Richter, Gisela Marie Augusta, 1882-1972 Search this
Extent:
14.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Sketchbooks
Photographs
Date:
1915-1977
1898
Summary:
The papers of furniture and interior designer Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings measure 14.4 linear feet and date from 1898 to 1977 with the bulk of material dating from 1915 to 1977. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, writings, project files, printed materials, artwork including 4 sketchbooks, 30 scrapbooks documenting Robsjohn-Gibbings career, and photographs of Robsjohn-Gibbings and his work.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of furniture and interior designer Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings measure 14.4 linear feet and date from 1898 to 1977, with the bulk of material dating from 1915 to 1977. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, writings, project files, printed materials, artwork including 4 sketchbooks, 30 scrapbooks documenting Robsjohn-Gibbings career, and photographs of Robsjohn-Gibbings and his work.
Biographical materials consist of a key to the city of San Francisco, an award certificate, a photograph of a table from Robsjohn-Gibbings' personal art collection, and a ring design.
Correspondence is primarily with Robsjohn-Gibbings' friends, business associates, and scholarly researchers discussing relationships, business commissions, and his professional work. Correspondents of note include illustrators Alan Dunn and Mary Petty, and classical art historian Gisela Richter.
Writings by Robsjohn-Gibbings consist of 13 essays, 2 copies of the draft manuscript The Cuckoo Sings, 2 manuscript drafts of Furniture of Classical Greece, and a notebook of collected inspirational quotations. There is also a translation of a selection of Heinz Kahler's Hadrian und Seine Villa Bei Tivoli.
Project files include photographs and portfolios of 28 commercial and residential commissions; photographs and watercolor renderings of designs produced by Robsjohn-Gibbings Ltd.; photographs and portfolios of designs for Widdicomb Furniture Company; and printed material and research related to the furniture designs for Saridis of Athens. The series also includes portfolios of residences photographed by Ezra Stoller Associates, and photographs and notes for a 25 year Interior Design retrospective exhibition.
Printed material includes published books by Robsjohn-Gibbings, annotated books on Hadrian's Villa and decorative sculpture, catalogs, clippings, press releases, and miscellaneous printed material.
Photographs are of Robsjohn-Gibbings, his friends, his New York office and Athens apartment, and photo shoots for Life and Look magazines.
There are 24 volumes documenting Robsjohn-Gibbings career from 1936 to 1963, an additional 4 volumes of press coverage of his books, and 2 more volumes documenting European art and historical interior design.
Artwork includes 4 sketchbooks of classical Greek and Roman furniture designs rendered in graphite and watercolor by Robsjohn-Gibbings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1942-1970 (4 folders, Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1940-1976 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1930-1976 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, BV 12)
Series 4: Project Files, circa 1930-1976 (4 linear feet; Box 1-2, Box 6-8, BV 13-16, OV 42-53, OV 55)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1898-1977 (1.9 linear feet, Box 2-4, Box 9)
Series 6: Photographic Materials, 1915-1976 (0.3 linear feet; Box 4, Box 9, OV 54)
Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1936-1970 (5.9 linear feet, Box 9-11, BV 17-41)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1930-1976 (0.5 linear feet; Box 4-5, Box 9)
Biographical / Historical:
Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings (1905-1976) was a furniture and interior designer who lived and worked in New York City and Athens, Greece.
Robsjohn-Gibbings was born in England and studied architecture at London University. In 1930, he immigrated to America, and six years later opened his own interior decorating firm, Robsjohn-Gibbings Ltd., on Madison Avenue. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, he was one of the most recognized decorators in America and designed homes for Doris Duke, Alfred Knopf, and Thelma Chrysler Foy. One of his earliest commissions was Hilda Boldt Weber's 43 room Casa Encantada mansion in Bel-Air, for which he created more than 200 custom pieces of furniture between 1934 and 1938.
From 1943 to 1956, Robsjohn-Gibbings was the principal designer for the Widdicomb Furniture Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. These residential furnishings reflected an elegant, simplistic aesthetic and were regularly showcased in the magazines Town and Country, Interior Design, Vogue, and House Beautiful.
He was a critic of the prevailing taste in Bauhaus modernism and Queen Anne, Georgian, and Spanish extravagance and expressed these views on design and aesthetics in the books Goodbye, Mr. Chippendale (1944), Mona Lisa's Moustache (1947), and Homes of the Brave (1953).
In 1960, he and his collaborator, Carlton Pullin, met the Greek furniture makers Susan and Eleftherios Saridis, who commissioned Robsjohn-Gibbings to design a line for their company, Saridis of Athens. These pieces were modeled after classical Greek forms and aesthetics, and are detailed in Robsjohn-Gibbings' Furniture of Classical Greece (1963).
In 1965, Robsjohn-Gibbings moved to Athens, Greece and continued designing residential and commercial spaces until his death in 1976.
Provenance:
Portions of the Terence Robsjohn-Gibbings papers were donated by the artist in 1966. In 1977, Margaret Carson donated a manuscript copy of The Cuckoo Sings. Later in 1977, the bulk of additional material in the collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Robsjohn-Gibbing's associate and executor, Carlton Pullin.
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.
Topic:
Furniture designers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Washburn, Gordon B. (Gordon Bailey), 1904-1983 Search this
Extent:
1.7 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Architectural drawings
Oral histories (document genres)
Notes
Transcripts
Essays
Blueprints
Photographs
Drafts (documents)
Poems
Date:
1920-1999
bulk 1965-1989
Summary:
The papers of Maine abstract painter and interior designer Calvert Coggeshall measure 1.7 linear feet and date from 1920-1999, with the bulk of the material dating from 1965-1989. They consist of scattered biographical material, personal and business related correspondence, writings, exhibition files, design business files, printed material, and photographs of Coggeshall, his friends, and his work.
Scope and Contents note:
The papers of Maine abstract painter and designer Calvert Coggeshall measure 1.7 linear feet and date from 1920-1999, with the bulk of the material dating from 1965-1989. They consist of biographical material, personal and business correspondence, personal writings, exhibition and business files, printed material, and photographs. The bulk of the material documents Coggeshall's professional work and his friendships with other artists.
Biographical material includes Coggeshall's personal address books and day planning notes, oral history transcripts, including an interview discussing his friendship with Walker Evans, a copy of his Guggenheim application and acceptance letters, and miscellaneous records.
Correspondence is predominantly in the form of cards, postcards, and short letters received from family and friends. These include correspondence from Coggeshall's father, children, his older grandchildren, and his mother-in-law, Frances Coralie Perkins. Other frequent correspondents include family friend Daphne Cox, artists Michael Lekakis, Loren McIver, Jack Tworkov, and museum director Gordon Washburn.
Personal writings consist of poetry notes and drafts and a short essay on church design.
Exhibition files concern Coggeshall's one man shows at the Betty Parsons Gallery during the 1970s and early 1980s, his retrospective at Bowdoin College in 1977, and his inclusion in shows at Artists Space, the Farnsworth Museum, and Jack Tilton Gallery.
Business files related to Coggeshall's interior design work consist of architectural renderings and blueprints, work proposals, invoices, and receipts. Some of the more significant projects include work done for Lisa de Kooning, Priscilla Morgan, Arthur Penn, and Shoji Sadao.
Printed material includes newspaper clippings, exhibition announcements from other artists, and a booklet showcasing abstract artists titled, "Artfully Taught."
Photographs are color and black and white prints of Coggeshall and his friends in his studio and outside his Newcastle, Maine residence. There are also black and white photographs of Coggeshall's early design work in furniture and fabric, as well as documentation of his gallery design work for the Albright Art Gallery.
Arrangement note:
The collection is arranged into 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1960-1990 (Box 1, OV 3; 8 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1920-1993 (Box 1, OV 3; 28 folders)
Series 3: Writings, 1965-1989 (Box 1; 5 folders)
Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1970-1992 (Box 1, OV 3; 12 folders)
Series 5: Business Files, 1973-1989 (Boxes 1-2, OV 4-5; 27 folders)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1950-1999 (Box 2, OV 3; 6 folders)
Series 7: Photographs, 1940-1985 (Box 2; 6 folders)
Biographical/Historical note:
Calvert Coggeshall (1907-1990) worked as an abstract painter and interior designer primarily in Maine and New York City. From 1951 to 1978, he exhibited regularly with the Betty Parsons Gallery.
Born in Whitesboro, New York, Coggeshall started his career as an interior designer, working on commissions for clients in the New York City area. He later consulted on the interior designs for Henry Dreyfuss'line of cruise/cargo ships called American Export, popular from the 1940s through the 1960s. In the 1940s, he also worked with inventor Arthur Young to design interiors for the first full-sized scale of Bell helicopter models. By the 1950s, Coggeshall began splitting his time between painting and design work, though he continued to regularly consult and work on several architectural and interior design projects throughout the 1980s.
As a painter, his early monochromatic abstracts were influenced by his friend and abstract expressionist, Bradley Walker Tomlin. An early member of Betty Parson's stable of painters, Coggeshall was friends with other artists, including Jack Tworkov, Grace Hartigan, Katharine Kuh, Nora Sayre, Hedda Sterne, and Richard Tuttle. After summering and eventually moving to Newcastle, Maine in the 1960s, he began introducing color into his abstract paintings. and A major retrospective of his work was held at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Maine in 1977. In 1978, he received a Guggenheim fellowship in recognition of his work. Working out of his studios in Newcastle and Manhattan, Coggeshall continued producing abstract paintings into the late 1980s. Coggeshall died in 1990.
Provenance:
The papers of Calvert Coggeshall were donated in 2006 by his son Tomlin Coggeshall.
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.
REEL N70-10 (Ca. 150 items): Correspondence, notes on room decor, sketches, bills, and obituary notices, 1933-1962. Includes photos of his studio, of the interior of Schrafft's at 181 Broadway, N.Y.C., of the Carl Hoening house in Hoboken, of wall paintings, and of Bull and his family. Correspondents include family members, contractors, and clients William E. Schrafft and Pakistani Ambassador M. A. H. Ispaphani.
UNMICROFILMED (ca. 0.6 ft.): Photographs, including some of Bull; drawings and paintings by an unidentified artist; an article about Bull; and a shell plaque.
Biographical / Historical:
Interior designer. Born in Norway, Bull came to New York City and executed designs for McKim, Mead, and White and other architects for the city's great mansions.
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.
Occupation:
Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Correspondence, writings and notes, printed material, miscellany relating to Victor Proetz.
The bulk of the correspondence includes letters from Victor Proetz to his friends and family, most of which are addressed Peggy "Granny" Paradise and her daughter, Margaret Paradise Spoor. Writings include notes, word games and riddles by Proetz, his published books, "Architecture and Decorative Arts," "Milestones Under Water," and "Other Monticules," as well as his article, "Private Museums and The Virtue of Curiosity," published in Museum News. Printed material includes newspaper and magazines.
Biographical / Historical:
Victor Proetz (b. 1887 d. 1966) was an architect and interior designer; Washington, D.C., New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
Donated in 2008 by Margaret Paradise Spoor, a friend of Victor Proetz.
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:
Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Architects -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Correspondence; clippings; publicity materials; scrapbooks; business papers; photographs; and miscellaneous items accumulated by Arlene Taylor as a result of her association with the Meyercord Decal Company.
Biographical / Historical:
Interior decorator, New York, N.Y. Was a proponent of the "Do-it-yourself" decorating movement of the early 1930s. Introduced the decal and plastic tiles as decorating elements.
Provenance:
Donated 1969 by Arlene Taylor.
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:
Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sixty-eight color and b/w 35mm slides and 14 lantern slides of furnished unidentified office and home interiors, some dated 1940.
Biographical / Historical:
Designer; New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
Provenance unknown.
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:
Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Inter-office memoranda; 200 photographs of business interior designs by Eleanor Le Maire, most in New York City; a photograph of Le Maire, and biographical information; 23 scale drawings and blueprints of two of Le Maire's design projects; seven publicity scrapbooks, 1928-1960; five appointment books, 1965-1969; one business address book; correspondence with clients regarding commissions, 1935-1942; and eight speeches and articles by Le Maire on design, 1957-1969, one of which is a design of a passenger ship.
Biographical / Historical:
Interior design firm, founded by Eleanor Le Maire; New York, N.Y. The firm was founded in the early 1930's after Le Maire worked as a staff designer for Bullocks in Los Angeles. Designed business and commercial interiors - among clients were Bullocks, and Neiman-Marcus of Texas, and the New Yorker Hotel. Also designed military transport and passenger ships, as well as the Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Le Maire died in 1970.
Provenance:
The donor, Louis Britwitz, was Le Maire's husband and business associate - working as treasurer and general manager of the firm.
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:
Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Designers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The bulk of the papers consist of Nagel's files on his various positions and projects (ca. 3.3 ft), containing a variety of materials, including correspondence, writings, notes, art works, clippings, photographs and printed material. Also included are files pertaining to Nagel's father, lawyer and statesman Charles Nagel, and to his mother, Anne; and papers of and relating to Nagel's friend and associate, architect Victor Proetz (0.6 ft).
Nagel's files on positions and projects are arranged chronologically, and relate to: design projects while a student at Yale University, ca. 1926-1928; his struggle with career choices (mostly typescripts of letters to his father), ca. 1927-1931; his appointment to the Yale University Gallery of Fine Arts; commissions during his partnership in Nagel & Dunn (includes photographs of Fred Dunn, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, and other designs); organizing the exhibit "Italy at Work: Her Renaissance in Design Today, 1950-1951," his publication American Furniture, 1650-1850, and other activities while director of the Brooklyn Museum, 1946-1955; his position as juror and secretary for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Competition and working with other jurors Fiske Kimball and William Wurster, and design winner, Eero Saarinen; the Independence National Historical Park Project, Philadelphia, Pa.; positions at the City Art Museum, St. Louis, Mo.; establishment of the National Portrait Gallery (includes photographs of staff, the building, exhibitions, and opening celebrations, 1964-1969, notably Chief Justice Earl Warren, Smithsonian Secretary S. Dillon Ripley, and artist Peter Hurd); his emigration to Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mex.; and alterations and additions to St. Michael and All Angels Church in Cuernavaca, 1983. Included in several files are photographs of Nagel, his residences, and colleagues, and architectural drawings.
Files on his father contain honorary degrees and awards, photographs and printed material relating to the naming of a post office in his honor, St. Louis, Mo., and other events honoring him.
The papers of Victor Proetz, ca. 1928-1966 (ca. 0.6 ft), include obituaries; correspondence; a Last Will and Testament; a list of Proetz's commissions, 1934-1943; writings by Proetz and others; Proetz's "The Astonishment of Words," 1971, posthumously published; a scrapbook; exhibition announcements and catalogs; printed material; and photographs of Proetz and his designs for interiors and furniture.
Biographical / Historical:
Museum director; architect. Nagel was born in St. Louis, Mo. He attended Yale University, earning a B.A. in 1923, a B.A. in architecture in 1926 and M.F.A. in architecture in 1928. Upon graduation, he was employed at the firms of Jamieson & Spearl, and Hall & Proetz, St. Louis, and with Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch, Abbott in Boston.
He taught art history at Yale, and served as curator of Decorative Arts at Yale's Gallery of Fine Arts, 1930-1936, returning to architecture with the firm Nagel & Dunn, St. Louis, from 1936-1942. His positions as museum director include the City Art Museum in St. Louis, 1942-1946 (acting) and 1955-1964; the Brooklyn Museum, 1946-1955; and the National Portrait Gallery, 1964-1969.
Provenance:
Donated 1992 and 1994 by Lucie O. Nagel, widow of Charles Nagel. According to Mrs. Nagel, the material relating to Victor Proetz was given to Nagel by Proetz, who was a close friend and associate, and by the Proetz estate following his death in 1966.
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:
Museum directors -- Missouri -- St. Louis Search this
Museum directors -- New York (State) -- Brooklyn Search this
Correspondence, sketches, printed material, and photographs.
REEL 1595: Correspondence; sketches; clippings; a book and brochure describing designs created by the interior design firm of Fakes, Bisbee and Robertson; and photographs of interior designs.
REEL 1597: Photographs of interior designs by Fakes.
Biographical / Historical:
Interior designer; New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming by Emily Guthrie Smith, Fakes' niece, 1979.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The papers of New York and California based interior designer, architect, collector and painter Lockwood de Forest measure 3.8 linear feet and date from 1858 to 1980, bulk dates 1870 to 1930. The collection includes correspondence, writings, diaries, journals, exhibition files, personal business records, printed material, sketchbooks, drawings, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York and California based interior designer, architect, collector and painter Lockwood de Forest measure 3.8 linear feet and date from 1858 to 1980, bulk dates 1870 to 1930. The collection includes correspondence, writings, diaries, journals, exhibition files, personal business records, printed material, sketchbooks, drawings, and photographs.
Lockwood de Forest's professional correspondence includes letters regarding de Forest's wood carving business in India. Notable correspondents from friends and colleagues include Stewart Culin, Alfred Korzybski, and Purushottam M. Hutheesing & Sons. Also included are two letter books which contain copies of letters written by de Forest. There is a fair amount of correspondence with family members, especially de Forest's parents, his brother Robert, and his wife Meta Kemble. There are also a few folders of Meta Kemble de Forest's correspondence with family.
Writings include drafts of Lockwood de Forest's book Indian Domestic Architecture, along with essays and notes. Essays by de Forest are on assorted topics such as art, education, museums, furniture construction, and psychic research. There is also a draft of a Lockwood de Forest biography by Anne Lewis.
Diaries and journals kept by Lockwood de Forest and his wife Meta focus on travels abroad to Europe, the Middle East, and India.
Exhibition files consist of materials related to a Lockwood de Forest exhibition (1976) at the Heckscher Museum in New York and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California. Documentation includes correspondence, exhibition lists, inventories, and loan forms.
Personal business records include a wide range of financial and legal records. Financial records consist of ledgers, account records, receipts, invoices, and shipping records. Legal records include contracts, certificates, and deeds related to assets, properties, and businesses.
Printed material consists of exhibition catalogs, auction catalogs, magazines, books, announcements, event invitations, and clippings. Most of the material is about Lockwood de Forest, but there are some clippings and publications about his brother Robert and other subjects.
There are numerous sketchbooks usually depicting places de Forest visited in Europe and the Middle East. There are also a few loose drawings.
Photographs are of Lockwood de Forest, his wife, family, friends, colleagues, paintings, houses, wood carvings, and art objects.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1858-1931 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 1, 4)
Series 2: Writings, 1881-1976 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, OV 5)
Series 3: Diaries and Journals, 1868-1890 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 4: Lockwood de Forest Exhibition Files, 1974-1978 (0.1 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 5: Personal Business Records, 1869-1931 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2, OV 6)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1867-1980 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
Series 7: Sketchbooks and Drawings, 1869-1881 (0.4 linear feet; Box 3)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1870-circa 1932 (0.2 linear feet; Box 3)
Biographical / Historical:
Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932) was an architect, interior designer, collector, landscape painter, and writer based in New York City and Santa Barbara, California.
Lockwood de Forest was born in New York City in 1850. His parents were Julia Weeks and Henry Grant de Forest. He was one of four children. In 1869, he went to Rome, Italy and began studying art under the tutelage of the American painter Frederic Edwin Church whom he met during his trip. Church continued to be de Forest's mentor after they returned to America. De Forest set up a studio in New York City and first exhibited his work in 1872. From 1875-1878, he went on two more trips abroad to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
In 1878, de Forest cofounded Associated Artists in New York along with Louis C. Tiffany, Candace Wheeler, and Samuel Coleman. The design firm closed around 1882 but was tremendously influential. He married Meta Kemble the same year that he began Associated Artists and the couple traveled to India where they stayed for the next two years. During that trip, de Forest met philanthropist Muggunbhai Hutheesing and together they established a woodcarving company and supplied Associated Artists with furniture and architectural objects.
Around 1882, De Forest opened his own business in New York City that managed the design and production of furniture and architectural accents, along with importing similar objects from India. In 1887, he purchased a house on 7 East 10th Street that he elaborately decorated with furnishings from India.
De Forest began spending winters in Santa Barbara, California starting in 1889. He eventually purchased a house and relocated there around 1922. While in California, he resumed painting with fervor and created many landscapes of the West Coast shorelines. De Forest died in Santa Barbara in 1932.
Provenance:
The Lockwood de Forest papers were donated in 1982 by Mrs. Lockwood de Forest III, daughter-in-law of Lockwood de Forest.
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.
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:
Architects -- California -- Santa Barbara Search this
Interior decorators -- California -- Santa Barbara Search this
Painters -- California -- Santa Barbara Search this
Topic:
Architects -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- California -- Santa Barbara Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The collection measures 5.6 linear feet, dates from 1909-1978, and documents the career of mural painter and interior designer Carlo Ciampaglia. Found within the papers are biographical material, correspondence, business records, notes and writings, art work, interior decorating and mural project files, printed material, and photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of mural painter and interior designer Carlo Ciampaglia measure 5.6 linear feet and date from 1909 to 1978. Found within the papers are biographical material; correspondence primarily with colleagues discussing projects and the American Academy in Rome Alumni Association's George Washington Bicentennial Exhibition in Washington, D.C.; scattered personal business records including estate documents for various family members and financial material; notes and writings concerning a variety of topics including the Stations of the Cross, decorative encaustic painting, and a typescript about James Whistler; art work including sketchbooks and sketches; printed material including clippings and exhibition catalogs; and photographs of Ciampaglia, family members, and miscellaneous art work. Also found are project files containing correspondence, contracts, financial records, art work, printed material and photographs for fifteen of Ciampaglia's most important commissions.
Arrangement:
All series are arranged chronologically. Glass plate negatives have been housed separately in Boxes 6 and 7, and are closed to researchers. Oversized material from various series has been housed in Boxes 8, 9, 10, and OV 11, and is noted in the Series Descriptions/Container Listing section at the appropriate folder title with see also/see references. The collection is arranged as 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1912-1969, undated (Box 1; 8 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1912-1978, undated (Box 1; 45 folders)
Series 3: Business Records, 1923-1961, undated (Box 1; 11 folders)
Series 4: Notes and Writings, 1927, undated (Box 1; 2 folders)
Series 5: Art Work, 1920, undated (Boxes 1, 8; 6 folders)
Series 6: Project Files, 1924-1961, undated (Boxes 1-2, 6-8, OV 11; 2.5 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographs, 1909-1960, undated (Boxes 3-5, 7, 9-10; 1.4 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Carlo Ciampaglia was born March 8, 1891 in Roccaraso, Italy, the son of Natale and Benelde Delmonico Ciampaglia. He came to the United States with his family before his first birthday and became a naturalized citizen in 1919. After attending public schools in Hoboken, New Jersey, Ciampaglia began studying drawing at Cooper Union in 1909, and painting at the National Academy of Design, receiving his diploma in 1917.
In 1920, Ciampaglia married Annette Paltrinieri, and in the same year, he was awarded the Prix de Rome. This prize entitled him to study at the American Academy in Rome, Italy, for the next three years. During this time, he also traveled to other European countries.
Shortly after returning to New York in 1923, Ciampaglia executed a commission for Philadelphia architect Harry Sternfeld to decorate the house of Mr. Frank Potter of Rome, New York. Other commissions included designs for the ceilings of the Chicago Tribune Building, decorations in the chapel of the Fairmount Mausoleum, Newark, and decoration for the niches and ceilings at the First Slovak Girls' Academy, Danville, Pennsylvania.
In 1936, Ciampaglia was commissioned to undertake a major mural project for the Texas Centennial Exposition, for which he completed murals for the transportation, foods, agriculture, and livestock buildings. Three years later, he completed murals for the foods building at the 1939 New York World's Fair.
Ciampaglia lived on his estate, "Woodpeckers' Point," in Middle Valley, New Jersey and maintained a studio on Broadway in New York City. He was also an instructor at Cooper Union and at the Traphagen School of Fashion in New York. He was a member of the Mural Painters Society of America, the Architectural League, and the Allied Artists of America, and was elected an Associate Member of the National Academy of Design.
Carlo Alberto Ciampaglia died in 1975.
Provenance:
The Carlo Ciampaglia papers were donated in 1978 by Rosalie Ciampaglia, the artist's widow.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and not served to researchers.
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:
Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Genre/Form:
Sketches
Sketchbooks
Photographs
Business records
Citation:
Carlo Ciampaglia papers, 1909-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
The scattered papers of actor and sculptor Renee Prahar measure 0.3 linear feet and date from circa 1895 to 1938. Found are biographical materials including an award, letters, and a print; photographs of Prahar, exhibitions, and sculpture; and price lists, printed material, and writings.
Scope and Contents:
The scattered papers of actor and sculptor Renee Prahar measure 0.3 linear feet and date from circa 1895 to 1938. Found are biographical materials including an award, letters, and a print; photographs of Prahar, exhibitions, and sculpture; and price lists, printed material, and writings.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Renee Prahar (1880-1965) was an actor, sculptor, and interior decorator in New York City, New York. She worked in marble, metal, and wood, and designed complete room decorations for wealthy New Yorkers and portrait busts of many famous people of the period.
Born Irene Prahar, she began her career as a stage actor with the Richard Mansfield Co.. Later, she studied sculpture in Paris with Antoine Bourdelle and Auguste Rodin and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
Provenance:
Donated 1991 by the Connecticut College Archives through Catherine Phinizy.
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:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Actors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Interior decorators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
