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Creator:

Valentine, De Wain, 1936-2022  Search this

Citation:

De Wain Valentine papers, 1967-1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Theme:

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)6905

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209034

AAA_collcode_valedewa

Theme:

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209034

Creator:

Wortz, Melinda  Search this

Names:

University of California, Irvine -- Faculty  Search this

University of California, Irvine. Department of Studo Art  Search this

University of California, Irvine. Fine Arts Gallery  Search this

Antin, Eleanor  Search this

Baca, Judith Francisca  Search this

Ballatore-Nelson, Sandy  Search this

Barber, Daniel  Search this

Bell, Larry, 1939-  Search this

Christo, 1935-  Search this

DeLap, Tony, 1927-2019  Search this

Dine, Jim, 1935-  Search this

Eversley, Frederick  Search this

Harding, Bill  Search this

Irwin, Robert, 1928-  Search this

Johns, Jasper, 1930-  Search this

Kauffman, Craig, 1932-2010  Search this

Livkin, Rena  Search this

Lodato, Peter  Search this

Marchesi, Cork  Search this

Marck, Marc van der  Search this

McCafferty, Jay David, 1948-  Search this

Moses, Ed, 1926-  Search this

Noguchi, Isamu, 1904-1988  Search this

Ox, Jack, 1948-  Search this

Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008  Search this

Rinke, Klaus, 1939-  Search this

Rosler, Martha  Search this

Schwartz, Beth Ames  Search this

Small, Rena  Search this

Sonneman, Eve  Search this

Taylor, Elizabeth, 1932-2011  Search this

Tivey, Hap  Search this

Todd, Liza  Search this

Turrell, James  Search this

Valentine, De Wain, 1936-2022  Search this

Warner, Elsa  Search this

Wiener, Nina  Search this

Zaimo, Stephen  Search this

Extent:

17.45 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Interviews

Photographs

Transcripts

Sound recordings

Travel diaries

Place:

Paris (France) -- description and travel

Soviet Union -- description and travel

Date:

1958-1992

Summary:

The papers of California art historian, writer, instructor, and curator, Melinda Wortz (1940-2002) date from 1958-1992, and measure 17.45 linear feet. The collection includes documentation of Wortz's tenure at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), where she specialized in collecting and presenting the California "light and space" artists during the 1970s and 1980s. Wortz's papers include biographical information, personal and professional correspondence, interview transcripts and sound recordings, professional and student writings and notes, diaries of five trips abroad, UCI administrative, dossier, and teaching files, general subject and artist files, printed material, several pieces of artwork; and photographs.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of California art historian, writer, instructor, and curator, Melinda Wortz (1940-2002) date from 1958-1992, and measure 17.45 linear feet. The collection includes documentation of Wortz's tenure at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), where she specialized in collecting and presenting the California Light and Space artists during the 1970s and 1980s. Wortz's papers include biographical information, personal and professional correspondence, interview transcripts and sound recordings, professional and student writings and notes, diaries of five trips abroad, UCI administrative, dossier, and teaching files, general subject and artist files, printed material, several pieces of artwork; and photographs.

Wortz's biographical material includes annotated appointment books and calendars, resumes, and some family, financial, and legal records.

Correspondence files document Wortz's activities beyond her work at UCI, including scattered correspondence with artists such as Eleanor Antin, Daniel Barber, Christo, Craig Kauffman, Cork Marchesi, Martha Rosler, Eve Sonneman, Hap Tivey, and Elsa Warner. Correspondence also relates to arrangements for lectures, juries, panels, symposiums, and other professional activities in which Wortz participated.

Interviews include transcripts of four interviews conducted by Wortz with subjects including Peter Lodato and Dewain Valentine, and a sound recording of an interview with Nina Wiener.

Writings and notes include drafts, and some published copies, of articles and essays written for journals, magazines, and exhibition catalogs; Wortz's dissertation and thesis; notes; student essays and class notes; and scattered writings by others. Included in the published works are copies of Artweek containing articles by Wortz, and drafts and published copies of essays on Larry Bell, Robert Irwin, Jasper Johns, Jay McCafferty, Isamu Noguchi, Robert Rauschenberg, Klaus Rinke, Beth Ames Schwartz, and James Turrell.

Diaries document five separate overseas trips to locations including Asia in 1977, Paris in 1978, and the U.S.S.R., where Wortz delivered a paper on Robert Irwin, in 1989.

University of California, Irvine, records include Wortz's administrative files documenting her work on various committees, her directorship of the Fine Arts Gallery, including budget and exhibition records, her work as Chair of Studio Art, and her collaborations with other faculty, including Judy Baca, Sandy Ballatore, Tony Delap, Craig Kauffman, and Rena Small. Wortz's dossier files provide a thorough record of her accomplishments from the late 1970s-1990, and her UCI teaching files document the content of core art courses which she taught at UCI in the 1970s and 1980s.

Subject files provide additional documentation of Wortz's interest in particular artists and subjects, and include scattered correspondence with artists, as well as additional correspondence, reports, printed material, index card files, sound cassettes, and photographs, documenting her interests in art and politics, feminism, religion and spirituality, museum management and training, and other subjects.

Printed material includes announcements, catalogs, journals, newsletters, and material specifically documenting Wortz's activities.

Artwork includes a piece of floor covering from a Jim Dine exhibition, a booklet by Daniel Barber, Flams by Rena Livkin, and several pieces of unidentified artwork.

Photographs include photos of Wortz with her family and with UCI faculty including Tony DeLap, Craig Kauffman, and Ed Moses; photos of events with friends and family, including Hap Tivey's wedding to Liza Todd with Elizabeth Taylor in attendance; photos of artists including Frederick Eversley, Bill Harding, Jack Ox, and Stephen Zaimo; and photos of artwork by artists including Tony DeLap, Barbara Smith, Marc Van Der Marck, and others.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as ten series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1966-1988 (0.25 linear feet; Boxes 1, 19)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1967-1992 (1.25 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 18)

Series 3: Interviews, 1971-circa 1980s (6 folders; Boxes 2, 18)

Series 4: Writings and Notes, 1958-circa 1990 (4.25 linear feet; Boxes 2-6, 19)

Series 5: Diaries, 1977-1989 (6 folders; Box 6)

Series 6: University of California, Irvine, 1960-1991 (4.8 linear feet; Boxes 6-11, OV 20)

Series 7: Subject Files, circa 1960-1990 (4.25 linear feet; Boxes 11-15, 18)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1960s-1980s (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 15-16, 19)

Series 9: Artwork, circa 1960s-circa 1980s (3 folders; Boxes 17, 19)

Series 10: Photographs, 1960s-1980s (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 17, 19)

Biographical / Historical:

California art historian, writer, instructor, and curator, Melinda Wortz (1940-2002), taught at the University of California, Irvine, from 1975, serving as Director of UCI's Fine Arts Gallery and Chair of the Department of Studio Art. Wortz's special area of interest was the work of the California "light and space" artists emerging in Los Angeles in the 1970s.

After attending Stanford University and graduating from Radcliffe College with a bachelors degree in art history, Wortz received her masters degree in art history from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her doctorate in theology and the arts from the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley. Wortz taught at California State University and the University of California Extension in the early 1970s. At UCI her colleagues included Judy Baca, Sandy Ballatore, Tony Delap, Craig Kauffman, and Rena Small.

Wortz married Edward C. Wortz in the early 1970s, following her divorce from her first husband, Thomas G. Terbell, Jr. Edward Wortz's first career was as a research scientist working on NASA contracts in the air research industry in Colorado and California. Later he was involved in the arts and participated in collaborations with artists including Robert Irwin, Coy Howard, and James Turrell. He worked with Melinda Wortz to develop their personal collection of contemporary art.

Melinda Wortz was a prolific writer who wrote extensively for national art periodicals, including Arts Magazine, and Art News. She also wrote, and served as editor, for the California periodical Artweek from the 1960s to 1990s. She wrote numerous catalogs for artists including Larry Bell, Cork Marchesi, Doug Moran, Beth Ames Schwartz, and James Turrell; and published articles on Dan Flavin, Robert Irwin, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, and others. She lectured at Brown University, the Center for Art, Salt Lake City, Contemporary Art Museum, La Jolla, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the San Diego Museum, Wellesley College, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and many other institutions. In 1989 she traveled to the U.S.S.R. to deliver a paper on Robert Irwin at the International Art Critics Association annual meeting.

In addition to her curatorial work at the UCI Fine Arts Gallery, where she organized exhibitions for artists including Alice Aycock, Jonathan Borofsky, Audrey Flack, Jack Ox, and Dennis Oppenheim, Wortz curated exhibitions for University of California sister colleges, Pasadena Art Museum, and others.

Wortz received UCI and National Endowment for the Arts grants in support of her writing, and served on advisory boards of the Contemporary Arts Forum, Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara, Robert Rauschenberg's foundation, Advisory Board of Change, Inc., the Pasadena Art Museum, and others.

Wortz was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease at the age of 50 and died in 2002.

Provenance:

The collection was donated by Edward C. Wortz, Melinda Wortz's husband, in 1994.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.

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:

Art historians -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Authors -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Educators -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Art museum curators -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Gallery directors -- California -- Irvine  Search this

Topic:

Art, American -- California  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- California  Search this

Women art historians  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Photographs

Transcripts

Sound recordings

Travel diaries

Citation:

Melinda Wortz papers, 1958-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Support for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian's Collections Care Pool Fund.

Identifier:

AAA.wortmeli

See more items in:

Melinda Wortz papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw905985e8b-dfa4-4162-a8bb-952942187c9f

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-wortmeli

Creator:

Schipper, Merle  Search this

Names:

Anderson, John S., 1928-  Search this

Card, Greg S., 1945-  Search this

Cutler-Shaw, Joyce, 1932-  Search this

DeLap, Tony, 1927-2019  Search this

Graham, Robert, 1938-  Search this

Hammersley, Frederick, 1919-2009  Search this

Harden, Marvin, 1935-  Search this

Kauffman, Craig, 1932-2010  Search this

Kent, Claude, 1945-  Search this

Kessler, Charles, 1943-  Search this

Kipper, Harry  Search this

Onslow-Ford, Gordon  Search this

Pashgian, Helen, 1934-  Search this

Phillips, Jay, 1954-1987  Search this

Seliger, Charles, 1926-2009  Search this

Shelton, Peter, 1951-  Search this

Simonian, Judith, 1945-  Search this

Trowbridge, David, 1945-  Search this

Valentine, De Wain, 1936-2022  Search this

Van Hamersveld, John  Search this

Wight, Frederick Stallknecht, 1902-  Search this

Yokoi, Rita, 1938-  Search this

Extent:

21 Sound cassettes (Sound recording)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sound cassettes

Date:

1978-1987

Scope and Contents:

A lecture and interviews of twenty-two Southern California painters and sculptors, conducted and recorded by Los Angeles art critic Merle Schipper.

Interview tapes and Schipper's fragmentary notes are available for Greg S. Card, Tony Delap, Robert Graham, Frederick Hammersley, Marvin Harden, Craig Kauffman, Claude Kent, Charles Kessler, Harry Kipper, Jay Phillips, Charles Seliger, Peter T. Shelton, Judith Simonian, David Trowbridge, and John Van Hamersveld.

Only tapes are available for John Anderson, Joyce Cutler-Shaw, Gordon Onslow-Ford, Helen Pashgian, Frederick Stallknecht Wight and Rita Yokoi. Only Schipper's fragmentary notes are available for the DeWain Valentine interview. A tape of Craig Kauffman's May 9, 1979 lecture at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is also included.

Arrangement:

John Anderson interview is on the Gordon Onslow-Ford tape.

John Van Hamersveld interview is on the Harry Kipper tape.

Frederick Stallknecht Wight interview is on the Joyce Cutler-Shaw tape.

Rita Yokoi interview is on the Helen Pashgian tape.

Biographical / Historical:

California art critic and curator of the Fine Arts Gallery, California State University; b. in 1922.

Provenance:

Donated 1988 by Merle Schipper.

Restrictions:

Untranscribed interviews; use requires an appointment and is limited to AAA's Washington, D.C. office.

Occupation:

Conceptual artists -- California -- Interviews  Search this

Topic:

Art, Modern -- California  Search this

Painters -- California -- Interviews  Search this

Sculptors -- California -- Interviews  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.schimerl2

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw95ec6a57c-5584-428e-b534-e1f33f11d56b

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-schimerl2

Creator:

Valentine, De Wain, 1936-2022  Search this

Butterfield, Jan, 1937-2000  Search this

Type:

Sound Recording

Date:

1979 October

Citation:

De Wain Valentine and Jan Butterfield. Interview with De Wain Valentine, 1979 October. Jan Butterfield papers, 1950-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Record number:

(DSI-AAA)16110

See more items in:

Jan Butterfield papers, 1950-1997

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_item_16110

Interviewee:

Valentine, De Wain, 1936-2022  Search this

Interviewer:

Clark, Robin Lee  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Citation:

Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with De Wain Valentine, 2013 September 4 and 5. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Sculptors -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews  Search this

Light and space (Art movement)  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)16154

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)366200

AAA_collcode_valent13

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_366200

Creator:

Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, Calif.)  Search this

Names:

Dever, Joyce  Search this

Valentine, De Wain, 1936-2022  Search this

Extent:

2 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1979-1986

Scope and Contents:

Correspondence; photos of committee members, and minutes and position papers of the Artists Advisory Committee during the development that led to Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles. The minutes were taken by Joyce Dever and her handwritten notes are included. Also included are newspaper and magazine articles about the development of the museum.

Biographical / Historical:

Art museum; Los Angeles, Calif. MOCA was opened in 1983 following planning by an Artists Advisory Committee and others who wished to establish an alternative, contemporary art museum. Planning sessions were held in late 1979 through 1982 in various artist committee members' studios or homes. De Wain Valentine was a key figure in the Museum's early development.

Provenance:

Donated 2000 by De Wain Valentine and the Artists Advisory Committee at MOCA, via Joyce Dever, a former MOCA administrator.

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.

Occupation:

Artists -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Topic:

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Function:

Art museums -- California -- Los Angeles

Identifier:

AAA.musecala

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw90aa6cc4d-1e37-46b5-816c-415fb087478b

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-musecala

Interviewee:

Valentine, De Wain, 1936-2022  Search this

Interviewer:

Clark, Robin (Robin Lee)  Search this

Extent:

6 Items (sound files (3 hrs., 19 min.))

65 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

2013 September 4 and 5

Scope and Contents:

An interview with De Wain Valentine conducted 2013 September 4 and 5, by Robin Lee Clark, for the Archives of American Art at Valentine's studio in Torrance, California.

Biographical / Historical:

De Wain Valentine (1936-2022) was a sculptor in Torrance, California. Robin Lee Clark is a curator in San Diego, California.

General:

Originally recorded as 6 sound files. Duration is 3 hr., 19 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 interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Topic:

Sculptors -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews  Search this

Light and space (Art movement)  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Identifier:

AAA.valent13

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw959ec5bb2-d1d9-420b-bfd4-20c7c6a37474

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-valent13

Creator:

Benton, Fletcher, 1931-  Search this

Names:

André Emmerich Gallery  Search this

Galerie Denino  Search this

Bury, Pol, 1922-2005  Search this

De Wilde, Dan  Search this

Finn, David  Search this

Jones, Lillian E.  Search this

Louchheim, Marlene  Search this

Lucie-Smith, Edward  Search this

Marquand, Ed  Search this

Neubert, George W.  Search this

Rickey, George  Search this

Sanders, Pieter  Search this

Tooker, Dan  Search this

Valentine, De Wain, 1936-2022  Search this

Wilke, Ulfert, 1907-1987  Search this

Extent:

8.7 Linear feet

1.47 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Interviews

Motion pictures (visual works)

Drawings

Video recordings

Transcripts

Sound recordings

Photographs

Christmas cards

Date:

1934-2014

Summary:

The papers of sculptor and painter Fletcher Benton measure 8.2 linear feet and 1.47 GB and date from 1934 to 2014. They document his career as a sculptor with international presence through certificates, personal photographs, legal papers, correspondence, exhibition and commission documentation, clippings, exhibition-related printed materials, broadcast materials, publications about his work, an editioned kinetic Christmas card, and photographs, sound and video recordings, and motion picture film documenting his work and career.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of sculptor and painter Fletcher Benton measure 8.2 linear feet and 1.47 GB and date from 1934 to 2014. They document his career through personal photographs, legal papers, correspondence, exhibition and commission documentation, clippings, exhibition-related printed materials, broadcast materials, publications about his work, an editioned kinetic Christmas card, photographs, sound and video recordings motion picture film, some of which also appears in digitized form.

Biographical Materials include personal photographs, legal documents related to a court case with book designer Ed Marquand, biographical texts, interview transcripts, and a home video made by the artist. Correspondence is with other artists, friends, galleries, museums and other institutions, including George W. Neubert, André Emmerich Gallery, Pieter Sanders, Pol Bury, George Rickey, Ulfert Wilke, Marlene Louchheim, DeWain Valentine, Lillian E. Jones, and Edward Lucie-Smith. Interviews include sound recordings of interviews with Benton by academics and journalists, including Edward Lucie-Smith, Dan Tooker, and Dan De Wilde.

Exhibition and Commission Files consist of correspondence with galleries, museums and commission patrons; financial records; shipping and subcontracting documentation; motion picture film, video, and sound recordings related to exhibitions and installations; and planning and design materials. Series includes a significant amount of oversized drawings and plans for site-specific work. There is a large volume documentation from the Folded Circle-Arc commission by Stanley Consultants, Inc. in Muscatine, Iowa; the California/International Arts Foundation Traveling Sculpture Exhibition; Double Folded Circle Ring in Brussels and Double Circle Folded by Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Printed Materials include news clippings related to Benton's career, as well as brochures, exhibition catalogs, posters and other printed materials related to exhibitions and commissions. Broadcast materials include television news footage, radio and television interviews, documentaries, and promotional materials made by galleries and other cultural institutions.

Photographic and Moving Image Materials include art-related images showing Benton in his studio and images of exhibitions, installations and inaugurations. Also found are still photographs and motion picture films of artworks, including paintings, sculptures, and kinetic drawings, and a series of photographs of sculptures taken by David Finn.

Artwork consists of an editioned art Christmas card created by Benton for Galeria Bonino in New York from 1969. An American Artist Moving Image Materials consist of 13 videocassettes (VHS) which document the production process of the documentaryFletcher Benton: An American Artist by Morgan Cavett. There is footage from interviews with Benton and with curator George W. Neubert, footage of San Francisco with comments from Benton about his time there, interviews with the artist's studio assistants, images of his studio in Dore street and a couple of almost finished rough versions of the documentary.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged as nine series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material (0.3 linear feet; boxes 1, 9)

Series 2: Correspondence (1 linear foot; boxes 1, 2, OV 10)

Series 3: Interviews (0.3 linear feet; box 2)

Series 4: Exhibition and Commission Files (2 linear feet, 0.50 GB; boxes 2-4, OV 11-13, RD 14, FC 15, ER01)

Series 5: Printed Materials (2.3 linear feet; boxes 4-6, OV 10)

Series 6: Broadcast Materials (1.1 linear foot; boxes 6-7)

Series 7: Photographic and Moving Image Materials (0.5 linear feet, 0.97 GB; boxes 7, 9, FC 16-17, ER02)

Series 8: Artwork (1 item; box 7)

Series 9: -- An American Artist -- Video Recordings (0.6 linear feet; boxes 7-8)

Biographical / Historical:

Fletcher Benton was born in Jackson, Ohio in 1931 to Fletcher and Nell Cavett Benton and was the oldest of three children. Benton graduated from Jackson High School in 1949. After serving in the Navy he graduated from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) in 1956 and moved to San Francisco, where he started working as an instructor at the California College of Arts and Crafts in 1959. He was in San Francisco during the flourishing of the Beat generation, where he had a studio in the North beach area and exhibited at coffee house galleries.

After travelling around Europe in 1960, Benton moved to New York City where he tried to make his living through painting and teaching privately. During those years he was supported by Jackson's local arts patron and family friend, Lillian E. Jones. In 1960 he had his first solo exhibition at Gump's gallery in San Francisco, but his work was taken down after one day because it was considered obscene for including female nudes. He returned to San Francisco in late 1961.

In 1966 Fletcher started teaching at the San Francisco Art Institute and established himself as a primary figure of American kinetic art. In 1966, Peter Selz included his work in the exhibition Directions in Kinetic Sculpture at the University Art Gallery in Berkeley, CA. During the exhibition Benton met the artists Pol Bury and George Rickey with whom he became friends. The exhibition, along with an article "The Movement Movement" that appeared in Time magazine the same year, established Benton's reputation as a significant American Kinetic artist. He also started teaching at the California State University in San José in 1967 where he continued working until 1986.

By 1974 Benton abandoned kinetic art to continue exploring sculpture in three dimensions in a style that became known as "new constructivism." The artworks were conceived in the series Folded Circles and Folded Square Alphabets and were produced in bronze, aluminum and steel. It was also during the 1970s that he started doing large-scale commissions such as the 1977 IBM commission.

Between 1981 and 1984 Benton constructed his studio in Dore Street in the Market district of San Francisco where he continues to work today. During the 1980s Benton started his Balanced/Unbalanced series, which introduced the idea of gravity using geometric forms in different formats and sizes.

From 1984 he began to show more work in Europe, especially in Germany, where in 1993 he got a major commission to create a colossal public sculpture in Cologne entitled Steel Watercolor Triangle Ring. It was also in Germany where Benton encountered the work of Wassily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich, and he began work on his Construct Relief series in reponse, which he dedicated to Kandinsky. These geometric constructions are flat, canvas-like steel structures that combine features of painting and sculpture. As the series evolved, the work became more like painting, constructed to hang on the wall without a back piece, so they seem to be floating in the space.

Benton continues to live and work in San Francisco and is represented by multiple galleries in the United States and Germany.

Related Materials:

Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Fletcher Benton conducted by Paul J. Karlstrom, 1989 May 2-4 is available on the Archives of American Art website.

Provenance:

Donated 2005-2006 and 2014 by Fletcher Benton. Benton's wife, Bobbie Benton, organized the material by subject matter and date.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual material without a duplicate copy requires advanced notice.

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

Topic:

Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Motion pictures (visual works)

Drawings

Video recordings

Transcripts

Sound recordings

Photographs

Christmas cards

Citation:

Fletcher Benton papers, 1934-2014. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' Hidden Collections grant program.

Identifier:

AAA.bentflet

See more items in:

Fletcher Benton papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9951bf858-723f-4f17-804b-fc250edde964

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-bentflet

Creator:

Valentine, De Wain, 1936-2022  Search this

Extent:

0.4 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1967-1976

Scope and Contents:

Biographical data; two drafts of an interview which was published in LEONARDO magazine; correspondence, including letters from dealers Walter Kelly and John Weber concerning the exhibition and sale of Valentine's sculpture; notes; financial data, with shipping receipts; printed material including two exhibition announcements and a mock layout for an exhibition catalog; miscellany; and a photograph of a sculpture.

Biographical / Historical:

Sculptor; Venice, Calif.

Provenance:

Donated 1978 by De Wain Valentine.

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:

Sculptors -- California -- Venice  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.valedewa

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw98138fe16-1ef9-47a5-ac28-13beb4f632a3

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-valedewa

Creator:

Smith, James B.  Search this

Names:

Taubman Co. -- Art collections  Search this

Beasley, Bruce, 1939-  Search this

Crutchfield, William, 1932-  Search this

Filkowsky, Josefa, 1933-  Search this

Lippold, Richard, 1915-2002  Search this

Pallas, Jim  Search this

Schwartz, Buky, 1932-  Search this

Trova, Ernest T., 1927-  Search this

Tsʻai, Wen-ying, 1928-  Search this

Valentine, De Wain, 1936-2022  Search this

Extent:

56 Items ((on partial microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1970-1976

Scope and Contents:

Files kept by Smith on sculptors whom he contacted to do sculptures for his employer, the Taubman Company, Southfield, Mich. Files contain photographs, correspondence, some exhibition catalogs, and a few chronologies. Sculptors represented include Bruce Beasley, William Crutchfield, Josefa Filkosky, Richard Lippold, Jim Pallas, Buky Schwartz, Ernest Trova, Wen-Ying Tsai, and DeWain Valentine.

Biographical / Historical:

Architect; Southfield, Mich.

Provenance:

Lent for microfilming 1976 by James B. Smith.

Restrictions:

The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Occupation:

Sculptors  Search this

Topic:

Corporations -- Art collections  Search this

Sculpture, Architectural  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.smitjame

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw975d877a2-215e-4cab-87fa-0b97bf27b8d0

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-smitjame