The Robert Richenburg papers, circa 1910s-2008, measure 5.3 linear feet and 4.32 GB. Biographical material, correspondence, subject files, writings, sound and video recordings, printed material, and photographs document the professional career and personal life of the educator and New York School painter and sculptor best known for his Abstract Expressionist paintings.
Scope and Content Note:
The Robert Richenburg papers, circa 1910s-2008, measure 5.3 linear feet and 4.32 GB. Biographical material, correspondence, subject files, writings, audio/visual recordings, printed material, and photographs document the professional career and personal life of the educator and New York School painter and sculptor best known for his Abstract Expressionist paintings.
Biographical material includes educational records from high school through his studies at the Ozenfant School of Fine Arts using G.I. benefits. Birth, marriage,and death certificates are also found, along with Richenburg family memorabilia. There is a digital video recording of Robert Richenburg's memorial service.
Correspondence consists mostly of family letters, including some illustrated letters and many handmade cards featuring original artwork. Condolence letters addressed to Marggy Kerr are from friends, relatives, colleagues, neighbors, and acquaintances.
Subject files contain various combinations of correspondence, printed material, photographs, writings and notes relating to Richenburg's professional career and personal life. They document exhibitions, gallery representation, gifts of art work to museums and individuals, memberships, teaching activities, former students, friendships, and other aspects of his life. Files of significant interest are: The Club, Tina Dicky and Madeline Amgott, Former Students (particularly Raphael Montanez Ortiz), Bonnie L. Grad and Lynne Moulton, Hans Hofmann, Ibram Lassaw, Philip Pavia, Pratt Institute, Hilla Rebay and the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, Tibor De Nagy Gallery, and Veterans Administration.
Writings by Richenburg consist of notes, reviews, artist's statements, and the text of a speech. Also included are quotations compiled over the years by Marggy Kerr of Richenburg's comments on art and life. Among the writings by others are student papers, reviews, and poems.
Sound and visual recordings include interviews with Robert Richenburg, often conducted as research for exhibitions. Videocassettes document events such as panel discussions, and artist gatherings; a few were produced in conjunction with museum exhibitions. Also found are videotapes by video artist Raphael Montanez Ortiz, Richenburg's friend and former student.
Printed material includes items that are specifically about Robert Richenburg as well as items that incidentally mention him. The majority consist of exhibition catalogs and announcements.
Photographs show art work by Richenburg, exhibition openings and other events, and a variety of people and places. Among the events recorded is the "Artists Roundtable on Art of the '50s." Moderated by Dore Ashton, the panel included Herman Cherry, Sidney Geist, Ibram Lassaw, Mercedes Matter, and David Slivka. There are photographs of Richenburg's boyhood home in Roslindale, MA, and his house in Ithaca, NY. He is pictured with others including family members, dealers, and curators. Of particular interest are photographs of Richenburg in Provincetown, MA, 1952-1953, with friends, including: Giorgio Cavallon, Franz Kline, Ibram and Ernestine Lassaw, and Philip and Marcia Pavia. World War II photographs consist of images of art work (not by Richenburg), Richenburg and other individuals taken in France and England; a number include views of Shrivenham American University.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1910s-2006 (Box 1; 0.1 linear ft., ER01; 1.66 GB)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1940-2007 (Box 1; 0.4 linear ft.)
Series 3: Subject Files, 1942-2008 (Boxes 1-3, OV 7; 2.25 linear ft.)
Series 4: Writings, circa 1950-2006 (Box 3; 0.1 linear ft.)
Series 5: Sound and Video Recordings, 1996-2006 (Boxes 3-4; 0.75 linear ft., ER02; 2.66 GB)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1947-2008 (Boxes 4-5; 1.25 linear ft.)
Series 7: Photographs, circa 1923-2006 (Boxes 5-6; 0.45 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Robert Bartlett Richenburg (1917-2006) was a painter and educator in New York City, Ithaca, New York, and East Hampton, New York.
At age 13, Bob Richenburg's artistic talent earned him a place in a daily class for Boston Public School students at the Museum of Fine Arts. Most classes focused on copying; of far greater benefit to the young art student was the opportunity to wander through the museum and look at art nearly every day of his high school career.
Richenburg's father was an architect who also ran a stained glass lampshade business; neither endeavor was profitable, so the family endured very hard times during the Depression. To help support the family, after school and on weekends, Bob delivered ice and coal with an older brother, a job he continued while attending night school courses in liberal arts at Boston University. He studied at George Washington University in Washington, DC, 1937-1939, often working as many as four part-time jobs to cover tuition and living expenses; during summers and school vacations, he returned to Boston to work with his brother. Due to his difficult financial situation, Richenburg's college career ended before he earned a degree.
After learning that the Corcoran School of Art charged no tuition, Richenburg returned to Washington in 1940 to study painting and sculpture. Although uninformed about the art world, he realized that New York was a better place for an aspiring artist. In 1941, he began studying with George Grosz and Reginald Marsh at the Art Students League. On his own, he studied materials and techniques and copied paintings at the Metropolitan Museum Art.
With war looming and the near certainty of being drafted, Robert Richenburg and Libby Chic Peltyn (always called Chic) married in November 1942; two weeks later, he entered the army. Richenburg spent three years in England and France as a combat engineer, transporting explosives and instructing troops in the demolition of mines and booby traps. In England, he managed a photo lab and taught drawing in the fine arts section of Shrivenham American University, a school run by the U. S. Army.
Once discharged, Richenburg returned to New York and took advantage of the G.I. Bill to continue studying painting (and for the subsistence allowance that provided modest support for his family - son Ronald was born in 1947). Richenburg studied at the Ozenfant School, 1947-1949, where he developed a life-long friendship with fellow student Ibram Lassaw.
He continued his art education with Hans Hofmann in New York and Provincetown, 1949-1951. During this period, Richenburg taught drawing, painting, and art history classes sponsored by the Extension Division of City College of New York and held at venues such as Brooklyn's Central YMCA, and branches of the New York Public Library. Richenburg quickly discovered that he liked teaching and enjoyed the students.
In 1951, Richenburg joined the Pratt Institute faculty and taught studio courses at night; soon, he was teaching full time during the day. Richenburg began to achieve recognition as the youngest of the Abstract Expressionists and by the early 1960s his career was well established. Tibor De Nagy Gallery in New York and Dwan Gallery in California represented Richenburg, and a number of paintings were sold to museums and private collectors. As Richenburg experimented with new ideas and materials, his work began changing. He was a popular instructor at Pratt with several promising students who also began experimenting. In 1964, when the unorthodox work of one student in particular caught the attention of Pratt administrators, Richenburg was asked to change his approach to teaching. This roused student protests, and press coverage focused on the specific situation and academic freedom in general. He chose to resign rather than alter his teaching philosophy.
Richenburg secured a position at Cornell University. The confluence of his absence from New York City and the ascendance of Pop Art were damaging, and his career was derailed when De Nagy and Dwan dropped him from their rosters a few years later. After it was clear that he would not secure tenure at Cornell, Richenburg returned to New York in 1967 and began teaching at Hunter College. Daily life in New York was harder than he remembered and, for him, the City had lost its allure.
When offered the chairmanship of the Ithaca College art department, the Richenburgs were delighted to return to tranquil Ithaca, New York. Chic died in 1977, and Bob remained at Ithaca College until retiring in 1983. In addition full-time teaching and handling administrative activities as department chairman, Richenburg made time to work in his studio practically every day. He created a large body of work in a wide variety of media and styles, moving on to new ideas and experiments after exhausting his possibilities or interest.
Beginning in 1949 with a loan exhibition organized by The Museum of Non-Objective Art, Richenburg participated in a wide range of group shows. His first solo exhibition was held in 1953 at the Hendler Gallery, Philadelphia. Over the years, he enjoyed other solo exhibitions at venues such as: David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, Dwan Gallery, Hansa Gallery, Ithaca College Museum of Art, McCormick Gallery, Rose Art Museum (Brandeis University), Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Sidney Mishkin Gallery (Baruch College), and Tibor De Nagy Gallery. In the 1960s and 1970s, Richenburg's work was seldom shown, but from the mid-1980s onward there has been renewed interest.
Richenburg's work is represented in the permanent collections of many museums including Hirshhorn Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Whitney Museum of American Art. In addition, his work was acquired by many highly regarded private collectors including Larry Aldrich, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Joseph H. Hirshhorn, J. Patrick Lannon, and James A. Michener.
Robert Richenburg and Margaret (Marggy) Kerr, a painter and sculptor living in Ithaca, were married in 1980. Ms. Kerr is known for "brick rugs" made from cut bricks forming designs for site specific sculpture and garden walks. Richenburg became close to his stepfamily of three children, Marggy's grandchildren and her mother. After he retired from Ithaca College, Bob and Marggy moved to Springs in East Hampton, New York.
Although Richenburg suffered from Parkinson's disease during the last six years of his life, he continued to work in his home studio until physically unable to produce art. He died on October 10, 2006.
Related Material:
An oral history interview of Robert Richenburg was conducted by Dorothy Seckler for the Archives of American Art, circa 1968.
Provenance:
Donated in 2008 by Margaret Kerr, widow of Robert Richenburg, on behalf of herself and his son Ronald Richenburg.
Restrictions:
Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual material 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.
Topic:
Educators -- New York (State) -- East Hampton Search this
The papers of painter Jimmy Ernst measure 16.3 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from 1802 to 2010, with the bulk of the records dating from the 1930s to 2005. The collection documents Ernst's work as a professional artist, educator and lecturer, and his involvement with the abstract expressionist art movement in the United States through biographical material, correspondence, writings, some personal business papers, teaching materials and lecture notes, printed and digital material, photographs as well as sound and video recordings. Also found is a series of research material, drafts, notes, publicity, correspondence, and interviews pertaining to the writing of Ernst's memoir, A Not So Still-Life (1984).
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter Jimmy Ernst measure 16.3 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from 1802 to 2010, with the bulk of the records dating from the 1930s to 2005. The collection documents Ernst's work as a professional artist, educator and lecturer, and his involvement with the abstract expressionist art movement in the United States through biographical material, correspondence, writings, some personal business papers, teaching materials and lecture notes, printed and digital material, photographs as well as sound and video recordings. Also found is a series of research material, drafts, notes, publicity, correspondence, and interviews pertaining to the writing of Ernst's memoir, A Not So Still-Life (1984).
Biographical material is comprised of resumes and other summaries of Ernst's career; documents such as passports, will and estate records, contact lists, and school papers from his childhood in Germany; records of the awards Ernst received; and sound and video recordings, including interviews.
Correspondence includes Ernst's letters to and from family, friends, colleagues, and organizations. Topics concern artwork, some political and philosophical issues, services, and personal matters. Also included are a few files of Dallas Ernst's correspondence.
Writings include essays and short writings by Ernst concerning politics, art, poetry, and his own life experiences. Also found are drafts of writings that would later go on to be published, such as his "Freedom of Expression in the Arts" (1964) and "A Letter to the Artists of the Soviet Union" (1961). Additionally, there are a few files that contain writings by Dallas Ernst as well as drafts, essays, M.A. theses, and reviews by other artists, students, and critics in regards to Ernst's art, exhibitions, and career. Papers pertaining to the writing of Ernst's memoir, A Not So Still-Life (1984) include research material, drafts, notes, photographs, publicity material, correspondence, and interviews.
Teaching and lecture material consists of correspondence, drafts of speeches, notes, and videos of talks given by Ernst. Documentation covers the periods that Ernst taught at Brooklyn College's Department of Design from 1951 to 1977, lectured at museums and universities in the United States and Europe, and gave commencement speeches to the graduates of Silvermine College of Art in 1969 and Long Island University in 1982.
Exhibition papers include one video, correspondence, ephemera, and lists of artworks shown in solo and group exhibitions in the United States and Europe from 1951 to 1999. After Ernst's death in 1984, his wife Dallas Ernst handled the exhibiting of his art.
Personal business papers document the handling, sale, and consignments of Ernst's artwork. The material is predominantly correspondence with galleries that represented Ernst, although there are files containing receipts, tax documents, and acknowledgements for services and donated artwork. There is also one file concerning Dallas' involvement in the reproduction of sculptures done by Max Ernst.
Printed material includes clippings, newsletters, bulletins, periodicals, and books concerning Ernst's life and career; exhibitions catalogs and announcements; miscellaneous clippings and printed material, some of which were collected by Ernst and annotated; and some reproductions of Ernst's artwork.
Photographs and slides document Ernst's personal and professional life. They include images of the Ernst family both in the United States and Europe, snapshots taken at events and during trips, images of Max and Jimmy Ernst's artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1802-2005, bulk 1931-2005 (2.0 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 0.001 GB; ER01)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1941-1998 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 2-4)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1954-2005 (0.8 linear feet; Box 4)
Series 4: -- A Not So Still-Life -- (1984), circa 1920-1995 (2 linear feet; boxes 5-6)
Series 5: Exhibitions, circa 1954-2000 (1 linear foot; Box 7)
Series 6: Teaching and Lectures, 1948-1983 (0.5 linear feet; Box 8)
Series 7: Personal Business Records, 1953-1993 (13 folders; Boxes 8-9)
Series 8: Printed Material, circa 1940-2010 ( 7.5 linear feet; Boxes 9-17)
Series 9: Photographs, circa 1890-2010 (0.5 linear feet; Box 16)
Biographical / Historical:
Jimmy Ernst (1920-1984) was a painter and educator in East Hampton, New York.
Ernst was born Hans-Ulrich Ernst in Cologne, Germany. After Ernst's parents divorced in 1922, Ernst spent the next 11 years living in Cologne with his mother, art historian and journalist Louise Straus-Ernst. Ernst ultimately left Germany to live with family elsewhere in Europe, including his father Max Ernst, surrealist and founder of the Dada movement in Paris. Ernst moved to New York in 1938 and held positions at Warner Brothers, the film library at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, and eventually as director of Peggy Guggenheim's gallery-museum Art of This Century.
It was not until after Ernst moved to the United States that he began focusing on his own art. In 1944 Ernst had his first one-man exhibition at the Norlyst Gallery, and since has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (1956), Kolnischer Kunstverein, Cologne (1963), Tampa Museum of Art (1994), Museum of Fine Arts, Saint Petersburg, Florida (1998), and the Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany (1999); and has been featured in many group exhibitions including shows at MoMA (1951); Art Institute of Chicago (1960); and the Guggenheim Museum (1954, 1961).
In addition to his career as an artist, Ernst was also a professor in the design department at Brooklyn College from 1951 to 1977, and in 1963 Ernst and a fellow artist, Rudy Pozzatti, participated in an art lecture tour in the U.S.S.R and Germany. Ernst's accolades include the Brandeis University Creative Arts Award, membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters, an honorary doctorate from Long Island University, and was awarded numerous prizes and fellowships from museums such as the Art Institute of Chicago, Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum.
Jimmy Ernst married Edith Dallas Bauman (known as Dallas, 1923-2011) in 1947. Dallas served as an assistant to Jimmy by managing the transfer and handling of art work to and from exhibitions, galleries, and buyers; Dallas even presented one of Jimmy's lectures in his place in 1964 due to a health emergency. After Jimmy's death, Dallas continued the business of dealing and exhibiting his artwork. Jimmy and Dallas had two children, Eric and Amy, also artists.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives are the Max and Dorothea Ernst letters concerning Max Ernst's American citizenship status (photocopies) microfilmed on reel 3829
Provenance:
This collection was donated in 2012 by Amy Ernst, Jimmy Ernst's daughter.
Restrictions:
This collection is access restricted; written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Access, with permission, to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- East Hampton Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- East Hampton Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Video recordings
Citation:
Jimmy Ernst papers, 1802-2010. 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.
The scattered papers of sculptor Arline Wingate measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1932 to 1974. The bulk of the papers consists of photographs of Wingate, exhibitions, sculpture in situ, and other works of art including busts, human forms, and abstract figures. Also found are lists of works of art and locations and printed material.
Scope and Contents:
The scattered papers of sculptor Arline Wingate measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1932 to 1974. The bulk of the papers consists of photographs of Wingate, exhibitions, sculpture in situ, and other works of art including busts, human forms, and abstract figures. Also found are lists of works of art and locations and printed material.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor and educator Arline Wingate (1906-1988) was active in East Hampton, New York. Wingate married Clifford Hollander and is sometimes known as Arline Wingate Hollander. Wingate studied at Smith College and the Art Students League and her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally.
Provenance:
Donated 1975 by Arline Wingate.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Educators -- New York (State) -- East Hampton Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- East Hampton Search this
