The Robert Richenburg papers, circa 1910s-2008, measure 5.3 linear feet and 4.32 GB. Biographical material, correspondence, subject files, writings, sound and video recordings, printed material, and photographs document the professional career and personal life of the educator and New York School painter and sculptor best known for his Abstract Expressionist paintings.
Scope and Content Note:
The Robert Richenburg papers, circa 1910s-2008, measure 5.3 linear feet and 4.32 GB. Biographical material, correspondence, subject files, writings, audio/visual recordings, printed material, and photographs document the professional career and personal life of the educator and New York School painter and sculptor best known for his Abstract Expressionist paintings.
Biographical material includes educational records from high school through his studies at the Ozenfant School of Fine Arts using G.I. benefits. Birth, marriage,and death certificates are also found, along with Richenburg family memorabilia. There is a digital video recording of Robert Richenburg's memorial service.
Correspondence consists mostly of family letters, including some illustrated letters and many handmade cards featuring original artwork. Condolence letters addressed to Marggy Kerr are from friends, relatives, colleagues, neighbors, and acquaintances.
Subject files contain various combinations of correspondence, printed material, photographs, writings and notes relating to Richenburg's professional career and personal life. They document exhibitions, gallery representation, gifts of art work to museums and individuals, memberships, teaching activities, former students, friendships, and other aspects of his life. Files of significant interest are: The Club, Tina Dicky and Madeline Amgott, Former Students (particularly Raphael Montanez Ortiz), Bonnie L. Grad and Lynne Moulton, Hans Hofmann, Ibram Lassaw, Philip Pavia, Pratt Institute, Hilla Rebay and the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, Tibor De Nagy Gallery, and Veterans Administration.
Writings by Richenburg consist of notes, reviews, artist's statements, and the text of a speech. Also included are quotations compiled over the years by Marggy Kerr of Richenburg's comments on art and life. Among the writings by others are student papers, reviews, and poems.
Sound and visual recordings include interviews with Robert Richenburg, often conducted as research for exhibitions. Videocassettes document events such as panel discussions, and artist gatherings; a few were produced in conjunction with museum exhibitions. Also found are videotapes by video artist Raphael Montanez Ortiz, Richenburg's friend and former student.
Printed material includes items that are specifically about Robert Richenburg as well as items that incidentally mention him. The majority consist of exhibition catalogs and announcements.
Photographs show art work by Richenburg, exhibition openings and other events, and a variety of people and places. Among the events recorded is the "Artists Roundtable on Art of the '50s." Moderated by Dore Ashton, the panel included Herman Cherry, Sidney Geist, Ibram Lassaw, Mercedes Matter, and David Slivka. There are photographs of Richenburg's boyhood home in Roslindale, MA, and his house in Ithaca, NY. He is pictured with others including family members, dealers, and curators. Of particular interest are photographs of Richenburg in Provincetown, MA, 1952-1953, with friends, including: Giorgio Cavallon, Franz Kline, Ibram and Ernestine Lassaw, and Philip and Marcia Pavia. World War II photographs consist of images of art work (not by Richenburg), Richenburg and other individuals taken in France and England; a number include views of Shrivenham American University.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1910s-2006 (Box 1; 0.1 linear ft., ER01; 1.66 GB)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1940-2007 (Box 1; 0.4 linear ft.)
Series 3: Subject Files, 1942-2008 (Boxes 1-3, OV 7; 2.25 linear ft.)
Series 4: Writings, circa 1950-2006 (Box 3; 0.1 linear ft.)
Series 5: Sound and Video Recordings, 1996-2006 (Boxes 3-4; 0.75 linear ft., ER02; 2.66 GB)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1947-2008 (Boxes 4-5; 1.25 linear ft.)
Series 7: Photographs, circa 1923-2006 (Boxes 5-6; 0.45 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Robert Bartlett Richenburg (1917-2006) was a painter and educator in New York City, Ithaca, New York, and East Hampton, New York.
At age 13, Bob Richenburg's artistic talent earned him a place in a daily class for Boston Public School students at the Museum of Fine Arts. Most classes focused on copying; of far greater benefit to the young art student was the opportunity to wander through the museum and look at art nearly every day of his high school career.
Richenburg's father was an architect who also ran a stained glass lampshade business; neither endeavor was profitable, so the family endured very hard times during the Depression. To help support the family, after school and on weekends, Bob delivered ice and coal with an older brother, a job he continued while attending night school courses in liberal arts at Boston University. He studied at George Washington University in Washington, DC, 1937-1939, often working as many as four part-time jobs to cover tuition and living expenses; during summers and school vacations, he returned to Boston to work with his brother. Due to his difficult financial situation, Richenburg's college career ended before he earned a degree.
After learning that the Corcoran School of Art charged no tuition, Richenburg returned to Washington in 1940 to study painting and sculpture. Although uninformed about the art world, he realized that New York was a better place for an aspiring artist. In 1941, he began studying with George Grosz and Reginald Marsh at the Art Students League. On his own, he studied materials and techniques and copied paintings at the Metropolitan Museum Art.
With war looming and the near certainty of being drafted, Robert Richenburg and Libby Chic Peltyn (always called Chic) married in November 1942; two weeks later, he entered the army. Richenburg spent three years in England and France as a combat engineer, transporting explosives and instructing troops in the demolition of mines and booby traps. In England, he managed a photo lab and taught drawing in the fine arts section of Shrivenham American University, a school run by the U. S. Army.
Once discharged, Richenburg returned to New York and took advantage of the G.I. Bill to continue studying painting (and for the subsistence allowance that provided modest support for his family - son Ronald was born in 1947). Richenburg studied at the Ozenfant School, 1947-1949, where he developed a life-long friendship with fellow student Ibram Lassaw.
He continued his art education with Hans Hofmann in New York and Provincetown, 1949-1951. During this period, Richenburg taught drawing, painting, and art history classes sponsored by the Extension Division of City College of New York and held at venues such as Brooklyn's Central YMCA, and branches of the New York Public Library. Richenburg quickly discovered that he liked teaching and enjoyed the students.
In 1951, Richenburg joined the Pratt Institute faculty and taught studio courses at night; soon, he was teaching full time during the day. Richenburg began to achieve recognition as the youngest of the Abstract Expressionists and by the early 1960s his career was well established. Tibor De Nagy Gallery in New York and Dwan Gallery in California represented Richenburg, and a number of paintings were sold to museums and private collectors. As Richenburg experimented with new ideas and materials, his work began changing. He was a popular instructor at Pratt with several promising students who also began experimenting. In 1964, when the unorthodox work of one student in particular caught the attention of Pratt administrators, Richenburg was asked to change his approach to teaching. This roused student protests, and press coverage focused on the specific situation and academic freedom in general. He chose to resign rather than alter his teaching philosophy.
Richenburg secured a position at Cornell University. The confluence of his absence from New York City and the ascendance of Pop Art were damaging, and his career was derailed when De Nagy and Dwan dropped him from their rosters a few years later. After it was clear that he would not secure tenure at Cornell, Richenburg returned to New York in 1967 and began teaching at Hunter College. Daily life in New York was harder than he remembered and, for him, the City had lost its allure.
When offered the chairmanship of the Ithaca College art department, the Richenburgs were delighted to return to tranquil Ithaca, New York. Chic died in 1977, and Bob remained at Ithaca College until retiring in 1983. In addition full-time teaching and handling administrative activities as department chairman, Richenburg made time to work in his studio practically every day. He created a large body of work in a wide variety of media and styles, moving on to new ideas and experiments after exhausting his possibilities or interest.
Beginning in 1949 with a loan exhibition organized by The Museum of Non-Objective Art, Richenburg participated in a wide range of group shows. His first solo exhibition was held in 1953 at the Hendler Gallery, Philadelphia. Over the years, he enjoyed other solo exhibitions at venues such as: David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, Dwan Gallery, Hansa Gallery, Ithaca College Museum of Art, McCormick Gallery, Rose Art Museum (Brandeis University), Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Sidney Mishkin Gallery (Baruch College), and Tibor De Nagy Gallery. In the 1960s and 1970s, Richenburg's work was seldom shown, but from the mid-1980s onward there has been renewed interest.
Richenburg's work is represented in the permanent collections of many museums including Hirshhorn Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Whitney Museum of American Art. In addition, his work was acquired by many highly regarded private collectors including Larry Aldrich, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Joseph H. Hirshhorn, J. Patrick Lannon, and James A. Michener.
Robert Richenburg and Margaret (Marggy) Kerr, a painter and sculptor living in Ithaca, were married in 1980. Ms. Kerr is known for "brick rugs" made from cut bricks forming designs for site specific sculpture and garden walks. Richenburg became close to his stepfamily of three children, Marggy's grandchildren and her mother. After he retired from Ithaca College, Bob and Marggy moved to Springs in East Hampton, New York.
Although Richenburg suffered from Parkinson's disease during the last six years of his life, he continued to work in his home studio until physically unable to produce art. He died on October 10, 2006.
Related Material:
An oral history interview of Robert Richenburg was conducted by Dorothy Seckler for the Archives of American Art, circa 1968.
Provenance:
Donated in 2008 by Margaret Kerr, widow of Robert Richenburg, on behalf of herself and his son Ronald Richenburg.
Restrictions:
Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual material with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Topic:
Educators -- New York (State) -- East Hampton Search this
Includes René F. Millon, Bernard Mishkin, Henry Allen Moe, Sally Falk Moore, Warren K. Moorehead, Richard G. Morgan, Sylvannus G. Morley, and Mildred Mott.
Collection Restrictions:
The William Duncan Strong papers are open for research.
Access to the William Duncan Strong papers requires and appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
William Duncan Strong papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
All of the daily notes of all of the members of the 1935 field training party of the Santa Fe Laboratory of Anthropology led by A. Lesser of Columbia University. Members of the party were William Bascom, Donald Collier, R. Weston La Barre, Bernard Mishkin and Jane Richardson (Hanks). The document is bound and has 1,314 pages. Some of the chapters were written by La Barre.
Collection Restrictions:
Some of the materials in the collection are covered by copyright as of April 1976.
Access to the Raoul Weston La Barre papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
The Raoul Weston La Barre papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
This series contains field notes from 1935 which deal with material gathered on the Santa Fe Laboratory of Anthropology field trip. Included are:
Three spiral steno notebooks with notes from conversations with Indian informants. They are arranged in a chronological sequence and contain, among many other items of interest, a diagram of the seating arrangement at peyote meetings and a pattern for buckskin garments.
Notes from the notebooks organized into typed copy for inclusion with the notes of other members of the field trip. Included is information on the sun dance ritual, women's societies, cults, names and naming.
Additional notes on Kiowa ethnography which are typed and bound. All of the daily notes of all of the members of the 1935 Santa Fe Lab are included. Subjects are arranged with most entries recorded with the interviewer's and informant's names as well as the date. There is also a partial index and a genealogical chart.
Chapters written by La Barre for a proposed general ethnography of the Kiowa Indians to be written by William Bascom, Donald Collier, R. Weston La Barre, Bernard Mishkin and Jane Richardson (Hanks). The document was never published.
3 x 5 noteslips containing bibliographic and research notes which represent much of the material used by La Barre in his early study of the Kiowa Indians. The noteslips consist of broad general subgroups pertaining to the Kiowa. Research notes are arranged alphabetically by subject and bibliographic notes are arranged alphabetically by author.
A bound manuscript entitled, "The Autobiography of a Kiowa Indian." This autobiography of Charles E. Apekaum, an interpreter for the 1935 Santa Fe Lab, was recorded by La Barre in Anadarko, Oklahoma in 1936. It was reproduced by Microcard Publications in 1957.
A small booklet on the ethnobotany of the Kiowa which contains fourteen leaves of dried specimens. The samples are generally labeled with the common and scientific names, the name in the Kiowa language and the local Kiowa usage.
Collection Restrictions:
Some of the materials in the collection are covered by copyright as of April 1976.
Access to the Raoul Weston La Barre papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
The Raoul Weston La Barre papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Access of diaries and appointment books required written permission.
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:
André Emmerich Gallery records and André Emmerich papers, circa 1929-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Leon Levy Foundation.
Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual material with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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:
Robert Richenburg papers, circa 1910s-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual material with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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:
Robert Richenburg papers, circa 1910s-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual material with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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:
Robert Richenburg papers, circa 1910s-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Documentaries about American abstract expressionists, produced and directed by Thomas Herskovic, and edited by Marika Herskovic; one is an interview of Ibram Lassaw conducted by Fred Licht. Each of the artists participated in the 1951 exhibition in New York, "The 9th Street Show" (May 21- June 10, 1951 at 60 E. 9th St.), organized and juried by the artists themselves. Each video includes a biographical summary of the artist, and is from 15 to 25 minutes in length. The artists include: James Brooks, Nicolas Carone, Perle Fine, Albert Kotin, Ibram Lassaw, Conrad Marca-Relli, and Joe Stefanelli. With the exception of Stefanelli, the artists participated in the following five "Artists Annuals" exhibitions.
Biographical / Historical:
Thomas Herskovic is a medical doctor and Marika Herskovic is a molecular biologist. Both have an interest in the abstract expressionist movement and are friends with the artists chosen for interviews.
Provenance:
The Herskovics produced the videotapes to document the recollections of the artists involved in abstract expressionism. The selection of the artists was based on participation in the "Artists Annuals" between 1951 (9th Street Show) and 1957. They are friends with many of the artists. Additional interviews have been and will be conducted; it is expected these will also be donated.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Topic:
Art, Abstract -- New York (State) -- New York -- History -- Sources Search this
Herbert Matter. Jackson Pollock painting in his studio, 1947. Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner papers, circa 1914-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The largest number of items in the collection are publicity portrait photoprints, autographed by the subjects and presented to Albert Moglie; obviously they were professional musicians for whom Moglie did repair and restoration work. Most of the musicians are violinists, such as Fritz Kreisler and Rubinoff, although cellists, including Pablo Casals, are included as well. Their complimentary comments on the photographs attest to their confidence in Moglie's work. The photographers and studios represented include Harris & Ewing, Ramon Scavelli, and Mishkin. There are also photographs of Moglie at work in his shop, and a large group photograph of the Washington, D.C., National Symphony Orchestra, 1933 1934 season. The collection includes a total of 57 photoprints. Although a number of well-known musicians' portraits are included, some signatures are illegible, so the subjects have not been identified.
There are also certificates, an advertising postcard, offprints about Moglie from Music Trade (Dec. 27, 1917), a notebook on auctioned instruments (1981 through 1985), calendars, samples of Moglie's stationery, business cards, photographs of violins, price lists, and of other documents. These photographs and documents form Series 1.
Series 2 consists of ledgers for Moglie's business transactions. These items are in poor condition and fairly untidy. They contain miscellaneous loose papers, some of which may be removed from the ledgers, as their locations within the pages of the ledgers seems random.
Series 3, which was not transferred to the Archives Center from the Musical History Collection until 2006, consists of Albert Moglie's business documents of various sorts including correspondence, notes, bills of sale, and certificates of authenticity and valuation for various instruments. Instruments include some by Stradivarius, Guarneri, Gagliano, Eberle, Gabrielli and Amati. Of particular interest are the documents attesting to Mr. Moglie's success, including letters of appreciation from clients, letters from Presidents Carter and Nixon, an autographed photographic portrait of the Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, a certificate of knighthood from the Republic of Italy, a commemorative certificate from the National Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of Mr. Moglie's ninetieth birthday and documents commemorating a concert given by the Julliard String Quartet also to celebrate his birthday. Also included are promotional literature on some of Mr. Moglie's clients and copies of newspaper articles about Mr. Moglie. There are also some personal photographs of unidentified people.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into three series.
Series 1: Photoprints and documents, 1916-1966
Series 2: Ledgers, 1920-1934
Series 3: Business Papers, 1919-1987
Biographical / Historical:
Albert F. Moglie, master violinmaker and repairman, operated a violin repair and restoration business in Washington, D.C., and other cities for many years. Born in Rome, his mother was a concert pianist and young Albert studied the violin, but he was more interested in making and repairing such instruments than playing them. He soon became an expert craftsman in this specialized field and at age 24, in 1914, he was brought to be the United States to care for the Stradivarius collection of Rudolph Wurlitzer in Cincinnati. Later sent to New York by Wurlitzer, Moglie opened his own shop near Times Square; subsequently he tended the Henry Ford violin collection in Detroit.
Moglie came to Washington in 1922 and opened a shop. In 1926 he married his wife Loretta, whom he had met in Cincinnati years earlier. In addition to operating his own Washington shop for more than fifty years, he was conservator for the Stradivarius violins in the Library of Congress collection. His third shop occupied a perpetually cluttered third floor space in the Franklin Building at 1329 F Street, N.W., since 1941, which finally closed on July 1, 1987, and Moglie retired.
Due to the impending closing of the shop, Mr. and Mrs. Moglie donated a number of artifacts, instruments and tools to this Museum's Division of Musical History, through Gary Sturm, collections manager, in 1987, and the photographs and related documents came to the Archives Center at that time.2 Mr. Moglie died in 1998, shortly after his retirement.
Source
Eugene L. Meyer. "Violins Lose Artist's Touch: Maestro Repairman Retires at 96," The Washington Post, June 12, 1987, pp. E1 E2.
Separated Materials:
Related objects are held in the Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) and include viloin shop signs, violins, stools, bending iron, workbench, and violin parts. See Accessions number 1987.0472, 1987.0501, and 1987.0583.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Loretta and Albert Moglie, June 15, 1987.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The Albert F. Moglie Violinists and Violin-Making Collection, ca. 1917-1985, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Loretta and Albert Moglie.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
The Albert F. Moglie Violinists and Violin-Making Collection, ca. 1917-1985, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Loretta and Albert Moglie.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
The Albert F. Moglie Violinists and Violin-Making Collection, ca. 1917-1985, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Loretta and Albert Moglie.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
The Albert F. Moglie Violinists and Violin-Making Collection, ca. 1917-1985, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Loretta and Albert Moglie.
