Lewis Rubenstein's sketchbook documenting a hunger march to Washington, D.C.
Creator:
Rubenstein, Lewis W. (Lewis William), 1908-2003 Search this
Type:
Artworks
Place:
Italy
New York, N.Y.
Washington, D.C.
Date:
1932
Citation:
Lewis W. (Lewis William) Rubenstein. Lewis Rubenstein's sketchbook documenting a hunger march to Washington, D.C., 1932. Lewis W. Rubenstein papers, 1923-1993. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Journals, correspondence, writings, sketchbooks, interview, photographs and printed material document Rubenstein's painting career. A series of files relate to Rubenstein's longtime friendship with his teacher, Rico Lebrun.
The bulk of the collection consists of 60 v. of journals, 1930-June 1993, in which Rubenstein writes and sketches about his ideas for "time paintings," scrolls, films, his travels as a Fulbright scholar with his wife, Erica, his summers spent in Provincetown, Mass., "gallery pounding" in New York City trying to sell his work, inspirational biblical quotes, and various artist friends and colleagues, including Rico Lebrun, Walter Pach, Hans Hofmann, Ben Shahn, Karl Knaths, Olin Dows, Philip Guston, and Lloyd Goodrich.
Correspondence (0.2 ft.) relates to Rubenstein's nomination to the National Academy of Design, 1963, his murals in the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Fogg Museum at Harvard University, the publication of an article by his wife Erica, regarding their stints as Fulbright scholars in Tokyo, illustrated by Lewis, and correspondence of a general nature from friends, colleagues, and admirers. Among the correspondents are Lynd Ward (Rubenstein's sponsor for the N.A.D. nomination), Derek Bok, president of Harvard, Olin Dows, and Edward Rowan, whose 1940 letter concerns Rubenstein's designs for murals for the Wareham, Mass. Post Office for the Section of Fine Arts.
Files on Rico Lebrun (ca. 0.8 ft.), contain several original and extensive photocopies of letters from Lebrun to Rubenstein, and a few letters from Constance Lebrun after her husband's death; a photograph of Lebrun with Constance and photographs of Lebrun's work, 39 drawings, 1933-1949, including studies for "The Cruxifixion" and "Portia"; a caricature of Diego Rivera working on a mural, and of John Steuart Curry by Lebrun, exhibition catalogs, clippings, and other printed material, and writings on Lebrun.
Art work by Rubenstein includes 9 v. of sketchbooks, 1930-1975, containing ink, pencil and charcoal drawings, and a caricature of Walter Pach.
The interview is a partial transcript (7 p.) of Rubenstein conducted by art historian Stanton L. Catlin, 1993, regarding Jose Clemente Orozco and a mural by him commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art, 1940, on which Rubenstein assisted. Also related to Orozco is a notebook containing technical details about the mural.
Photographs are mainly of Rubenstein's murals and paintings, but include several of him, and an album of snapshots of the Rubensteins and Lebruns in Europe, 1930-1932.
Printed material (1.2 linear ft.), documents exhibitions, awards, and works of art, and consists of exhibition announcements and catalogs, clippings, newsletters, Foreign Service journals, news releases, cartoons by Rubenstein, and postcards of Rubenstein's work. Two scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, 1935-1955, cover exhibitions.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, printmaker, educator. Professor of painting at Vassar College. Rubenstein trained in frescoe painting with Rico Lebrun in Italy, and retained a lifelong friendship with him. His mural commissions include the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Fogg Museum at Harvard, the Jewish Center in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., and the Wareham, Mass. Post Office for the WPA's Section of Fine Arts in 1940. Rubenstein attended Harvard University. He began his long teaching career at Vassar College in 1939. He began doing "Time Paintings" in late 1940s, executed on long canvases and viewed on special scrolled frames, merging Western and Far Eastern scroll painting styles.
Provenance:
Rubenstein donated the Lebrun drawings 1982-1987, and the remainder in 1993.
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.
Lewis W. Rubenstein sketchbook of hunger walk to Washington
Creator:
Rubenstein, Lewis W. (Lewis William), 1908-2003 Search this
Type:
Artworks
Place:
Washington, D.C.
Date:
1931
Citation:
Lewis W. (Lewis William) Rubenstein. Lewis W. Rubenstein sketchbook of hunger walk to Washington, 1931. Lewis W. Rubenstein papers, 1923-1993. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview with Lewis and Erica Rubenstein conducted 1993 February 23, by Stephen Polcari, for the Archives of American Art.
Lewis Rubenstein discusses his early career as a fresco painter, including his training in Italy and friendship with Rico Lebrun. He talks specifically about commissioned murals at the Fogg Art Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and assisting Jose Clemente Orozco on "portable murals" for the Museum of Modern Art. He talks of his move away from realism and the themes that interested him in the 1950s and 1960s. He remembers spending summers in Provincetown and taking classes with Hans Hofmann, his work teaching studio art at Vassar College, and briefly about the visiting artists program he ran there. Erica Rubenstein talks about the significance of 1930s mural paintings, the WPA movement, and government support of the arts in general.
Biographical / Historical:
Lewis W. Rubentstein (1908-2003) was a painter, printmaker, and teacher and teacher at Vassar College. He lived in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Erica Beckh Rubenstein (1914-2014) was an art historian, whose Ph.D. thesis at Harvard, "Taxpayers Murals," related to New Deal murals.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 56 min.
Side B of Tape 1 is blank.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art 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 administrators.
Restrictions:
This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire audio recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art historians -- New York (State) -- Poughkeepsie -- Interviews Search this
Topic:
Mural painting and decoration, American Search this
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Lewis W. and Erica Beckh Rubenstein, 1993 February 23. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Mural painting and decoration, American Search this
Lewis W. (Lewis William) Rubenstein. Sketchbook: Sketches around Cambridge and Boston, 1936-1937. Lewis W. Rubenstein papers, 1923-1993. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Rubenstein, Lewis W. (Lewis William), 1908-2003 Search this
Names:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
8 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Date:
1964 November 9
Scope and Contents:
A summary of an interview of Henry Morgenthau conducted 1964 November 9, by Erica and Lewis Rubenstein, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Henry Morgenthau (1891-1967) was a cabinet member in Roosevelt's administration in Washington, D.C.
General:
No tape exists; Morgenthau did not wish to be recorded. Summary is from notes taken by the interviewers.
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.
Rubenstein, Lewis W. (Lewis William), 1908-2003 Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Summary of oral history interview with Henry Morgenthau, 1964 November 9. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
8 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Date:
1964 December 7
Scope and Contents:
A summary of an interview of Lewis Mumford conducted 1964 December 7, by Lewis and Erica Rubenstein, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Lewis Mumford (1895-1990) was an art administrator for the WPA in New York, New York.
Provenance:
The interview was 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. It is unclear why no actual transcript or tape exists for the interview; Mumford may have not wanted to be recorded.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Summary of oral history interview with Lewis Mumford, 1964 December 7. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
