Interviews of brothers José and Malaquias Montoya conducted 1988 Feb. 28-June 2, by Eduardo Hernandez, for the Archives of American Art.
The Montoya's recall growing up as Mexican-Americans in a rural town in Colorado; moving to urban areas in California; their early education and development of their political awareness; and their artistic experiences, including their founding of the Royal Chicano Air Force, a group working primarily as muralists.
Biographical / Historical:
José Montoya (1932-2013) was a Mexican-American poet and artist in Sacramento, Calif. Malaquias Montoya (1938- ) is a Mexican-American artist in Oakland, Calif. He and his brother José founded Royal Chicano Air Force, a group working primarily as muralists
United States. Dept. of the Treasury. Section of Painting and Sculpture Search this
Extent:
2 Items ((on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1936-1937
Scope and Contents:
Two contracts between the U.S. Treasury Department, Section of Painting and Sculpture, and French, in which he agrees to paint murals in the Parcel Post Building in Richmond, Virginia, and in the Post Office in Plymouth, Pennsylvania.
Biographical / Historical:
Mural painter, sculptor, etcher, and draftsman; New York, N.Y. Born in Ossining, N.Y. Studied at Amherst College and at the Art Students League.
Provenance:
Donated 1982 by Jared French.
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.
0.3 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 21 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1882-1979
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, annual reports and bulletins, scrapbooks, photographs, catalogs, clippings and a telegram.
REELS D1-D3: Annual reports, 1890-1919, and bulletins, 1891-1952.
REELS D10A-D20: Scrapbooks, 1882-1957.
REEL 911: Correspondence of William Valentiner concerning C.S. Price murals. Correspondents include George H. Field, Assistant to the Administrator, Federal Works Agency, Holger Cahill, Gladys M. Everett, Field Representative, and Robert Tyler Davis of the Portland Art Museum. Valentiner writes in an attempt to transfer two of Price's WPA murals promised to the Portland Art Museum, where they had been allocated by the Federal Works Agency, to the DIA. His bid is unsuccessful, as Davis won't release them.
REELS 1892-1897: 21 scrapbooks containing clippings, press releases, and other printed material.
REEL 3482: A letter to M.D. Ferry, Jr., December 21, 1932 and to Clyde Burroughs, January 21, 1933, from F. Ernst Zimmerman of Zimmerman Gallery, Boston, offering several Winslow Homer paintings for sale.
REEL 3894: A telegram regarding a New York Statue Commission.
UNMICROFILMED: Photographs of installations and one of Mrs. Edsel Ford (Eleanor Ford); clippings, a furniture catalog and an exhibition catalog for "For Modern Living," 1949, at the D.I.A.
Biographical / Historical:
Art museum; Detroit, Michigan. Incorporated 1885 as Detroit Museum of Art and name changed to Detroit Institute of Arts in 1919.
Material on reels D1-D3, D10A-D20 and 1892-1897 lent for microfilming 1953-1979 by Detroit Institute of Arts. Material on reels 911, 3482, 3894 and unmicrofilmed donated 1959-1972 by the DIA.
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.
3.3 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 1 reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1925-1977
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence; an autobiography; resumes; writings and notes; sketchbook; 2 scrapbooks; inventory of paintings; bank statements and records of stock market transactions; photographs; and printed material.
REEL LA 2: Clippings and exhibition catalogs, ca. 1941-1946.
UNMICROFILMED: A brief autobiography; resumes; personal and business correspondence; unpublished writings and notes including a report on Deutsch's murals done for the Public Buildings Administration Section of Fine Arts at the U.S. Post Office Terminal in Los Angeles, California, ca. 1940; a sketchbook, 1934; 2 scrapbooks; a handwritten inventory of paintings; bank statements and records of stock market transactions; 500 photos of Deutsch, his wife, his paintings and other subjects, including some taken by Will Cormellsa, Arnold Genthe, and a Resettlement Administration photo by Arthur Rothstein; exhibition catalogs and announcements; clippings; and printed material.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; Los Angeles, California.
Provenance:
Material on reel LA 2 lent for microfilming 1964 by Betty Hoag. Unmicrofmiled material donated 1980 by the estate of Boris Deutsch.
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.
Williams, J. Scott (John Scott), b. 1877 Search this
Extent:
13.1 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Lantern slides
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Date:
1895 - circa 2007
Summary:
The records of the National Society of Mural Painters measure 13.1 linear feet and date from 1895 to circa 2007. The activities of the society are documented through administrative files, membership files, correspondence, committee files, exhibition and competition files, artist files, financial and legal records, printed material, a scrapbook, and photographic materials.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the National Society of Mural Painters measure 13.1 linear feet and date from 1895 to circa 2007. The activities of the society are documented through administrative files, membership files, correspondence, committee files, exhibition and competition files, artist files, financial and legal records, printed material, a scrapbook, and photographic materials.
Administrative files include meeting minutes and agendas, historical information, and newsletter drafts, and the organization's constitution and by-laws. Membership files contain correspondence with members about their applications and acceptance or denial of membership, member voting ballots, and lists of members. General correspondence is with artists, members, organizations, universities, and federal commissions, and documents a wide varity of NSMP activities; additional correspondence is scattered throughout other series. Correspondence is with Charles Baskerville, Arthur Covey, Allyn Cox, Dean Fausett, Ruth Fortel, Edward Lanning, Everett Molinari, Jack Stewart, and Helen Tredwell, as well as with the American Federation of Arts, the Commission of Fine Arts on War Memorials, Fine Arts Federation, and the U. S. Capitol Historical Society.
Committee files document the work of various NSMP standing and ad hoc committees. Exhibition and competition files include correspondence, photographs, catalogs, itineraries, and printed materials for the NSMP's 1976 U.S. Bicentennial celebration projects, including the "Freedom Murals," "Caravan of Freedom," and "Momentous Events in American History." Additional files document the Red Cross Canteen Project, Federal Art Project, the Municipal Art Society exhibition in 1940, New York City subway murals, and other competitions and public art mural projects.
Artist files primarily date from the 1960s through the 1990s and often include biographies, resumes, correspondence, and photographs of works of art. Financial and legal records include the NSMP treasurer's files, ledgers, and miscellany. Also found in the records are printed materials; a mixed media scrapbook dating from 1923-1935; photographs of meetings, events, exhibitions, and works of art; photo collages of members with examples of their works of art. There are also lantern slides of Francis D. Millet in his studio and with his murals, and of J. Scott Williams with his art work.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series reflecting the original order of the records.
Missing Title
Series 1: Administrative Files, 1895-circa 2007 (2.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)
Series 2: Membership Files, 1915-2001 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)
Series 3: Correspondence, 1912-2001 (1.0 linear feet; Boxes 4-5)
Series 4: Committee Files, 1909-1960s (0.3 linear feet; Box 5)
Series 5: Exhibition and Competition Files, 1917-1998 (2.0 linear feet; Boxes 5-7)
Series 6: Artist Files, 1915-1990s (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 7-8, 18)
Series 7: Financial and Legal Records, 1895-1996 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 8-10)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1915-2000 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 10-11)
Series 9: Scrapbook, 1923-1935 (0.2 linear feet; Box 11)
Series 10: Photographic Material, circa 1900-1997 (2.5 linear feet; Boxes 12-18)
Biographical / Historical:
Originally named The Mural Painters, the National Society of Mural Painters (NSMP) was founded in 1895 in New York City by a group of artists, including John W. Alexander, Kenyon Cox, Edwin Blashfield, and John LaFarge, who were concerned with the design and execution of mural art for architecture in the United States. The organization's first president was Frederic Crowninshield. For well over one hundred years members of NSMP have created significant and monumental works of art across the country. Many significant American artists have been members and served as past presidents, such as George Biddle, Hildreth Meiére, Arthur S. Covey, Allyn Cox, Helen Treadwell, and Xavier Gonzales, among many others.
Since its founding, the NSMP has collaborated with the Fine Arts Section of the Treasury Department, the federal WPA Arts Project, and the design boards of several World's Fairs. As a member of Artists for Victory, NSMP coordinated the execution of murals for barracks and camps, as well as many triptych alterpieces.
NSMP organizes exhibitions and conductes competitions. In celebration of its one hundredth anniversary, a centennial exhibition was held in October 1995 at the Art Students League. Society members work with other organizations, actively sponsoring legislation for the development and commission of public works of art. Still active today, the current president is Jeff Greene.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel NSM1) including 83 photographs of mural paintings and mural studies, and 25 exhibition boards showing sculptures, mosaics, and mural paintings with the artist's name, medium, title, and location listed. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The National Society of Mural Painters lent materials for microfilming in 1963 and donated records in 1965-1966. The National Society of Mural Painters, via President Jeff Greene, gave papers in 2009.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Biographical material, 1937-1978, including a text for the biography, DEAN CORNWELL: DEAN OF ILLUSTRATORS by Patricia Janis Broder; correspondence with artists and business associates; diaries, ca. 1941-1957; writings and notes; business records, ca. 1949-1961; ten sketches, undated and 1934; five scrapbooks containing reproductions of others' art works; exhibition announcements and catalogs, ca. 1940-1960; clippings, magazines, pamphlets and brochures, ca. 1926-1960; reproductions of art works; photographs, undated and 1920-1960, of Cornwell and of his art works; and slides and transparencies.
Biographical / Historical:
Muralist, painter, illustrator. Cornwell was born in Louisville, Ky. in 1892. He attended the Chicago Art Institute and began his career as a newspaper and magazine illustrator. He painted murals for the lobby of the Eastern Airlines Building at Rockefeller Plaza, the Hotel Warwick's Raleigh Room, and the Los Angeles Public Library. He is also well known for his painting of WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle.
Provenance:
Donated 1984 by Lucy Cornwell, daughter of Dean Cornwell.
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.
