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.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation.
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.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation.
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Samuel J. Wagstaff papers, circa 1932-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
Letters found here are from friends and colleagues including Herman Cherry, Philip Guston, Hilaire Hiler, Jules Langsner, Urban Neininger, Charles Pollock, and Jackson Pollock. One letter from the Leonard Stark family contains a small photograph of Georgia O'Keeffe. Some of the folders contain letters from a single correspondent, and some contain a range of correspondents, all of whom are not listed in the folder title.
See Appendix for a list of correspondents from Series 2.
Arrangement note:
The letters are arranged alphabetically by name of sender.
Appendix: Correspondents from Series 2:
What follows is a complete list of correspondents from Series 2: Letters, which supplements the container list in the finding aid. This list also contains details about the letters sent by each individual listed.
Correspondents Identified by First Name Only
Ab: 1962 (1 postcard)
Alice: 1972-1974 (2 letters)
Barb: undated (1 postcard)
Carleen: 1982 (1 postcard)
Carlotta: 1992 (1 letter to Jenny Lee)
Carol: 1989 (1 letter)
Cathy: undated (1 postcard)
Charley: undated (1 letter)
Clary?: 1995 (1 Christmas card to Jenny Lee)
Clay: 1971 (1 postcard)
Diana: 1971 (1 postcard)
Dolores: 1989 (1 letter)
Doug, Sarah, Molly, and Sam: undated (1 letter)
E., D., and L.: 1990 (1 postcard)
Eddie: 1992 (1 illustrated Christmas card)
Edward: undated (1 postcard)
Ernie: 1980 (1 letter)
Grace?: 1972 (1 postcard)
Honey, Francis, Nick, and Carol: 1995(1 Christmas card to Jenny Lee)
Isabelle: undated (1 letter)
Jeanne: 1987 (2 postcards)
Jeff: undated (1 postcard)
Jeffery: 1979 (1 postcard)
Jennifer: 1987 (1 postcard)
Jim: 1976 (1 letter)
Jin: undated (1 postcard)
Joanna: undated (1 postcard)
Joyce: 1992 (1 postcard)
Kate: 1972 (1 postcard)
Ken and Freida: 1972-1986 (2 letters)
Marina and Bruce: 1987-1989 (1 Christmas card and 2 postcards)
Marion: 1978 (1 postcard)
Martin: 1989-1990 (2 postcards)
Michael: 1985 (1 postcard)
Moira?: 1980 (1 postcard)
Ninette: 1962 (1 postcard)
Patsy: 1985 (1 postcard)
Rene: 1977 (1 postcard)
Roberta: undated (1 postcard)
Robyn: 1988-1989 (2 letters)
Roger and Harriet: undated (1 illustrated postcard)
Ross: 1990 (1 letter)
Sevin?: undated (1 postcard)
Steve: undated and 1994 (4 postcards)
Tom: undated (1 postcard)
Tony: 1978 (1 letter)
Wolfgang: undated (1 postcard)
Correspondents Identified by Surname
Advanced Design: 1989 (1 letter)
Agee, Jon and Carol: undated and 1982-1991 (6 letters, including 2 transparencies and 2 illustrated letters)
Albert, Calvin: 1974 (one postcard with photograph of Albert)
Allan Frumkin Gallery, Inc.: see Frumkin: Allan Frumkin Gallery, Inc.
Allison, Ann: 1964-1976 (2 letters)
American Art and Antiquities: 1978 (1 letter)
American Iris Society: 1988 (1 letter)
American Journal of Archaeology: 1970 (1 letter)
American National Red Cross: 1947 (1 letter)
American Turkish Society: 1973 (1 invitation)
Ames, Arthur: 1938 (1 letter)
AOI Construction, Inc.: 1986 (1 letter)
Archaeological Institute of America, New York Society: 1979 (5 letters)
Archaeometry: 1979 (1 letter)
Archives of American Art: 1976-1991 (5 letters)
Archives of the New York School: 1989 (1 letter)
Art Dealers Association of America, Inc.: 1979 (1 letter)
Art Edifices Enterprises: 1976-1979 (2 letters)
Art for Mexico: 1986 (1 letter)
Art in America: undated (1 letter)
Artists for CORE: 1965 (1 letter)
Artists for SEDF
(Scholarship, Education and Defense Fund for Racial Equality, Inc.): 1967-1968 (3 letters)
Arts Commission of San Francisco: 1988 (1 letter)
Aruz, Joanna: 1972-1986 (4 letters)
Ashford: 1 undated photograph of children
Ashton, Dore and Matti: undated (1 illustrated postcard to Jenny Lee)
Atasoy, Sumer: undated and 1970-1972 (3 letters)
Auerbach, Dorthy: 1989-1990 (2 letters)
Australian National Gallery: see Graham, Lanier
Axe, Martin: undated and 1985-1987 (3 letters)
B., F.: 1964 (1 postcard)
Barger, Illia: 1989 (1 letter including a photograph of an art work)
Barnes Foundation: 1985 (1 letter)
Barnett: David Barnett Gallery: 1971-1973 (4 letters, including a photograph of art work by Kadish)
Barnoya, Miguel Benedict: 1982 (1 letter)
Baskin, David: 1991 (1 letter with illustrated envelope and 6 picture postcards)
Beckmann, Hannes: 1969 (1 letter)
Beeblitz, Patricia: 1972 (1 letter)
Bell, Leland: see Parsons School of Design
Benson, Elaine M.. (Benson Gallery): 1975 (1 letter and 1 postcard)
Kadish, Reuben, to Bromberg, Prof. (State University College, New Paltz, N.Y.): 1968 (1 letter)
Kadish, Reuben, to Constan, Eugene: undated (1 letter)
Kadish, Reuben, to Goldman, Shifra: undated (1 letter)
Kadish, Reuben, to Guggenheim, John: 1986-1987 (3 letters)
Kadish, Reuben, to Kadish family: 1990 (1 letter)
Kadish, Reuben, to Kadish, Ruth and Moishe: 1984 (1 letter)
Kadish, Reuben, to Kyle, Mr.: 1967 (2 letters)
Kadish, Reuben, to Lee, Jenny: 1987-1992 (66 letters)
Kadish, Reuben, to Mayer, Musa (Ingie): [1988] (1 letter)
Kadish, Reuben, to Mitchel, Julio: 1988 (1 postcard)
Kadish, Reuben, to Page, Lee: 1981 (1 letter)
Kadish, Reuben, to Pound, Brandy: undated (2 letters)
Kadish, Reuben, to Reed, Susan: 1992 (1 letter)
Kadish, Reuben, to Rodriguez family: undated and 1989 (2 letters)
Kadish, Reuben, to Spring, Bob: 1992 (1 letter)
Kaufman, B. John: undated (5 photographs of art work)
Kean College of New Jersey: 1981 (1 letter)
Kenkeleba House, Inc.: 1987 (2 letters and an exhibition announcement)
Kettenbach, Friedel: 1985 (1 Christmas card)
Klayman, Toby Judith: 1981 (1 letter)
Klinger, Randy: 1988 (1 letter)
Kohn, Gabe: 1959-1962 (6 letters)
Krafft, Jo: undated (1 letter)
Kroeplin, Jim: 1974 (1 letter)
Kupferman, Lawrence: 1943-1944 (6 letters)
Kyle, Thomas: see Kadish, Reuben; see Museum of Contemporary Crafts
L., Howard: 1980 (1 letter)
Lacy, Bill: see Lee, Jenny
Landmark Gallery, Inc.: 1977-1978 (2 letters)
Langsner, Jules: undated and 1937-1963 (36 letters, including a photograph of a railroad yard, and 9 photographs of Delhi, India)
Lebt?, Bill: 1967 (1 letter)
Lee, Jenny: undated and 1985-1992 (61 letters, including clippings, exhibition announcements, 2 books -- Dreams: Visions of the Night -- by David Coxhead and Susan Hiller, and -- Italian Renaissance Sculpture -- by John Pope-Hennessy, and 8 photographs of the Watts Towers; 7 letters are illustrated); see Kadish, Reuben. Letters to: Fox, George: 1987 (1 letter); Lacy, Bill: 1987 (1 letter); McNamara, Mary: 1987 (1 letter); Miller, Lee Ann (Cooper Union): 1987 (1 letter)
Leggist?, Gihuan: 1937 (1 letter)
Lehman: Herbert H. Lehman College: 1976 (1 letter)
Leong, Jim: 1990 (1 letter, including a resume)
Lesher, Derek: 1992 (1 letter)
Levine, Marsha: undated and 1973-1986 (12 letters)
Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1975- 1986 (2 letters)
Mexican Muralists in the United States: Their Work and Influence (NEH research project): 1980-1982 (7 letters)
Michigan State University: 1966 (1 letter)
Millburn Corporation: 1988 (1 announcement for New York Aegean Bronze Age Colloquium)
Miller, Lee Ann (Cooper Union): see Lee, Jenny
Mills, J. D.: 1984-1986 (3 Christmas cards)
Ministero per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali: 1989 (2 letters in Spanish)
Minneapolis Institute of Arts: 1959 (2 letters)
Mirski, Boris: 1945 (1 letter)
Mitchel, Julio: see Kadish, Reuben
Montgomery family: 1973-1986 (14 letters, including 19 photographs of family members and sculpture)
Moore, Lucile and Jim Al: 1985-1986 (2 Christmas cards)
Morgan, Dane D.: 1963 (1 letter)
Moss, Tobey C.: 1986 (1 letter)
Museu de Arte Moderna de Sao Paulo: 1959 (1 letter)
Museum of Contemporary Crafts: 1967 (1 letter)
Museum of Modern Art: 1963 (1 letter)
Mythic Arts Africa: 1987 (1 letter from Jenny Lee)
National Academy of Design: undated (1 letter)
National Gallery of Art: 1975 (1 letter)
National Geographic Society: undated (1 form letter)
National Museum of American Art: 1986-1990 (7 letters)
National Social Welfare Assembly, Inc.: 1967 (1 letter)
NBC News: undated (1 letter)
Neininger, Urban and Jean: undated and 1937-1989 (28 letters)
Nemanic, Todd: 1981 (1 exhibition announcement)
Newark Museum: 1968 (1 letter)
Newark Public School of Fine and Industrial Art: undated and 1956-1960 (4 letters)
Newbill, Al: 1976-1987 (4 letters)
New Jersey State Council on the Arts: 1989 (1 letter)
New Jersey State Museum: 1976-1991 (10 letters)
New York Civil Liberties Union: 1972 (1 postcard)
New York Studio School: 1971-1977 (5 letters)
New York University: 1963 (1 letter)
North Jersey Cultural Council: 1970-1974 (2 letters)
O'Connell, Hilda: undated and 1963-1990 (18 letters); see Kadish, Barbara
Odate, Gerlinde: 1966-1974 (2 letters, including one with an illustration)
O'Keeffe, Georgia: see Stark, Leonard
Oles, James: 1991 (1 postcard)
Oord, A. and B.: 1984 (1 postcard)
Oregon: University of Oregon: 1973-1976 (4 letters)
Pace, Stephen: 1976-1987 (1 letter and an exhibition announcement)
Page, Lee: see Kadish, Reuben
Panero, Lorenza (Laurie): 1989-1991 (1 letter enclosing a typescript "The Three Masters of Mexican Muralism and Their Impact on the Development of American Art", and 1 exhibition announcement in Spanish)
Parsons School of Design: 1991 (1 announcement for memorial for Leland Bell)
Pekarsky, Mel: 1992 (7 letters)
Perrone, Francis S., M.D.: 1972 (1 invoice)
Phillips, Bill and Helen: 1947-1981 (2 letters and a press release)
Pollock: see McCoy, Sande
Pollock, Charles and Sylvia: undated and 1972-1990 (18 letters)
Pollock, Jackson: 1944-1947 (5 letters)
Pollock-Krasner Foundation: 1988-1992 (6 letters)
Polyn, Winifred: 1989 (1 postcard)
Port Authority of N.Y. & N.J.: 1979 (1 letter)
Potter, Jeffrey: 1990-1991 (2 letters, including a typescript "A Note on Joseph Meert")
Pound, Brandy: 1976 (1 letter); see Kadish, Reuben
Preston, Joanna: 1969-1989 (11 letters)
Printmaking Workshop: 1976-1980 (4 letters)
Pritchard, Norman: 1976 (1 Christmas card)
Provost, Larry: 1990 (1 letter)
Pye, Elizabeth: 1970 (1 letter)
Queens College: 1969 (2 letter)
Racz, David: undated (1 postcard)
Rantz, Clark T.: 1979 (1 letter)
Rapee, George and Jody: 1992 (1 letter)
Reddy, Krishna: 1974-1980 (1 letter and 9 letters from other concerning Reddy, including one letter from Stanley William Hayter)
Reed, Susan: see Kadish, Reuben
Reim, Johannes and Lois Borgenicht: 1987 (1 birth announcement)
Renfro, Claudia: undated and 1988-1992 (7 letters, including an illustrated Christmas card)
Resika, Paul: 1989 (1 postcard)
Richards: 1990 (2 photographs of a man with a child)
Richardson, Louise and Joe: undated and 1985-1986 (1 letter and 3 Christmas cards)
Ringwood Manor Association of Arts: 1975 (1 letter)
Ripton, June and James: 1984-1986 (3 Christmas cards)
Rodriguez, Melinda and Nickolas: 1989-1991 (4 letters, including a photograph of Nickolas); see Kadish, Reuben
Roecker and Gnazzo: 1986 (1 postcard)
Root, William Pitt: see Masini, Donna
Ross, Tim: 1985 (illustrated New Year's announcement)
Ru, Ridley: see San, Tamar
Ruben, Richards: 1991 (1 wedding announcement)
Rubenfeld, Florence: 1989 (2 letters)
Rubinson, Karen S.: 1987 (1 letter)
Sacartoff, Elizabeth: 1946 (3 letters)
San, Tamar, and Ridley Ru: undated (1 letter)
San Francisco Friends of the Urban Forest: 1993 (1 certificate for memorial trees for Reuben and Barbara Kadish)
Spanish Bay Galleries: 1991 (1 illustrated letter)
Spring, Bob: see Kadish, Reuben
Stable Gallery: 1958 (1 letter)
Stanzl, Gouter: 1970 (1 letter)
Stark, Leonard: undated and 1937-1966 (73 letters, including one with illustrations, one enclosing a cut-out silhouette portrait, one enclosing a photograph of a boy with a raccoon and one, dated 1947, enclosing a photograph of a film shoot with Georgia O'Keeffe)
Stewart, Jack: 1972 (1 postcard)
Stony Brook: 1990-1992 (6 letters)
Sun, Carol: 1990 (2 letters, including an exhibition announcement and clippings)
University of Oregon: see Oregon: University of Oregon
Unver, Huseyin: 1968 (2 letters)
Vergette, Helen: 1978 (1 postcard)
Vidal, Francine: 1986 (1 letter)
Vulliemoz, Yvonne: 1987-1995 (1 postcard and 1 Christmas card)
Waxman, Wendy: 1989 (1 letter)
Wayne, June: see Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Inc.
Weatherspoon Art Gallery: 1973 (1 letter)
Weeks, Leigh K.: 1974-1987 (2 letters)
Welles, Halsted (Hal): undated and 1962-1966 (3 postcards and a calling card)
Wibroe-Sanders, Suzi: 1989-1990 (2 letters)
Williams, Govaine: 1986 (1 letter)
Williams, Julian and Le: undated and 1977-1990 (1 letter, 1 wedding invitation, and 3 Christmas cards [2 with photos of microbes and a forest])
Wines, Gul and Suzan: 1986 (1 Christmas card)
Witkin, Joy: 1990 (1 letter)
Wong, Jimmy, and Songsri Chang: 1985 (1 Christmas card)
Wood, Betty: 1975 (1 letter and a postcard)
Woodward/White, Inc.: 1983 (1 letter)
Works Progress Administration - California: 1937 (1 letter)
Wu, Nancy: 1987 (6 letters)
Zogbaum, Wilfrid: 1960-1962 (2 letters)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment. Microfilmed portion must be consulted on microfilm.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Reuben Kadish papers, 1851-1995, bulk 1913-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of painter, draftsperson, and art consultant Alice Yamin date from 1927-1998, and measure 2.0 linear feet. Found within the papers are letters from artists, writers, galleries, and CIGY-GEIGY Corporation for whom Yamin worked as an art consultant. The collection also contains exhibition files, printed material, and photographs of Yamin, family members, and colleagues.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of painter, draftsperson, and art consultant Alice Yamin date from 1927-1998, and measure 2.0 linear feet. Found within the papers are letters from artists, writers, galleries, and CIGY-GEIGY Corporation for whom Yamin worked as an art consultant. The collection also contains exhibition files, printed material, and photographs of Yamin, family members, and colleagues.
The most significant series consists of letter files, which also contain scattered printed material and photographs collected by Yamin, concerning specific individuals and organizations. Represented within the files are artists Herb Aach, Ilya Bolotowsky, Ernest Briggs, Lily Brody, Fritz Bultman, Elaine DeKooning, Sideo Fromboluti, Fritz Glarner, Adolph Gottlieb, John Grillo, Buffie Johnson, Alex Katz, William H. Littlefield, Alice Trumbull Mason, Elizabeth McFadden, Daphne Mumford, Barnett Newman, Philip Pavia, Mark Rothko, Elsa Schmid, and Jane Teller; curator Henry Ginsburg; writers Barbara Nimri Aziz, Georgine Oeri, Gertrud Oeri-Sarasin, and Leo Yamin; and galleries including the Ingber Gallery and the Landmark Gallery. There are also letter files concerning the CIGY-GEIGY Corporation; for Alice Yamin's brother, businessman Frank S. Bernard, and the town of Chilmark, Massachusetts, where the Yamins spent their summers. Even though Yamin's responses to the letters are not included in the collection, this series illustrates the wide range of her friendships and associates in the art business.
Also found are exhibition files containing letters, prospectuses, business records such as loan agreements, clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs concerning the inclusion of Yamin's art work primarily in group exhibitions. Printed material consists of miscellaneous clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs that do not relate to the exhibition files, as well as miscellaneous booklets, brochures, and a copy of the book American Drawings, Watercolors, Pastels, and Collages published by the Corcoran Gallery of Art which contains a reproduction of Yamin's work. Photographs are of Yamin, family members, and colleagues including Bill and Maria Lipkind, and Aaron Siskind.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 4 series. Letter files pertaining to specific individuals and organizations are arranged alphabetically; miscellaneous letters, exhibition files, printed material, and photographs are arranged chronologically.
Missing Title
Series 1: Letter Files, 1927-1998 (Boxes 1-2; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1956-1982 (Box 2; 18 folders)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1949-1992 (Box 2; 22 folders)
Series 4: Photographs, 1923-1978 (Box 2; 2 folders)
Biographical Note:
Alice Bernard was born on April 8, 1905 in Paris, France. She was brought to the United States as a child and spent most of her life in New York City. She married writer Leo Yamin who died on January 20, 1999.
Alice Yamin was a painter and draftsperson influenced by Abstract Expressionism. Beginning in 1950, she worked with a carbon medium, primarily producing dramatic black and white works on paper. She was also an art consultant for the international chemical firm CIBA-GEIGY Corporation that began collecting contemporary art in 1959 when it moved its headquarters from Manhattan to Ardsley, New York, a suburb of New York City.
Alice Yamin died on April 4, 2002.
Provenance:
The Alice Yamin papers were donated in 1981 by the artist and in 2002 by Harry Smith, her nephew.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use 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:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Consultants -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painting -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Draftsman -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy also requires advance notice. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Rose Fried Gallery Records, 1936-1972, bulk 1945-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
The records of the American Federation of Arts (AFA) provide researchers with a complete set of documentation focusing on the founding and history of the organization from its inception through the 1960s. The collection measures 79.8 linear feet, and dates from 1895 through 1993, although the bulk of the material falls between 1909 and 1969. Valuable for its coverage of twentieth-century American art history, the collection also provides researchers with fairly comprehensive documentation of the many exhibitions and programs supported and implemented by the AFA to promote and study contemporary American art, both nationally and abroad.
Scope and Content Note:
The records of the American Federation of Arts (AFA) provide researchers with a complete set of documentation focusing on the founding and history of the organization from its inception through the 1960s. The collection measures 79.8 linear feet, and dates from 1895 through 1993, although the bulk of the material falls between 1909 and 1969. Valuable for its coverage of twentieth-century American art history, the collection also provides researchers with fairly comprehensive documentation of the many exhibitions and programs supported and implemented by the AFA to promote and study contemporary American art, both nationally and abroad.
The earliest documentation from 1895 to 1909 concerns the organization's history and founding and is located in Series 1: Board of Trustees. Also found in this series are meeting minutes, 1909-1963 and 1968. Interfiled with the board meeting minutes are minutes of the executive committee and other special and ad hoc committees, reports to the board, financial statements and reports, and lists of committee appointments and board membership. This series also contains the scattered correspondence and subject files of various officers. Although not a complete set of officers' files, Presidents' Frederick Allen. Whiting (1931-1936), Lawrence M.C. Smith (1948-1952), Thomas Brown Rudd (1952-1954), Daniel Longwell (1954-1956), James S. Schramm (1956-1958), and Roy R. Neuberger (1958-1961) are represented. Leila Mechlin served on AFA's board as secretary from its founding to 1929, and her files are a particularly rich resource for AFA's activities during its early years. Lawrence M.C. Smith's files documenting his years as board treasurer are also arranged in this series. Additional officers' correspondence is interspersed throughout the Alphabetical Files and other series.
General information about the scope of AFA's programs, affiliations, founding, functions, and proceedings are arranged in Series 2: Administrative Records. The first subseries, Alphabetical Files, houses a wide variety of subject files that contain memoranda, correspondence, printed materials, lists, reports, and other papers. These files document the AFA's general history and founding, organizational affiliations, buildings and moves, grants, federal and state government art programs, auctions and other fund-raising efforts, publicity and public relations, publications, and fiftieth anniversary celebration. The subject headings by which these files are arranged are, for the most part, the ones designated by the AFA. The second subseries, Staff Records, houses the scattered files of AFA's director, assistant director, registrar, and special state representative, Robert Luck.
During its most active period, the AFA sponsored or participated in several special programs and Series 3: Special Programs houses the files that document many of them. The first subseries consists of the files for the Artists in Residence program that was funded by the Ford Foundation. Awarded in 1963, the grant sponsored short-term teaching residencies for artists in museums throughout the United States. The host museums were encouraged to hold exhibitions of the artists' works. This subseries contains both the general files of the program, as well as individual files on the participating artists. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the AFA and the Ford Foundation also sponsored additional programs for artists, including Grants in Aid, Purchase Awards, and the Retrospective Exhibitions Program. The files documenting these three programs are also arranged in Series 3, under the subseries Ford Foundation Program for Visual Artists. In the late 1950s, the AFA implemented the Museum Donor Program with benefactors and philanthropists Audrey Bruce Currier and Stephen Richard Currier. Through the administration of the AFA, the Curriers donated funds to selected institutions specifically for the purchase of contemporary American art. The Curriers preferred to remain anonymous throughout the program. Files documenting this program include correspondence, applications from the accepted institutions, rejections, a summary report, and clippings about the untimely deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Currier in 1967.
Also found in Series 3 are the files documenting AFAs working relationship with the first state arts council, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). In 1961, AFA and NYSCA implemented a traveling exhibition program in New York State. Found here are files for possible itineraries, proposals, publicity, loans, budgets, and the actual exhibition files. Additional AFA special programs documented in Series 3 include the Picture of the Month program of the mid-1950s and the Jean Tennyson Foundation Color Slide Lecture Program.
AFA Annual Convention files constitute Series 4. Beginning with the Third Annual Convention in 1912 and continuing through the 1963 Annual Convention, the files contain official proceedings, speeches, programs, clippings, correspondence, and press releases. Files are missing for 1913, 1915, 1918, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1931, 1936-1949, 1952, 1956, 1958, 1960, and 1962. There are also audio recordings in the form of reel-to-reel tapes for the 1951 Annual Convention.
Series 5: Exhibition Files forms the bulk of the collection at circa 62 linear feet and is arranged into twenty subseries. The first subseries, Exhibitions, General, houses primarily the records of the Board of Trustees Exhibition Committee and documents the AFA's earliest involvement with traveling exhibitions. These files contain reports, budgets, correspondence, memoranda, scattered exhibition catalogs, and photographs. They are primarily the files of the chair of the Exhibition Committee and include the files of Juliana R. Force, Eloise Spaeth, and Mrs. John Pope. Also found in this series is a subseries of Mrs. John Pope's records documenting circulating exhibitions from 1934 to 1955, arranged by state.
The remaining nineteen subseries of the Exhibition Files reflect either specific exhibition programs, many of which have unique numbers assigned by AFA to individual exhibitions, or other exhibition-related files, such rejected, canceled, and suggested exhibitions and miscellaneous installation photographs. The Annual Exhibitions files constitute the largest of the subseries and are numbered according to the system assigned by AFA, following a typical chronological order. Although the documentation for each exhibition varies widely by both type and amount, most of the files contain contracts and legal agreements, correspondence, memoranda, itinerary information, condition reports, publicity materials, catalogs, announcements, price lists, and other such information arranged into one or more files. The files were labeled "documentation files," "dispersal files," "report form files," "loan agreement files," and "publicity files" according to the filing system devised by AFA. Many of the files also house a significant amount of correspondence with museum officials, lenders, and artists.
Additional subseries document AFA's exhibition venues and partnerships with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the New York State Council on the [UNK] Life magazine, and Addison Gallery. A complete list of all of the subseries, including specific exhibition programs, follows in the Series Outline.
The final three series of the collection are small: Printed Material, Miscellaneous Files, and Oversized Material. The printed material was donated much later to the Archives and dates from 1990 to 1993. Found here are scattered press releases, annual reports, and an exhibition program. Miscellaneous Files contain scattered records, 1926-1962, of the Architectural League of New York relating to national award programs. It is not clear why this small group of Architectural League records was found mixed with the AFA records but perhaps the collaboration between the two organizations on several special projects provides an explanation. Also found in Miscellaneous Files is a group of black and white lantern slides from a lecture series, "New Horizons in America." Oversized Material includes a portfolio, a work of art, and posters.
See Appendix for a list of artists exhibiting with the American Federation of Arts
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into eight primary series based primarily on administrative units or program areas. Several of the series are further subdivided into subseries. While processing, it became clear that the two filing systems were redundant and overlapped in both subject area and type of material. Most of these files were subsequently merged into the now broader Alphabetical Files or into separate series. Oversized material may be found at the end of the collection arranged in a separate series.
In most cases, files related to one another by subseries or subject areas (in the case of the Alphabetical Files) or by individual name (in the case of officers and staff files) are arranged in chronological order. The entire subseries of Alphabetical Files in Series 2 is arranged by subject heading, as assigned by the AFA, or individual name. The Alphabetical Files originally formed two broad filing systems as established by the AFA: one for general correspondence arranged by subject; and one for director's and other staff correspondence, also arranged by subject.
Missing Title
Series 1: Board of Trustees, circa 1895-1968 (Boxes 1-3)
Series 2: Administrative Records, 1910-1966 (Boxes 4-8)
Series 3: Special Programs, 1950-1967 (Boxes 9-13)
Series 4: Annual Conventions, 1912-1963 (Boxes 14-16)
Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1934-1969 (Boxes 17-78)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1990-1993 (Box 78)
Series 7: Miscellaneous Files, 1926-1962, undated (Box 79)
Series 8: Oversized Materials, 1890, undated (Boxes 80-85)
Historical Note:
Founded in 1909 by Elihu Root, the American Federation of Arts (AFA) exists today as a national nonprofit museum service organization striving to unite American art institutions, collectors, artists, and museums. Elihu Root, then secretary of state in the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, spoke of his idea at the first meeting of the AFA held in New York at the National Academy of Arts. He envisioned an organization that would promote American art most often seen only by the elite in the major cities of the East and upper Midwest by sending "exhibitions of original works of art on tour through the hinterlands across the United States."
The American Academy in Rome, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, and Metropolitan Museum of Art were influential organizing member institutions. Individual members included such notables as William Merritt Chase, Charles L. Freer, Daniel C. French, Charles L. Hutchinson, Henry Cabot Lodge, J.P. Morgan, and Henry Walters. The founding of the AFA provided the American art world with a forum for communication and participation among artists, cultural institutions, patrons of the arts, and the public.
To accomplish its mission, the AFA established volunteer committees for membership, exhibitions, and publications. During its first year, the AFA began publishing Art and Progress (later changed to Magazine of Art) and the American Art Annual (now the American Art Directory). In 1909, the AFA also organized its first traveling exhibition, Paintings by Prominent American Artists, which was shown at museums in Fort Worth, New Orleans, Minneapolis, and New Ulm, Minnesota.
By the end of the first year, the headquarters of the organization moved to Washington, D.C., to facilitate lobbying the federal government for favorable art legislation. In 1913, the AFA lobbied successfully for the removal of the tariff on foreign art entering the United States. In 1916, the Federation met with the Interstate Commerce Commission to protest prohibitively high interstate taxes on traveling art exhibitions.
Throughout the next fifteen years, the AFA continued to grow in membership and influence. By 1919, membership included 438 institutions and 2,900 individuals. The AFA's annual conventions were held in major national art centers and were attended by members, chapter delegates, and the public. At the conventions, scholars, patrons, and curators lectured on and discussed subjects of national interest, thereby fostering an exchange of ideas. The AFA also sponsored periodic regional conferences to promote institutional cooperation and to discuss mutual problems and needs. To facilitate exhibition venues west of the Mississippi River, in 1921 the AFA opened regional offices at the University of Nebraska and at Stanford University. The AFA produced and circulated slide programs and lecture series to museums and educational institutions that fostered art education. By 1929, the Federation had developed forty-six slide-lecture programs that covered American mural painting, European and American contemporary art, and textiles.
During the 1930s, the Federation expanded its services by providing schools with teaching guides, student workbooks, slides, and films about art. In 1935, the AFA began publishing Who's Who in American Art, later publishing The Official Directory of Illustrators and Advertising Artists and Films on Art reference guides. To reach an even larger audience, the AFA began collaborating with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to organize national circulating exhibitions to "bring the museum to the people."
One of AFA's priorities was to make American art more visible abroad. The Federation focused on encouraging the representation of American artists in foreign exhibitions, and in 1924 it lobbied successfully for additional American participation in the Venice Biennale. The AFA's focus on exhibiting American art abroad continued to expand, particularly following World War II. In 1950, recognizing that the AFA could assist in promoting American culture, the State Department awarded the AFA a grant for a German "re-orientation program" consisting of educational exhibitions shown in German museums. Additional government funding further enabled the AFA to organize American participation in exhibitions in India, Japan, Paris, Switzerland, and Rotterdam between 1950 and 1970. Later, the AFA collaborated with the United States Information Agency (USIA) to create the Overseas Museum Donor Program which permitted donations of American art to foreign institutions on a restriction-free, tax-deductible basis. During the 1950s, the AFA was a very active member of the Committee on Government and Art, a national committee with members from across the art and museum world concerned with government sponsorship of and legislation affecting art sales, commissions, and trade.
In 1952, the headquarters of the AFA returned to New York, sparking a period of innovation and expanded of programs. Throughout the 1950s, the AFA distributed films about art and co-sponsored the Films on Art Festival in Woodstock, New York. The AFA also introduced its Picture of the Month Program in 1954, renting original works of art to small American art and educational institutions. In 1956, the AFA organized the Art Collectors Club of America to provide fellowship for art collectors through meetings and activities. The club disbanded in the 1970s.
Throughout its history, the American Federation of Arts has concentrated on its founding principle of broadening the audience for contemporary American art. Through its numerous exhibition and film programs, the AFA has succeeded in "breaking down barriers of distance and language to broaden the knowledge and appreciation of art." Annual exhibitions such as New Talent in the USA and Art Schools USA, organized by the AFA, brought before the public the most contemporary American artists and craftspeople, genres, and artistic forms of experimentation, exposing viewers to new ways of thinking and expression. In 1965, AFA produced The Curriculum in Visual Education, a series of films created to heighten the aesthetic awareness of children.
A vital part of American art history, the AFA was one of the first organizations to develop successfully the concept of traveling art exhibitions on a national and international level. The AFA was instrumental in assisting museums with circulating important juried exhibitions of contemporary art, such as the Whitney Annual and Corcoran Biennial. The AFA also recognized the importance of the exchange of cultural ideas, and it brought exhibitions of the European masters to the American public as well as exhibitions focusing on foreign contempoorary art, photography, and architecture. Many organizations and museums have followed the AFA's precedent, and traveling national and international venues are now commonplace.
Since 1909, women have served as officers and members of the Board of Trustees. Leila Mechlin was a founding participant and served as secretary from 1909 to 1933. Juliana R. Force and Eloise Spaeth both chaired the Exhibition Committee in the late 1940s. Women and artists of diverse backgrounds and nationalities were widely represented in the AFA's exhibition programs, most notably during the 1960s. In 1960, the AFA organized, with financial support from the Ford Foundation, a major Jacob Lawrence retrospective. Additional culturally diverse exhibitions included Contemporary Jewish Ceremonial Art (1961), The Heart of India (1962), 1,000 Years of American Indian Art (1963), and Ten Negro Artists from the United States (1966).
The AFA also had an impact on patronage in the arts. AFA exhibitions of contemporary art provided collectors with knowledge of new artists and avant-garde art forms, creating a broader demand and market for this type of work. Museums and collectors began purchasing work by new or obscure American artists whom they learned about through AFA exhibitions and programs.
The historical records of the American Federation of Arts offer the researcher a unique opportunity to study the development of American art and artists in the twentieth century as well as providing insight into trends in American culture.
Missing Title
1909 -- Founded in New York City. Began publishing Art and Progress (later retitled Magazine of Art) and the American Art Annual.
1910 -- Moved headquarters to Washington, D.C.
1913 -- Lobbied successfully for the removal of the tariff on art entering the United States.
1915-1916 -- Lobbied successfully against the Cummins Amendment and the Interstate Commerce Commission's prohibitively high interstate tax on traveling art.
1920 -- Organized a lobbying campaign for the development of a national gallery of art at its national convention.
1921 -- Opened two new offices at the University of Nebraska and at Stanford University.
1924 -- Arranged American participation in the Venice Biennale exhibition.
1927 -- Closed office at Stanford University.
1929 -- Organized American participation in exhibitions in France and Germany.
1933 -- Closed office at the University of Nebraska.
1935 -- Began publishing Who's Who in American Art.
1948 -- Published The Official Directory of Illustrators and Advertising Artists.
1949 -- Collaborated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art to circulate exhibitions from its collections.
1950 -- Participated in the U.S. government's German re-orientation program.
1951 -- Joined forces with the United States Information Agency (USIA) to create the Overseas Museum Donor Program. Published the reference guide Films on Art. Co-sponsored the Films on Art Festival in Woodstock, New York, through 1957.
1952 -- Moved headquarters to New York City.
1953 -- Magazine of Art liquidated.
1954 -- Introduced the Picture of the Month Program.
1956 -- Founded the Art Collectors Club of America.
1958 -- Received a Ford Foundation grant to finance a series of one-person shows of contemporary American artists.
1960 -- Created the Museum Donor Program.
1961 -- Received a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts to circulate exhibitions to small New York state communities.
1963 -- Received a grant from the Ford Foundation for the Artists in Residence program.
1964 -- Introduced the List Art Poster Program.
1965 -- Produced The Curriculum in Visual Education, a series of films that attempted to heighten the aesthetic awareness of children.
Appendix: List of Artists Exhibiting with American Federation of Arts:
The following is an alphabetical list of artists who exhibited with the American Federation of Arts; many are obscure. The alpha-numeric codes and numbers appearing with the artist's name represent specific AFA exhibition programs and, most often, AFA's exhibition numbering system. In cases where the AFA did not assign an exhibition number, Archives' staff have done so.
The primary reference source for the names and name variants is the American Federation of Arts Records. The names are documented in handwritten notes and lists, typed lists, and exhibition catalogs and announcements. The Archives of American Art name authority file was also consulted in questionable cases. The majority of names, however, were not found in either the AAA name authority file or standard bibliographic resources, and only in the AFA records.
Examples:
55-1: AFA annual exhibitions program
AD-1: Addison Gallery exhibitions
L-1: Life Magazine Exhibitions
ME-1: Misceallaneous exhibitions (numbers assigned by AAA staff)
NMA-1: Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibitions
NE-96: Contemporary Color Lithography
NY-1: New York State Council on the Arts exhibitions
VA-1: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts exhibitions
Missing Title
A. Quincy Jones, Frederick E. Emmons & Assoc: 62-34
The records of the American Federation of Arts (AFA) were donated to the Archives of American Art (AAA) over a thirteen-year period, with the bulk of the material arriving between 1964 and 1966. In 1979, Preston Bolton donated his letters and those from John de Menil, Ann Drevet, Lee Malone, and others regarding planning for the 1957 AFA annual convention held in Houston, Texas; convention committee minutes from 1956; and AFA newsletters. This material, as well as a 1979 gift from Louise Ferrari of transcripts from a panel discussion from the 1957 AFA convention in Houston, was microfilmed on AAA Reel 1780. All material previously microfilmed on Reel 1780 has been fully integrated into the collection and arranged within proper series and subseries. The provenance of the 1990-1993 printed material is unknown.
Restrictions:
Use 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 J. Stewart Johnson papers concerning Anne Ryan measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1970-1983. Included are letters and postcards to J. Stewart Johnson from Elizabeth McFadden, Anne Ryan's daughter, about her mother's work, and copies of letters from McFadden to curators and museum directors conserning Anne Ryan exhibitions and gifts to museums; a typescript of Anne Ryan's journal, 1938, 1941-1942; typescripts of poems by Ryan; draft documents concerning the Anne Ryan Collection Trust, 1971; a list of owners of collages by Ryan; and printed material including small exhibition catalogs, announcements, newspaper clippings, and other writings about Ryan.
Biographical / Historical:
J. Stewart Johnson (1925-2006) was curator of design at the Museum of Modern Art and subsequently a consultant for design and architecture in the Department of Modern Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until his retirement in 2004. Johnson was also a Trustee of the Anne Ryan Collection.
Provenance:
Donated in 2021 by William McNaught, a friend of J. Stewart Johnson's.
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:
Art museum curators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection Rights:
Reels N70-38 and 62: Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce requires written permission from Helen Tworkov or Hermine Ford. 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.
Collection Citation:
Jack Tworkov papers, 1926-1993. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
The papers of New York-based painter, printmaker, collagist and writer Anne Ryan measure 3.8 linear feet and date from circa 1905 to 1970. The papers document her career as an artist and writer in New York, New Jersey and Spain through biographical material, correspondence, diaries and journals, writings, printed material, photographic material and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York-based painter, printmaker, collagist and writer Anne Ryan measure 3.8 linear feet and date from circa 1905 to 1970. The papers document her career as an artist and writer in New York, New Jersey and Spain through biographical material, correspondence, diaries and journals, writings, printed material, photographic material and artwork.
Biographical material includes a mixture of legal and financial records as well as other personal documents. There are account books, art inventories, biographical statements, estate papers, exhibition lists, price lists, loan and consignments records, bills and receipts, banking and tax records, assorted travel documents, and other miscellaneous items.
Correspondence is with editors, museums, galleries, family and friends. Many of the letters have typed transcriptions that go along with the original handwritten correspondence. There is also correspondence with Anne Ryan's daughter, Elizabeth McFadden.
There are six diaries, journals, and travel diaries. The diaries and journals describe progress on artwork and writing, as well as daily appointments and activities.
Writings consists of notes, notebooks, poetry and manuscripts. The bulk of the series consists of handwritten and typescript drafts of books, short stories and essays. There are a few items written by others.
Printed material includes exhibition announcements, catalogs, clippings and magazines. Most of the periodicals include essays and stories written by Ryan. There are some printed materials such as postcards, travel brochures and clippings from Ryan's time in Spain.
Two family albums and photographs depict Anne Ryan, family, friends, colleagues, artwork, exhibition installations and houses.
Also found are materials Ann Ryan used to make artwork, such as engraved metal plates for prints, engraved woodcuts for woodblock prints, and handmade stencils. Some drawings are also included.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as seven series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1920-circa 1970 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1922-1968 (Box 1; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Diaries and Journals, 1924-1942 (Boxes 1-2; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings, circa 1923-circa 1954 (Boxes 2-3; 1.4 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1925-1970 (Boxes 3-4; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1905-circa 1954 (Boxes 4-5; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1930-circa 1954 (Box 5; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Anne Ryan (1889-1954) was a painter, printmaker, collagist, graphic artist and author who primarily worked in New York City, but also in New Jersey and Spain.
Anne Ryan was born in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1889. She attended St. Elizabeth's Academy and College. She married lawyer William J. McFadden and had three children – William, Elizabeth and Thomas. They lived in Newark, New Jersey and divorced in 1923. Ryan often went to Greenwich Village in New York City and was something of a fixture in the arts and literary community. In 1925 she published a book of poetry, Lost Hills, and her novel Raquel was also published around this time.
Around 1931, Ryan moved to Spain and lived there for roughly four years, mostly in Mallorca and Ibiza, though she traveled to Paris as well. She then returned to New York City and moved into 124 West Fourth Street, which was occupied by many artists and writers. She opened a restaurant called The Hearthstone in the building's basement.
Ryan began painting around 1938. Artist Hans Hofmann lived nearby and visited her studio to provide encouragement, telling her to pursue her own course artistically and not to seek formal instruction. Ryan's first exhibition was in 1941. During this time she joined the printmaking studio Atelier 17 run by British artist William Stanley Hayter who had fled from Paris, France due to World War II. Thanks to the studio, Ryan befriended many European expatriate artists and started making woodblock prints and engravings.
In 1948, Ryan saw an exhibition of collages by Kurt Schwitters that inspired her to begin creating collages herself. During her late career, she made hundreds of collages and had multiple exhibitions at Betty Parsons Gallery in New York City. Ryan was also a prolific writer and many of her short stories and travel essays were published in magazines and periodicals. She died in 1954 in Morristown, New Jersey.
Provenance:
The Anne Ryan papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1971 by Elizabeth McFadden, Anne Ryan's daughter.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Collagists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
A brief biographical sketch of Monroe Wheeler, written in 1966 by Elizabeth McFadden for the EVENING NEWS of Newark, and a note from McFadden on Wheeler, dated 1971.
Biographical / Historical:
Curator; New York, N.Y. Wheeler was the director of exhibitions and publications at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, 1940-1966.
Provenance:
Donated 1971 by Elizabeth McFadden.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Topic:
Art, American -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Curators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
