This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Alfonso Ossorio papers, 1949-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Alfonso Ossorio papers, 1949-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Alfonso Ossorio papers, 1949-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Alfonso Ossorio papers, 1949-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Alfonso Ossorio papers, 1949-1985. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers of painter and assemblage artist Alfonso Ossorio measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1949 to 1985. The papers document Ossorio's career through correspondence, writings, printed material, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter and assemblage artist Alfonso Ossorio measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1949 to 1985. The papers document Ossorio's career through correspondence, writings, printed material, and photographs.
Correspondence consists primarily of letters from Jean Dubuffet and Clyfford Still. Also included are xeroxed letters from Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner. Writings consist of notes and draft manuscripts for the "Fourteen Paintings" exhibition catalog essay, some notes on a list of Pollock artwork, a lecture on Pollock, and a lecture by Dubuffet. Printed material consists of clippings, exhibition announcements and posters, exhibition catalogs, and an article on Ossorio. Photographic material consists of photographs of Ossorio and his colleagues, photographs of works of art, exhibitions and opening receptions, and photographs of works by Gregg Blasdel.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into four series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1950-1982 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Writings, circa 1962-1978 (0.1 linear feet: Box 1)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1949-1985 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-2 OV 3)
Series 4: Photographic Material, 1962-1980 (0.1 linear feet; Box 2)
Biographical / Historical:
Filipino American painter and assemblage artist Alfonso Ossorio (1916-1990) was based primarily in the New York area and was a key figure in the Abstract Expressionist and Art Brut movements.
Born in Manila, Philippines, in 1916, Ossorio immigrated to the United States with his family in 1930, settling in the Portsmouth area of Rhode Island and studying fine art at Harvard University and the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1950 Ossorio was commissioned by the parish of St. Joseph in Victorias City, Negros Occidental in the Philippines, to paint a mural which would be known as "The Angry Christ." In the late 1940s Ossorio settled in New York and later purchased the Creeks, an estate in East Hampton where he thereafter spent the majority of his time. From the late 1940s on Ossorio explored abstraction and formed crucial friendships with Jackson Pollock and Jean Dubuffet. In the 1960s he began to create assemblages that he called congregations, and his work was included in numerous exhibitions throughout the United States and elsewhere.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Alfonso Ossorio conducted by Forrest Selvig, November 19, 1968.
Separated Materials:
Material on reel 2000 including correspondence with Thomas Gibson Fine Arts, Ltd., Morris J. Pinto, and Jackson Pollock;
correspondence, loan agreements, and clippings concerning Pollock's painting "Lavender Mist"; and cancelled
checks, bank statements and other financial material, were returned to Ossorio after microfilming and are not described in the collection Container Inventory.
Provenance:
The collection was donated 1980-1981 by Alfonso A. Ossorio. An addition fron an unknown source was donated in 1985.
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.
Alfonso Ossorio: the shingle figures, 1962-1963 : [exhibition] September 11 - November 8, 1997, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York / [catalog essay by B.H. Friedman]
Angels, demons and savages : Pollock, Ossorio, Dubuffet / Klaus Ottmann, Dorothy Kosinski ; introductions by Dorothy Kosinski and Terrie Sultan ; with essays by Klaus Ottmann and Alicia G. Longwell ; a text by Jean Dubuffet ; and contributions by Elizabeth Steele, Sylvia Albro, Scott Homolka, and Chantal Bernicky
