files; other writings; and printed and digital material. Membership and affiliation records document Hills' service to the profession, including Women's Caucus for Art and the Visual Culture/Art History Caucus of the American Studies Association.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of art historian, curator, and educator Patricia Hills measure 39.1 linear feet and 0.113 GB and date from circa 1900-2015, bulk 1968-2009. Central to this collection are project files documenting professional work that resulted in lectures, publications, exhibitions, art history courses on numerous artists including Alice Neel, Jacob Lawrence, May Stevens, Rudolf Baranik, and John Singer Sargent. These files and files documenting Hills's tenure at the Whitney Museum of American Art include planning documents, research files, correspondence, manuscripts and accompanying publications, as well as other printed materials. Some material is in digital format. The collection also contains correspondence with art historians, artists, curators, and others, notably Lawrence Alloway, Lowery Stokes Sims, Lucy R. Lippard, T.J. Clark, Leon Golub, and Donald Kuspit; professional files documenting grants and residencies awarded and consulting work; artist and subject files; other writings; and printed and digital material. Membership and affiliation records document Hills' service to the profession, including Women's Caucus for Art and the Visual Culture/Art History Caucus of the American Studies Association.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 12 series.
Series 1: Correspondence, circa 1958-2019 (2.6 Linear Feet; Boxes 1-2, 25)
Series 2: Project Files, circa 1900-2011 (15.2 Linear Feet; Boxes 3-13, 25-30, OV24, 0.041 GB; ER01-ER02)
Series 3: Whitney Museum Files, circa 1900-2015, bulk 1973-1987 (4.1 Linear Feet; Boxes 13-16, 30)
Series 4: Boston University Files, circa 1974-2015 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 30-31)
Series 5: Professional Files, circa 1959-2019 (2.4 linear feet; Boxes 17-18, 32)
Series 6: Membership and Affiliation Records, circa 1969-2013 (2 linear feet; Boxes 18-20, 32)
Series 7: Museum of Fine Arts Restructuring Files, circa 1997-2005 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 32-33)
Series 8: Writings, circa 1962-2019 (5.4 linear feet; Boxes 20-21, 34-38, 0.068 GB; ER03, ER05)
Series 9: Teaching Files, circa 1974-2019 (0.9 linear feet; Box 39)
Series 10: Artist Files, circa 1958-2014 (0.9 Linear Feet; Box 21)
Series 11: Subject Files, circa 1961-2007 (1 Linear Feet; Box 22, 0.004 GB; ER04)
Series 12: Printed Material, circa 1970-2010 (1 Linear Feet; Box 23)
Biographical / Historical:
Patricia Hills (1936-) is an art historian, curator, and Professor Emerita of American Art and African American Art at Boston University. Hills obtained a B.A. from Stanford University in Modern European Literature, an M.A. from Hunter College in 1968, where she was advised by Leo Steinberg, and her PhD. from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. Hills worked as Associate and later Adjunct Curator of 18th and 19th Century American Art at the Whitney Museum of American Art from 1972 until 1987. During that time she organized exhibitions including John Singer Sargent (1986) while progressively becoming more invested as an educator, with teaching positions at Hunter College and the Institute of Fine Arts. In February 2011 she received the Distinguished Teaching of Art History award from the College Art Association.
Hills served as the Director of the Boston University Art Gallery from 1980-1989, and began her tenure in the art history department as Associate Professor in 1978. She was co-founder of the Boston Chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art and was highly active in the College Art Association and American Studies Association. She has held fellowships at numerous institutions including the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum Research Center, and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
As a principal author she is responsible for organizing a number of monograph and exhibition catalog publishing efforts including Painting Harlem Modern: The Art of Jacob Lawrence (2010), May Stevens (2005), Eastman Johnson: Painting America (co-authored, 1999), John Singer Sargent (1986), Alice Neel (1983), Social Concern and Urban Realism: American Painting of the 1930s (1983), Turn-of-the-Century America: Paintings, Graphics, Photographs, 1890-1910 (1977), The Painters' America: Rural and Urban Life, 1810-1910 (1974), and The American Frontier: Images and Myths (1973). In addition, Patricia Hills has authored numerous articles for art publications, served as reviewer for College Art Association's CAA Reviews, and has contributed greatly as a peer reviewer and editor. From 1990 to 1999, she served as series editor for six books in the Cambridge Studies in American Visual Culture series, published by Cambridge University Press.
Provenance:
Donated in 2006, 2018 and 2019 by Patricia Hills.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings and born-digital records with no duplicate 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.
Writings by Patricia Hills: The donor has retained all intellectual rights, including copyright, that she may own.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Egyptian Art Dept Search this
Extent:
0.2 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1934-1991
Scope and Contents:
Biographical material including an account "Studies and Career" (3 p.), a resume, bibliography, and a Master Craftsman award certificate from the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society, 1977; letters, 1948-1991, regarding Chapman's catalog drawings, an exhibition at the Library of the Boston Athenaeum, and her promotion to associate curator in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Egyptian Dept.; a project file, 1950, on the publication The Index of American Design, including a typed excerpt from the book and advertisements; printed material, 1936-1983, consisting of exhibition announcements, a catalog, In Tribute to Suzanne E. Chapman, 1970, and clippings; and three photographs of Chapman, 1934 and 1964.
Biographical / Historical:
Watercolorist, draftsman, instructor; Boston, Mass. Born 1903. Died 1990. Helped develop method of rendering art objects in watercolor with great accuracy of color, texture and form that was adopted by the Index of American Design in the 1930s for use by field artists. For most of her career, she was the principal illustrator of the voluminous excavation publications of the Egyptian Department of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Provenance:
Donated 1992 and 1993 by Lucille H. Chapman, sister of Suzanne Chapman.
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:
Watercolorists -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
1 Microfilm reel (59 items on partial microfilm reel)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Scrapbooks
Date:
1933-1981
Scope and Contents:
The microfilm Frederick Warren Allen papers contain biographical sketches; lists of works; correspondence; and a school paper, "27 Tavern Road: The Italian Studio," by his granddaughter, Laurel Beetham, describing his studio. Also included are a scrapbook of clippings; printed material; and photographs of Allen, his family, and his works of art.
Biographical / Historical:
Frederick Warren Allen (1888-1961) was a sculptor and educator in Boston, Massachusetts. Allen was associated with the Boston School of artists and taught sculpture at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming by Agnes Allen, 1981.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Biographical material; correspondence with friends and colleagues, including Charles W. Green, Marsden Hartley, Homer Eaton Keyes, John Kieran, Ruth Webb Lee, James Roosevelt, Francis Henry Taylor, Bradford Washburn and others; subject files, including one on Castano Galleries in Boston; lecture notes; writings, including typescripts and drafts for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Fogg Museum, and the Christian Science Monitor; a typescript of an article by James Duncan Phillips; printed materials; photographs of Dooley and of the U.S. Army's recovery of art objects form the Berlin Museum in 1945; and ephemera.
Biographical / Historical:
Art critic, writer and educator; Cambridge, Mass. Was the associate editor and art critic for the Boston Transcript; wrote extensively for other publications. Headed the Division of Education at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and founded the Pewter Collectors Society.
Provenance:
Donated 1975 and 1981 by Mrs. William G. Dooley.
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 critics -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
This microfilm collection of the papers of African American painter, sculptor, illustrator, printmaker, and educator John Woodrow Wilson contains biographical material such as autobiographical notes, school records, personal documents, and a bibliography; personal and business correspondence, undated and 1938-1993; files on the New York City Board of Education, 1959-1965, regarding his teaching; and project files, including Wilson's submission for the competition for a Frederick Douglass statue, Eternal Presence, Father and Child Reading, and Wilson's monuments and bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. Correspondents represented include the Albany Institute of History and Art, Atlanta University, Carnegie Institute, Ebony, David Porter of the G Place Gallery, the Institute of Modern Art, Alain Locke, Gloria May, the Museum of Modern Art, Frederick G. Rice, and Hale Woodruff.
Also included in the collection are files on exhibitions; notebooks, 1958-1960; lesson plans, 1959, 1963; notes, writings, and lectures, circa 1945-1993; transcripts of interviews of Wilson and related correspondence, 1978-1987; legal material, 1978; financial records 1944-1991, including a notebook of sales and expenses 1945-1950; photographs, 1940-1990, of Wilson, his work, sculpture, and exhibition installations; a scrapbook, 1939-1967; artwork, including sketchbooks, 1970-1992, life studies completed as a student, 1939-1947, and miscellaneous art work, 1939-1992; and printed material, 1939-1993, including exhibition catalogs, illustrated books and book jackets, and ephemera. The collection also includes a copy of a sound recording of an interview of Wilson conducted by Alan Trachtenberg, circa 1979 (untranscribed).
Biographical / Historical:
John Woodrow Wilson (1922-2015) was an African American painter, sculptor, illustrator, printmaker, and educator in Boston, Massachusetts. Wilson studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston under Ture Bengtz and Karl Zerbe, graduating in 1945. He lived in Paris through the MFA fellowship and studied with modern artist Fernand Leger. He then attended Tufts University, graduating in 1947. Wilson received a John Hay Whitney fellowship and lived in Mexico for five years with his wife, Julie Kowtich. After his return from Mexico in 1956, Wilson made artwork for Chicago labor unions and taught in New York City before returning to teach at Boston University in 1964. During his career, Wilson won competitions to execute statues of Martin Luther King, Jr. for the city of Buffalo, New York and for the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1993 by John W. Wilson, except for the 1979 sound recording which he lent for copying.
Restrictions:
Microfilm portion must be consulted on microfilm. Use of untranscribed interview requires an appointment.
Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.) Search this
Extent:
0.9 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1968-1993
Summary:
The papers of painter and educator Dana Chandler (1941-) date from 1968-1993 and measure 0.9 linear feet. The papers consist of biographical material, correspondence, printed material, professional records, and reproductions of works of art, and relate primarily to Chandler's founding of the African American Master Artists in Residency Program (AAMARP) at Northeastern University.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter and educator Dana Chandler (1941-) date from 1968-1993 and measure 0.9 linear feet. The papers consist of biographical material, correspondence, printed material, professional records, and reproductions of works of art, and relate primarily to Chandler's founding of the African American Master Artists in Residency Program (AAMARP) at Northeastern University.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Dana Chandler (1941-), also known as Akin Duro, is an African American painter, printmaker, and educator in Boston, Massachusetts. Chandler is an activist known for his work with the Black integrationist movement in Boston, and Professor Emeritus at Simmons College. Chandler founded the African American Master Artists in Residency Program (AAMARP) at Northeastern University.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an interview of Dana Chandler conducted 1993 March 11-May 5, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art
Provenance:
Donated 1993 by Dana Chandler.
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.
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission of Dana Chandler. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The papers of Agnes Anne Abbot measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1921 to 1976. The collection consists of biographical information, correspondence, writings and notes, personal business records, printed material, photographs of works of art, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Agnes Anne Abbot measure 0.6 linear feet and date from 1921 to 1976. The collection consists of biographical information, correspondence, writings and notes, personal business records, printed material, photographs of works of art, sketchbooks and artwork.
Correspondence is from Abbot's family and friends and includes some letters written by Abbot to her mother, sister, and brother. Other correspondents include Alfred Barr, Alice Van Vechten Brown, Bernard Heyl, and Douglas McKee. Artwork includes ten sketchbooks depicting Abbot's travels throughout Europe, Africa, and the United States.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1927-1949 (3 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1926-1951 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1930-circa 1940 (3 folders; Box 1)
Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1927-1965 (2 folders; Box 1)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1964-1968 (2 folders; Box 1)
Series 6: Photographs, 1960-1976 (4 folders; Box 1)
Series 7: Sketchbooks and Artwork, 1921-1965 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1-2)
Biographical / Historical:
Agnes Anne Abbot (1897-1992) was a watercolorist and educator active in Wellesley and Boston, Massachusetts.
Born in Germany in 1897, Agnes Anne Abbot spent summers in the Boston area. In 1917, her family moved to the United States and settled in Boson where Abbot attended the School of Fine Arts and Crafts. From 1920 to 1963, Abbot taught at Wellesley College. She traveled extensively throughout Africa, Europe, and the United States. Agnes Anne Abbot died in Boston, Massachusetts in 1992.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art holds an oral history with Agnes Anne Abbot conducted by Robert Brown on August 25, 1981 to January 15, 1982.
Provenance:
Agnes Anne Abbot donated her papers to the Archives of American Art in several installments from 1979 to 1987.
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.
An interview of Dana Chandler conducted 1993 March 11-May 5, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Chandler remembers his childhood in the Black community of Roxbury, Massachussets, with numerous siblings, pugnacious, hard-drinking longshoreman father, and mother who was the linchpin of the family; precocity as a reader and child artist; attendance at Saturday morning children's art classes at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and at Boston Educational High School where needed discipline was instilled in him by its all-white faculty; and as an assistant at school after graduation (1959-61).
Chandler talks about his awareness of budding civil rights movement; his attendance (1962-67) at Massachusetts College of Art while supporting his new, young family and working for the Jamaica Plain Area Planning Action Council which was funded by the federal Model Cities program; his first exhibitions (1967), in a liberal local church and a black businessmen's club; the exhibition (1969) "Twelve Black Artists from Boston," at the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University; and his involvement, along with Harold Tovish and Michael Mazur, in the group, Artists Against the War.
He recalls his initiation of the exhibition, "Afro-American Artists/New York and Boston," at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1970, for which he was given no credit; his position as an unpaid cultural commentator for a Black newspaper and radio station; his politically-charged paintings and prints from the late 1960s onward; his meetings with senior Black artists, such as Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett Mora, and Benny Andrews; and his steady espousal of confrontation.
Chandler discusses teaching at Simmons College, Boston, 1971 to present; his creation in 1974 of the African-American Master Artists-in-Residence Program (AMARP), Northeastern University, Boston, and his direction of it until 1993, when he was relieved of the position by the University.
Chandler discusses his exhibition at Northeastern University in 1976, "If the Shoe Fits, Hear It!" under the name Akin Duro, and its evidence of the respect in which he was held; the loss of much of his work in a studio fire; and his current large-scale graphic work.
Biographical / Historical:
Dana Chandler (1941- ) is an African American painter, printmaker, and educator from Boston, Massachussets.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 51 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. Funding for the transcription of this interview provided by the Newland Foundation.
An interview of John Woodrow Wilson conducted 1993 March-1994 August, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Wilson discusses his childhood as a member of a family of middle class blacks from British Guiana (now Guyana); his father's grave disappointments in the face of racial discrimination; his parents' push for their children to succeed; early urge to read and draw; encouragement by School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston students who taught at the Roxbury Boys Club; his secondary education; and friends.
He talks about his education at the MFA School, Boston, and comments on such teachers as Ture Bengtz and Karl Zerbe and compares their exacting methods with those of Fernand Leger, his teacher in Paris.
His work of the 1940s prior to going to Paris; the importance of early awards and sales received while still a student at the MFA School; the excitement of sharing a studio with fellow students, Francesco Carbone and Leo Prince; and encouragement to stay in school during WW II with the promise of a European study fellowship after the war.
The great impact of his years in Paris (1948-49); the lack of racial prejudice; the liberating effect of Leger's teaching; his awe of the work of Masaccio and Piero della Francesca during a trip to Italy; and the deep impression made on him by seeing tribal art in the Musee de l'Homme, Paris.
Continued discussion of Leger; his teaching methods; and influences on his work.
His first teaching position at the MFA School; his involvement in civil rights in Boston; his gregariousness and the use of his studio as a meeting place for artists and political activists; his involvement with socialism in Boston and New York; and working in a socialist children's camp. He remembers meeting Paul Robeson, Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, and Bob Blackburn, who was then setting up his printmaking atelier in New York; marriage to a fellow socialist (June 1950); move to Mexico on a fellowship to study with Jose Orozco on the advice of Leger, only to find that Orozco had died; terrors of travel as an interracial couple through the U.S.; and different racial attitudes in Mexico and the U.S.
Living in Mexico (1950-56) and anecdotes of David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera; his wife's meeting with Frieda Kahlo and seeing her collection of folk art; their free and cosmopolitan, if impoverished, life in Mexico; his work in a printmaking atelier and on the production of frescoes, and a lengthy aside about his brilliant brother, Freddie, who because he was black was not allowed to pursue his first love, geology, for many years.
Continued discussion of his experiences in Mexico; the dreary year (1957) he spent doing commercial art for a meatpackers' union in Chicago, a city he disliked; his move to New York in 1958, taking on commercial work to support his family, and teaching anatomy at the Pratt Institute.
Teaching art at a junior high school in the Bronx, and his gaining respect of students through special projects; teaching drawing at Boston University (1965-86), his approach to teaching including his demanding standards, the seriousness of the students, his opposing rigid attendance and grading rules, and colleagues, such as David Aronson who had created the School, Reed Kay, Jack Kramer, Sidney Hurwitz, and the University president, John Silber.
Working with the black arts entrepreneur, Elma Lewis, in setting up a visual arts program for the Boston black community (late 1960s-1970s), including the selection of a curator, Edmund Barry Gaither, a young art historian, who eventually established a museum of African-American art; his participation in various black art exhibitions, despite his belief that art should be seen regardless of the ethnic origins of artists; his move toward sculpture, beginning in the early 1960s, as a medium most expressive of black persons, culminating in the 1980s in a series of colossal heads and a statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. for the U.S. Capitol (1985-86); and why he makes art and will so long as he is able.
Biographical / Historical:
John Wilson (1922- ) is an African American painter, sculptor, illustrator, printmaker, and educator from Boston, Massachusetts. Full name John Woodrow Wilson.
General:
Originally recorded on 11 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 22 digital wav files. Duration is 16 hr., 2 min.
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. Funding for the transcription and microfilming of the interview provided by the Newland Foundation.
The papers of German American painter and educator Karl Zerbe measure 5.1 linear feet and date from 1928 to 1996. The papers document Zerbe's career through biographical material, writings and journals, art gallery records, financial records, printed material, photographs, documentary film materials, and home movies.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of German American painter and educator Karl Zerbe measure 5.1 linear feet and date from 1928 to 1996. The papers document Zerbe's career through biographical material, writings and journals, art gallery records, financial records, printed material, photographs, documentary film materials, and home movies.
The collection consists of papers related to Zerbe's estate, exhibitions, and associations, along with ephemera such as address books and awards; daily journals used by both Zerbe and his wife, Marion; biographical essays written about Zerbe, and some painting descriptions. Also included are papers related to the various galleries Zerbe dealt with such as the Downtown Gallery, Foster Harmon Gallery, Nordness Gallery, and Robert C. Vose Gallery. Financial records include cash books, receipts, invoices, and papers related to loans of art work. Printed material consists of mostly exhibition-related documentation, but also includes articles and clippings that cover a variety of art topics, a leaflet on modern art distributed by the Institute of Contemporary Art in 1948, artist cards, and auction lists. Images depict Zerbe's personal life, studio, artwork, and encaustic painting technique.
This collection also contains 2.4 linear feet of moving image material. Included are home movies and travel films, as well as videocassettes containing raw footage, rough cuts, and the final version of "Expressions of Life," a one hour documentary for television on the life and work of Karl Zerbe. Documentation on this project also includes interview transcripts with Zerbe and others, a production script, and production notes. The documentary was written by Ernest Kolowrat, 1986, Peter J. Barton Productions.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 8 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1944-1991 (0.8 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1940-1994 (7 folders; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, 1938-1974 (9 folders; Box 1-2)
Series 4: Gallery Files, 1939-1996 (0.8 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 5: Financial Records, 1942-1979 (7 folders; Box 2-3)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1941-1986 (0.8 linear feet; Box 3)
Series 7: Photographs, 1928-1972 (1 linear foot; Box 3-4, OV 6)
Series 8: Moving Images, 1954-2002 (2.4 linear feet; Box 4-5, FC 7-20)
Biographical / Historical:
Karl Zerbe (1903-1972) was a German American expressionist painter and art educator in Boston, Massachusetts and Tallahassee, Florida.
Born in Berlin, Zerbe split his childhood between France and Germany until 1920 when he began working in an architect's office. At that time, Zerbe began studying at the Debschitz Art School in Munich, and then at the Munich Academy of Art. In 1922, Zerbe had his first one-man show at the Gurlitt Gallery in Berlin. With assistance from the city of Munich, he then studied in Italy for three years. During this time, he consistently displayed his work in group and solo exhibitions throughout Europe. His art was first shown in the United States at the Golz Gallery in New York in 1933, and Zerbe moved to Boston not long after. He worked for seventeen years in Boston including time as head of the Department of Painting in the Boston Museum School. After Boston, Zerbe, along with his wife, Marion, and daughter, Maria, moved to Florida where he took the position of head of the Department of Painting at Florida State University at Tallahassee.
Zerbe received honors for his life-long dedication and contribution to art by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Carnegie Institute, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Tallahassee Area Chamber of Commerce, and the state of Florida.
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Karl Zerbe's daughter, Maria Zerbe Norton, in 2010.
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.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Karl Zerbe papers, 1928-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Biographical information; business correspondence; exhibition material, 1965-1985; teaching notes from the San Francisco Art Institute and UCLA; photographs of Weeks and his wife Lynn, 1980s; photographs of work (billboards), 1950s; and clippings.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, educator; San Francisco, Calif. and Boston, Mass. Weeks was a prominent San Francisco Bay area painter in the 1950s and 1960s, who has continued those ties since coming to teach at Boston University in 1970 by steadily exhibiting at the Charles Campbell Gallery in San Francisco as well as Hirschl and Adler in New York.
Provenance:
Donated 1986 by James Weeks. Additional material expected including correspondence, photographs, and slides of work.
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.
The sound recordings of art critic Charles Giuliano include 10 sound reels and date from 1970 to 1977. Within the collection are interviews and discussions conducted or taped by Giuliano relating to the Boston, Massachusetts art scene.
Scope and Contents:
The sound recordings of art critic Charles Giuliano measure 0.2 linear feet, include 10 sound reels, and date from 1970 to 1977. Within the collection are interviews and discussions conducted or taped by Giuliano relating to the Boston, Massachusetts art scene. Among the interviewees are John Arthur, Andrew C. Hyde, Kenworth Moffett, Carl Siembab, Phyllis Rosen, Theo Westenberger, and Jules Olitski. The John Arthur and Jules Olitski interviews are transcribed.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 2 series.
Series 1: Interviews, 1970-1977 (Box 1; 8 sound tape reels)
Series 2: Lectures and Seminars, 1976 (Box 1; 2 sound tape reels)
Biographical / Historical:
Charles Giuliano (1940- ) is an art critic based in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a former teacher of art history and served as Director of Exhibitions for the New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University, Boston.
Provenance:
Donated 1977-1984 by Charles Giuliano.
Restrictions:
John Arthur and Kenworth Moffett interviews are access restricted; written permission required. Contact References Services for more information.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
Baker, Belz, Chandler, Hyde interviews: Authorization to quote, reproduce or publish requires written permission from Charles Giuliano and interviewee. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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 historians -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
5 Microfilm reels (circa 2,850 items on 5 microfilm reels)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Date:
1935-1983
Scope and Contents:
The microfilmed David Aronson papers contain a resume; circa 2,000 letters; essays and speeches on art; sketches, many done while studying with Karl Zerbe; priced exhibition catalogs; price lists of works; bills and receipts; scrapbooks of clippings and loose clippings; files on dealers and patrons; photographs of works of art; and printed material.
Correspondents include Lillian Bengtz (Mrs. Ture Bengtz), Leonard Bocour, Sylvan Cole Jr., Karl E. Fortess, Philip Guston, Lee Nordness, Raphael Soyer, Ellsworth Kelly, Max Weber, Karl Zerbe, museums, art societies, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
David Aronson (1923-2015) was a painter, sculptor, and educator in Boston, Massachusetts. His work is associated with the school of Boston Expressionism. Aronson was the first chairman of the Division of Art (now the School of Visual Arts) at the School of Fine and Applied Arts (now the College of Fine Arts) at Boston University in 1955 and taught there until his retirement in 1989.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1978-1983 by David Aronson.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
The papers of Massachusetts painter, sculptor, and educator David Berger measure 3.8 linear feet and date from circa 1939 to 1986. His career as an artist and professor are documented through biographical material, personal business records, scattered correspondence, gallery files, exhibition catalogs, news clippings, and other printed material, as well as nine sketchbooks and photographs depicting Berger, his family, and artwork.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of Massachusetts painter, sculptor, and educator David Berger measure 3.8 linear feet and date from circa 1939 to 1986. His career as an artist and professor are documented through biographical material, personal business records, scattered correspondence, gallery files, exhibition catalogs, news clippings, and other printed material, as well as nine sketchbooks and photographs depicting Berger, his family, and artwork.
Biographical material consists of Veterans Administration records, interview transcripts, student records, diplomas, and documents from the memorial service held for Berger in 1966. Personal business records include of his employment records, scattered financial documents, and files documenting his submissions for juried art exhibitions. Also found here are inventory and sales records for Berger's artwork and documentation on the construction of Berger's house and studio in the late 1950s, designed by architect Marvin E. Goody.
Correspondence is with art galleries, professional organizations, publishers, Cranbrook Academy of Art, and individuals who purchased works by Berger. These letters primarily concern the sale and exhibition of David Berger's artwork as well as his education and teaching career. Gallery files include correspondence, price lists, artwork sales and loan records, exhibition planning documents, notes, and gallery publications.
Printed material consists of news clippings documenting David Berger's career, catalogs and announcements for exhibitions of works by Berger and others, as well as publications from Massachusetts College of Art and Cranbrook Academy of Art. One children's book includes illustrations by David Berger. Photographs depict Berger at art exhibitions and with his wife and daughters at home and in his studio. Also found are numerous photographs of his artwork. Nine sketchbooks contain various figure studies in pencil, ink, pastel, and charcoal.
Many of these files in this collection were maintained by Berger's wife, Ruth, after his death in 1966 and include her correspondence and notes.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1939-1966 (Box 1, 5; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 2: Personal Business Records, 1941-1981 (Box 1, OV 6; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Correspondence, 1945-1986 (Box 1-2; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 4: Gallery Files, 1953-1985 (Box 2; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1943-1975 (Box 2-3, 5; 1.1 linear feet)
Series 6: Photographs, circa 1949-1960s (Box 3-5; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 7: Sketchbooks, circa 1956-1960s (Box 4-5; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
David Berger (1920-1966) was a painter, sculptor, and educator in Boston, Massachusetts. Berger was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and earned a B.S. in education from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1946. In 1950 he received a master of fine arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He was a professor of art at Framingham State College from 1946 to 1957, and a professor of painting and illustration at Massachusetts College of Art from 1957 until his death on November 15, 1966.
Berger had numerous gallery exhibitions and won several awards in juried shows. He was represented in New York by the Cober Gallery, and in 1967 DeCordova Museum held a memorial exhibition of his work. In 1956 he was selected as on of the "100 Outstanding New Talents in U.S.A." by Art in America.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2010 by Ellen Berger Rainville, David Berger's daughter.
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.
An interview of Otis Philbrick conducted 1971 June 30, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Otis Philbrick (1888-1973) was a painter, printmaker, educator from Boston, Mass.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 38 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' 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.
Occupation:
Painters -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- Interviews Search this
