An interview of Dorothy Cravath conducted 1964 May 13 - 27, by Minette Martin for the Archives of American Art.
Interview conducted at the home of Leota Molten in Berkeley, California. Cravath speaks of her youth and art education at the California School of Fine Arts; painting murals for the Federal Art Project; and restoring the murals at Coit Tower. She recalls Diego Rivera and discusses his influence on muralists.
Biographical / Historical:
Dorothy Cravath (1901-1974) was a mural painter in San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 55 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
A transcript of an interview of Edith Hamlin conducted by Donald J. Hagerty for the American Studies Program at the University of California at Davis, November 29, 1979 - March 4, 1980. Hamlin discusses her career and the life and works of her husband Maynard Dixon. Also included are photographs of Hamlin and her works of art.
Biographical / Historical:
Hamlin: mural painter; b. 1902. Active in California and Southwestern U.S. during the period from 1920-1946. She was a major figure in the San Francisco art scene in the 20's and worked for the WPA and the PWAP during the Depression.
Provenance:
Donated 1982 by Donald J. Hagerty.
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:
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
Clippings about painter and muralist Helen Forbes, one of which concentrates on Forbes's demonstration of principles of mosaic, and 2 photographs of works of art by Forbes.
Biographical / Historical:
Helen Forbes was a painter and mosaicist, San Francisco and Palo Alto, Calif.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1964 by Christine J. Abel.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Mosaicists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Educators -- California -- San Francisco Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Names:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
5 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1965 June 23
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Mireille Piazzoni Wood conduced 1965 June 23, by Mary Fuller McChesney, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Mireille Piazzoni Wood (1911-2006) was a muralist from San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 12 min.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Occupation:
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
An interview of Marcelle Labaudt conducted 1964 Sept. 16, by Mary McChesney, for the Archives of American Art.
The interview concerns Marcelle Labaudt's husband, the painter, muralist and educator Lucien Labaudt.
Biographical / Historical:
Marcelle Labaudt (1892-1987) was a gallery owner in San Francisco, Calif. Widow of Lucien Labaudt. She founded the Lucien Labaudt Gallery after his death in 1943.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav files. Duration is 50 min.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Names:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
29 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1964 May 19
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Ernest Lenshaw conducted 1964 May 19, by Mary McChesney, for the Archives of American Art.
Interview was conducted at the artist's home in San Francisco, Calif.
Biographical / Historical:
Ernest Lenshaw (1892- ) was a muralist in San Francisco, Calif.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 1 min.
Sound quality is good, but the repair of frequent splices has caused lost words and broken sentences throughout the interview.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of Ben Cunningham conducted 1964 October 24, by Harlan Phillips for the Archives of American Art.
Cunningham speaks of his early career in San Francisco during the Depression; the art market there; working as a muralist in the Federal Art Project; political and media problems encountered by the project, including strikes by workers; the work of the Index of American Design in California; working on naval architecture during Work War II; and his philosophies about painting. He recalls Joseph Danysh, William Gaskin, and Hilaire Hiler.
Biographical / Historical:
Ben Cunningham (1904-1975) was a painter, educator, and mural painter in New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 8 min.
Sound quality is poor.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
An interview of Ray Strong conducted 1993 September 14, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, at the artist's studio, in Santa Barbara, California. Strong discusses his family background and early art education; his move to San Francisco and contact with Jimmy Swinnerton, Maynard Dixon, and Frank Van Sloun; studying at California School of Fine Arts; his feeling of responsibility for art and nature; his murals at the Bohemian Club in San Francisco, 1934; and his involvement with socialist causes.
Biographical / Historical:
Ray Strong (1905-2006) was a painter and mural painter from San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 30 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Topic:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
3 Reels (ca. 1,650 items (on three microfilm reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Reels
Date:
1891-1974
Scope and Contents:
Poems; BOOK OF WISDOM, edited by Dixon; biographical material and biography by Grant Wallace for W.P.A., 1936; catalogues, printed material, news clippings; Manifesto of California Society of Artists; letters from prominent individuals such as James D. Hart, Ansel Adams, Jacob Zeitlin, suggesting Dixon as subject for a commemorative stamp; and correspondence with "Drygulch Dick," Robert Macbeth, his father, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Mural painter (San Francisco, Calif.)
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1974 by Edith Hamlin, wife of Maynard Dixon.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
An interview of Emmy Lou Packard conducted 1964 May 11-12, by Mary Fuller McChesney, for the Archives of American Art.
Packard speaks of her early interest in art and her education; meeting Diego Rivera, studying under him; working with him on murals; Rivera's personality; his marriage to Frida Kahlo and reaction to her death; his political views and his influence on art during the 1930s. She describes her feelings about art of the Work Project Administration period, and she recalls Anton Refregier and Jose Moya del Pino.
Biographical / Historical:
Emmy Lou Packard (1914-1998) was a painter and a mural painter.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 29 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 11 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This transcript is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Topic:
Coit Memorial Tower (San Francisco, Calif.) Search this
An interview of Christine Jeannette Abel conducted 1965 June 5, by Betty Hoag McGlynn, for the Archives of American Art. Abel discusses her educational background and studies with Frank Tolles Chamberlin, Armin Carl Hansen and David Alfaro Siqueiros; her teaching experience and impressions of Fletcher Martin as a student; and her experience assisting Helen Katherine Thorps on a Federal Art Project mural for the Marobia, California post office.
Biographical / Historical:
Christine Jeannette Abel (1890-1970) was a painter, mural painter, sculptor, and educator from California.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 23 min.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Educators -- California -- San Francisco Search this
The papers of artist and art teacher Victor Mikhail Arnautoff measure 3.3 linear feet and date from 1920 to 2017 with the bulk of the material dating from the 1920 to 1953. The collection contains biographical material such as marriage certificates, passports, naturalization certificates, and an Arnautoff family history; correspondence between family members, as well as with colleagues including Diego Rivera, and with institutions concerning Arnautoff's work; writings about Arnautoff and others, including his statement regarding the House Un-American Activities Committee Hearing; professional records related to mural projects and exhibitions of Arnautoff's work; and printed material including exhibition announcements and catalogs, clippings, and On the Drumhead by Mike Quin, illustrated by Victor Arnautoff. Also included are a scrapbook containing correspondence, printed material, and photographs highlighting Arnautoff's career with particular emphasis on the controversy surrounding his Dix McSmear lithograph, as well as photographic material depicting Arnautoff, other individuals, and works of art. The bulk of the collection is made up of artwork, including sketches, a sketchbook, watercolors, and prints.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in eight series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1920-1952, 1961-1979, 1995-1997 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1923-2008 (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, 1956, circa 1984-2006 (Box 1; 5 folders)
Series 4: Professional Records, 1940-1953, 1963-2004 (Box 1, OV 5; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1923-1998, 2007-2017 (Boxes 1-2, OV 5; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 6: Scrapbook, 1928-1968, 1979-1981 (Bound Volume 4; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographic Material, circa 1920s-circa 1960s, 2015 (Box 2; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 8: Artwork, circa 1920s-circa 1950s (Boxes 2-3, OVs 6-13; 1.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Victor Mikhail Arnautoff (1896-1979) was an artist and art teacher known for his murals. Arnautoff was born in the Ukraine and served in the Russian army during World War I. After a defeat in Siberia, he crossed into China, where he remained for five years. In China he met and married his wife Lydia, and they had their first two sons.
In 1925 Arnautoff went to San Francisco to study at the California School of Fine Arts. He continued with his family to Mexico in 1929 and became an assistant to muralist Diego Rivera. While in Mexico, his third son was born, and Arnautoff met Bernard Zakheim, with whom he would later work on the Coit Tower murals. Arnautoff and his family returned to San Francisco in 1931 and in 1934 he was chosen to paint one of the murals at the Coit Tower with funding from the Public Works of Art Project. Arnautoff was one of the most prolific muralists in San Francisco in the 1930s, completing murals at Coit Tower and the Palo Alto Clinic, as well as the Presidio chapel, George Washington High School, and the California School of Fine Arts library. He also painted murals at five post offices in California and Texas.
Arnautoff began teaching at the California School of Fine Arts in 1936. He taught at Stanford from 1938 to 1962 and also taught art courses at the California Labor School.
Following the death of his wife in 1961, Arnautoff retired from teaching at Stanford and returned to the Soviet Union in 1963. While living there he continued to create works of art and published a memoir. He died in Leningrad in 1979.
Provenance:
The Victor Mikhail Arnautoff papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1983 by Jacob and Vasily Arnautoff, Victor Arnautoff's sons. Additional papers were donated in 2018 by Michael and Peter Arnautoff, Victor Arnautoff's son and grandson, and by Robert Cherney, a scholar who wrote a book about Arnautoff.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Topic:
Artists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Genre/Form:
Sketchbooks
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Citation:
Victor Mikhail Arnautoff papers, 1920-2017, bulk 1920-1953. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by Gerald and Bente Buck.
Six photographs showing Hamlin at work on Federal Art Project murals for the Mission High School Library in San Francisco, 1937.
Biographical / Historical:
Edith Hamlin (1902-1992) was a painter and muralist from San Francisco, Calif. Worked for the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration during the Depression.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1964 by Lewis Ferbrache.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Topic:
Art and state -- California -- San Francisco Search this
The collection documents the career of Bolivian born painter and illustrator, Antonio Sotomayor, his interest in Latin American art and artists, and his association with the San Francisco arts community. Materials found in the collection include letters, writings, sketches and sketchbooks, printed material and photographs.
Scope and Content Note:
The collection documents the career of Bolivian born painter and illustrator, Antonio Sotomayor, his interest in Latin American art and artists, and his association with the San Francisco arts community.
The collection consists primarily of correspondence, writings, artwork, printed material, and photographs documenting Sotomayor's career, his interest in Latin American art and artists, and his association with the San Francisco arts community.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as six series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1931-1988, undated (box 1, 21 folders)
Series 2: Writings, 1932-1946, undated (box 1, 11 folders)
Series 3: Artwork, 1935, undated (box 1, 23 folders)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1935-1987 (boxes 1-2, 12 folders)
Series 5: Photographs, circa 1920-1984, undated (box 2, 13 folders)
Series 6: Oversized Material, 1941, 1958, undated (2 OV folders)
Biographical Note:
Antonio Sotomayor was born in Bolvia and came to San Francisco in 1923. He was educated at the Escuela de Belleas Arts in La Paz and the Hopkins Institute of Art in San Francisco. Primarily known for his murals and paintings, Sotomayor was also an illustrator, caricaturist, designer, ceramicist, and educator. Over the course of his career his work was exhibited in the United States, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and South America and he became known as the popular "artist laureate" of San Francisco where he lived with his wife, Grace. He died of cancer in 1985 at the age of 82.
Provenance:
The Antonio Sotomayor papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Grace Sotomayor in 1998.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
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:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Cartoonists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Topic:
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
The papers of painter and muralist John Milton Ramm measure 11 linear feet and date from 1900 to 1992. Found within are biographical materials, family correspondence, personal business records, notes and notebooks, travel journals and other writings by Ramm and his father, John Henry Ramm. Art work consists of sketches, sketchbooks, watercolor sketches, mural designs, and other drawings by John Milton Ramm and John Henry Ramm. Also found are numerous photographs of family, friends, travels and voyages, and San Francisco cityscapes, as well as photographs of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fires taken by John Henry Ramm.
Scope and Contents note:
The papers of painter and muralist John Milton Ramm measure 11 linear feet and date from 1900 to 1992. Found within are biographical materials, family correspondence, personal business records, notes and notebooks, travel journals and other writings by Ramm and his father, John Henry Ramm. Art work consists of sketches, sketchbooks, watercolor sketches, mural designs, and other drawings by John Milton Ramm and John Henry Ramm. Also found are numerous photographs of family, friends, travels and voyages, and San Francisco cityscapes, as well as photographs of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fires taken by John Henry Ramm. The collection reflects the artist's interest in travel and his thorough recording of each voyage through paintings, drawings, photographs, and journals.
The Notes Series (32 folders) consist of notebooks and unbound notes primarily concerning John Milton Ramm's travel and art-related activities.
The Writings Series (1.0 linear feet) consists of travel journals and typescripts based on travel by John Milton Ramm, and scripts and poetry by his father John Henry Ramm. There are also two travel journals written by others.
The Art Works Series (1.3 linear feet) primarily consists of drawings and watercolors by John Milton Ramm depicting scenes from his travels and designs for advertisements and magazine covers. There are also drawings, watercolors, small oil paintings, and prints by his father John Henry Ramm, and bookplates designed by unidentified artists, probably friends of John Milton Ramm.
The Photographs Series (2.4 linear feet) consists of photographs of John Milton Ramm, family members, his house, views of San Francisco, California and other western states, views of his voyages around the world, and of his art work. There are also photographs taken by Ramm's father, John Henry Ramm of San Francisco, most notably views of the 1906 fire and earthquake damage, and photographs of his art work. Miscellaneous photographs by unidentified photographers include views of the Gilbert Islands in 1915.
The Printed Material Series (54 folders) includes clippings, an exhibition announcement for John Milton Ramm, miscellaneous calling cards for individuals and businesses, a school yearbook, published scripts, and miscellaneous booklets and programs.
The Artifacts Series (1 folder) consists of a hand-carved backscratcher and a rubber stamp of a heraldic emblem.
Arrangement note:
The collection has been arranged into nine series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1903-1992 (Box 1; 16 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1909-1981, undated (Boxes 1-6, OV 13; 5.0 linear feet)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1908-1984, undated (Box 6; 3 folders)
Series 4: Notes, 1922-1976, undated (Box 6; 32 folders)
Series 5: Writings, 1910-1951, undated (Box 6, 7; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 6: Art work, 1900-1951, undated (Boxes 7-8, 12, OV 13-15; 1.3 linear feet)
Series 7: Photographs, 1903-1981, undated (Boxes 8-10, 12, OV 15; 2.4 linear feet)
Series 8: Printed material, 1913-1963 (Boxes 10-12; 54 folders)
Series 9: Artifacts, undated (Box 12; 1 folder)
Biographical/Historical note:
John Milton Ramm was born in San Francisco, California, on October 27, 1904. His parents were Antoinette Ramm and John Henry Ramm (1879-1948), who was also a painter and photographer, most notably recording the damage of the 1906 earthquake and fire. After graduating from Lowell High School in 1921, John Milton Ramm attended the California School of Fine Arts and later continued his art-related studies under his father. Between 1923 and 1938, he sailed on over a dozen merchant ships, traveling around the world performing various shipboard duties in addition to recording his surroundings in letters, drawings, and photographs. From 1928 to 1929, Ramm worked as a commercial artist and painted sets and backdrops for several motion picture studios including United Artists and Warner Brothers. Between 1932 to 1941, he painted murals and decorated the interiors of various business establishments such as restaurants and stores. In 1937, he was an art instructor at the San Francisco Boys' Club and at a W.P.A. Recreation Project Training course. From 1941 to 1945, Ramm was employed as a shipfitter and engineering draftsman aboard various ships. He was married to Hungarian-born Gabriella Vigh.
John Milton Ramm died February 26, 1984 in Alameda, California.
Provenance:
The John Milton Ramm papers were donated in 1994 by Sandra Howard, a family friend who inherited the estate of the artist.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
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:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
The Emmy Lou Packard papers measure 9.4 linear feet and date from 1900 to 1990, and focus on the career of painter, printmaker, muralist, and sculptor Emmy Lou Packard. Also found are extensive materials relating to Packard's personal and professional relationship with muralist Diego Rivera and painter Frida Kahlo, with whom Packard lived for one year in Mexico. Papers include correspondence, financial records, notes, writings, exhibition files, photographs, and printed material.
Scope and Contents note:
The Emmy Lou Packard papers measure 9.4 linear feet and date from 1900 to 1990, and focus on the career of painter, printmaker, muralist, and sculptor Emmy Lou Packard. Also found are extensive materials relating to Packard's personal and professional relationship with muralist Diego Rivera and painter Frida Kahlo, with whom Packard lived for one year in Mexico. Papers include correspondence, financial records, notes, writings, exhibition files, photographs, and printed material.
Biographical materials include resumes, personal forms, and certificates. Correspondence is with family, friends, and colleagues, including muralist Anton Refregier, songwriter Malvina Reynolds, and composer John Edmunds. There is one letter from Dorothea Lange. Also found is correspondence with various political and arts organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Russian magazine Soviet Woman. Much of the correspondence discusses personal relationships and political and art-related activities. Additional correspondence with and concerning Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo is arranged in Series 6.
Personal business records found within the papers include studio real estate and rent records, insurance records, price lists for artwork, consignment records, and miscellaneous receipts. There is one interview transcript of an interview with Packard for the Radical Elders Oral History Project. The papers include a series of notebooks/diaries, address lists, and other notes.
Packard's reference files and personal papers documenting her professional and close personal relationship with Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo are arranged into a separate series. They include her research files for a planned book on the two artists, personal letters between Packard and the couple, as well as several interesting photographs. Also found in this series are notes, writings, and printed materials relating to Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and other Mexican artists, such as Covarrubius, Juan O'Gorman, and Pablo O'Higgins.
The collection also includes typescripts and additional writings by Packard and others. Artwork consists of orginal drawings and prints by Packard and others not directly associated with projects. Exhibition and project files for many of Packard's commissioned projects are also found within the collection, including her files for the restoration of Anton Refregier's Rincon Annex Post Office mural in San Francisco and the Coit Tower murals in San Francisco. Many of the project files contain correspondence, reports, contracts, printed material, photographs, and artwork.
The papers also include photographs of Packard, her family, residences, artwork, friends, and colleagues, including Cesar Chavez, Juan O'Gorman, Malvina Reynolds, Charles Safford, Ralph Stackpole, and Tennessee Williams. Two scrapbooks are found, as well as additional printed materials such as clippings and exhibition announcements and catalogs. There are also two artifact items, a vinyl record of Malvina Reynolds and a political campaign button.
Arrangement note:
The collection is arranged into fifteen series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1942-1985 (Box 1; 1 folder)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1919-1990 (Box 1-3; 2.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1945-1985 (Box 3; 21 folders)
Series 4: Interview Transcript, 1979 (Box 3; 1 folder)
Series 5: Notes, 1900-1985 (Box 3-4, 10; 1.1 linear feet)
Series 6: Reference Files on Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, 1929-1986 (Box 5, 10, OV 11; 0.9 linear feet)
Series 7: Writings by Packard, 1953-1984 (Box 6; 17 folders)
Series 8: Writings by Others, 1955-1984 (Box 6; 19 folders)
Series 9: Artwork, 1921-1976 (Box 6; 10 folders)
Series 10: Exhibition Files, 1950-1964 (Box 6, OV 11; 5 folders)
Series 11: Project Files, 1953-1985 (Box 6-7, 10, OV 11; 1.8 linear feet)
Series 12: Photographs, 1914-1982 (Box 8, 10; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 13: Scrapbooks, 1947-1950 (Box 8, 10; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 14: Printed Material, 1936-1988 (Box 8-9, 10; 1 linear foot)
Series 15: Artifacts, 1984 (Box 9-10, OV 11; 2 folders)
Biographical/Historical note:
Emmy Lou Packard was born in Imperial Valley, California on April 15, 1914, to Walter and Emma Leonard Packard. In the late 1920s she lived with her family in Mexico City where she became acquainted with Diego Rivera, from whom she received regular art criticism and encouragement. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and completed courses in fresco and sculpture at the California School of Fine Arts in 1940. That year and the next, Packard worked as a full-time painting assistant to Rivera on his 1,650 square-foot fresco at the World's Fair in San Francisco. During this project, Packard became very close to Rivera and Frida Kahlo and returned to Mexico with them and spent a year living with the couple.
From then on, except for in 1944-1945 working for a defense plant, Packard worked and grew in various aspects of her art. In addition to her work in fresco, Packard is known for her work in watercolor, oil, mosaic, laminated plastic, concrete, and printmaking, both in linocuts and woodblocks. She received numerous commissions that included installations for ships, hotels, and private homes for which she executed large woodcuts and mural panels. During the 1950s and 1960s, Packard was hired to restore several historic murals, most notably the Rincon Annex Post Office mural by Anton Refregier and the Coit Tower murals in San Francisco.
Between 1966 and 1967 she was commissioned by architects to design and execute a number of concrete and mosaic pieces, one of which went to the Mirabeau Restaurant in Kaiser Center, Oakland. She also designed and executed a mural for the Fresno Convention Center Theater during that same period. In 1973-1974, she designed and supervised a glazed brick mural for a public library in Pinole, California.
Packard had one-woman shows at the San Francisco Museum of Art, Raymond and Raymond Gallery (San Francisco), Addison Gallery of American Art (Andover, Mass.), Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, Pushkin Museum (Moscow), and March Gallery (Chicago). Emmy Lou Packard died in 1998.
Related Archival Materials note:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Emmy Lou Packard conducted by Mary Fuller McChesney in 1964.
Provenance:
Emmy Lou Packard donated her papers to the Archives of American Art from 1984-1988.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Sculptors -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Topic:
Printmakers -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Mural painting and decoration, American Search this
Mural painting and decoration, Mexican Search this
An interview of Edith Hamlin and Dorothy Cravath conducted 1964 May 27, by Minette Martin, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Edith Hamlin (1902-1992) was a mural painter from San Francisco, Calif.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 54 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Occupation:
Muralists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Painters -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Topic:
Art and state -- California -- San Francisco Search this
