0.4 Linear feet ((60 items partially microfilmed on 1 reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1931-1987
Scope and Contents:
Sketches, photographs, notes, a scrapbook, and printed material.
REEL 2787: A notebook containing sketches and notes on the completion of the Willard Parker Hospital mural, New York City, which Sakari Suzuki painted with the assistance of Berntsen for the Federal Arts Project in 1936-1938; and 9 photographs of the Willard Parker mural, 2 of which show Suzuki and 2 of Suzuki and Berntsen at work. The Willard Parker Hospital was later demolished.
UNMICROFILMED: A chronology of Berntsen's career; 24 sketches in pencil and in pen and ink of ironworkers and construction workers, ca. 1933-1934, and of visitors to the National Gallery where Berntsen was a guard, ca. 1966-1971; three letters from Bernsten to his wife Alma, 1947-1952; loose newspaper clippings, ca. 1933-1985, and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings (in Norwegian and English) concerning Berntsen's involvement with the Norwegian Art and Craft Club, and his paintings and sketches of workers at construction sites where he worked as an ironworker, ca. 1931-1976; two exhibition announcements, 1964 and 1986; photographs, ca. 1933-1987, mostly snapshots, include Berntsen painting, Bernsten in his National Gallery of Art guard uniform with Chief Justice Earl Warren, one of students and faculty of the Art Students League (ca. 1933-1934), one of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in New York, several of Berntsen and Suzuki at work on the Willard Parker Hospital mural, ca. 1938, of events sponsored by the Norwegian Art and Craft Club, and of works of art. Also included are photocopies of works of art.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, mural painter, ironworker; Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y. and Va. Born in Oslo, Norway. Berntsen also was the model for the laborer who stands behind Lenin in the controversial Diego Rivera mural for Radio City Music Hall.
Provenance:
Material on reel 2787 transferred from the National Collection of Fine Arts, who received it from Berntsen, 1975. Unmicrofilmed material donated 1993 and 2002 by Berntsen's great-grandson, Cliff Miller.
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.
Occupation:
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Mural painting and decoration, American Search this
Art museum attendance -- Pictorial works Search this
Biographical material, letters, writings, sketchbooks, art works, clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, photographs and subject files.
Biographical material, including resumes, exhibition chronologies, and a certificate from the Master Institute of the Roerich Museum, 1934; letters from Egri's parents, Ilona and Lajos Egri and other family members, 1951-1988; letters from art institutions, 1935-1988; general correspondence, undated, 1969-1988, including letters from Ralph Fabri and Judith Blam; writings by Egri, including artists' statements, drafts for two short stories, and two notebooks from classes at the Roerich Museum, 1934, "Theory and Design" and "Dynamic Symmetry" (retyped in 1988), each containing original art work;
art works, including 2 sketchbooks, 14 loose sketches, 21 drawings, and 13 watercolors; clippings, 1929-1987; ca. 70 exhibition catalogs and announcements, 1946-1987 and undated; photographs of Egri, her parents, brothers, and ca. 100 of her works of art; subject files pertaining to Egri's work for the WPA Federal Art Project, 1938-1939, including her mural for Lincoln Hospital, Bronx, N.Y., mural painting courses taught by Egri at the Spokane Art Center, Washington, and the WPA's New Reading Materials Program, sponsored by the NYC Board of Education, regarding Egri's illustrations for three children's books.
Biographical / Historical:
Figure painter, muralist, illustrator, educator, New York, N.Y. and Wilmington, Del. Studied at the National Academy of Design, the Art Students League, and the Master Institute of the Roerich Museum with Howard Giles. She also painted and exhibited in Taos, N.M. with her brother Ted Egri. Her subject was primarily the female figure.
Provenance:
The donor, Ted Egri, is the younger brother of Ruth Egri Holden.
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.
United States. Work Projects Administration Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
0.9 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Sketchbooks
Place:
Germany -- description and travel
Date:
circa 1918-1975
Scope and Contents:
Biographical material, research files, financial records, photographs, artwork, printed material and a scrapbook documenting the life of sculptor and educator William Ehrich.
Biographical material includes forms of identification, resumes, family genealogical records, travel notes, one award, and biographical notes. Research files include William Ehrich's 1955 trip to Germany and files compiled by Roger Ehrich and others regarding William Ehrich and WPA artists. Financial records include receipts, purchase orders, inventories, and mortgage records pertaining to Ehrich receiving money from a local art patron to purchase a home. Photographs are of Ehrich, Ehrich with his students, his sculpture and exhibitions. Artwork includes Ehrich's sketchbooks and sketches of anatomy. Printed material includes newspaper clippings. One scrapbook contains Ehrich's professional correspondence.
Biographical / Historical:
William Ehrich (1897-1960) was a sculptor and educator in Rochester, New York. Ehrich was born in Königsberg, East Prussia. He studied sculpture at the State Art School in Königsberg. In 1929 he immigrated to Buffalo, New York. He taught at the Art Institute of Buffalo from 1931 to 1937 and directed the creation of public sculpture at the Buffalo Zoo as part of the WPA's Federal Arts Project. In 1939, Ehrich began teaching at the College for Women at the University of Rochester and the Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, New York.
Provenance:
Donated 2017 by Roger Ehrich, William Ehrich's son.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
An interview of Audrey McMahon conducted 1964 Nov. 18, by Harlan Phillips, for the Archives of American Art.
McMahon speaks of her pre-Federal Art Project experiences; her early involvement with the WPA; how it functioned; and political problems with the WPA. She recalls Juliana Force, Edward Bruce, Holger Cahill.
Biographical / Historical:
Audry McMahon (1900?-1981) served under Holger Cahill as Regional Director of the WPA Federal Art Project for New York and New Jersey from 1935-1939.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 21 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.
An interview conducted by Stan and Irene Poon Andersen on July 3-4, 1996, New York City, with Dong Kingman. Accompanying the interview are a few newspaper and magazine articles, and a photograph of Kingman, taken by Irene Poon Andersen, 1996. The material was compiled following the 1995 exhibition "With New Eyes: Toward An Asian American Art History in the West," for which Poon Andersen was a curator and exhibitor.
Kingman discusses his early years and education in Oakland, Calif. and Hong Kong; teaching at Mills College, Oakland, University of Wyoming, Laramie and the San Diego Museum; working on the WPA art project; military service with the US Army OSS art department; leaving the Bay Area when he was drafted, moving first to Washington, D.C. and later to New York City where has remained; and work on movies including "Flower Drum Song," "55 Days to Peking," and "Virgin Soldier."
Biographical / Historical:
Dong Kingman (1911-2000) was a painter and illustrator from the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. Worked for the Works Progress Administration.
Provenance:
Donated 1997 by Stan Andersen and Irene Poon Andersen.
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.
Discusses her involvement with the design of Timberline Lodge in Oregon for the Works Progress Administration.
Biographical / Historical:
Margery Hoffman Smith (1888-1981) was a painter, craftsman, and interior decorator from San Francisco, California. Timberline is a ski lodge in Oregon which was built under the authority of the WPA in the 1940s; Smith contributed to its design.
General:
Originally recorded 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 2 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:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of Howard Thomas and Harold Wescott conducted 1965 June 3, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art. They speak of their professional backgrounds and early affiliations with the Public Works of Art Project; their involvement with the WPA Handicraft project in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; the project's effect on the community; the political effect; Milwaukee as an art center; the effect of the WPA on artists' careers; and government support for the arts. Wescott recalls Frank Lloyd Wright.
Biographical / Historical:
Howard Thomas (1899-1971) and Harold Wescott (1911-) were art administrators with the Public Works of Art Project and the Milwaukee Handicraft Project.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 4 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.
An interview with Lillian Orlowsky conducted 1996 Aug. 5 and 26, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art, in Orlowsky's home, in Provincetown, Mass.
Orlowsky talks about her childhood in Manhattan, N.Y., including her interest in modern dance, attending art classes at the Educational Alliance in the Lower East Side where she met classmate Louise Nevelson (1932-33); her studies at the American Artists School with Raphael and Moses Soyer and Anton Refregier; creating watercolors with William Freed; her work in the mural and easel divisions of the WPA; Hans Hofmann's classes and her classmates, including Lee Krasner (1937); her return to Provincetown, Mass., in 1944, with husband William Freed; and Forum 49 in Provincetown. Orlowsky also recalls David Alfaro Siqueiros' method of painting.
Biographical / Historical:
Lillian Orlowsky (1914- 2004) was a painter in New York, N.Y. and Provincetown, Mass. Orlowsky was a WPA artist who studied under Hans Hofmann.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 12 min.
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.
Phillips, Harlan B. (Harlan Buddington), 1920- Search this
Creator:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Names:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
48 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1963 Oct. 24
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Anthony French Merrill conducted by Harlan Phillips on 1963 Oct. 24 for the Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project.
Biographical / Historical:
Anthony French Merrill (1912-2007) was an arts administrator with the Works Progress Administration.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 43 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.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Names:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
United States. Government Printing Office -- Denver -- Colorado Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
11 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1964 Nov. 11
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Juan Menchaca conducted 1964 Nov. 11, by Sylvia Loomis, for the Archives of American Art.
Menchaca discusses painting portraits and making dioramas about the history of Colorado, for the State Museum, in Denver, as part of the Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project, ca. 1936-1941; his work as a camouflage instructor during WWII; and helping to establish the Denver field office of the Government Printing Office.
Biographical / Historical:
Juan Menchaca (1910-1999) was a painter from Colorado.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 41 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.
An interview of Henri Marceau conducted circa 1963, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art.
Marceau discusses his education in architecture; teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, becoming curator of the Johnson collection and its movement to the Philadelphia Museum of Art; his museum career; Federal art projects; the WPA under Mary Curran and the problems she had with the Artists' Union; Albert Barnes' role in the controversy; and the reaction of the public and press.
Biographical / Historical:
Henri Marceau (1896-1969) was an art administrator and art historian in Philadelphia, Pa.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 56 min.
Sound quality is poor. Date of interview based on other interviews conducted by Doud for the New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project.
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.
An interview of Henry W. Hough conducted by Richard Doud 1964 June 11, for the Archives of American Art.
Hough speaks of his journalism background; his involvement with the WPA Federal Writers' Project writing a guidebook for the state of Colorado; and the lasting benefits of the WPA's programs.
Biographical / Historical:
State Director of Federal Writers' Project, Colorado.
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.
Interview of Philip Guston conducted on January 29, 1965, by Joseph Trovato, in the artist's home in Woodstock, New York, for the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project.
Guston briefly provides biographical information and spends the remainder of his time speaking of his experiences working on the Mural Project (PWAP) in Los Angeles; his move to New York working under Reginald Marsh as a non-relief artist; his multiple mural projects in New York (Penn Station Subway, Queensbridge Housing Project, WPA Mural for the World's Fair, etc.); his success in WPA Fine Arts competitions; his move to Woodstock, New York; his time spent teaching at the University of Iowa; his many influences (Renaissance, Modern and Abstract Painters); his personal/professional feelings about the WPA as well as his political feelings about it.
Biographical / Historical:
Philip Guston (1913-1980) was a painter in both New York and Los Angeles.
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.
An interview of Adolph Gottlieb conducted 1967 Oct. 25, in New York, by Dorothy Seckler, for the Archives of American Art.
Gottlieb speaks of his childhood in New York; his decision to pursue art and its connection to a generational rebellion against traditional middle class values; his interest in art by the age of fifteen; the cultural influence of pop culture and comic strips (Mutt and Jeff); his interrupted high school career at Stuyvesant; his eighteen month stay in Europe (1921) studying in museums and various art schools; his subsequent exposure to Matisse, Picasso, and Leger; his experiences with German Expressionism in Vienna, Munich, Dresden, and Berlin; his return to the states; his attraction to Italian and French Renaissance painting as well as Ingres Courbet, and Delacroix; his time spent attending Saturday classes at the Arts Student League under John Sloan; the influence of John Sloan's cubist side; his foresight of the transient nature of the Ashcan school; his belief in painting from the imagination and memory; Cezanne's influence insofar as the notion of how to approach the forms of nature in terms of their volume; his instinct to maintain the surface and to keep it flat; his use of muddy, gray, brown, subdued colors, applied in a rich juicy impasto style; his first exhibition with the Art Alliance; his relationship with Rothko and Avery and specifically the heavy influence of Avery on his subject matter after his marriage;his short time working for the WPA in 1936; his self-discovery in Arizona; his literary influences, Pound, Joyce, Proust, 19th century writers, and Russian writers; his return to New York City and his further abstraction and reduction of means; his use of a horizon as the result of a shift in forms; his budding interest in primitive art (particularly African Art); the formation of his pictographs and the influence of the Surrealists and the philosophy of Jung and the collective unconscious; his belief in surface techniques to achieve freshness, much like the automism; the elimination of compartmentalization in his work in the 50's; his interest in certain opposing images; art as a matter of subjective rather than objective; his more refined work, more colorful, and more subtle work of the mid 50's; his distaste for academic devises; his recent Burst paintings; and his impulse to work on a larger scale.
Biographical / Historical:
Adolph Gottlieb (1903-1974) was a painter from New York, N.Y.
General:
Transferred from original acetate tape reels.
Sound quality is poor.
The recording ends before the conclusion of the interview.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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 others.
Interview of Don Freeman conducted 1965 June 4, by Betty Hoag McGlynn, for the Archives of American Art, in his home, in Santa Barbara, Calif. Freeman speaks of his childhood in San Diego with his guardian; his high school years spent in St. Louis at a public school Prineipia (and his teacher Kathryn Cherry); the knowledge of his artistic destiny as a child; his move to New York City in 1929; his time spent working as an unbooked trumpet player for jazz orchestras on Broadway; his formative years at the Art Students League under the guidance of John Sloan;
the influence of Robert Henri and "Art Spirit;" his decision to do illustrations for the theater section of the Herald Tribune of ongoing performances; his time spent studying with Harry Wickey (etcher and sculptor); his relationship and marriage to wife Lydia as well as description of life in downtown Manhattan immediately following the stock market crash ; time at Art Students League studying along side with Jackson Pollock, Manuel Tolegian, Whitney Darrel; his decision to work for the WPA in
the graphics department completing lithographs (1933-1934); "Freedom of the Press," a painting completed around the same time and the possible influence of Reginald Marsh; his interest in a project called "Paint for the People" (a public works project for the New York Subway system); time spent illustrating for the WPA theater magazine "The Living Magazine;" his opinions concerning acetate and stone as well as the use of mezzotint; his personal magazine which he published for four years (name unknown); a general summary of his feelings towards the WPA as an artistic force; his separation from the Union Uprisings due to his success within the program;
his work on "Our Flying Navy" a series of illustrations (now compiled as a book) used for advertisement for the Navy; his participation in the Association of American Artists before his term spent in the Army during WWII; his budding career as a children's books writer and illustrator (Barton Press); his illustrations for William Soroyan"s The Human Comedy; his move back west and his son Roy; and his current occupation of giving "Chalk Talks" around the country, speaking with students about art, music, theater.
Biographical / Historical:
Don Freeman (1908-1978) was an Illustrator from New York, N.Y. Went to New York City at the age of 21. Studied with John Sloan and Harry Wickey at the Art Students League.
General:
An unrelated interview of Ben Messick conducted by B. Hoag McGlynn is also on this tape.
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:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Topic:
Illustrators -- California -- Interviews Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Names:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
48 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
1964 June 24
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Helen Bess Clarke and James Mitchell Clarke conducted 1964 June 24, by Betty Hoag, for the Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project.
The Clarkes reminisce about their work for the Curriculum Project during the Works Progress Administration.
Biographical / Historical:
Helen Bess Clarke (1904- ) was an educator and James Mitchell Clarke (1903-1976) was a writer and they lived in San Diego, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 32 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.
Peter Agostini (1913-1993) was a sculptor from New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 28 digital wav files. Duration is 10 hrs., 37 min.
Transferred from 4 3" reels.
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.
Topic:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
