The papers of scenographer, graphic designer, architect, and furniture designer Antonin Heythum measure 4.1 linear feet and date from circa 1928-1954. They illustrate his career through biographical materials, writings, exhibition files, and printed and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The Antonin Heythum papers measure 4.1 linear feet and date from circa 1928-1954. Biographical materials include the birth certificate for Heythum's daughter Jan Antonin Columbus Heythum and miscellaneous correspondence. Writings includes draft manuscripts for two books by Heythum and his wife, Charlotta, Design for Use and Packaging Design Considerations. Typescripts of essays by Robert M. Hutchins concerning education and World War Two and a typescript titled "Industrial Design" by Donald Dohner are also included.
Exhibition files contains letters, photographs, and printed material for the International Exposition in Brno, Czechoslovakia, (1928), the Paris Exposition (1937), the San Francisco Bay Exposition (1939), the Swiss Exposition in Zurich (1939), the New York World's Fair (1939-1940), the exposition in Rome (1942), and the Cleveland International Exposition (1944). Teaching files contains materials relating to Heythum's classes at the California Institute of Technology and Syracuse University as well as a folder regarding designs created by Heythum for Gladding McBean.
Printed material includes exhibition catalogs and various publications surrounding industrial design, as well as news clippings and oversize posters. Photographic material includes photographs of the Czechoslovakian countryside, people, museums and exhibitions. Also included are photographs of industrial design materials, projects, and classes.
Arrangement:
This collection consists of six series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1935-1948 (.1 Linear feet: Box 1)
Series 2: Writings , circa 1941-1946 (.6 Linear feet: Box 1, OV 7)
Series 3: Exhibition Files, circa 1928-1944 (1.6 Linear feet: Boxes 1-3)
Series 4: Teaching Files, circa 1938-1952 (.2 Linear feet: Box 3)
Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1933-1954 (1.1 Linear feet: Boxes 3-5, OV 8)
Series 6: Photographic Material, circa 1928-1944 (.5 Linear feet: Boxes 4 and 6)
Biographical / Historical:
Antonin Heythum (1901-1954) was a scenographer, graphic designer, architect, and furniture designer who worked primarily in New York and Central Europe.
He was born in Most, Austria-Hungary, then the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. In 1924 he studied architecture, civil engineering, and ship construction at the Czech Technical University in Prague. He joined the Devětsil art association and participated in the beginning of the Liberated Theater where he worked as a scenographer from 1924-1925. In 1932 he worked with Evžen Linhart to design a house in Na Ostrohu in a colony of houses in Osada Baba, Prague.
Heythum participated in many exhibition installations. In 1933 in Prague, he created a national glass exhibition and he worked on pavilions at the World Exhibition in Brussels. In 1938 he participated in the New York World's Fair and San Francisco Bay expositions and after the beginning of World War Two remained in the United States where he wrote a book with his wife on exhibition management titled Design for Use (1944). Heythum also founded the Industrial Design Department at the California Institute of Technology and was the head of Industrial Design at Syracuse University from 1946 to his death. He also taught at Columbia University and was a consultant for the firm of Norman Bel Geddes.
Heythum died on January 10, 1954 in the town of Rottach in southern Bavaria.
Provenance:
The Antonin Heythum papers were donated in 1985 by Arthur Pulos who received the papers from Charlotta Heythum in 1956.
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:
Furniture designers -- New York (State) Search this
Antonin Heythum papers, circa 1928-1954, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
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:
Antonin Heythum papers, circa 1928-1954, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
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:
Antonin Heythum papers, circa 1928-1954, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
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:
Antonin Heythum papers, circa 1928-1954, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
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:
Antonin Heythum papers, circa 1928-1954, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
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:
Antonin Heythum papers, circa 1928-1954, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
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:
Antonin Heythum papers, circa 1928-1954, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Writings includes draft manuscripts for books by Heythum and his wife, Charlotta, Design for Use and Packaging Design Considerations. Typescripts of essays by Robert M. Hutchins concerning education and World War Two and a typescript titled "Industrial Design" by Donald Dohner are also included.
Collection 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.
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:
Antonin Heythum papers, circa 1928-1954, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with June Schwarcz, 2001 January 21. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
