The photographs of San Francisco photographer William J. Eisenlord measure 0.3 linear feet and date from 1953-1976. Photographs depict the City Lights Bookstore of San Francisco, California and the exhibition opening of "Poets of the Cities" at the San Francisco Museum of Art in 1976. Also included are photographs of jazz and beat poetry performances taken by Ed Nyberg in 1957.
Scope and Contents note:
The photographs of San Francisco photographer William J. Eisenlord measure 0.3 linear feet and date from 1953-1976. Photographs depict the City Lights Bookstore of San Francisco, California and the exhibition opening of "Poets of the Cities" at the San Francisco Museum of Art in 1976. Also included are photographs of jazz and beat poetry performances taken by Ed Nyberg in 1957.
City Lights Bookstore was a popular meeting ground for many people associated with the Beat literary movement in San Francisco. The collection includes one exterior window photograph of the bookstore taken the year of its founding in 1953, and fifteen interior photographs of the store taken circa 1959. The interior shots include images of bookstore founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti, bookstore manager Shigeyoshi Murao, and various customers browsing the stacks.
The photographs taken at the "Poets of the Cities" exhibition opening on January 30, 1976 at the San Francisco Museum of Art include notable figures Jack Micheline, Claes Oldenburg, James Broughton, Phil Linhares, Mark and Sally Green, Michael Larsen, Elizabeth Pomada, Ken deRoux, Peter and Minette LeBlanc, Jack Hirschman, Rolando Castellon, Knute Stiles, Michael and Joanna McClure, Byron Meyer, Peter Selz, Leo Castelli, George Herms, and Shirley and Wallace Berman.
Also included are ten photographs taken in 1957 by Ed Nyberg at The Jazz Cellar, a popular San Francisco beat nightclub. Notable figures include Kenneth Rexroth, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Grover Sales Jr., Sonny Wayne, and Bill Weisjahn.
Arrangement note:
The collection is arranged as 2 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: William J. Eisenlord Photographs, 1953-1976 (Box 1; 15 folders)
Series 2: Ed Nyberg Photographs, 1957 (Box 1; 1 folder)
Biographical/Historical note:
William J. Eisenlord (1926-1997) worked as a photographer in San Francisco, California. He was an acquaintance of photographer, poet, and journalist Mark Green. Together with business partner Thayne Riggs, Eisenlord opened the Omnibus Gallery in Sacramento, California in 1980.
Provenance:
The William J. Eisenlord photographs were donated to the Archives of American Art in two installments, in 1976 and 1977, by William J. Eisenlord.
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.
The papers of poet, artist, and ordained priest Robert Alexander and the records of Venice, California's Temple of Man measure 11.7 linear feet and 1.01 GB, and date from 1938-2015. The papers and records document Alexander and the Temple of Man, which he founded in 1960 to serve as a meeting place for a community of artists, poets, and musicians. The collection contains biographical material pertaining to Alexander, Temple of Man administrative records, correspondence and artists files, project files, printed material, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of poet, artist, and ordained priest Robert Alexander and the records of Venice, California's Temple of Man measure 11.7 linear feet and 1.01 GB, and date from 1938-2015. The papers and records document Alexander and the Temple of Man, which he founded in 1960 to serve as a meeting place for a community of artists, poets, and musicians. The collection contains biographical material pertaining to Alexander, Temple of Man administrative records, correspondence and artists files, project files, printed material, and photographic material.
Correspondence and artists files comprise the bulk of the collection and contain a wide variety of material pertaining to Temple of Man artists and affiliates, including mail art, over one hundred artworks, poetry, writings, exhibition announcements, clippings, and photographs. Artists include Anita Alexander, Bob Alexander, John Altoon, Aya, Paul Beattie, Michael Bergt, Wallace Berman, Charles Britton, Cameron, Bruce Connor, William Dailey, Gayle Davis, George Herms, Jack Hirschman, Maurice Lacy, Fred Mason, Kenneth Patchen, Peter Paul, Stuart Perkoff, Artie Richer, Tony Scibella, Ben Talbert, Zack Walsh, Edwin Ward, Marcia Ward, Saul White, Steve Wilson, and others. A small amount of born-digital material includes a video recording of Renick Stevenson, images of artworks, and photographs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as six series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1938-1988 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Temple of Man Administrative Records, 1960-2010 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1, OV 13)
Series 3: Correspondence and Artists Files, circa 1948-2015 (9.8 linear feet, Boxes 1-6, 9-12, 30-33, OVs 14-28; 0.99 GB, ER01-ER02)
Series 4: Project Files, circa 1967-2014 (0.9 linear feet, Boxes 6-7; 0.015 GB, ER03)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1958-2014 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 7-8, OV 29)
Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1960-2009 (1 folder, Box 8; 0.001 GB, ER04)
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Alexander (1923-1987), also known as Bob and "Baza," was a poet, collagist, printer, assemblage artist, and ordained priest from Venice, California. Alexander founded the Temple of Man in 1960 in San Francisco, moving it to his home in Venice, California in 1968. The Temple served as a meeting place for artists, poets, and musicians, and contained a collection of artworks by Temple of Man members, also ordained priests. Many of the artworks which form the core of the collection were on display at the Alexander residence and are dedicated to Alexander and his wife Anita. Members also created and exchanged mail art, handmade cards, and poems with one another. After Alexander's death in 1987, the Temple of Man was directed by Anita Alexander and, since 1992, by a board of directors.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are an oral history interview with artist George Herms conducted by Paul Karlstrom in 1993-1994, the papers of California artist and poet Wallace Berman, and the papers of curator and founding board member of the Temple of Man, Hal Glicksman.
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives of American Art by Alexander's widow Anita Alexander in 1990 and in 2017 and 2018 by the Temple of Man via George Herms, Officer, and Yoav Getzler, Registered Agent of record.
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 born-digital records or 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.
The Wallace Berman papers date from 1907 to 1979 (bulk 1955-1979). The collection measures 5 linear feet and presents a cursory overview of Berman's career as an assemblage artist and poet. The collection contains business correspondence, letters from other artists and writers of the Beat movement, writings by others, scattered artwork by Berman, photographs by Robert F. Heinecken, and sound recordings of poetry readings.
Scope and Content Note:
The Wallace Berman papers, 1907-1979 (bulk 1955-1979), measure 5 linear feet and present a cursory overview of Berman's career as an assemblage artist and poet. The collection is valuable not only for its documentation of the work of Wallace Berman, but for its documentation of the California beat movement of the late 1950s through the early 1970s.
Found are numerous letters, writings, poems, and other published material which portray the thoughts, attitudes, and trends popular in a prominent underground culture which eventually led to radical changes in America and American art. The collection contains business correspondence, letters from other artists and writers of the beat movement, writings by others, scattered artwork by Berman, and photographs by Robert F. Heinecken. In addition, the collection contains files for Berman's mail art publications Semina and S.M.S. Also of note is the large volume of printed material (2.7 feet), much of it in the form of books and other published material. Sound recordings include poets Michael McClure, Kenneth Patchen, David Melzer, and another unidentified writer performing their work.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into nine series which generally reflect material type.
With the exception of the letters in Series 1, each series is arranged chronologically. The original arrangement of the letters has been maintained, with a chronological arrangement of miscellaneous business letters and an alphabetical arrangement of the letters from Berman's more prominent colleagues.
Missing Title
Series 1: Letters, 1957-1979, undated (box 1, 0.5 linear feet)
Series 2: Notes from Interview, 1967 (box 1, 1 folder)
Series 3: Writings by Others, 1972, undated (box 1, 6 folders)
Series 4: Artwork, 1956-1976 (box 1, 4 folders)
Series 5: Semina, 1955-1967 (boxes 1-2, 26 folders)
Series 6: S. M. S., 1968 (box 2, 1 folders)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1907-1976 (boxes 2-5, 2.7 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographs, 1956-1976 (box 5, 6 folders)
Series 9: Sound Recordings, 1962-1965 (box 5, 6 folders)
Biographical Note:
Wallace Berman was born in 1926 in Staten Island, New York. In the 1930s, his family moved to the Jewish district in Los Angeles. After being expelled from high school for gambling in the early 1940s, Berman immersed himself in the growing West Coast jazz scene. During this period, he briefly attended the Jepson Art School and Chouinard Art School, but departed when he found the training too academic for his needs.
In 1949, while working in a factory finishing antique furniture, he began to make sculptures from unused scraps and reject materials. By the early 1950s, Berman had become a full-time artist and an active figure in the beat community in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Many art historians consider him to be the "father" of the California assemblage movement. Moving between the two cities, Berman devoted himself to his mail art publication Semina, which contained a sampling of beat poetry and images selected by Berman.
In 1963, permanently settled in Topanga Canyon in the Los Angeles area, Berman began work on verifax collages (printed images, often from magazines and newspapers, mounted in collage fashion onto a flat surface, sometimes with solid bright areas of acrylic paint). He continued creating these works, as well as rock assemblages, until his death in 1976.
Provenance:
The Wallace Berman papers were donated by Tosh Berman, Wallace Berman's son, in 1992.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy. Use of 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.
